1937 Crown
To Commemorate King George VI Coronation

This is a 50% Silver Crown Coin minted by the Royal Mail in 1937

Discover a piece of history with the 1937 Crown, a genuine artefact from the United Kingdom's rich past. Crafted from 50% solid sterling silver, this antique coin features the regal imagery of King and Queen, a timeless symbol of British heritage. The Royal Mint ensures its authenticity as an original piece, preserving the craftsmanship of a bygone era. Dating back to the years 1900-1940, this coin stands as a testament to the grandeur of the British Empire. It is a single unit, cherished for its age and the storied tales it carries. This vintage coin is an elegant addition to any collection, appealing to enthusiasts of history and numismatics alike.

George VI was the King who ruled Great Britian during World War II, he was the grand father of the current King Charles III and the father of Queen Elizabeth II

1 Crown - George VI (Coronation) - obverse1 Crown - George VI (Coronation) - reverse

Features
Issuer     United Kingdom (United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies)
King     George VI (1936-1952)
Type     Circulating commemorative coins
Year     1937
Value     1 Crown (¼)
Currency     Pound sterling (1158-1970)
Composition     Silver (.500)
Weight     28.28 g
Diameter     38.61 mm
Thickness     2.9 mm
Shape     Round
Technique     Milled
Orientation     Medal alignment ↑↑
Number     N#
8473
References     KM# 857, Sp# 4078/9
Commemorative issue

Coronation of King George VI, 1937
Obverse

Uncrowned portrait of King George VI left, legend around.

Script: Latin

Lettering: GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX

Unabridged legend: Georgius VI Dei Gratia Britanniarum Omnium Rex

Translation: George the Sixth by the Grace of God King of all the Britains

Engraver: Thomas Humphrey Paget
Reverse

Crowned quartered shield of arms with supporters, legend above, denomination and date below.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
FID:DEF: :IND:IMP
DIEU ET MON DROIT
CROWN:1937·

Unabridged legend: Fidei Defensor Indiae Imperator

Translation:
Defender of the Faith Emperor of India
God and my right

Engraver: George Kruger Gray
Edge

Reeded
1 Crown - George VI (Coronation) - obverse
Mint
Royal Mint (Tower Hill), London, United Kingdom (1810-1975)

Comments
The standard weight of these coins was 10/11 troy ounce (436.4 grains); alloy composition - Ag 50%, Cu 40%, Ni 5%, Zn 5%.

This coin was not included in demonetization legislation when decimalization was introduced in 1971. It has been confirmed by the Royal Mint that the coin remains legal tender, having been remonetized with a value of 25 pence.

In 1893 a man was born who would go onto to become one of the most highly regarded coin designers in Royal Mint history. Humphrey Paget was raised into a family already well established in the art world and he, himself would add to this when he went on to study at the Central School of Arts and Crafts at the Royal Academy Schools.

He served his country during The Great War, but would return to his true passion after World War One had ended to teach his craft at the school where he had studied. Soon after, his talents would become noticed by The Royal Mint, who asked him to design a medal for the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and for the obverse he produced a portrait of the Prince of Wales. The portrait received much acclaim and was brought to the attention of the Deputy Mint Master who asked Paget to produce a version for a possible future coin. In 1936, The Prince of Wales would become Edward VIII and it was Paget’s design that was chosen to appear on the new Kings coinage.

It must have been very disappointing for Paget not to see his coins widely circulated following Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936, but redemption was made when he was appointed to design the portrait of George VI in 1937, which incredibly he did in just one month! Despite the tight schedule, his portrait of the new King was a success and has been described as “the classic coinage head of the 20th century” and “near perfect.”

A wonderful item for anyone who loves the Royal Family


It would be a super addition to any collection, excellent display, practical piece or authentic period prop.

This once belonged to my Grand Mother and she kept in a display cabinet for many years, but when she died it was placed in a box for storage. 
"e have decided to sell some of her items to raise money for a Memorial Bench with a plaque 
Where we can sit and remember her on Summer Days

 I hope it will find a good home


In Very good condition for over 88 Years Old
 
Comes from a pet and smoke free home

Sorry about the poor quality photos. 
They don't do the plate  justice which looks a lot better in real life



In Excellent Condition

A Beautiful and Magnificent Keepsake Souvenir to Remember this amazing airplane



Bid with Confidence - Check My 100% Positive Feedback from over 4500 Satisfied Customers -
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If You Have any Questions Please message me thru ebay and I Will Reply ASAP

Thanks for Looking and Best of Luck with the Bidding!! 

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Crown (British coin)
One crown
Great Britain
United Kingdom
Value
5/— (25p in decimal currency)
£5 (commemorative coins from 1990 and later)
Diameter 38 mm
Edge Milled
Composition
(1816–1919) 92.5% Ag
(1920–1946) 50% Ag
(1947–1970) Cupronickel
Years of minting 1707–1981
Obverse
Obverse of the crown of 1891, Great Britain, Victoria.jpg
Design Profile of the monarch (Victoria "jubilee head" design shown)
Designer Joseph Boehm
Design date 1887
Reverse
Reverse crown 1891, Great Britain, Victoria.jpg
Design Various (St George design shown)
Designer Benedetto Pistrucci
Design date 1817
The British crown was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 
1
/
4
 of one pound, or 5 shillings, or 60 (old) pence. The crown was first issued during the reign of Edward VI, as part of the coinage of the Kingdom of England.

Always a heavy silver coin weighing around one ounce, during the 19th and 20th centuries the crown declined from being a real means of exchange to being a coin rarely spent, and minted for commemorative purposes only. Unlike in some territories of the British Empire (such as Jamaica), in the UK the crown was never replaced as circulating currency by a five-shilling banknote.

"Decimal" crowns were minted a few times after decimalisation of the British currency in 1971, initially with a nominal value of 25 (new) pence. However, commemorative crowns issued since 1990 have a face value of five pounds.[1]

History
The coin's origins lie in the English silver crown, one of many silver coins that appeared in various countries from the 16th century onwards (most famously the Spanish piece of eight), all of similar size and weight (approx 38mm diameter, 25g fine silver) and thus interchangeable in international trade. The Kingdom of England also minted gold Crowns until early in the reign of Charles II.[2]

The dies for all gold and silver coins of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by John Croker, a migrant originally from Dresden in the Duchy of Saxony.[3]

The British silver crown was always a large coin, and from the 19th century it did not circulate well. However, crowns were usually struck in a new monarch's coronation year, from George IV through Elizabeth II in 1953, with the exceptions of George V and Edward VIII.


