September 1937

1937

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The following events occurred inSeptember 1937:

September 1,1937 (Wednesday)

• TheBattle of Taiyuanbegan for control of the capital ofShanxiProvince.
• TheNationalistslaunched theAsturias Offensiveon the northern front.
• The musical filmThe FireflystarringJeanette MacDonaldandAllan Jonespremiered at theAstor Theatrein New York City.
• The British tankerWoodfordwas sunk by Italian submarineDiasprooff the Spanish coast.

September 2,1937 (Thursday)

• TheGreat Hong Kong typhoonkilled 11,000 people.
• Hermann Göringwarned in a speech inStuttgartthat if a new boycott of Nazi Germany was attempted, "any damages caused will be paid by Jews in Germany."
• The adventure filmThe Prisoner of ZendastarringRonald Colman,Madeleine CarrollandDouglas Fairbanks, Jr.was released.
• Born:Len Carlson,voice actor, inEdmonton, Alberta,Canada (d. 2006)
• Died:Pierre de Coubertin,74, French educator, historian and founder of theInternational Olympic Committee

September 3,1937 (Friday)

• Congress of Industrial OrganizationsleaderJohn L. Lewisgave a radio address broadcast across the United States in which he attacked the Roosevelt Administration for professing impartiality in the country's labor disputes instead of supporting the workers. Lewis brought up the prospect of creating a farmer-laborthird partymovement.
• Another Soviet merchant ship, theBlagoev,was attacked near Greece and sunk in the Mediterranean.

September 4,1937 (Saturday)

• The press of the Soviet Union blamed the August 30 sinking of theTimiryazevon Italy. "The government will make the Fascist bandits pay dearly", declaredPravda.
• The Japanesepuppet stateknown as the South Chahar Autonomous Government was established inZhangjiakou.
• Born:Dawn Fraser,swimmer and politician, inBalmain, New South Wales,Australia;Mikk Mikiver,actor and theater director, inTallinn,Estonia(d. 2006)

September 5,1937 (Sunday)

• Llanesfell to the Nationalists.
• TheArgentine presidential electionwas held, resulting in the election ofRoberto María Ortiz.
• Japan established a navalblockadespanning the entire Chinese coastline with the exception of ports where foreign powers had treaty rights.
• Born:William Devane,actor, inAlbany, New York

September 6,1937 (Monday)

• TheBattle of El Mazucobegan in the north.
• Italy denied responsibility for the sinking of theTimiryazevandBlagoev.
• Born:Sergio Aragonés,cartoonist, inSant Mateu,Spain;Kirtanananda Swami,Hare Krishna guru, inPeekskill, New York(d. 2011);Jo Anne Worley,actress, inLowell, Indiana
• Died:Henry Kimball Hadley,65, American composer and conductor

September 7,1937 (Tuesday)

• TheZaragoza Offensiveended in Republican failure.
• TheBattle of Belchiteended in a tacticalRepublicanvictory.
• TheBattle of Cape Cherchellwas fought.
• A manifesto written byHitlerwas read byAdolf Wagnerat theNuremberg Rally,offering to stand beside Italy and Japan in a "defensive fight" against communism.
• The first winners of the newGerman National Prize for Art and Sciencewere announced.
• Born:Cüneyt Arkın,actor, director and producer, in Gökçeoğlu,Eskişehir Province,Turkey
• Died:Annie Lorrain Smith,82, British lichenologist and mycologist

September 8,1937 (Wednesday)

• Italy announced it would not be attending the upcomingNyon Conferenceon Mediterranean piracy due to the Soviet Union's demands on Italy for satisfaction. Germany would not be participating either.
• Bloudan Conference:A Pan-Arab conference of 400 unofficial delegates inBloudanrejected thePeel Commissionreport recommending partition of Palestine.

September 9,1937 (Thursday)

• Hitler laid the cornerstone for theDeutsches Stadion.Like many major Nazi construction projects it would never be completed.

