1937 Facts: Significance, History, Inventions And Much More

1937 certainly carried with it great significance in terms of its history, inventions, and much more.

With the invention of the walkie-talkie to the second-ever Sino-Japanese War, the year brought with it great changes.

In 1937, Hewlett-Packard was founded. The movie 'Fantastia', by Disney, was this new company's first significant job. They started out as a manufacturer of measurement tools before moving into the computer sector in the '60s.

In 1937, Hector Boiardi began bottling his famous pasta sauce. You're probably more familiar with him as Chef Boyardee.

'A Star Is Born' was first produced in 1937, and three remakes have subsequently been released: in 1954, 1976, and 2018. The original film's plot did not revolve around singers/musicians like it did in the sequels.

Fun Facts About 1937

Want to know about fun facts and trivia that happened in 1937? These facts will leave you wondering about what life was like back then.

• The most-watched movies back in the day were 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs', 'Captains Courageous', 'A Day At The Races', 'Angel', 'One Hundred Men And A Girl', 'Lost Horizon', 'Stage Door', 'The Awful Truth', and 'Shall We Dance'. And what were the famous books that were read? They were 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien and the famous 'Think And Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill.
• Shirley Temple was the most known and famous person in America.
• Wonder how much things cost back in the day? The average cost for house rent was $26 a month, a loaf of bread cost 9 cents, a pound of hamburger meat cost 12 cents, and the average price of a new car was $760. How fascinating, right?
• What were the cute babies named in 1937? The top baby names in 1937 were Mary, Shirley, Betty, Barbara, Patricia, John, William, Robert, James, and Richard.
• Who were the famous stars in 1937? They were Josephine Baker, Myrna Loy, Ginger Rogers, Joan Blondell, Olivia de Havilland, Claudette Colbert, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, and Barbara Stanwyck.
• Heard of the Volkswagen, right? In 1937, Volkswagen, the German state-owned carmaker, was formed to produce the new people's car.
• Want to know about the Nobel Prizes in 1937? The Nobel Prize in Physics 1937 was given to George Paget Thomson and Clinton Joseph Davisson for their find of the diffraction of electrons by crystals, which actually was discovered by chance. Fascinating, right?
• Who was born in 1937 in New York? Jack Nicholson and Jane Fonda were both born in 1937 in New York.

Historical Facts About 1937

History, especially from the year 1937, was rich. Let's explore some of the major events that took place.