"Gothic" crown of Queen Victoria (1847). The coin had a mintage of just 8,000 and was produced to celebrate the Gothic revival
The King George V "wreath" crowns struck from 1927 through 1936 (excluding 1935 when the more common "rocking horse" crown was minted to commemorate the King's Silver Jubilee) depict a wreath on the reverse of the coin and were struck in very low numbers. Generally struck late in the year and intended to be purchased as Christmas gifts, they were generally kept rather than circulated. The 1927 "wreath" crowns were struck as proofs only (15,030 minted) and the 1934 coin had a mintage of just 932.[citation needed]

With their large size, many of the later coins were primarily commemoratives. The 1951 issue was for the Festival of Britain, and was only struck in proof condition. The 1953 crown was issued to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, while the 1960 issue (which carried the same reverse design as the previous crown in 1953) commemorated the British Exhibition in New York. The 1965 issue carried the image of Winston Churchill on the reverse. According to the Standard Catalogue of coins, 19,640,000 of this coin were minted, although intended as collectable pieces the large mintage and lack of precious metal content means these coins are effectively worthless today.[4] Production of the Churchill crown began on 11 October 1965, and stopped in the summer of 1966.

The crown coin was nicknamed the dollar, but is not to be confused with the British trade dollar that circulated in the Orient.

In 2014, a new world record price was achieved for a milled silver crown. The coin was unique, issued as a pattern by engraver Thomas Simon in 1663 and nicknamed the "Reddite Crown". It was presented to Charles II as the new crown piece, but ultimately rejected in favour of the Roettiers Brothers' design. Auctioneers Spink & Son of London sold the coin on 27 March 2014 for £396,000 including commission.[5]

All pre-decimal crowns from 1818 on remain legal tender with a face value of 25p.[6]

Decimal crowns
Main articles: British twenty-five pence coin and Five pounds (British coin)
After decimalisation on 15 February 1971, the 25-pence coin was introduced as a replacement for the crown as a commemorative coin. These were legal tender[6] and were made with large mintages.

Further issues continued to be minted, initially with a value of twenty-five pence (with no face value shown). From 1990, the face value of new crown coins was raised to five pounds.[1]

Preceded by
English crown
Crown
1707–1965 Succeeded by
Twenty–five pence
Changing values
The legal tender value of the crown remained as five shillings from 1544 to 1965. However, for most of this period there was no denominational designation or "face value" mark of value displayed on the coin. From 1927 to 1939, the word "CROWN" appears, and from 1951 to 1960 this was changed to "FIVE SHILLINGS". Coins minted since 1818 remain legal tender with a face value of 25 pence.

Although all "normal" issues since 1951 have been composed of cupro-nickel, special proof versions have been produced for sale to collectors, and as gift items, in silver, gold, and occasionally platinum.

The fact that gold £5 crowns are now produced means that there are two different strains of five pound gold coins, namely crowns and what are now termed "quintuple sovereigns" for want of a more concise term.[7][8]

Numismatically, the term "crown-sized" is used generically to describe large silver or cupro-nickel coins of about 40 mm in diameter. Most Commonwealth countries still issue crown-sized coins for sale to collectors.

New Zealand's original fifty-cent pieces, and Australia's previously round but now dodecagonal fifty-cent piece, although valued at five shillings in predecimal accounting, are all smaller than the standard silver crown pieces issued by those countries (and the UK). They were in fact similarly sized to the predecimal half crown (worth two shillings and sixpence).

Composition
For silver crowns, the grade of silver adhered to the long-standing standard (established in the 12th century by Henry II) – the Sterling Silver standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way towards discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge seen on coins today.

In a debasement process which took effect in 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with a portion of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for a significant period. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, with the move to a composition of cupro-nickel – except for proof issues, which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition.

Since the Great Recoinage of 1816, a crown has, as a general rule, had a diameter of 38.61 millimetres (1.520 in), and weighed 28.276 grams (defined as 10⁄11 troy ounce).[9][10]

Modern mintages
Monarch Year Number minted Detail Composition*
Edward VII As 5/- (60d - quarter sovereign)
1902 256,020 Coronation 0.925 silver
George V 1927 15,030 (proof only) 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1928 9,034 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1929 4,994 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1930 4,847 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1931 4,056 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1932 2,395 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1933 7,132 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1934 932 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
1935 714,769 George V and Queen Mary Silver Jubilee 0.500 silver
1936 2,473 'Wreath' Crown 0.500 silver
George VI 1937 418,699 Coronation 0.500 silver
1951 1,983,540 Festival of Britain Cu/Ni
Elizabeth II 1953 5,962,621 Coronation Cu/Ni
1960 1,024,038 British Exhibition in New York Cu/Ni
1965 19,640,000 Death of Sir Winston Churchill Cu/Ni
As 25p (quarter sovereign)
1972 7,452,100 Queen Elizabeth II 25th Wedding Anniversary 25p Cu/Ni
1977 37,061,160 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Cu/Ni
1980 9,306,000 Queen Mother 80th Birthday Cu/Ni
1981 26,773,600 Charles & Diana Wedding Cu/Ni
For crowns minted from 1990, which have a value of £5, see here.
The specifications for composition refer to the standard circulation versions. Proof versions continue to be minted in Sterling silver.
Gallery
Quarter sovereign
In 1853, the Royal Mint had produced two patterns for a gold 5-shilling coin for circulation use, one denominated as five shillings and the other as a quarter sovereign, but this coin never went into production, in part due to concerns about the small size of the coin and likely wear in circulation.[11] The quarter sovereign was introduced in 2009 as a bullion coin.

