What Happened in March 1934

Historical Events

  • Mar 1 Henry Pu Yi crowned Emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria

Carnera vs Loughran

Mar 1 Italian boxer Primo Carnera beats American challenger Tommy Loughran by unanimous points decision at Madison Square Garden, NYC for the NYSAC and NBA heavyweight titles

  • Mar 2 Union Pacific tests light-weight high-speed passenger train, Omaha

Dillinger's Jail Break

Mar 3 John Dillinger breaks out of jail using a wooden pistol

  • Mar 4 Easter Cross on Mt. Davidson (San Francisco) dedicated
  • Mar 5 Mother-in-law's day 1st celebrated (Amarillo, Texas)
  • Mar 6 Sidney Howard & Paul de Kruif's "Yellowjacket" premieres in NYC

Hubble's Galaxy Photo

Mar 8 Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars

  • Mar 10 Longest undefeated streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history ends - 18 games with 15 wins, 3 ties
  • Mar 10 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Suzanne Davis
  • Mar 12 Acting President Constantine Päts commits coup in Tallinn, Estonia

Tito Freed

Mar 12 Communist revolutionary Josip Broz Tito freed from jail

Mathis der Maler

Mar 12 Paul Hindemith's symphony "Mathis der Maler" premieres in Berlin

  • Mar 15 US Information Service opens

6th Academy Awards

Mar 16 6th Academy Awards: "Cavalcade" and its director Frank Lloyd, Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII), and Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory) win; host Will Rogers announces "Come and get it, Frank" and Frank Capra gets up

  • Mar 16 Academy Award gold statuette 1st called Oscar in print by Sidney Skolsky
  • Mar 16 US Congress passes Migratory Bird Conservation Act

Protocols of Rome

Mar 17 Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, and Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Gömbös sign Donau Pact (Protocols of Rome) guaranteeing Austrian independence

  • Mar 17 England beats Scotland, 6-3 at Twickenham, London to win the Home Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown

Didrikson Zaharias's Hitless Inning

Mar 20 American all-round female super athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias pitches a hitless inning for Philadelphia A's in their exhibition pre-season baseball game against Brooklyn Dodgers

  • Mar 20 Rudolf Kuhnold demonstrates radar in Kiel Germany
  • Mar 21 Fire destroys Hakodate Japan, killing about 1,500
  • Mar 22 Fire destroys Hakodate, Japan, kills 1,500, injures 1,000
  • Mar 23 93rd Grand National: Gerry Wilson wins aboard 8/1 Golden Miller in race record 9:20.04; becomes only horse to win both UK's premier steeplechases with Cheltenham Gold Cup victory 1934

Shostakovich's Suite for Jazz

Mar 24 Dmitri Shostakovich's Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 premieres in Leningrad, USSR

  • Mar 24 U.S. Congress passes the Tydings-McDuffie Act, declaring the Philippines independent after a period of 10 years

1st Augusta National Invitation

Mar 25 1st Augusta National Invitation Tournament (Masters) Golf: Horton Smith wins with 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, 1 stroke ahead of Craig Wood

