1931 in the United States
| 1931 in the United States | |
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| Years: | 1928 1929 1930 – 1931 – 1932 1933 1934 |
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 48 stars (1912–59) | |
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Timeline of United States history
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Events from the year 1931 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal Government
- President: Herbert Hoover (Republican)
- Vice President: Charles Curtis (Republican)
- Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Longworth (R-Ohio) (until March 4), John Nance Garner (D-Texas) (starting December 7)
- Senate Majority Leader: James Eli Watson (R-Indiana)
- Congress: 71st (until March 4), 72nd (starting March 4)
Events
January–March
- January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
- January 6 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
- February 20 – California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.
- March 1 – The USS Arizona is placed back in full commission after a refit.
- March 3 – The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States national anthem.
- March 17 – Nevada legalizes gambling.
- March 25 – The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.
April–June
May 1: Empire State Building completed
- April 15 – The Castellemmarese War ends with the assassination of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, briefly leaving Salvatore Maranzano as capo di tutti i capi ("boss of all bosses") and undisputed ruler of the American Mafia. Maranzano is himself assassinated less than 6 months later, leading to the establishment of the Five Families.
- April 18 – Cheverly, Maryland is incorporated.
- April 22 – Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the USA recognize the Spanish Republic.
- May 1 – Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
- June 19 – In an attempt to stop the banking crisis in Central Europe from causing a worldwide financial meltdown, President Herbert Hoover issues the Hoover Moratorium.
- June 23 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to accomplish the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.[1]
July–September
- July – John Haven Emerson of Cambridge, Massachusetts perfects the Emerson iron lung just in time for the growing polio epidemic.
- July 26 – The International Bible Students Association[2] adopts the name Jehovah's Witnesses at a convention in Columbus, Ohio.
October–December
- October – The Caltech Department of Physics Faculty and graduate students meet with Albert Einstein as a guest.
- October 17 – American gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in Chicago, Illinois.
- October 24 – The George Washington Bridge is dedicated; it opens to traffic the following day.
- December 12 – The Eta Chapter of Kappa Delta Phi is founded at The University of Maine at Machias.
- December 26 – Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest existing Latino fraternity, is founded.
Undated
- Deuterium is discovered by Harold Clayton Urey.
- The National Committee for Modification of the Volstead Act is formed to work for the repeal of prohibition in the United States.
Ongoing
- Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937)
- U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934)
- Prohibition (1919–1933)
- Great Depression (1929–1933)
- Dust Bowl (1930–1936)
Births
- January 7 – Mack Mattingly, United States Senator from Georgia from 1981 till 1987.
- January 20 – Preston Henn, American businessman, founded the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop
- February 24 – James Abourezk, United States Senator from South Dakota from 1973 to 1979.
- April 10 – James L. Dozier, United States Army officer
- May 16 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., United States Senator from Connecticut from 1971 till 1989.
- September 2 – Alan K. Simpson, United States Senator from Wyoming from 1979 till 1997.
- September 17 – Anne Bancroft, American movie actress (d. 2005)
- October 23 – Jim Bunning, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1999 till 2011.
References
- ↑ "Wiley Post". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
- ↑ Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses#International Bible Students Association
External links
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Media related to 1931 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons
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