References
icon Money portal
Numismatics portal
flag United Kingdom portal
 "The Royal Mint: Five Pound Coin Designs and Specifications". The Royal Mint. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
 "Crown". Royal Mint Museum. Retrieved 17 July 2022. In 1551 Edward VI issued a large silver coin of the value of five shillings and as its currency value was the same as that of the gold crown it took its name from that coin. Both gold and silver crowns continued to be struck concurrently until early in the reign of Charles II, when minting of the gold crown ceased.
 Warwick William Wroth, 'Croker, John (1670-1741)' in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 13
 "How Much is a 1965 Winston Churchill Coin Worth?". churchillcentral.com. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
 "Spink sets new world record for an English silver coin, 27 March 2014". Spink Auctioneers. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
 "How can I dispose of commemorative crowns? And why do some have a higher face value than others?". The Royal Mint Museum. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
 "Quintuple Sovereigns - Five Pound Gold Coins". taxfreegold.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
 "British Gold Proof Commemorative Crowns". taxfreegold.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
 Specifications of British Pre-decimal Coins
 Kindleberger, Charles P. (2005). A Financial History of Western Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 60. ISBN 9780415378673.
 OnlineCoinClub Quarter Sovereign pre-decimal
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crown (British coin).
History of Five Shilling Coins on Coins of the UK
Royal Mint Museum's history of Crown Coin
Crown, Coin Type from United Kingdom - Online Coin Club
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Circulating
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Defunct
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As a denomination
British crownEnglish crownKronenthaler
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Sterling coinage
Decimal
1
/
2
p1p2p5p10p20p50p£1£2
Pre-decimal
Quarter farthing (
1
/
16
d) (British Ceylon)Third farthing (
1
/
12
d) (Crown Colony of Malta)Half farthing (
1
/
8
d)Farthing (
1
/
4
d)Halfpenny (
1
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d)Penny (1d)Three halfpence (1+
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Commemorative
3p (Tristan Da Cunha)6p25p60p (Isle of Man)70p (Ascension Island)£5£10£20£25£50£100£200£500£1000Maundy money
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BritanniaQuarter sovereignHalf sovereignSovereignDouble sovereignQuintuple sovereignLunarThe Queen's BeastsLandmarks of Britain
See also
SterlingSterling banknotesList of British banknotes and coinsList of British currenciesJubilee coinageOld Head coinageScottish coinageCoins of IrelandList of people on coins of the United Kingdom
Categories: Crown (currency)Coins of Great BritainCoins of the United KingdomQuarter-base-unit coins



George VI

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see George VI (disambiguation).
George VI
Head of the Commonwealth[a]
George VI in military uniform
Formal portrait, 1938
King of the United Kingdom
and the British Dominions
Reign    11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952
Coronation    12 May 1937
Predecessor    Edward VIII
Successor    Elizabeth II
Emperor of India
Reign    11 December 1936 – 15 August 1947[b]
Predecessor    Edward VIII
Successor    Position abolished
Born    Prince Albert of York
14 December 1895
York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk, England
Died    6 February 1952 (aged 56)
Sandringham House, Norfolk, England
Burial    15 February 1952
Royal Vault, St George's Chapel
26 March 1969
King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel
Spouse    Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
​
​
(m. 1923)​
Issue
Detail    

    Elizabeth II
    Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Names
Albert Frederick Arthur George
House    

    Windsor (from 1917)
    Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until 1917)

Father    George V
Mother    Mary of Teck
Religion    Protestant[c]
Signature    George's signature in black ink
Education    

    Royal Naval College, Osborne
    Britannia Royal Naval College

Military career
Service / branch    

    Royal Navy
    Royal Air Force

Years of active service    1913–1919
Battles / wars    

    World War I
        Battle of Jutland

King George VI's voice
Duration: 9 minutes and 23 seconds.9:23
Speech on Victory in Europe Day
Recorded 8 May 1945

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was known as "Bertie" to his family and close friends. His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, the heir apparent. Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree. His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert became king, taking the regnal name George VI.

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany, following the invasion of Poland. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared. Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died at Sandringham House, aged 56, of a coronary thrombosis. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.
Early life
Four kings: Edward VII (far right); his son George, Prince of Wales, later George V (far left); and grandsons Edward, later Edward VIII (rear); and Albert, later George VI (foreground), c. 1908

Albert was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria.[3] His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). His mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck.[4] His birthday, 14 December 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort.[5] Uncertain of how the Prince Consort's widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been "rather distressed". Two days later, he wrote again: "I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her."[6]

The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: "I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good."[7] Consequently, he was baptised "Albert Frederick Arthur George" at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham on 17 February 1896.[d] Formally he was His Highness Prince Albert of York; within the royal family he was known informally as "Bertie".[9] The Duchess of Teck did not like the first name her grandson had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name "may supplant the less favoured one".[10] Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather, father and elder brother, Edward.

Albert was ill often and was described as "easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears".[11] His parents were generally removed from their children's day-to-day upbringing, as was the norm in aristocratic families of that era. He had a stutter that lasted for many years. Although naturally left-handed, he was forced to write with his right hand, as was common practice at the time.[12] He had chronic stomach problems as well as knock knees, for which he was forced to wear painful corrective splints.[13]

Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII. Prince Albert moved up to third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother.
Military career and education
At a Royal Air Force dinner, 1919

Beginning in 1909, Albert attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne, as a naval cadet. In 1911 he came bottom of the class in the final examination, but despite this he progressed to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[14] When his grandfather Edward VII died in 1910, his father became King George V. Prince Edward became Prince of Wales, with Albert second in line to the throne.[15]

Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the training ship HMS Cumberland in the West Indies and on the east coast of Canada.[16] He was rated as a midshipman aboard HMS Collingwood on 15 September 1913. He spent three months in the Mediterranean, but never overcame his seasickness.[17] Three weeks after the outbreak of World War I he was medically evacuated from the ship to Aberdeen, where his appendix was removed by John Marnoch.[18] He was mentioned in dispatches for his actions as a turret officer aboard Collingwood in the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916), the great naval battle of the war. He did not see further combat, largely because of ill health caused by a duodenal ulcer, for which he had an operation in November 1917.[19]