• In the UK, 1937 was the year in which the coronation of King George VI took place, in May, after he had risen to the throne in 1936.
• What battle happened in 1937, you wonder? At the commencement of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Shanghai was the first of 22 significant battles between the Imperial Japanese Army's National Revolutionary Army (IJA) and the Republic of China (ROC). It lasted from Aug 13, 1937, to Nov 26, 1937, and was one of the war's greatest and bloodiest conflicts. It was later dubbed 'Stalingrad on the Yangtze' and is widely recognized as the battle that kicked off WW II. After more than three months of aggressive action on land, in the air, and at sea, the war ended with a triumph for Japan.
• The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) was largely fought between the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Empire. The war was fought in the Chinese Theater of the World War II, which was part of the larger Pacific Theater. The unfortunate Marco Polo Bridge Incident that occurred on Jul 7, 1937, when a skirmish between Japanese forces and Chinese forces in Peking evolved into a full-scale invasion, is often regarded as the start of the war.
• This full-fledged battle between the Chinese and the Japanese Empire is often recognized as the start of WW II in Asia. However, the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Education declared in 2017 that the term 'eight-year war' should be replaced by '14-year war' in all textbooks, with a revised starting date of Sept 18, 1931 provided by the Japanese victory and invasion of Manchuria.
• Historians in China are dissatisfied with the sweeping revision, according to historian Rana Mitter, and the Republic of China, even for once, did not consider itself to be at war with Japan for the entire six years.
• The Tanggu Truce of 1933 put an end to earlier conflicts in Manchuria, while the He-Umezu Agreement of 1935 confirmed Japanese troops' demands that all anti-Japanese troops in China be disbanded. With the help and assistance of the Soviet Union and the United States, China fought Japanese soldiers. Following the Japanese attacks on Malaya and Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war amalgamated with other wars to form the China Burma India Theater, which is today recognized as a significant region of World War II. Some scholars regard the European War and the Pacific War as two distinct, albeit ongoing, conflicts.
• What was a world-changing fact? The television was publicly released for the first-ever time in America at the New York World's Fair.
• On Nov 2, 1937, elections were held to fill positions on the New York City Council, which had recently been founded to replace the New York City Board of Aldermen.
• One mystery that could not be solved was during Amelia Earhart's attempt at becoming the first-ever woman to fly across the world. She and navigator Fred Noonan vanished after taking off from New Guinea. Nobody knows where they disappeared.
• Have you heard of the Spanish Civil War? The Spanish Civil War lasted from 1936 to 1939 and was fought in Spain. Republicans loyal to the unstable Second Spanish Republic's left-leaning Popular Front government fought an insurgency led by the Nationalists, a partnership between the Falangists, traditionalists, monarchists, and conservatives led by a military group in which General Francisco Franco soon became a dominant figure. The war was perceived as a class fight, a religious struggle, a struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy, a struggle between revolution and counterrevolution, and a struggle between fascism and communist, depending on the international political context at the time.
• According to Claude Bowers, who was the US ambassador to Spain at the time, it was the 'dress rehearsal' for World War II. After winning the war in early 1939, the Nationalists ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.
• The Spanish Civil War first began when a group of generals from the Spanish Republican Armed Forces declared military opposition to the Republican government, with General Emilio Mola as the major planner and leader and General José Sanjurjo as a figurehead. Under the leadership of center-left President Manuel Azaña, the government at the time was a Republican coalition with support from communist and socialist parties in the Cortes.
• What happened in Nazi Germany in 1937? The Encyclical Mit brennender Sorge of Pope Pius XI was published.
• On Mar 18, 1937, an unfortunate natural gas leak produced an explosion, destroying the New London School in New London, Texas, United States, a community in Rusk County originally known as 'London.' More than 295 children and instructors tragically died in the accident. After the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City tragedy, the event is the third-deadliest disaster in Texas history as of 2021.
• Outside help arrived in droves. Governor James V. Allred dispatched Texas Rangers, highway patrol, and the Texas National Guard. From Dallas, 30 doctors, 100 nurses, and 25 embalmers arrived. The rescue and recovery effort included Barksdale Field airmen, deputy sheriffs, and even boy scouts. Rescuers labored through the night and rain to evacuate the entire site, which took 17 hours.
• In the Hindenburg disaster, the German airship Hindenburg burst into flames whilst mooring to a mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey. This airship was fully destroyed by the time it reached the shore at New Jersey.
• The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic in California, thereby creating an essential link between Marin County and San Francisco. The very next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, DC, signaling the start of the vehicular traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.
• Who was the Prime Minister of the UK in 1937? Neville Chamberlain served in the office as the Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940. He remained Prime Minister during the 'phony war' period of sporadic military action, taking into his war cabinet, Winston Churchill. This Prime Minister is most known for his policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler's Germany.
• On June 3, the British Duke of Windsor married American Wallis Warfield Simpson in a quiet ceremony in France. The Duke of Windsor was once King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, but he abdicated in 1936 to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. Simpson was already married when they began dating, which was particularly shocking at the time. Simpson divorced for the second time in her life in order to marry King Edward VIII, but the royal family and British government were opposed to her becoming Queen. They married soon after he abdicated his throne, and her divorce was formalized. They remained together until the Duke of Windsor's death in 1972.

Interesting Innovation Facts In 1937

You may be surprised at the plethora of innovations that happened in technology and the computer industry in 1937 across the world. There were new inventions and discoveries that enabled revolutions.

• 1937 was the year in which the famous walkie-talkie was invented.
• Another exciting and world-changing innovation was the fact that electrophotography was invented by Chester F. Carlson in 1937.
• Dr. Bernard Fantus launched the first-ever hospital blood bank system in the United States in March 1937. Fantus established a blood bank at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Many medical treatments became easier as a result of the blood bank's ability to store and preserve donated blood, as doctors no longer required donors to be present at the moment of transfusion. The number of transfusions at the hospital more than doubled the following year as a result of the blood bank. The blood bank concept revolutionized medicine and aided in the advancement of contemporary surgery.
• The 'Waterman Aerobile,' Waldo Waterman's flying car, took to the air for the first time in February. The Aerobile was a monoplane with high wings and tricycle landing gear that lacked a tail. Waterman had been working on plane prototypes since the 1910s when he designed and built the Aerobile. The Aerobile's design was an enhanced version of his 'Waterman Whatsit' prototype from the early '30s. The vehicle was designed to be a cost-effective and safe aircraft option, and he received recognition from the Bureau of Air Commerce for it. The craft was verified safe after the test flight, but it sparked little interest among the general public, and only a few Aerobiles were produced.
• On Nov 2, 1937, the English clinical pathologist, Lionel Whitby, discovered sulphapyridine M and B 693 - a first-generation sulphonamide antibiotic which, in 1938, was first prescribed to treat pneumonia.
• Alec Reeves invented pulse-code modulation.
• Do you love science? Did something exciting happen in the field of chemistry? We've got some exciting facts for you: Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè confirmed the discovery of the chemical element, which later became known as Technetium at the University of Palermo.
• Methadone, the opioid, was synthesized in Germany by the scientists then working at Hoechst AG.
• Hormel was the first business to introduce spam.
• The world's first emergency call telephone service, using the number 999, was introduced in London, Great Britain.
• Bras were launched with four cup sizes (A, B, C, and D). These cup sizes quickly earned nicknames such as egg cup, teacup, coffee cup, and challenge cup.

