What Happened in 1938 — Events, Births & Deaths

The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).

Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.

BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R. that coined the term "robot".

Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee", and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.

Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.

Anschluss: German troops occupy and annex Austria.

Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang begins, resulting several weeks later in the war's first major Chinese victory over Japan.

Spanish Civil War: Two days after the Nationalist army occupied the Catalan city of Lleida, dictator Francisco Franco decrees the abolition of the Generalitat (the autonomous government of Catalonia), the self-government granted by the Republic, and the official status of the Catalan language.

Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 (cover dated June 1938).

U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.

Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.

In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.

The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight.

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred thousand to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed.

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.

The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.

Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.

World speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h).

United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.

The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York City against the motion picture industry charging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio system. The case would eventually result in a break-up of the industry in 1948.

Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.

Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States, with Ontario, Canada, over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Kweilin incident: A Japanese warplane shoots down the Kweilin, a Chinese civilian airliner, killing 14. It is the first recorded instance of a civilian airliner being shot down.

Chile: A group of youths affiliated with the fascist National Socialist Movement of Chile are executed after surrendering during a failed coup.

The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500–700 people.

The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth is launched in Glasgow.

Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations".

Holocaust: In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated.

Abiding by the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia completes its withdrawal from the Sudetenland.

Orson Welles broadcasts a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States.

Great Depression: In an effort to restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.

Kristallnacht occurs, instigated by the Nazis using the killing of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan as justification.

The Lions Gate Bridge, connecting Vancouver to the North Shore region, opens to traffic.

LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel.

Nazi Germany issues the Decree on the Utilization of Jewish Property forcing Jews to sell real property, businesses, and stocks at below market value as part of Aryanization.

The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.

Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.

David King Udall, American missionary and politician (born 1851)