1931

And the slide down from the Roaring Twenties into the Great Depression has begun...

Is it bad that there are more feature films that I'd be interested to watch from 1931 than from this year? Amongst the most popular films released that year, according to IMDb, were Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Ooh, and City Lights, starring Charlie Chaplin!

In other topics, Albert Einstein began doing research at the California Institute of Technology, along with astronomer Edwin Hubble. Thomas Edison submitted his last patent application. And 'The Star Spangled Banner' became the national anthem of the United States of America.

Sir Isaac Isaacs became the first Australian born Governor-General of Australia! An earthquake in New Zealand destroyed much of the city of Napier. Another earthquake destroyed Managua in Nicaragua.

The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in Madrid (but when was the first?!) after municipal elections resulted in triumph for the republican parties (over the monarchy). In Turkey, Kemal Ataturk was re-elected president.

The Empire State Building was completed. And Austria's largest bank went bankrupt, beginning the banking collapse in Central Europe... and we all know what happens when the banking sector collapses... Germany went next, and US President Herbert Hoover attempted to stop the crisis causing worldwide financial meltdown by issuing the Hoover Moratorium. Later in the year, the UK abandoned the gold standard.

And amidst all this political and financial turmoil, the Porsche company was founded!

What about significant (non-war related) deaths?
  • Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, eldest daughter of Edward VII
  • Anna Pavlova, Russian ballet dancer
  • Dame Nellie Melba, Australian soprano
  • Thomas Edison, American inventor
  • Melvil Dewey, American librarian and inventor of the Dewey Decimal System
Nobel Prizes:
  •  Physics was not awarded
  • Chemistry: Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius
  • Physiology/Medicin: Otto Heinrich Warburg
  • Literature: Erik Axel Kerlfeldt
  • Peace: Jane Addams, Nicholas Murrat Butler

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How I cope

¡Saludos de España! Greetings from Spain!

1458