1938

align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1935 1936 1937 - 1938 - 1939 1940 1941

align="center" colspan=2 | Decades:
1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s

align="center" | Centuries:
19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January -June

January 3 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
January 11 - Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
January 20 - Wedding of King Farouk I of Egypt and Queen Farida Zulficar in Cairo
January 28 - The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.
January 31 - Crown princess Beatrix is born in Netherlands
February 4 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City).
February 10 - Carol II of Romania takes dictatorial powers
February 12 - World War II: German troops enter Austria
February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.
March 3 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
March 15 - Soviet Union announces officially that Nikholai Bukharin has been executed
March 18 - Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
April 12 - Edouard Daladier becomes president of France
April 28 - The towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott in Massachusetts are disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.
May 5 - Vatican recognizes Franco's government in Spain
June 1 - Action Comics issues the first Superman comic.
June 11 - Fire destroys 212 buildings in Ludes, Latvia
June 23 - The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
June 23 - Marineland opens near St. Augustine, Florida.
June 25 - Dr. Douglas Hyde is elected the first President of Ireland.
June 28 - A 450 metric ton meteorite struck the earth in a empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania

July-December

July 3 - Steam locomotive "Mallard" sets the world speed record for steam by reaching 126 mph.
July 3 - The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemerates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
July 10 - Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.
July - Building of the concentration camp Mauthausen
August 18 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the United States with Canada, is dedicated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
September - European crisis over German demand for annexation of Sudeten borderland of Czechoslovakia.
September 21 - A large hurricane strikes Long Island, killing 600 people.
September 29 - Munich agreement of German, Italian, British and French leaders agrees to German demands regarding annexation of Sudetenland.
October 1 - German troops march into Sudetenland
October 5 - Eduard Benes, president of Czechoslovakia, resigns
October 10 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
October 17 - Jan Syrovy's government begins in Czechoslovakia
October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing mass panic in the eastern United States.
October 31 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
November 9 - Holocaust: Kristallnacht begins - In Germany, the "night of broken glass" begins as Nazi troops and sympathizers loot and burn Jewish businesses (the all night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
November 10 - On the eve of Armistice Day, Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's God Bless America for the first time on her weekly radio show.
November 18 - Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.

November 30 - Czech parliament elects Emil Hcha as the new president of Czechoslovakia.
December 23 - Coelacanth caught off the coast of South Africa.

Italian mathematician Ettore Majorano disappears
In Qubec, the St. Jean Baptiste Society raised a petition of 128,000 names, demanding restrictions on Jews living in Quebec. Abbe Groulx, the spiritual father of modern Quebec, denounced Jews as a race that refused to be assimilated.
In West Java, Daeng Soetigna tuned traditional angklung to play also diatonic scale.

Ongoing events

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Year in topic

1938 in film

January - MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming The Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors.
April 5 - Noel Langley completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz.
May 7 - Lyricist Edgar Yipsel Harburg and composer, Harold Arlen, begin work on the musical score for The Wizard of Oz.
July 25 - MGM announces that Bert Lahr has been cast as the "Cowardly Lion" in The Wizard of Oz.
October 13 - Filming starts on The Wizard of Oz.
October 21 - Buddy Ebsen suffers from a near fatal allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his "Tinman" make-up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen is replaced by Jack Haley.
December 23 - Margaret Hamilton is severely burned during a mishap on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Hamilton, who was cast in the role of the "Wicked Witch", left the film for six weeks.

1938 in literature
1938 in music

January 16 - Benny Goodman plays Carnegie Hall

1938 in rail transport
1938 in sports
1938 in television

May 31 - W2XBS telecasts the film The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Leslie Howard. The staff projectionist accidentally played the last reel out of order, ending the film 20 minutes early. NBC was unable to obtain the rights to first run movies for many years to follow.
November 15 - NBC's W2XBT airs what was the first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire which broke out on Ward's Island.