What Happened in December 1938

Historical Events

Fermi Awarded Physics Nobel

Dec 10 Italian scientist Enrico Fermi receives the Nobel Prize for Physics (work on reduced radioactivity)

Dec 10 Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Zen teacher, Rinzai line, enters Zen priesthood

NY Giants vs. Green Bay Packers

Dec 11 National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: New York Giants beat Green Bay Packers, 23-17; record title game attendance 48,120

Dec 13 Los Angeles, California freezes at 28°F
Dec 14 AL permits Cleveland & Philadelphia to play night games

Standard Ball for MLB

Dec 14 Major League Baseball agrees on use of a standard ball; disagrees on increasing rosters from 23 to 25 players, although Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis eventually decides on 25

1st MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Dec 14 Will Harridge is elected to a 10-year-term as AL president
Dec 15 Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Cross of Honour of the German Mother

Dec 16 Adolf Hitler institutes the state decoration and civil order of merit, Cross of Honour of the German Mother

Dec 16 State of California executes Ed Davis (38), leader of Folsom Prison escape attempt resulting in murder of warden and guard (San Quentin State Prison, Marin County)
Dec 17 Discovery of nuclear fission using uranium by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann
Dec 17 Utrecht Central Station destroyed by fire
Dec 20 Boston Bruins rookie goalie Frankie Brimsek records his 3rd straight shutout with a 3-0 win over the New York Americans, making it his incredible sixth shutout in his first 8 NHL games
Dec 23 Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa

Wizard of Oz Costume Catches Fire

Dec 23 Margaret Hamilton's costume catches fire while filming "The Wizard of Oz"

Publicity still of the Wizard of Oz, showing the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Dorothy and Cowardly Lion

Vivian Leigh to Play Scarlet O'Hara

Dec 25 George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind"

Dec 26 Tom Goddard takes a cricket hat-trick for England v South Africa
Dec 28 Paul Gibb scores 106 on Test Cricket debut v South Africa
Dec 29 Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle, begins
Dec 31 Daniel Sternefeld conducts premiere of his ballet "Pierlala" at the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp; choreographer Wladimir Karnetzky also danced the title role
Dec 31 Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer", 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana
Dec 31 Dutch national debt hits ƒ3,986,629,805.70

Events in 1938

Famous Birthdays

Dec 1 Bill Playle, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests), born in Palmerston North, New Zealand (d. 2019)
Dec 1 Sandy Nelson, American rock drummer ("Teen Beat"; "Let There Be Drums"), born in Santa Monica, California (d. 2022)
Dec 2 Luis Artime, Argentine soccer striker and manager (25 caps; River Plate), born in Parque Civit, Argentina
Dec 3 José Serebrier, Uruguayan conductor and composer (Star Wagon; Passacaglia and Perpetuum Mobile), born in Montevideo, Uruguay
Dec 3 Martyn Taylor, teacher/campaigner
Dec 4 Andre Marrou, American Libertarian Presidential candidate (1992), born in Nixon, Texas
Dec 4 Frank Myler, English rugby league stand-off (24 caps Great Britain, 1 England; Widnes, St. Helens) and coach (Widnes, Swinton, Oldham), born in Widnes, England (d. 2020)
Dec 4 Liesbeth Struppert, Dutch actress (Miep Gies-Anne Frank), born in Deventer, Overijssel, Netherlands (d. 1994)
Dec 4 Lynn Blessing, vibes player (d. 1994)
Dec 4 Richard Meade, British equestrian (3 x Olympic gold eventing 1968, 72; World C'ship gold team 1970, 82), born in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales (d. 2015)
Dec 4 Yvonne Minton, Australian-British soprano, born in Sydney, Australia
Dec 5 Gennady Sapunov, Russian Greco-Roman wrestler (World C'ship gold lightweight 1963, 65; silver 1966) and coach (Soviet GR wrestling team 1979-90), born in Ust-Muya, Russia (d. 2023)
Dec 5 J. D. McDuffie, American auto racer (653 x NASCAR Cup Series races; 106 x top-10 finishes), born in Upper Little River Township, North Carolina (d. 1991)
Dec 5 J. J. Cale, American rock guitarist and songwriter ("After Midnight": "Call Me The Breeze"; "Cocaine"), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 2013)
Dec 6 Oxana Yablonskaya, Russian concert pianist, and music professor (Juilliard School, 1978-2009), born in Moscow, USSR
Dec 6 Patrick Bauchau, Belgian actor (Scarpine-A View To Kill), born in Brussels, Belgium

