What Happened in January 1938

Historical Events

  • Jan 1 24th Rose Bowl: #2 California beats #4 Alabama, 13-0
  • Jan 1 4th Orange Bowl: Auburn beats Michigan State, 6-0
  • Jan 1 4th Sugar Bowl: Santa Clara beats LSU, 6-0
  • Jan 2 Book publisher Simon and Schuster founded

Henry Hudson Statue

Jan 6 Bronze memorial statue of explorer Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx, New York

  • Jan 10 Eduard van Beinum debuts as conductor of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands

La Sauvage

Jan 10 Jean Anouilh's play "La Sauvage" premieres in Paris

  • Jan 10 Paul Vincent Carroll's "White Seed" premieres in NYC
  • Jan 11 Don Bradman scores a second innings 113 vs Qld after a ton in the 1st innings
  • Jan 11 Frances Moulton elected 1st woman president of a US national bank
  • Jan 13 The Church of England accepts the theory of evolution
  • Jan 14 National Society for Legalization of Euthanasia forms (NY)

Carnegie Hall's First Jazz Concert

Jan 16 First jazz concert held at Carnegie Hall, performed by Benny Goodman and his band

Berg retains Title

Jan 16 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg retains title by a massive 14 strokes ahead of Jane Cothran

Kennedy US Ambassador

Jan 17 Joseph P. Kennedy becomes the 44th United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom

  • Jan 17 Supreme Soviet elects Michail Kalinin as presidium chairman
  • Jan 18 Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Jan 19 General Motors begins mass production of diesel engines
  • Jan 21 Dutch government starts obligatory unemployment insurance

Our Town

Jan 22 "Our Town", Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer-winner of small-town life in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, premieres (NJ)

  • Jan 25 Ian Hay's "Bachelor Born" premieres in NYC

Budge's Grand Slam 1st Leg

Jan 31 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: American Don Budge wins the 1st-leg of his Grand Slam; beats John Bromwich of Australia 6-4, 6-2, 6-1

  • Jan 31 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: American Dorothy Cheney wins her only Grand Slam singles title; beats Dorothy Stevenson of Australia 6-3, 6-2
1938 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Jan 1 Bill Emerson, American politician (Rep-R-MO, 1981-96), born in Saint Louis Missouri (d. 1996)
  • Jan 1 Frank Langella, American actor (Dracula, Frost/Nixon), born in Bayonne, New Jersey
  • Jan 1 Fuad Masum, 7th President of Iraq (2014-2018), born in Koya, Kingdom of Iraq
  • Jan 1 Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (d. 2005)
  • Jan 2 David Bailey, British fashion and portraiture photographer(Vogue; Alice Cooper "Billion Dollar Babies" album cover art), and director, born in Leytonstone, Essex, England
  • Jan 2 Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
  • Jan 2 Ian Brady [Ian Duncan Stewart], British serial killer (Moors Murders), born in Glasgow (d. 2017)
  • Jan 2 John Considine, actor (Reginald Love-Another World)
  • Jan 4 Rick Lantz, American football coach (World Bowl XII 2004 Berlin Thunder; NFL Europe Coach of the Year 2004), born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 2023)
  • Jan 5 Jim Otto, NFL center (Oakland Raiders), born in Wausau, Wisconsin

Juan Carlos I (86 years old)

