What Happened in December 1937

Historical Events

Hooray for What!

Dec 1 Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's anti-war musical "Hooray for What!", starring Ed Wynn and directed by Vincente Minnelli, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre, NYC; runs for 200 performances

Japanese Recognition

Dec 1 Japan recognizes Spain's Franco government

Spanish Dictator and General Francisco Franco

Dec 7 Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work

Williams to the Red Sox

Dec 7 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams

Dec 7 Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
Dec 10 William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2 ("Song of a New Race") premieres at the Academy of Music by the Philadelphia Orchestra led by conductor Leopold Stokowski
Dec 11 25th CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts claim their 4th Championship; beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4-3
Dec 11 Italy withdraws from League of Nations
Dec 12 1938 NFL Draft: Corbett Davis from University of Indiana first pick by Cleveland Rams
Dec 12 Japanese aircraft shell & sink US gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologized & eventually paid US $2.2M in reparations)
Dec 12 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Washington Redskins beat Chicago Bears, 28-21
Dec 12 NBC & RCA sends 1st mobile-TV vans onto the streets of NY
Dec 13 Japanese troops conquer and plunder Nanjing (Nanjing Massacre)
Dec 16 Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from American federal prison Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.
Dec 20 Australian cricket spin bowler Bill O'Reilly takes career best 9-41 for NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

Dec 21 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the first full-length animated feature film and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre, Los Angeles

Dec 21 Australian cricket spin bowler Bill O'Reilly takes 5-57 to complete match figures of 14-98 as NSW beats South Australia by 33 runs in a Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide
Dec 21 Chicago Black Hawks left wing Paul Thompson becomes first player in NHL history to score against his brother, Boston Bruins goaltender Cecil Thompson; scores with just 9 seconds left in regulation as Bruins win 2-1
Dec 22 Lincoln Tunnel, under the Hudson River, opens to traffic, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey to Midtown Manhattan, New York City
Dec 23 First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber
Dec 24 Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia

First "Symphony of the Air"

Dec 25 Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st "Symphony of the Air" concert over NBC Radio

Dec 25 Queensland all out for 93 v SA in front of 10,436
Dec 27 German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany

Mae West Banned

Dec 27 Mae West performs Adam & Eve skit that gets her banned from NBC radio

Dec 28 Fascist Octavian Goga becomes Prime Minister of Romania
Dec 29 Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÉireann) is enacted and Irish free state is named Eire

Thesz vs. Marshall

Dec 29 Lou Thesz beats Everett Marshall in St Louis, to win NWA World heavyweight title - youngest ever

Dec 29 Pan Am starts service between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand

Events in 1937

Famous Birthdays

Dec 1 Gordon Crosse, British contemporary classical composer (Grace of Todd; Purgatory; Changes), and educator, born in Bury, England (d. 2021)
Dec 1 Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvian politician, 6th President and 1st woman president of Latvia, born in Riga, Latvia
Dec 2 Brian Lumley, English sci-fi author (Compleat Crow, Psychomech), born in County Durham, England
Dec 2 Katherine Hoover, American flautist, composer (Eleni: A Greek Tragedy), teacher, and conductor, born in Elkins, West Virginia (d. 2018)
Dec 3 Binod Bihari Verma, Indian linguist

Bobby Allison (86 years old)

Dec 3 American auto racer (Winston Cup champion 1983; Daytona 500 1978, 82, 88), born in Miami, Florida

Dec 3 Bobby Boyd, American NFL cornerback (5 × All-Pro 1964–1968; NFL interceptions leader 1965; Baltimore Colts), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2017)
Dec 3 Stephen Rubin, English attorney, shoe manufacturer (Reebok, Adidas)
Dec 4 Donnelly Rhodes, Canadian actor (Da Vinci's Inquest, Danger Bay), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2018)
Dec 4 Max Baer Jr, American actor (The Beverly Hillbillies - "Jethro Bodine"), born in Oakland, California
Dec 6 Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian soccer forward (11 caps; 5 caps Uruguay; most goals in Copa Libertadores, 54 goals 1960-72), born in Ancón, Santa Elena, Ecuador (d. 2006)
Dec 7 Thad Cochran, American politician (U.S. Senator from Mississippi, 1978-2018; U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1973-78), born in Pontotoc, Mississippi (d. 2019)
Dec 8 Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman, born in Germany (d. 2004)
Dec 8 James MacArthur, American actor (Danny Williams-Hawaii 5-0), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2010)
Dec 8 Jan van Houwelingen, Dutch politician and Undersecretary of Defense (CDA), born in Leerdam, Netherlands (d. 2013)
Dec 8 Malcolm Price, Welsh rugby union centre (9 Tests Wales, 5 British & Irish Lions; Pontypool RFC) and rugby league centre (2 Tests GB; Oldham RLFC, Rochdale Hornets), born in Pontypool, Wales (d. 2024)
Dec 8 Nelsinho Rosa, Brazilian soccer coach (Saudi Arabia, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 2023)
Dec 9 Darwin Joston, American actor (Assault on Precinct 13), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (d. 1998)
Dec 10 Don Bies, American golfer (The Tradition 1989), born in Cottonwood, Idaho
Dec 10 Don Sebesky, American Grammy and Tony Award-winning arranger, composer, orchestra leader, jazz trombonist, and accordion player (Maynard Ferguson; Wes Montgomery; CTI Records), born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (d. 2023)
Dec 11 Adriaan Vlok, South African politician (Minister of Law & Order (1986-91), born in Sutherland, South Africa
Dec 11 Beegie Adair [Bobbe Long], American jazz and Nashville-based session pianist, and educator, born in Cave City, Kentucky (d. 2022)
Dec 11 Jim Harrison, American poet and novelist (Legends of the Fall), born in Grayling, Michigan (d. 2016)
Dec 12 Buford Pusser, American sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, born in Finger, Tennessee (d. 1974)
Dec 12 Connie Francis [Concetta Franconero], American singer and actress (Where the Boys Are), born in Newark, New Jersey
Dec 12 Philip Ledger, British organist, composer, conductor, and academic (King's College Cambridge), born in Bexhill-on-Sea, England (d. 2012)
Dec 13 Rob Houwer, Dutch director and producer and actor (OK, Professor Columbus), born in The Hague, Netherlands
Dec 15 John Sladek, American sci-fi author (Tik-Tok, Bugs), born in Waverly, Iowa (d. 2000)
Dec 15 Karen Morrow, American actress (The Boy in the Plastic bubble, Ladies' Man), born in Chicago, Illinois
Dec 15 Roman Lentner, Polish soccer winger (33 caps; Górnik Zabrze SA 241 games), born in Zabrze, Śląskie, Poland (d. 2023)
Dec 16 Bobby Porcelli, American Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz saxophone and flute player, born in New York City
Dec 16 Edward Ruscha, American artist (Pop Art), born in Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 16 Jim Glaser, American singer (Glaser Bros-Getting to Me Again), born in Spalding, Nebraska
Dec 16 Joe Farrell, American jazz saxophonist, born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, (d. 1986)
Dec 16 Joyce Bulifant, American actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show - "Marie Slaughter"), born in Newport News, Virginia
Dec 17 Art Neville, American funk and R&B singer, keyboard player, and songwriter (Neville Brothers; The Funky Meters), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2019)
Dec 17 Calvin Waller, US Army general (d. 1996)
Dec 17 John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (d. 1969)
Dec 17 Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
Dec 21 Donald F. Munson, American politician (Maryland State Senator, 1991-2011), born in Hagerstown, Maryland