  • Mar 26 Driving tests introduced in Britain
  • Mar 29 Bank of Travail in Belgium, socialist workers' movement bankrupt
  • Mar 31 Netherlands Indies BC Ltd begins radio transmission (Indonesia)
1934 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Mar 1 Joan Hackett, American stage and screen actress (Will Penny; Only When I Laugh; Mourning Becomes Electra), born in East Harlem, New York (d. 1983)
  • Mar 1 Riet [M. J. J.] Roosen-van Pelt, Dutch politician, 2nd Chamber member (CDA), born in Tilburg, the Netherlands
  • Mar 2 Bernard Rands, British-American composer (Wildtrack), born in Sheffield, England
  • Mar 2 Dottie Rambo [Joyce Luttrell], American gospel singer and songwriter, born in Madisonville, Kentucky (d. 2008)
  • Mar 2 Howard Cassady, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1955, Ohio State; NFL C'ship 1957, Detroit Lions), born in Hendrysburg, Ohio (d. 2019)
  • Mar 3 Gia Scala [Josephine Scoglio], British-American actress (Garment Jungle; I Aim at the Stars; Angry Hills), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1972)
  • Mar 4 Anne Haney, American actress (Mrs. Doubtfire - "Mrs. Sellner"; Liar Liar - "Greta"), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2001)
  • Mar 4 Barbara McNair, American singer ("Till There Was You") and actress (They Call Me MR. Tibbs), born in Racine, Wisconsin (d. 2007)
  • Mar 4 Gleb Yakunin, Russian priest and dissident, born in Moscow (d. 2014)
  • Mar 4 Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist, and author (We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of), born in Ljubljana, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) (d. 2017)
  • Mar 4 John Duffey, American bluegrass guitarist, dobro, and mandolin player (Country Gentlemen), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1996)
  • Mar 4 Mario Davidovsky, Argentine-American electro-acoustic composer (Synchronisms), born in Médanos, Argentina (d. 2019)

Daniel Kahneman (90 years old)

Mar 5 Israeli economist and Nobel laureate (2002), born in Tel Aviv, Israel

  • Mar 5 James B Sikking, American actor (Hill Street Blues - "Lt. Howard Hunter"; Star Trek 3; Doogie Howser), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Mar 5 Nicholas Smith, English actor (Are You Being Served?), born in Surrey, England (d. 2015)
  • Mar 6 John Noakes, British TV presenter, born in Yorkshire, England (d. 2017)
  • Mar 7 Giorgos Katsaros, Greek musician and composer, born in Corfu, Greece
  • Mar 7 Nari Contractor, Indian cricket batsman and captain (31 Tests, 1 x 100, 11 x 50, HS 108; Gujarat, Railways), born in Godhra, India
  • Mar 7 Willard Scott, American weather forecaster (Today Show), born in Alexandria, Virginia (d. 2021)
  • Mar 8 Christian Wolff, German-American experimental classical music composer, born in Nice, France
  • Mar 8 Martí Vergés, Spanish soccer midfielder (12 caps; FC Barcelona), born in Vidreres, Spain (d. 2021)
  • Mar 8 Marv Breeding, American baseball player (d. 2006)
  • Mar 8 Rodri, Spanish soccer defender (4 caps; FC Barcelona) and manager (CD Condal), born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 2022)
  • Mar 8 Ron Taylor, Australian cinematographer (Those Amazing Animals), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 2012)
  • Mar 9 Jim Landis, American MLB outfielder, 1957-67, 5X Gold Glove, 2X All-Star (Chicago White Sox, and 5 other teams), born in Fresno, California (d. 2017)
  • Mar 9 Joyce Van Patten, American actress (Good Guys; Don Rickles Show), born in Queens, New York

Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968)

Mar 9 Russian cosmonaut and 1st man into space (aboard Vostok 1), born in Klushino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