In February 1918 Albert was appointed Officer in Charge of Boys at the Royal Naval Air Service's training establishment at Cranwell. With the establishment of the Royal Air Force Albert transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force.[20] He served as Officer Commanding Number 4 Squadron of the Boys' Wing at Cranwell until August 1918,[21] before reporting for duty on the staff of the RAF's Cadet Brigade at St Leonards-on-Sea and then at Shorncliffe.[22] He completed a fortnight's training and took command of a squadron on the Cadet Wing.[23] He was the first member of the British royal family to be certified as a fully qualified pilot.[24]

Albert wanted to serve on the Continent while the war was still in progress and welcomed a posting to General Trenchard's staff in France. On 23 October, he flew across the Channel to Autigny.[25] For the closing weeks of the war, he served on the staff of the RAF's Independent Air Force at its headquarters in Nancy, France.[26] Following the disbanding of the Independent Air Force in November 1918, he remained on the Continent for two months as an RAF staff officer until posted back to Britain.[27] He accompanied King Albert I of Belgium on his triumphal re-entry into Brussels on 22 November. The prince qualified as an RAF pilot on 31 July 1919 and was promoted to squadron leader the following day.[28]

In October 1919, Albert attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history, economics and civics for a year,[29] with the historian R. V. Laurence as his "official mentor".[30] On 4 June 1920 his father created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney.[31] He began to take on more royal duties. He represented his father and toured coal mines, factories, and railyards. Through such visits he acquired the nickname of the "Industrial Prince".[32] His stutter, and his embarrassment over it, together with a tendency to shyness, caused him to appear less confident in public than his older brother, Edward. However, he was physically active and enjoyed playing tennis. He played at Wimbledon in the Men's Doubles with Louis Greig in 1926, losing in the first round.[33] He developed an interest in working conditions, and was president of the Industrial Welfare Society. His series of annual summer camps for boys between 1921 and 1939 brought together boys from different social backgrounds.[34]
Marriage
See also: Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
The Duke and Duchess of York (centre, reading programmes) at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, Queensland, 1927

In a time when royalty were expected to marry fellow royalty, it was unusual that Albert had a great deal of freedom in choosing a prospective wife. An infatuation with the already-married Australian socialite Lady Loughborough came to an end in April 1920 when the King, with the promise of the dukedom of York, persuaded Albert to stop seeing her.[35] That year, he met for the first time since childhood Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. He became determined to marry her.[36] Elizabeth rejected his proposal twice, in 1921 and 1922, reportedly because she was reluctant to make the sacrifices necessary to become a member of the royal family.[37] In the words of Lady Strathmore, Albert would be "made or marred" by his choice of wife. After a protracted courtship, Elizabeth agreed to marry him.[38]

Albert and Elizabeth were married on 26 April 1923 in Westminster Abbey. Albert's marriage to someone not of royal birth was considered a modernising gesture.[39] The newly formed British Broadcasting Company wished to record and broadcast the event on radio, but the Abbey Chapter vetoed the idea (although the Dean, Herbert Edward Ryle, was in favour).[40]
On the cover of Time, January 1925

From December 1924 to April 1925, the Duke and Duchess toured Kenya, Uganda, and the Sudan, travelling via the Suez Canal and Aden. During the trip, they both went big-game hunting.[41]

Because of his stutter, Albert dreaded public speaking.[42] After his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 31 October 1925, one which was an ordeal for both him and his listeners,[43] he began to see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist. The Duke and Logue practised breathing exercises, and the Duchess rehearsed with him patiently.[44] Subsequently, he was able to speak with less hesitation.[45] With his delivery improved, Albert opened the new Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, during a tour of the empire with his wife in 1927.[46] Their journey by sea to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji took them via Jamaica, where Albert played doubles tennis partnered with a black man, Bertrand Clark, which was unusual at the time and taken locally as a display of equality between races.[47]

The Duke and Duchess had two children: Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth II, called "Lilibet" by the family) who was born in 1926, and Margaret who was born in 1930. The close family lived at White Lodge, Richmond Park, and then at 145 Piccadilly, rather than one of the royal palaces.[48][49] In 1931, the Canadian prime minister, R. B. Bennett, considered Albert for Governor General of Canada—a proposal that King George V rejected on the advice of the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, J. H. Thomas.[50]
Reign
Reluctant king
Main article: Abdication of Edward VIII

King George V had severe reservations about Prince Edward, saying "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months" and "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."[51] On 20 January 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. In the Vigil of the Princes, Prince Albert and his three brothers (the new king, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, Duke of Kent) took a shift standing guard over their father's body as it lay in state, in a closed casket, in Westminster Hall.

As Edward was unmarried and had no children, Albert was the heir presumptive to the throne. Less than a year later, on 11 December 1936, Edward abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, who was divorced from her first husband and divorcing her second. Edward had been advised by British prime minister Stanley Baldwin that he could not remain king and marry a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands. He abdicated and Albert, though he had been reluctant to accept the throne, became king.[52] The day before the abdication, Albert went to London to see his mother, Queen Mary. He wrote in his diary, "When I told her what had happened, I broke down and sobbed like a child."[53]

On the day of Edward's abdication, the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Irish Free State, removed all direct mention of the monarch from the Irish constitution. The next day, it passed the External Relations Act, which gave the monarch limited authority (strictly on the advice of the government) to appoint diplomatic representatives for Ireland and to be involved in the making of foreign treaties. The two acts made the Irish Free State a republic in essence without removing its links to the Commonwealth.[54]

Across Britain, gossip spread that Albert was physically and psychologically incapable of being king. No evidence has been found to support the contemporaneous rumour that the government considered bypassing him, his children and his brother Prince Henry, in favour of their younger brother Prince George, Duke of Kent.[55] This seems to have been suggested on the grounds that Prince George was at that time the only brother with a son.[56]
Early reign
Crown coin with George in profile, 1937
Painting of the Coronation in 1937

Albert assumed the regnal name "George VI" to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy.[57] The beginning of George VI's reign was taken up by questions surrounding his predecessor and brother, whose titles, style and position were uncertain. He had been introduced as "His Royal Highness Prince Edward" for the abdication broadcast,[58] but George VI felt that by abdicating and renouncing the succession, Edward had lost the right to bear royal titles, including "Royal Highness".[59] In settling the issue, George's first act as king was to confer upon Edward the title "Duke of Windsor" with the style "Royal Highness", but the letters patent creating the dukedom prevented any wife or children from bearing royal styles. George VI was forced to buy from Edward the royal residences of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, as these were private properties and did not pass to him automatically.[60] Three days after his accession, on his 41st birthday, he invested his wife, the new queen consort, with the Order of the Garter.[61]
Cover of the 7 May 1937 edition of Radio Times, drawn by C. R. W. Nevinson, marking the first coronation to be broadcast, and partially televised, live