Dec 9 Deacon Jones, American Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end (8 × Pro Bowl; 5 × First-team All-Pro; LA Rams, SD Chargers), born in Eatonville, Florida (d. 2013)
Dec 9 Rina Venter, South African Minister of National Health and Population Development (1989-94)
Dec 9 William Thomas McKinley, American composer and jazz pianist, born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
Dec 10 Bill Mathis, American football halfback (AFL All Star 1961, 63; New York Titans/Jets), born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (d. 2020)
Dec 10 Yuri Temirkanov, Russian conductor (Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1976-88; Baltimore Symphony, 2000-06), born in Nalchik, Russia, USSR (d. 2023) [1]
Dec 11 Enrico Macias, Algerian-French singer, born in Constantine, Algeria
Dec 11 Fred Cox, American football kicker (NFL C'ship 1969; Pro Bowl 1970; Minnesota Vikings all-time leading scorer), born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)
Dec 11 McCoy Tyner, American jazz pianist (John Coltrane Quartet), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2020)
Dec 12 Joel Chadabe, American electronic music composer, born in New York City (d. 2021)
Dec 13 Alvin Curran, American composer (Inner Cities; I Dreamt John Cage Yodeling at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof), born in Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 13 Heino [Heinz Georg Kramm], German schlager and traditional volksmusik singer, born in Düsseldorf-Oberbilk, Germany
Dec 13 Tom Shaw, American golfer (The Tradition 1993), born in Wichita, Kansas
Dec 13 Tony Gomez, British rock keyboardist (The Foundations - "Baby Now That I've Found You"; "Build Me Up Buttercup"), born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) (d. 2015)
Dec 14 Hal Williams, American actor (Pvt Benjamin, 227, Sanford & Son), born in Columbus, Ohio
Dec 14 Janette Scott, English actress (Day of the Triffids), born in Morecambe, Lancashire, England

Dec 14 Leonardo Boff, Brazilian Catholic theologian (liberation theology) and writer, born in Concórdia, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Dec 15 Bob Foster, American boxer (world light-heavyweight champion 1968-74), born in Lubbock, Texas (d. 2015)
Dec 15 Dennis RB Madide, South African Internal minister of Transkei
Dec 15 Fred Anton Maier, Norwegian speed skater (Olympic gold 5,000m 1968, bronze 1964; silver 10,000m 1964, 68; 11 x WRs), born in Nøtterøy, Norway (d. 2015)
Dec 16 Frank Deford, American sportswriter

Jimmie Lee Jackson (1938-1965)

Dec 16 American civil rights protester and church deacon, shot and killed by an Alabama State Trooper in 1965, born in Marion, Alabama

Dec 16 Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress and director (The Emigrants, Persona), born in Tokyo, Japan
Dec 17 Carlo Little, English rock drummer (Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages), born in Shepherd's Bush, London, England (d. 2005)
Dec 17 Gilles Tremblay, Canadian NHL hockey left winger, 1961-69, 4X Stanley Cup champ (Montreal Canadiens), and French-language broadcaster, 1971-97, born in Montmorency, Quebec (d. 2014)
Dec 17 Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete (Olympic gold 800m 1960, 64; 1,500m 1964), born in Opunake, New Zealand (d. 2019)
Dec 18 Roger E. Mosley, American actor (actor (Magnum, P.I. -"TC"; Leadbelly), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2022)
Dec 18 [Bryan] Chas Chandler, English rock bassist (The Animals - "House of the Rising Sun"), and manager of Jimi Hendrix, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (d. 1996)
Dec 20 John Harbison, American composer (The Flight Into Egypt; The Great Gatsby), born in Orange, New Jersey
Dec 21 Larry Bryggman, American actor (Dr John Dixon-As the World Turns), born in Concord, California
Dec 21 Roland Coryn, Belgian violist, composer, and music educator, born in Kortrijk, Belgium
Dec 22 Lucien Bouchard, French Canadian lawyer and politician, born in Saint-Cœur-de-Marie, Quebec
Dec 22 Matty Alou, Dominican baseball outfielder (NL batting champion 1966; MLB All-Star 1968-69; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Haina, Dominican Republic (d. 2011)
Dec 23 Robert Kahn, American internet pioneer (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), born in Brooklyn, New York
Dec 24 Hans Küppers, German soccer midfielder (7 caps, West Germany; TSV 1860 Munich, 1. FC Nürnberg), born in Essen, Germany (d. 2021)
Dec 24 Ralp Inbar, Dutch TV host (Banana Split), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 2004)
Dec 24 Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
Dec 25 David Borden, American jazz and minimalist keyboard player and composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 25 Duane Armstrong, American painter (Fields of Grass), born in Fresno, California
Dec 25 Wibo van de Linde, Dutch TV host/director (Avro)
Dec 26 Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (d. 1989)
Dec 26 Bahram Beizai, Iranian playwright and film director
Dec 27 Ron Greene, American college basketball coach (Uni of New Orleans, Mississippi State, Murray State, Indiana State), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 2021)
Dec 28 Bruce Yarnell, American actor (Outlaws) and singer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1973)
Dec 28 Dick Sudhalter, American jazz trumpeter, and writer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2008)
Dec 28 Frank Kelly, Irish stage and screen actor (Father Ted), born in Dublin (d. 2016)
Dec 28 Janet Hough Bryant, author/performing artist/educator
Dec 28 John Gleeson, Australian rugby league five eighth (10 Tests; Queensland 25 games; Wynnum-Manly, Brothers RLFC), born in Chinchilla, Australia (d. 2021)
Dec 28 Pachín, Spanish soccer defender (8 caps; Real Madrid) and manager (Osasuna, Levante, Granada), born in Torrelavega, Spain (d. 2021)
Dec 29 Gianluigi Saccaro, Italian fencer (Olympic gold épée team 1960; silver épée team 1964; bronze épée 1968), born in Milan, Italy (d. 2021)