  • Mar 10 Fou Ts'ong, Chinese-British concert pianist, born in Shanghai, Republic of China (d. 2020)
  • Mar 10 Fujiko F. Fujio [Motoo Abiko], Japanese manga cartoon artist (Doraemon), born in Himi, Japan (d. 2022)
  • Mar 11 George Stamatoyannopoulos, Greek genetics researcher (founder of American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy), and educator, born in Athens, Greece (d. 2018)
  • Mar 11 Joep Straesser, Dutch composer (Blossom songs, Ramasasiri), born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (d. 2004)
  • Mar 11 Sam Donaldson, ABC White House correspondent (Prime Time), born in El Paso, Texas
  • Mar 11 Sydney Burke, South African cricket fast bowler (2 Tests; 11-196 on Test debut v NZ 1961), born in Pretoria, South Africa (d. 2017)
  • Mar 12 Rudolph Agnew, British businessman (CEO Consolidated Gold Fields) (d. 2023)
  • Mar 13 Barry Hughart, American author of fantasy novels (Bridge of Birds), born in Peoria, Illinois (d. 2019)
  • Mar 14 Eugene A. Cernan, American naval officer and astronaut (Gemini 9, Apollo 10 17), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2017)
  • Mar 14 Mogens Palle, Danish boxing promoter (International Boxing Hall of Fame 2008) and manager (European manager Sonny Liston), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 2022)
  • Mar 14 Paul Rader, American 15th General of The Salvation Army, born in New York City
  • Mar 14 Shirley Scott, American swing and blues organist (with Stanley Turrentine), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2002)
  • Mar 15 Danny Apolinar, cabaret performer and theatrical composer-songwriter (Do Your Own Thing), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1995)
  • Mar 15 Kanshi Ram, Indian Dalit leader and politician (President of the Bahujan Samaj Party, 1984- 2003; Member of Parliament, 1991- 2004), born in Rupnagar, Punjab, British India (d. 2006)
  • Mar 15 Wolfgang Hufschmidt, German church musician, academic, and composer, born in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany (d. 2018)
  • Mar 16 Howard Schnellenberger, American football coach (National C'ship Uni of Miami 1983; Uni of Oklahoma, Uni of Louisville, Florida Atlantic Uni; Baltimore Colts), born in Saint Meinrad, Indiana (d. 2021)
  • Mar 16 Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
  • Mar 17 Erhard Grosskopf, German avant-garde composer, born in Berlin, Germany
  • Mar 17 Q. T. Macon, American blues singer and guitarist ("Blow Wind"), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1994)
  • Mar 18 Pavle Despalj, Croatian composer and conductor (Zagreb; Miami; Tokyo), born in Blato, Korčula (d. 2021)
  • Mar 18 Pietro Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian politician (Senator for Repentigny, Quebec, 1976-97), born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy (d. 1997)
  • Mar 18 Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager, born in Birmingham, United Kingdom (d. 1983)
  • Mar 20 David Malouf, Australian author, poet, playwright, and librettist, born in Brisbane, Australia
  • Mar 20 Eric Hebborn, British artist and art forger, born in South Kensington, London, England (d. 1996) [1]
  • Mar 20 Mario Conti, Scottish clergyman (Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, 2002-12; Bishop of Aberdeen, 1977-2002), born in Elgin, Scotland (d. 2022)
  • Mar 20 Willie Brown, American Democratic politician and 41st Mayor of San Francisco (1996-2004), born in Mineola, Texas
  • Mar 21 Al Freeman Jr, Tx, actor (One Life to Live, My Sweet Charlie), (d. 2012)
  • Mar 22 Larry Martyn, English comedy actor (d. 1994)
  • Mar 22 Leslie Turnberg, British medical researcher and academic, President of the Royal College of Physicians
  • Mar 22 May Britt, Swedish actress (Young Lions), and wife of Sammy Davis Jr, born in Lidingö, Sweden
  • Mar 22 Orrin Hatch, American politician (US Senator from Utah (R), 1977-2019) longest-serving Utah US Senator, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2022)
  • Mar 23 Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor, born in Montréal, Québec (d. 2006)
  • Mar 23 Ludvig Faddeev, Soviet Russian mathematician (Faddeev–Popov ghosts), born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (d. 2017)
  • Mar 23 Mark Rydell, American actor (Havana, Punchline, Long Goodbye), born in New York City
  • Mar 23 Teresa Procaccini, Italian organist and composer (Clown Music), born in Cerignola, Italy

Gloria Steinem (90 years old)