Jan 5 King of Spain (1975-2014), born in Rome, Italy

  • Jan 5 Leo Avery, Abbot of Quarr Abbey, born in Wakefield, United Kingdom (d. 1996)
  • Jan 5 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan writer, born in Kamirithu, British Kenya
  • Jan 5 Piet Kruiver, Dutch soccer star, born in Koog aan de Zaan, Netherlands (d. 1989)
  • Jan 6 Adriano Celentano, Italian singer and actor, born in Greco
  • Jan 6 Mario Rodríguez Cobos (aka Silo), Argentine writer and spiritual leader, born in Mendoza, Argentina (d. 2010)
  • Jan 6 Prof Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist, born in Melbourne, Australia
  • Jan 7 Jasperina de Jong, Dutch cabaret performer and actress (Jan Rap en z'n Maat), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Jan 7 Lou Graham, American golfer (US Open 1975), born in Nashville, Tennessee
  • Jan 7 Paul Revere [Dick], American rock organ player and pianist (Paul Revere & Raiders - "Kicks": "Indian Reservation"), born in Harvard, Nebraska (d. 2014)
  • Jan 7 Roland Topor, French surrealist illustrator, novelist (The Tenant), playwright, and filmmaker, born in Paris, France (d. 1997)
  • Jan 7 Rory Storm [Alan Caldwell], British rock singer (Rory Storm & the Hurricanes), born in Stoneycroft, Liverpool, England (d. 1972)
  • Jan 8 Bob Eubanks, American DJ and television personality (Newlywed Game), born in Flint, Michigan
  • Jan 8 Jørn Elniff, Danish bebop jazz drummer (Music for Mice and Men; Bud Powell), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1991)
  • Jan 9 Aad Kosto, Dutch Labour Party politician who had his house blown up in a failed assassination attempt, born in Oegstgeest, Netherlands
  • Jan 9 Fred Goodall, New Zealand cricket umpire (24 Tests, 15 one-day internationals 1965-88), born in Greymouth, New Zealand (d. 2021)
  • Jan 10 Donald Knuth, American mathematician & computer scientist, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Frank Mahovlich (86 years old)

Jan 10 Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame left wing, politician (6-time Stanley Cup winner, born in Timmins, Ontario

Willie McCovey (1938-2018)

Jan 10 American Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman (6 x MLB All Star; NL MVP 1969; NL home run leader 1963, 68, 69; SF Giants), born in Mobile, Alabama

  • Jan 11 Arthur Scargill, British Marxist and trade unionist (President of National Union of Mineworkers. 1982-2002), born in Barnsley, United Kingdom
  • Jan 11 Fischer Black, American economist and one of the authors of the Black–Scholes equation, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1995)
  • Jan 11 Micky Fenn, British dock worker, trade unionist, anti-fascist, and anti-racist activist, born in England (d. 1996)
  • Jan 12 Lewis Fiander, Australian actor, born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2016)
  • Jan 13 Billy Gray, American actor (Father Knows Best - "Bud"), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Jan 13 Daevid Allen [Christopher David], Australian musician and performance artist (Soft Machine, Gong), born in Melbourne, Victoria (d. 2015)
  • Jan 13 Jean Cabut [Cabu], French caricaturist (Charlie Hebdo), born in Châlons-en-Champagne, France (d. 2015)
  • Jan 13 Paavo Heininen, Finnish pianist, contemporary classical composer (Tritopos; Veitsi - The Knife), and pedagogue, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 2022)
  • Jan 13 Richard Anthony [Btesh], Syrian-French pop singer, and songwriter ("Aranjuez mon amour"; "Amoureux de ma femme"), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 2015)
  • Jan 13 Shiv Kumar Sharma, Indian santoor (100-string dulcimer-like instrument) master, and composer, born in Jammu, British India (d. 2022)
  • Jan 13 Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
  • Jan 13 William B. Davis, Canadian actor (The X Files - "Smoking Man"), director, and teacher, born in Toronto, Ontario

Allen Toussaint (1938-2015)

Jan 14 American pianist, songwriter and producer ("Mother-In-Law"; "Working In A Coal Mine"; "Southern Nights"), born in Gert Town, Louisiana

  • Jan 14 Jack Jones, American singer (Love Boat Theme), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Jan 15 Chuni Goswami, Indian soccer striker and captain (30 caps; Mohun Bagan) and cricket all-rounder (captain Bengal), born in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh (d. 2020)
  • Jan 16 Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, late night television talk show host, author (O Xangô de Baker Street - A Samba for Sherlock), and jazz musician, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 2022)
  • Jan 16 Lou Angotti, Canadian ice hockey right wing (Chicago Black Hawks) and coach (St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins), born in Toronto, Canada (d. 2021)
  • Jan 16 Michael Pataki, American actor (Get Christie Love), born in Youngstown, Ohio
  • Jan 17 John Bellairs, American sci-fi author (Chessmen of Doom), born in Marshall, Michigan (d. 1991)
  • Jan 18 Anthony Giddens, English sociologist (theory of structuration), and prolific author, born in Edmonton, London

Curt Flood (1938-1997)