George VI's coronation at Westminster Abbey took place on 12 May 1937, the date previously intended for Edward's coronation. In a break with tradition, Queen Mary attended the ceremony in a show of support for her son.[62] There was no Durbar held in Delhi for George VI, as had occurred for his father, as the cost would have been a burden to the Government of India.[63] Rising Indian nationalism made the welcome that the royal party would have received likely to be muted at best,[64] and a prolonged absence from Britain would have been undesirable in the tense period before the Second World War. Two overseas tours were undertaken, to France and to North America, both of which promised greater strategic advantages in the event of war.[65]

The growing likelihood of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI. The King was constitutionally bound to support British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler.[13][66] When the King and Queen greeted Chamberlain on his return from negotiating the Munich Agreement in 1938, they invited him to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with them. This public association of the monarchy with a politician was exceptional, as balcony appearances were traditionally restricted to the royal family.[13] While broadly popular among the general public, Chamberlain's policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons, which led historian and politician John Grigg to describe George's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as "the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century".[67]
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, on the USS Potomac, 9 June 1939

In May and June 1939, the King and Queen toured Canada and the United States; it was the first visit of a reigning British monarch to North America, although George had been to Canada prior to his accession. From Ottawa, George and Elizabeth were accompanied by Canadian prime minister Mackenzie King,[68] to present themselves in North America as King and Queen of Canada.[69][70] Both Mackenzie King and the Canadian governor general, Lord Tweedsmuir, hoped that George's presence in Canada would demonstrate the principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931, which gave full sovereignty to the British Dominions. On 19 May, George personally accepted and approved the letter of credence of the new U.S. ambassador to Canada, Daniel Calhoun Roper; gave royal assent to nine parliamentary bills; and ratified two international treaties with the Great Seal of Canada. The official royal tour historian, Gustave Lanctot, wrote "the Statute of Westminster had assumed full reality" and George gave a speech emphasising "the free and equal association of the nations of the Commonwealth".[71]

The trip was intended to soften the strong isolationist tendencies among the North American public with regard to the developing tensions in Europe. Although the aim of the tour was mainly political, to shore up Atlantic support for the United Kingdom in any future war, the King and Queen were enthusiastically received by the public.[72] The fear that George would be compared unfavourably to his predecessor was dispelled.[73] They visited the 1939 New York World's Fair and stayed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House and at his private estate at Hyde Park, New York.[74] A strong bond of friendship was forged between Roosevelt and the royal couple during the tour, which had major significance in the relations between the United States and the United Kingdom through the ensuing war years.[75][76]
Second World War
King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth with RAF personnel during World War II

Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the United Kingdom and the self-governing Dominions other than Ireland declared war on Nazi Germany.[77] The King and Queen resolved to stay in London, despite German bombing raids. They officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they usually spent nights at Windsor Castle.[78] The first night of the Blitz on London, on 7 September 1940, killed about one thousand civilians, mostly in the East End.[79] On 13 September, the couple narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were there.[80] In defiance, the Queen declared: "I am glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel we can look the East End in the face."[81] The royal family were portrayed as sharing the same dangers and deprivations as the rest of the country. They were subject to British rationing restrictions, and the U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt remarked on the rationed food served and the limited bathwater that was permitted during a stay at the unheated and boarded-up Palace.[82] In August 1942, the King's brother, the Duke of Kent, was killed on active service.[83]
With Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (right), near the front lines in the Netherlands, October 1944

In 1940, Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, though personally George would have preferred to appoint Lord Halifax.[84] After the King's initial dismay over Churchill's appointment of Lord Beaverbrook to the Cabinet, he and Churchill developed "the closest personal relationship in modern British history between a monarch and a Prime Minister".[85] Every Tuesday for four and a half years from September 1940, the two men met privately for lunch to discuss the war in secret and with frankness.[86] George related much of what the two discussed in his diary, which is the only extant first-hand account of these conversations.[87]

Throughout the war, George and Elizabeth provided morale-boosting visits throughout the United Kingdom, visiting bomb sites, munitions factories, and troops. George visited military forces abroad in France in December 1939, North Africa and Malta in June 1943, Normandy in June 1944, southern Italy in July 1944, and the Low Countries in October 1944.[88] Their high public profile and apparently indefatigable determination secured their place as symbols of national resistance.[89] At a social function in 1944, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Alan Brooke, revealed that every time he met Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, he thought Montgomery was after his job. George replied: "You should worry, when I meet him, I always think he's after mine!"[90]

In 1945, crowds shouted "We want the King!" in front of Buckingham Palace during the Victory in Europe Day celebrations. In an echo of Chamberlain's appearance, the King invited Churchill to appear with the royal family on the balcony to public acclaim.[91] In January 1946, George addressed the United Nations at its first assembly, which was held in London, and reaffirmed "our faith in the equal rights of men and women and of nations great and small".[92]
Empire to Commonwealth
With Clement Attlee (left) at Buckingham Palace, July 1945

George VI's reign saw the acceleration of the dissolution of the British Empire. The Statute of Westminster 1931 had already acknowledged the evolution of the Dominions into separate sovereign states. The process of transformation from an empire to a voluntary association of independent states, known as the Commonwealth, gathered pace after the Second World War.[93] During the ministry of Clement Attlee, British India became the two independent Dominions of India and Pakistan in August 1947.[94] George relinquished the title of Emperor of India,[95] and became King of India and King of Pakistan instead. In late April 1949, the Commonwealth leaders issued the London Declaration, which laid the foundation of the modern Commonwealth and recognised George as Head of the Commonwealth.[96][97][98] In January 1950, he ceased to be King of India when it became a republic. He remained King of Pakistan until his death. Other countries left the Commonwealth, such as Burma in January 1948, Palestine (divided between Israel and the Arab states) in May 1948 and the Republic of Ireland in 1949.[99]