Jon Voight (85 years old)

Dec 29 American actor (Deliverance, Midnight Cowboy), born in Yonkers, New York

Dec 29 Wayne Huizenga, American businessman, CEO (Waste Management, Blockbuster), and sports team owner (Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers, Florida Marlins), born in Evergreen Park, Illinois (d. 2018)
Dec 30 Ron Wolf, American Pro Football HOF executive (GM Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XXXI), born in New Freedom, Pennsylvania
Dec 31 Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (Women's World Champion, 1970, 1972-74; European Champion, 1972-74), born in Grou, Netherlands (d. 2013)
Dec 31 Henricus G Wijmans, Dutch graphic artist
Dec 31 Rosalind Cash, American actress (Omega Man, Wrong is Right), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 1995)

Born in 1938

Famous Divorces

Bette Davis

Dec 6 Actress Bette Davis (30) divorces musician Harmon Nelson (31) after more than 6 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Dec 4 Dina Appeldoorn, Dutch classical pianist and composer, dies at 54
Dec 4 Tamanishiki San'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler (32nd yokozuna; winner 9 top division yūshō), dies following a delayed appendectomy at 34
Dec 7 Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
Dec 8 Friedrich Glauser, German-language Swiss writer (Sergeant Studer detective novels), dies of a stroke at 42
Dec 9 Johannes van Laar, Dutch chemist (thermodynamics), dies at 78
Dec 10 Mario Pilati, Italian composer, dies at 35
Dec 11 Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist and internationalist (Nobel Peace Prize 1921), dies at 69
Dec 12 James McNeill, Irish politician, 2nd Governor-General of the Irish Free State, dies at 69
Dec 14 Maurice Emmanuel, French composer and musicologist (Salamine), dies at 76
Dec 19 Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), dies at 65
Dec 20 Annie Armstrong, American missionary leader, dies at 88
Dec 21 Helen Miller Shepard, American philanthropist who established Hall of Fame, dies at 70
Dec 23 Robert Herrick, American novelist (Chimes), dies at 70
Dec 24 Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)
Dec 25 Karel Čapek, Czech author, playwright and critic (R.U.R.), coined term "robot", dies of pneumonia at 48
Dec 27 Calvin Bridges, American geneticist (b. 1889)
Dec 27 Emile Vandervelde, President (1900–1918) of the International Socialist Bureau and Minister of 3 Belgian governments dies at 72
Dec 27 Osip Mandelstam, Polish-Russian poet and writer (Kamen), dies in a Siberian transit camp of typhoid fever at 47
Dec 28 Florence Lawrence [Bridgwood], Canadian stage and silent screen actress (Confidence; Lady Helen's Escapade), dies of probable suicide at 52
Dec 31 Richard Nicolaas Roland Holst, Dutch artist and painter, dies at 70

On This Day