September 10,1937 (Friday)

• TheNyon Conferencebegan inNyon,Switzerland, aiming to address attacks on international shipping in the Mediterranean during theSpanish Civil War.
• Born:Jared Diamond,American geographer, historian, and author, inBoston

September 11,1937 (Saturday)

• President Roosevelt gave a press conference in New York vowing he would do everything possible "to keep us out of war."
• Bette CooperofNew Jerseywon the11th Miss Americabeauty pageant.
• Born:Queen Paola of Belgium,inForte dei Marmi,Italy
• Died:Nazmi Ziya Güran,56 or 57, Turkish Impressionist painter

September 12,1937 (Sunday)

• Excerpts from a letter written by the imprisoned German pastorMartin Niemöllerwere read to his congregation. "I often think of others who must wander through the same dark valley as myself", one passage read. "But it is a comfort to us all to know that you are praying for us. I am certain the almighty God will triumph."
• Rudolf Caracciolaof Germany won theItalian Grand Prix.

September 13,1937 (Monday)

• TheBattle of Xinkoubegan.
• Heinrich Himmlerdecreed that Jews could be released from "protective custody" in concentration camps if they provided evidence that they were emigrating.
• Japanese forces capturedDatong.
• The Chinese government made a formal appeal to theLeague of Nationsto take action against Japan.
• In his final address on the closing day of theNuremberg Rally,Hitler declared that the failure of Franco's Nationalists would "upset the balance of power in Europe, which is of vital importance to Germany."
• Born:Don Bluth,American animator and film director, former animator atDisneyfrom 1955 to 1979, founder ofSullivan Bluth Studios,co-founder of20th Century Fox Animationand co-creator ofAn American Tail,The Land Before TimeandAnastasia.
• Died:Ellis Parker Butler,67, American author

September 14,1937 (Tuesday)

• The Nyon Conference ended with an agreement to establish a system of patrol zones, with the British and French assuming the most responsibility.It was agreed that submarines that attacked merchant vessels could be attacked in return by the patrols.
• Died:Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk,87, 1stPresident of Czechoslovakia

September 15,1937 (Wednesday)

• Hitler'shalf-brotherAlois opened a café in Berlin.
• Born:King Curtis Iaukea,professional wrestler, inHonolulu,Hawaii(d. 2010);Robert Lucas, Jr.,economist and Nobel laureate, inYakima, Washington;Fernando de la Rúa,President of Argentina, inCórdoba, Argentina(d. 2019).

September 16,1937 (Thursday)

• TheNAACPsent a telegram to President Roosevelt urging that he call uponHugo Blackto resign from the Supreme Court or "take other appropriate action in the absence of repudiation and disproof of the charges by Senator Black to relieve himself and the nation of the embarrassment of having upon the highest court a man pledged to uphold principles inimical to true Americanism."
• The British historical filmVictoria the GreatstarringAnna Neaglepremiered in London.
• Born:Jesse J. McCrary, Jr.,lawyer and civil rights activist, in Blitchton,Florida(d. 2007)

September 17,1937 (Friday)

• TheBattle of Santanderended in a decisive Nationalist victory.
• The Nyon agreement was expanded to include aircraft as legitimate targets for reprisal attacks by patrol ships.
• TheAbraham Lincolnhead on theMount Rushmoresculpture was dedicated.
• Born:Orlando Cepeda,baseball player, inPonce, Puerto Rico;Ilarion Ionescu-Galați,violinist and conductor, inIași,Romania

September 18,1937 (Saturday)

• Spanish Prime MinisterJuan Negrínspoke before the Assembly at theLeague of Nations,calling theSpanish Civil War"a war of invasion" and denouncing Hitler and Mussolini as "internationalhighwaymen."Negrín called on the League to recognize German and Italian aggression, give the Republic the right to freely procure war materiel and have all foreign combatants withdrawn from Spanish territory.
• TheAlliance of Democratsformed in Poland.