In 1947, George and his family toured southern Africa.[100] The prime minister of the Union of South Africa, Jan Smuts, was facing an election and hoped to make political capital out of the visit.[101] George was appalled, however, when instructed by the South African government to shake hands only with whites,[102] and referred to his South African bodyguards as "the Gestapo".[103] Despite the tour, Smuts lost the election the following year, and the new government instituted a strict policy of racial segregation.
Illness and death
Main article: Death and state funeral of George VI

The stress of the war had taken its toll on George's health,[104][105] made worse by his heavy smoking,[106] and subsequent development of lung cancer among other ailments, including arteriosclerosis and Buerger's disease. A planned tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed after George developed an arterial blockage in his right leg, which threatened the loss of the leg and was treated with a right lumbar sympathectomy in March 1949.[107] His elder daughter and heir presumptive, Elizabeth, took on more royal duties as her father's health deteriorated. The delayed tour was re-organised, with Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking the place of the King and Queen.

George was well enough to open the Festival of Britain in May 1951, but on 4 June it was announced that he would need immediate and complete rest for the next four weeks, despite the arrival of Haakon VII of Norway the following afternoon for an official visit.[108] On 23 September 1951, his left lung was removed in a surgical operation performed by Clement Price Thomas after a malignant tumour was found.[109] In October 1951, Elizabeth and Philip went on a month-long tour of Canada; the trip had been delayed for a week due to George's illness. At the State Opening of Parliament in November, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Simonds, read the King's speech from the throne.[110] The King's Christmas broadcast of 1951 was recorded in sections, and then edited together.[111]

On 31 January 1952, despite advice from those close to him, George went to London Airport[e] to see Elizabeth and Philip off on their tour to Australia via Kenya. It was his last public appearance. Six days later, at 07:30 GMT on the morning of 6 February, he was found dead in bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk.[113] He had died in the night from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 56.[114] His daughter flew back to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II.[115]

From 9 February George's coffin rested in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, before lying in state at Westminster Hall from 11 February.[116] His funeral took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 15 February.[117] He was interred initially in the Royal Vault until he was transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George's on 26 March 1969.[118] In 2002, fifty years after his death, the remains of his widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the ashes of his younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who both died that year, were interred in the chapel alongside him.[119] In 2022, the remains of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, were also interred in the chapel.[120]
Legacy
See also: Cultural depictions of George VI
Statue by William McMillan (1955) at Carlton House Terrace, Westminster

In the words of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) George Hardie, the abdication crisis of 1936 did "more for republicanism than fifty years of propaganda".[121] George VI wrote to his brother Edward that in the aftermath of the abdication he had reluctantly assumed "a rocking throne" and tried "to make it steady again".[122] He became king at a point when public faith in the monarchy was at a low ebb. During his reign, his people endured the hardships of war, and imperial power was eroded. However, as a dutiful family man and by showing personal courage, he succeeded in restoring the popularity of the monarchy.[123][124]

The George Cross and the George Medal were founded at the King's suggestion during the Second World War to recognise acts of exceptional civilian bravery.[125] He bestowed the George Cross on the entire "island fortress of Malta" in 1943.[126] He was posthumously awarded the Order of Liberation by the French government in 1960, one of only two people (the other being Churchill in 1958) to be awarded the medal after 1946.[127]

Colin Firth won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as George VI in the 2010 film The King's Speech.[128]
Titles, honours and arms
Main article: List of titles and honours of George VI

As Duke of York, Albert bore the royal arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing an anchor azure—a difference earlier awarded to his father, George V, when he was Duke of York, and then later awarded to his grandson Prince Andrew, Duke of York. As king he bore the royal arms undifferenced.[129]
Coat of arms as Duke of York
Coat of arms as King of the United Kingdom
Coat of arms in Scotland
Coat of arms in Canada
Issue
Name     Birth     Death     Marriage     Children
Date     Spouse
Elizabeth II     21 April 1926     8 September 2022     20 November 1947     Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh     Charles III
Anne, Princess Royal
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon     21 August 1930     9 February 2002     6 May 1960
Divorced 11 July 1978     Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon     David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon
Lady Sarah Chatto
Ancestry
See also: Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark
Ancestors of George VI[130]
Notes

From April 1949 until his death in 1952.
George VI continued as titular Emperor of India until 22 June 1948,[1] and remained head of state as King of India until the country became a republic on 26 January 1950.[2]
As monarch, George VI was Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He was also a member of the Church of Scotland.
His godparents were: Queen Victoria (his great-grandmother, for whom his grandmother the Princess of Wales stood proxy); the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg (his maternal great-aunt and great-uncle, for whom his grandfather the Duke of Teck and his paternal aunt Princess Maud of Wales stood proxy); Empress Frederick (his paternal great-aunt, for whom his paternal aunt Princess Victoria of Wales stood proxy); the Crown Prince of Denmark (his great-uncle, for whom his grandfather the Prince of Wales stood proxy); the Duke of Connaught (his great-uncle); the Duchess of Fife (his paternal aunt); and Prince Adolphus of Teck (his maternal uncle).[8]

    Renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966.[112]

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Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Ina (2016), "Royal death and living memorials: the funerals and commemoration of George V and George VI, 1936–52", Historical Research, 89 (243): 158–175, doi:10.1111/1468-2281.12108
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"Mourners visit Queen Mother's vault", BBC News, 10 April 2002, archived from the original on 7 December 2008, retrieved 2 March 2018
"Your complete guide to the Queen's funeral", BBC News, 19 September 2022, archived from the original on 9 September 2022, retrieved 19 September 2022
Hardie in the British House of Commons, 11 December 1936, quoted in Rhodes James, p. 115
Letter from George VI to the Duke of Windsor, quoted in Rhodes James, p. 127
Ashley, Mike (1998), British Monarchs, London: Robinson, pp. 703–704, ISBN 978-1-84119-096-9
Judd, pp. 248–249
Judd, p. 186; Rhodes James, p. 216
Townsend, p. 137
List of Companions (PDF), Ordre de la Libération, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009, retrieved 19 September 2009
Brooks, Xan (28 February 2011), "Colin Firth takes the best actor crown at the Oscars", The Guardian, archived from the original on 17 August 2022, retrieved 17 August 2022
Velde, François (19 April 2008), "Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family", Heraldica, archived from the original on 17 March 2018, retrieved 22 April 2009

    Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1973), "The Royal Lineage", Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, London: Burke's Peerage, pp. 252, 293, 307, ISBN 0-220-66222-3

General and cited sources

    Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-79667-1.
    Howarth, Patrick (1987). George VI. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-171000-2.
    Judd, Denis (1982). King George VI. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-7181-2184-6.
    Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). "George VI (1895–1952)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33370. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
    Rhodes James, Robert (1998). A Spirit Undaunted: The Political Role of George VI. London: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 978-0-316-64765-6.
    Shawcross, William (2009). Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother: The Official Biography. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4050-4859-0.
    Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: The Making of the Modern Monarchy. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-33240-5.
    Townsend, Peter (1975). The Last Emperor. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-77031-2.
    Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-947662-7.
    Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1958). King George VI: His Life and Reign. New York: St Martin's Press.
    Weir, Alison (1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised Edition. London: Random House. ISBN 978-0-7126-7448-5.
    Windsor, The Duke of (1951). A King's Story. London: Cassell & Co Ltd.
    Ziegler, Philip (1990). King Edward VIII: The Official Biography. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-215741-4.

External links
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George VI
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George VI
House of Windsor
Born: 14 December 1895 Died: 6 February 1952
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Edward VIII
    King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions
1936–1952     Succeeded by
Elizabeth II
Emperor of India1
1936–1947     Partition of India
Masonic offices
Preceded by
Iain Colquhoun
    Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
1936–1937     Succeeded by
Norman Orr-Ewing
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Edward VIII
    Air commodore-in-chief of the Auxiliary Air Force
1936–1952     Succeeded by
Elizabeth II
New title     Head of the Commonwealth
1949–1952
Air commodore-in-chief of the Air Training Corps
1941–1952     Succeeded by
The Duke of Edinburgh
Notes and references
1. Indian Empire dissolved 15 August 1947. Title abandoned 22 June 1948 ("No. 38330". The London Gazette. 22 June 1948. p. 3647.)

    vte

George VI
King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions (1936–1952), Emperor of India (1936–1947)
Dominions    

    Australia Canada Ceylon India Irish Free State New Zealand Pakistan South Africa

Family    

    Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (wife) Elizabeth II (daughter) Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (daughter) George V (father) Mary of Teck (mother) Edward VIII (brother) Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (sister) Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (brother) Prince George, Duke of Kent (brother) Prince John (brother)

Events    

    Wedding Abdication of Edward VIII Proclamation of accession Coronation
        Participants Honours Medal Pewsey White Horse State and official visits made
        1939 royal tour of Canada State visits received Death and state funeral

Reign    

    Prime ministers Emperor of India Letters Patent, 1947 Titles and honours

Depictions    
Radio addresses    

    Royal address to the nation Royal Christmas Message

Film and television    

    Bertie and Elizabeth (2002) Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004) Wallis & Edward (2005) The King's Speech (2010) W.E. (2011) Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) A Royal Night Out (2015) The Crown (2016) Darkest Hour (2017)

Stage    

    The King's Speech (2012)

Portraits    

    Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor (1950)

Statues and
memorials    

    King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial Statue of George VI, Hong Kong

Books    

    Fatherland (1992) Winston's War (2003) The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy (2010)

Honours    

    Royal Family Order George Cross George Medal Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Related    

    King George VI Bridge The Gate of the Year King George station (Surrey, British Columbia) King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes King George VI Chase King George VI Reservoir George VI Sound

    ← Edward VIII Elizabeth II →

Articles and topics related to George VI

    vte

English, Scottish and British monarchs
Monarchs of England until 1603    Monarchs of Scotland until 1603

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    Kenneth I MacAlpin Donald I Constantine I Áed Giric Eochaid Donald II Constantine II Malcolm I Indulf Dub Cuilén Amlaíb Kenneth II Constantine III Kenneth III Malcolm II Duncan I Macbeth Lulach Malcolm III Donald III Duncan II Edgar Alexander I David I Malcolm IV William I Alexander II Alexander III Margaret John Robert I David II Edward Balliol Robert II Robert III James I James II James III James IV James V Mary I James VI

    Monarchs of England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from 1603

    James I & VI Charles I The Protectorate
        Oliver Cromwell Richard Cromwell Charles II James II & VII William III & II and Mary II Anne

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    Anne George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Charles III

    Debated or disputed rulers are in italics.

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British princes
The generations indicate descent from George I, who formalised the use of the titles prince and princess for members of the British royal family.
1st generation    

    King George II

2nd generation    

    Frederick, Prince of Wales Prince George William Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

3rd generation    

    King George III Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn Prince Frederick

4th generation    

    King George IV Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany King William IV Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn King Ernest Augustus of Hanover Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Octavius Prince Alfred Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

5th generation    

    Prince Albert1 King George V of Hanover Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

6th generation    

    King Edward VII Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Prince Ernest Augustus

7th generation    

    Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale King George V Prince Alexander John of Wales Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Arthur of Connaught Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince George William of Hanover Prince Christian of Hanover Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick

8th generation    

    King Edward VIII King George VI Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince John Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover Prince George William of Hanover

9th generation    

    Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh2 Prince William of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Michael of Kent

10th generation    

    King Charles III Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

11th generation    

    William, Prince of Wales Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex

12th generation    

    Prince George of Wales Prince Louis of Wales Prince Archie of Sussex

1 Not a British prince by birth, but created Prince Consort. 2 Not a British prince by birth, but created a Prince of the United Kingdom.
Princes whose titles were removed and eligible people who do not use the title are shown in italics.

    vte

House of Windsor
Generations are numbered by their descent from George V and Mary of Teck
1st generation    

    Edward VIII George VI Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince John

    
2nd generation    

    Elizabeth II Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy Prince William of Gloucester Prince Michael of Kent Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester

3rd generation    

    Charles III* Anne, Princess Royal* Prince Andrew, Duke of York* George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh* Lady Helen Taylor Lord Nicholas Windsor Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster Lady Davina Windsor Lord Frederick Windsor Lady Gabriella Kingston