Mar 25 American feminist and publisher (Ms Magazine), born in Toledo, Ohio

  • Mar 25 Johnny Burnette, American rockabilly singer-songwriter and guitarist ("Train Kept A-Rollin'"; "You're Sixteen"), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1964)
  • Mar 26 Alan Arkin, American Tony and Academy Award-winning actor (The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; Wait Until Dark; Catch-22; The In-Laws; Little Miss Sunshine), and director, born in New York City (d. 2023) [1]
  • Mar 26 Gino Cappelletti, American football running back (AFL All-Star 1961, 63-66; AFL MVP 1964; Boston Patriots), born in Keewatin, Minnesota (d. 2022)
  • Mar 27 Arthur Mitchell, African-American ballet dancer (New York City Ballet, 1955-66), choreographer, and founder of Dance Theater of Harlem (1968), born in Harlem, New York City (d. 2018)
  • Mar 27 David Hancock, British civil servant, secretary (British Department of Education & Science), born in Beckenham, Kent (d. 2013)
  • Mar 27 Istvan Csurka, Hungarian politician and writer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2012)
  • Mar 28 Siegfried Thiele, German composer, and pedagogue, born in Chemnitz, Germany
  • Mar 29 Ernstalbrecht Stiebler, German composer, born in Berlin
  • Mar 29 Mei Baojiu, Chinese opera performer and director (Mei Lanfang Peking Opera), born in Shanghai, China (d. 2016)
  • Mar 29 Paul Crouch, American televangelist (Trinity Broadcasting Network), born in Saint Joseph, Missouri (d. 2013)
  • Mar 30 Lanny Morgan, American West coast jazz and studio alto saxophonist (Maynard Ferguson), born in Des Moines, Iowa
  • Mar 31 Grigori Grigoyevich Nelyubov, Russian cosmonaut (Vostok 1 backup), born in Porfiryevka, Crimea, USSR (d. 1966)
  • Mar 31 John D. Loudermilk, country singer and songwriter ("Tobacco Road"), born in Durham, North Carolina (d. 2016)

Richard Chamberlain (89 years old)

Mar 31 American stage and screen actor (Dr. Kildare (TV series); The Thorn Birds), born in Beverly Hills, California

Shirley Jones (89 years old)

Mar 31 American Academy Award-winning actress (Elmer Gantry; Oklahoma!), and singer (Partridge Family), born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania

  • Mar 31 Wim Sinnige, Dutch politician (PvdA) (Amsterdam Alderman of Finance, 1973-80), and arts administrator, born in the Netherlands (d. 1995)
Born in 1934

Famous Weddings

Bảo Đại

Mar 20 Vietnam emperor Bảo Đại (20) weds empress Nam Phương (19) at the imperial city of Huế

Famous Deaths

  • Mar 3 Norman O'Neill, English theatrical composer (Mary Rose) and conductor, dies from injuries sustained after being struck by a package delivery tricycle at 58
  • Mar 12 Harry Green, English athlete (WR marathon 2:38:16.2 1913), dies from pneumonia at 37
  • Mar 13 Fritz Cortolezis, German conductor, opera director, and composer, dies at 56

Davidson Black (1884-1934)

Mar 15 Canadian paleoanthropologist and doctor of anatomy who identified "Peking Man", dies while working alone during the night, in Beijing, China at 49

  • Mar 19 Anthony John Blok, Dutch lawyer (strafproces), dies at 66
  • Mar 20 Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen consort of William and Regent of the Netherlands, dies at 76
  • Mar 21 Franz Schreker [Schrecker], Austrian conductor, composer (Die Gezeichneten; Der ferne Klang), teacher, and administrator dies of a heart attack at 55
  • Mar 21 Lilyan Tashman, American actress (Millie, Bulldog Drummond), dies following cancer surgery at 34
  • Mar 22 Theophilos Hatzimihail, Greek painter (b. 1870)
  • Mar 24 William Donne, English cricket batsman, (Olympic gold 1900) and administrator (President England Rugby Football Union), dies at 58
  • Mar 26 Grete Gulbransson, Austrian writer and poet (Geliebte Schatten), dies at 51
  • Mar 27 Francis William Reitz, 5th State President of the Orange Free State, dies at 89
  • Mar 29 Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire and benefactor (b. 1867)
  • Mar 31 Franz Ehrle, German Jesuit and Vatican librarian (modernised the Vatican Library), dies at 88