Jan 18 American baseball player (St Louis Cards), born in Houston, Texas

  • Jan 18 Hargus “Pig” Robbins, American Nashville session piano player (Patsy Cline; Charlie Rich; Roger Miller; Bob Dylan; Ween), born in Spring City, Tennessee (d. 2022) [1]
  • Jan 19 Denny Smith, American politician (Rep-R-OR, 1981-91), born in Ontario, Oregon
  • Jan 19 Eskil Hemberg, Swedish composer, conductor (Stockholm University Chorus, 1959-84), and artistic director (Royal Swedish Opera, 1987-96), born in Stockholm (d. 2004)
  • Jan 21 John Savident, British actor
  • Jan 21 Romano Fogli, Italian soccer midfielder (13 caps; Torino FC, Bologna FC 1909, A.C. Milan, Calcio Catania) and manager (Bologna FC), born in Santa Maria a Monte, Italy (d. 2021)
  • Jan 21 Wolfman Jack [Robert Weston Smith], American disc jockey (The Midnight Special), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1995)
  • Jan 22 Altair, Brazilian footballer
  • Jan 22 Corra Dirksen, South African rugby union winger (10 caps; Northern Transvaal), born in Vereeniging, South Africa (d. 2020)
  • Jan 22 Joe Esposito, American author and friend of Elvis, born in Chicago (d. 2016)
  • Jan 23 Anatoly Marchenko, Soviet dissident, born in Barabinsk, Russia (d. 1986)
  • Jan 23 Shohei Baba, Japanese professional wrestler, born in iigata Prefecture, Japan (d. 1999)
  • Jan 24 Gyula Torok, Hungarian boxer (Oly Gold 1960), born in Kispest, Hungary (d. 2014)
  • Jan 24 Julius Hemphill, American jazz saxophonist, and composer, born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 1995)
  • Jan 25 Betico Croes, Arubian politician (Status Aparte), born in Aruba (d. 1986)

Etta James (1938-2012)

Jan 25 American singer ("Roll With Me"; "At Last"), born in Los Angeles, California

  • Jan 25 Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese creator of anime, born in Kurume, Japan
  • Jan 25 Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese manga author, born in Tome, Japan (d. 1998)
  • Jan 26 Bill Wurtzel, American jazz and classical guitarist (Count Basie), born in Forestburgh, New York
  • Jan 26 Margaret Daly, British MEP
  • Jan 27 Timothy Elworthy, Captain of The Queen's Flight
  • Jan 28 Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter (Olympic gold USSR +90 kg 1964, 68: World C'ships gold 1964, 65, 66, 68), born in Uspenka, Ukraine (d. 2016)
  • Jan 29 Bill Christian, American ice hockey center (Olympic gold 1960, captain), born in Warroad, Minnesota
  • Jan 30 Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan (1991-2016), born in Samarkand (d. 2016)
  • Jan 30 Marcel van Dam, Dutch politician/CEO (VARA Radio/TV)
  • Jan 30 Marlies van Alcmaer [Smal], Dutch actress and director (Bridge too Far)
  • Jan 31 Ajip Rosidi, Indonesian poet/writer (Madjalah Sunda, Pesta)
  • Jan 31 Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, former Queen of the Netherlands (1980-2013), born in Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • Jan 31 James G. Watt, American lawyer and US Secretary of the Interior (1981-83), born in Lusk, Wyoming (d. 2023)
  • Jan 31 Lynn Carlin [Mary Lynn Reynolds], American actress (James at 15 - "Joan Hunter"; Faces), born in Los Angeles, California
Born in 1938

Famous Weddings

Stan Laurel

Jan 1 Comedian Stan Laurel (47) marries 3rd wife Vera Ivanova Shuvalova

Famous Deaths

  • Jan 3 Arthur Boon, Flemish priest/philologist, dies at 54
  • Jan 8 Christian Rohlfs, German painter and artist, dies at 88
  • Jan 8 Johnny Gruelle, American cartoonist, creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (b. 1880)
  • Jan 12 Gösta Ekman (senior), Swedish actor (b. 1890)
  • Jan 16 Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian Bengali novelist (Devdas), dies at 61
  • Jan 17 William Pickering, American astronomer (predicted Pluto), dies at 79
  • Jan 21 George Méliès, French early filmmaker (A Trip to the Moon), dies at 76

Zitkála-Šá (1876-1938)

Jan 26 Native American (Yankton Dakota) writer, violinist, librettist (The Sun Dance Opera), educator, and political activist, dies at 61

  • Jan 28 Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver, dies at 28
  • Jan 28 John Sharp, English cricketer (England bat 1909, also soccer intl), dies ay 69 or 70