September 19,1937 (Sunday)

• TheFolsom escape attemptoccurred. Two of the seven prisoners trying to escape were shot dead; the other five were sentenced to death and eventually executed.
• Hockey Club Ambrì-Piottawas founded in Switzerland.
• Born:Abner Haynes,AFL running back, inDenton, Texas

September 20,1937 (Monday)

• Anthony Edenspoke at the League of Nations Assembly, telling Italy and Japan they were ruining themselves financially by their policies of territorial conquest and informing Germany that the way to obtain raw materials was to buy them instead of demanding colonies.
• Spain failed to get the two-thirds majority it needed to get re-elected onto the League of Nations council. The Latin American countries no longer supported the Spanish Republic because they had shifted their support to Franco.
• Died:Henry Denhardt,61, American politician (shot);Lev Karakhan,48, Soviet revolutionary and diplomat (killed in theGreat Purge);Harry Stovey,80, American baseball player;Felix M. Warburg,66, German-born American banker

September 21,1937 (Tuesday)

• 21 Japanese warplanes bombed the city ofCantonfor 90 minutes, killing many civilians.
• Italy reversed itself and agreed in principle to participate in the patrolling of the Mediterranean.
• TheJ. R. R. Tolkienchildren's fantasy novelThe Hobbitwas published in England.
• Died:Osgood Perkins,45, American actor

September 22,1937 (Wednesday)

• TheBattle of El Mazucoended in a Nationalist victory.
• Japan's apology for the August 26 airplane attack on ambassadorHughe Knatchbull-Hugessenwas made public by Britain and the matter was declared closed.
• Died:Ruth Roland,45, American actress and film producer (cancer)

September 23,1937 (Thursday)

• TheNew York Yankeeswon theAmerican Leaguepennant when theDetroit Tigerswere eliminated in a 4–3 loss to theBoston Red Sox.
• Benito Mussolini's second sonVittorioarrived in the United States to study filmmaking methods inHollywoodwith the producerHal Roach.
• The professional wrestling event known as theEMLL 4th Anniversary Showtook place inMexico City.
• Born:Martin Litchfield West,scholar of classical antiquity, in London, England (d. 2015)

September 24,1937 (Friday)

• TheBattle of Pingxingguanbegan.
• The Japanese occupiedBaoding.

September 25,1937 (Saturday)

• TheBattle of Pingxingguanended in Chinese victory.
• Benito Mussoliniarrived inMunichon the first day of a five-day official visit to Germany.
• GeelongdefeatedCollingwoodin theVFL Grand Final.
• Born:Freeman Patterson,nature photographer and writer, in Long Reach,New Brunswick,Canada

September 26,1937 (Sunday)

• British District Commissioner for theGalileeLewis Yelland Andrewsand his bodyguard were gunned down inNazareth.
• TheStorstrøm Bridge,one of the longest in Europe, was inaugurated in Denmark by KingChristian X.
• Died:Bessie Smith,43, American blues singer (car accident)

September 27,1937 (Monday)

• British authorities arrested 120 suspects in the Lewis Yelland Andrews murder.
• Italy signed on to the Nyon accords.

September 28,1937 (Tuesday)

• Hitler and Mussolini spoke at a rally in Berlin that was heard by millions around the world in a radio broadcast. Hitler went first and spoke of the "common ideals and interests inspiring Italy and Germany." Mussolini, delivering his speech in German, made the first official acknowledgement that Italy had troops in Spain when he said, "Where words are insufficient to carry on the fight we turn to weapons. We have done this in Spain, where thousands of Italian Fascist volunteers have lost their lives."
• At the League of Nations, Britain and France balked at Spain's demand to condemn Germany and Italy as aggressors and allow arms exports to the Spanish government, fearing it would worsen the general situation in Europe.
• The League of Nations officially condemned the Japanese bombing of Chinese cities.
• President Roosevelt dedicated theBonneville Damin theColumbia River Gorge.
• Born:Rod Roddy,radio and television announcer, inFort Worth, Texas(d. 2003)

September 29,1937 (Wednesday)

• Chiang Kai-shekandMao Zedongagreed to put aside their differences and join forces to fight the Japanese invasion.
• Purdy Bridgeopened inPurdy, Washington.
• Died:Ray Ewry,63, American track and field athlete

September 30,1937 (Thursday)

• The League of Nations drafted a resolution warning that if Italy did not withdraw its troops from Spain, the League would "consider ending the policy" of nonintervention.
• TheNew York Giantsclinched theNational Leaguepennant with a 2–1 victory over thePhiladelphia Phillies.The1937 World Serieswould be a rematch of1936.