1938
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Years: 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 - 1938 - 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943
Events
- January 3 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- January 11 - Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
- March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
- June - Superman first published in comic book form.
- September - European crisis over German demand for annexation of Sudeten borderland of Czecholslovakia.
- September 29 - Munich conference of German, Italian, British and French leaders agrees to German demands.
- October 30 - Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing mass panic in the eastern United States.
- November 9 - Kristallnacht ("night of broken glass"): widespread anti-semitic pogrom in Germany.
- December 23 - Coelacanth caught off the coast of South Africa.
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1938 in film
- January - MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors.
- April 5 - Noel Langley completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz.
- May 7 - Lyricist Edgar Yipsel Harburg and composer, Harold Arlen, begin work on the musical score for The Wizard of Oz.
- July 25 - MGM announces that Bert Lahr has been cast as the "Cowardly Lion" in The Wizard of Oz.
- October 21 - Buddy Ebsen suffers from a near fatal allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his "Tinman" make-up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen is replaced by Jack Haley.
- December 23 - Margaret Hamilton is severely burned during a mishap on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Hamilton, who was cast in the role of the "Wicked Witch", left the film for six weeks.
- 1938 in literature
- Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
- Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
- Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
- The White Stag by Kate Seredy
- The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
- 1938 in music
- January 17 - Benny Goodman plays Carnegie Hall
- 1938 in sports
- February - British Empire Games held in Sydney, Australia
- June - Italy wins Football World Cup in France
- 1938 in television
- May 31 - W2XBS telecasts the film The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Leslie Howard. The staff projectionist accidentally played the last reel out of order, ending the film 20 minutes early. NBC was unable to obtain the rights to first run movies for many years to follow.
- November 15 - NBC's W2XBT airs what was the first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire which broke out on Ward's Island.
Births:
- January 5 - King Juan Carlos of Spain
- January 10 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist
- January 10 - Willie McCovey, Baseball Hall of Famer
- January 14 - Jack Jones, singer, actor
- January 31 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- February 11 - Boris Majorov, Soviet ice hockey player.
- February 11 - Yevgeniy Majorov, Soviet ice hockey player.
- February 11 - Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricket player.
- February 11 - Willy Correa de Oliveira, composer.
- February 11 - Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator.
- May 31 - Peter Yarrow (singer)
- April 29 - Larry Niven, author
- July 27 - Gary Gygax, author
- September 29 - Wim Kok, prime minister of The Netherlands (1994- )
- November 13 - Jean Seberg, actress
- November 16 - Robert Nozick, (philosopher)
Deaths:
- August 16 - Robert Johnson, blues musician