Jane Fonda (86 years old)

Dec 21 American stage and screen Academy and Emmy Award-winning actress (Barbarella; Klute, 9 to 5), exercist (Jane Fonda's Workout), and political activist, born in New York City

Dec 23 Karol Joseph Bobko, American Col USAF/astronaut (STS 6, STS 51D, STS 51J), born in New York City
Dec 24 Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian football player, born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2012)
Dec 25 Noel Furlong, Irish businessman and poker player (World Series of Poker main event 1999), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2021)
Dec 25 O'Kelly Isley, American rock singer (Isley Brothers. 1954-86 - "Shout"; "Twist and Shout"; "It's Your Thing"), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1986)
Dec 26 Jay Heimowitz, American poker player
Dec 26 John Horton Conway, British mathematician (cellular automaton Game of Life), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2020)
Dec 28 Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist
Dec 29 Barbara Steele, English actress (Black Sunday, 8½), born in Birkenhead, Cheshire
Dec 30 (Noel) Paul Stookey, American singer, songwriter and musician (Peter, Paul, & Mary - "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)"), born in Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 30 Gordon Banks, English soccer goalkeeper (World Cup 1966, 73 England caps), born in Sheffield, England (d. 2019)
Dec 30 John Hartford [Harford] American country and bluegrass banjo player, fiddler, and singer-songwriter ("Gentle on My Mind"), born in New York City (d. 2001)
Dec 30 Tsisana Tatishvili, Georgian lyric-dramatic soprano, born in Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (d. 2017)

Anthony Hopkins (86 years old)

Dec 31 Welsh actor (Elephant Man, QB VII, Magic, Bounty), born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales

Dec 31 Avram Hershko, Hungarian-born Israeli biochemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry, born in Karcag, Hungary
Dec 31 Milutin Šoškić, Serbian soccer goalkeeper (50 caps Yugoslavia; FK Partizan, 1. FC Köln), born in Peja, Kosovo (d. 2022)
Dec 31 Nicolas Born, German writer, born in Duisburg (d. 1979)

Born in 1937

Famous Divorces

Walter Lippmann

Dec 9 Writer Walter Lippmann (48) divorces first wife Faye Albertson after 20 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Dec 3 Prosper Poullet, Belgian politician (Prime Minister of Belgium 1925-26), dies at 69

Gustaf Dalén (1869-1937)

Dec 9 Swedish physicist and industrialist (AGA, Nobel Prize in Physics 1912), dies at 68

Dec 12 Alfred Abel, actor (Dr Mabuse, Metropolis), dies at 57
Dec 18 Sandford Schultz, English cricket all-rounder (1 Test, 1 wicket, 20 runs; Cambridge University, Lancashire CCC), dies at 80

Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937)

Dec 20 German general during World War I, dies of liver cancer at 72

Frank Kellogg (1856-1937)

Dec 21 American politician and diplomat (US Secretary of State, 1925-29), tried to outlaw war (Kellogg–Briand Pact: Nobel Peace Prize, 1929), dies at 80

Dec 21 Ted Healy [Ernest Nash], American vaudeville, stage, and screen actor, comedian (Mad Love, San Francisco, Soup to Nuts), and developer of the Three Stooges, dies from complications of alcoholism at 41
Dec 26 Ivor Gurney, English composer and poet, dies of tuberculosis at 47

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Dec 28 French composer, pianist and conductor (Daphnis et Chloé; Boléro), dies at 62

Dec 29 Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)

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