Cultural Facts About 1937

Want to learn something about cultural facts and the world and American history in 1937?

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a plan to enlarge the Supreme Court of the United States. Later, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the National Labor Relations Act was to be constitutional.
• Louis Paeth was a world-famous commercial artist in 1937. During the fall of 1918, he enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts to study art. He enrolled in the school's daily residence classes to study cartooning and illustration with lecturers who were themselves accomplished cartoonists. Billy DeBeck, the school's most famous teacher, debuted his new cartoon strip, 'Take Barney Google, F'rinstance,' in the Chicago Herald-American in the summer of 1919.
• The rate of unemployment in 1937 was 14.3%, down 6.7% from the previous year.
• Howard Hughes, millionaire, inventor and industrialist, broke a new aviation record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 7 hours 28 seconds.
• The engineering achievement of the Golden Gate bridge opened, bringing pride to many Americans.
• General Motors was obliged to recognize the UAW United Auto Workers Union after a series of strikes in the auto industry.
• In Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois, a huge flood along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers caused millions of people to lose their homes.
• The Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, California, hosted the world premiere of Walt Disney's 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarves' on December 21, the first of the Snow White series. It was the first full-length animated English language feature picture to be produced in technicolor, and it enthralled fans from the outset, with large crowds assembling to witness the spectacle at the premiere. With a budget of $1.5 million, this Snow White film was supposed to be a flop, but Disney's gamble paid off as the film went on to become a treasured classic, grossing over $6 million by 1939.
• The animated film 'Porky's Duck Hunt' features the popular Looney Tunes character Daffy Duck debuted for the first time in April. Mel Blanc, who also portrayed Porky Pig and would go on to voice Bugs Bunny, provided the voice for the grumpy duck. The short was directed by Tex Avery, a well-known animator, and produced by Warner Bros' Leon Schlesinger. The narrative of the animation centered upon Porky Pig's attempt to hunt Daffy Duck, which was prevented by the duck's antics.
• The fantasy novel, 'The Hobbit,' by British author J.R.R. Tolkien was released on September 21 by News Events. The book was an instant hit, and it was nominated for a Carnegie Medal for Children's Literature. This was Tolkien's first book, and it is today regarded as a prequel to his phenomenally successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. George Allen & Unwin in London published the book. The book garnered favorable reviews after its original release, and the first edition was sold out in a matter of months.

Did you know?

Want some more fun facts because you just can't get enough?

• Ray-Ban sunglasses were first produced for US Air Force pilots in 1936 and became so popular that they were distributed to the general public in 1937. Many movies also highlighted the brand.
• Alice Brady won the 1937 'Best Supporting Actress' Oscar for her part in 'In Old Chicago', but she was unfortunately not able to attend the ceremony, so a man accepted the prize on her behalf. The man, along with the stolen Oscar was never seen again after the ceremony!
• The 1937 Fox vault fire obliterated the silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation.
• Since the year 1937, the Tomb of the Unknowns has been constantly guarded without fail.
• Picasso's best work, according to legend, was Guernica, which he painted in 1937. It stood at a height of over 11 ft (3.35 m) and a width of over 25 ft (7.62 m).
• In St Louis, Lou Thesz defeated Everett Marshall to win the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship.
• Who were the biggest pop artists in the realm of 1937 music? Any guesses? They were Gus Arnheim, Connee Boswell, Fred Astaire, Mildred Bailey, Larry Clinton, Bob Crosby, Bing Crosby, Dolly Dawn & Her Dawn Patrol, Duke Ellington, Shep Fields, and His Rippling Rhythm, and Tommy Dorsey, to name a few.
• The premiere of Daffy Duck was featured in 'Porky's Duck Hunt,' directed by Tex Avery for the Looney Tunes series.
• What happened in the world of comics? Hal Foster's 'Prince Valiant' comic strip debuted. Detective Comics published its inaugural issue. Batman had made his very first appearance in issue #27.
• In Oklahoma City's Humpty Dumpty supermarket, the world's first shopping cart was used.
• The novel 'Of Mice and Men', written by John Steinbeck, was released.