4th generation    

    William, Prince of Wales* Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex* Princess Beatrice* Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick Princess Eugenie* Lady Marina Windsor Lady Amelia Windsor Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor* James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex*

5th generation    

    Prince George of Wales* Princess Charlotte of Wales* Prince Louis of Wales* Prince Archie of Sussex* Princess Lilibet of Sussex*

*Descendant of Elizabeth II and therefore use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, but officially considered members of the House of Windsor

    vte

Dukes of York

    Edmund of Langley (1385–1402) Edward of Norwich (1402–1415) Richard Plantagenet (1415–1460) Edward of York (1460–1461) Richard of Shrewsbury (1474–1483) Henry (1494–1509) Charles (1605–1625) James (1633/1644–1685) Ernest Augustus (1716–1728) Edward (1760–1767) Frederick (1784–1827) George (1892–1910) Albert (1920–1936) Andrew (1986–present)

italics denote Dukes of York and Albany

    vte

Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Forefather    
Duke Francis I*
1st generation    

    Duke Ernest I* Prince Ferdinand* King Leopold I of the Belgians*

2nd generation    
Ducal    

    Duke Ernest II* Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom*

Koháry    

    King Ferdinand II of Portugal and the Algarves* Prince August* Prince Leopold*

Belgium    

    Crown Prince Louis Philippe King Leopold II Prince Philippe

3rd generation    
United Kingdom    

    King Edward VII Duke Alfred I Prince Arthur Prince Leopold

Portugal    

    King Pedro V King Luís I Infante João Infante Fernando Infante Augusto

Koháry    

    Prince Philipp Prince Ludwig August Tsar Ferdinand I of the Bulgarians

Belgium    

    Prince Leopold Prince Baudouin King Albert I

4th generation    
United Kingdom    

    Prince Albert Victor King George V Hereditary Prince Alfred Prince Arthur Duke Charles Edward I

Portugal    

    King Carlos I Infante Afonso

Koháry    

    Prince Leopold Clement Prince Peter August Prince August Leopold Prince Joseph Ferdinand Prince Ludwig Gaston

Bulgaria    

    Tsar Boris III Prince Kiril

Belgium    

    King Leopold III Prince Charles

5th generation    
United Kingdom    

    King Edward VIII King George VI Prince Henry Prince George Prince John Prince Alastair

Ducal    

    Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold Prince Hubertus Prince Friedrich Josias

Portugal    

    Prince Luís Filipe King Manuel II

Koháry    

    Prince Rainer Prince Philipp

Bulgaria    

    Tsar Simeon II

Belgium    

    King Baudouin I King Albert II Prince Alexandre

6th generation    
Ducal    

    Prince Andreas

Koháry    

    Prince Johannes Heinrich

Bulgaria    

    Prince Kardam Prince Kyril

Belgium    

    King Philippe I Prince Laurent

7th generation    
Ducal    
Prince Hubertus
Koháry    
Prince Johannes
Bulgaria    

    Prince Boris

Belgium    

    Prince Gabriel Prince Emmanuel

*Titled as Princes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld before 11 February 1826

    vte

Monarchy in Canada
The Crown    

    Monarchy in the Canadian provinces
        BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL

Monarchs    

    Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Charles III

Viceroys    

    Governor General of Canada
        List Lieutenant governors in Canada
        BC
            List AB
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            List NS
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            List Territorial Commissioners Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments

Constitutional    

    King-in-Council King-in-Parliament King-on-the-Bench King's peace The Canadian Crown and the Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Crown and Indigenous peoples of Canada

Legal    

    Crown copyright Crown corporations King's Consent King's Printer Royal charter Royal commissions

Ceremonial and symbolic    

    Chapels Royal Crown Collection Royal symbols Royal tours
        1786–1999 2000–present Special address Title and style Thrones of Canada Canadian Coronation Contingent

Related    

    Canadian Secretary to the King History of monarchy in Canada Debate on the monarchy in Canada

    vte

Emperors of India

    Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI

    vte

Heads of state of Pakistan
Monarch (1947–1956)    

    George VI Elizabeth II

    
President (from 1956)    

    Mirza A. Khan§ Y. Khan§ Bhutto Chaudhry Zia§ G. Khan Sajjad* Leghari Sajjad* Tarar Musharraf§ Soomro* Zardari Hussain Alvi Zardari

§Head of the military regime  *Acting President

    vte

Heads of state of Ceylon and Sri Lanka
Monarch of Ceylon (1948–1972)    

    George VI Elizabeth II

    


President of Sri Lanka (from 1972)    

    William Gopallawa J. R. Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa Maithripala Sirisena Gotabaya Rajapaksa Ranil Wickremesinghe Anura Kumara Dissanayake

    vte

Heads of state of South Africa
Monarch (1910–1961)    

    George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II

State President (1961–1994)
(under Apartheid)    

    Charles Robberts Swart Eben Dönges† Tom Naudé* Jim Fouché Jan de Klerk* Nico Diederichs† Marais Viljoen* John Vorster Marais Viljoen P. W. Botha Chris Heunis* F. W. de Klerk

President (from 1994)
(post-Apartheid)    

    Nelson Mandela (1994-1999) Thabo Mbeki (1999-2008) Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri* Kgalema Motlanthe (2008-2009) Jacob Zuma (2009-2018) Cyril Ramaphosa (2018-present)

†Died in office *Acting president
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1937

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1937
    January
    February
    March
    April
    May
    June
    July
    August
    September
    October
    November
    December

This article is about the year 1937. For the 2005 EP by Soul-Junk, see 1937 (EP).
Years
Millennium
2nd millennium
Centuries

    19th century 20th century 21st century

Decades

    1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s

Years

    1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940

    vte

1937 by topic
Subject

    Animation Archaeology Architecture Art Aviation Awards Comics Film Literature
        Poetry Meteorology Music
        Country Jazz Rail transport Radio Science Sports Football Television
        American


        British

By country

    Afghanistan Australia Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Denmark France Germany India Ireland Japan Malaya New Zealand Norway Palestine Mandate Philippines Portugal South Africa Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom United States

Lists of leaders

    Sovereign states Sovereign state leaders
    Territorial governors Religious leaders Law

Birth and death categories

    Births Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

    Establishments Disestablishments

Works category

    Works Introductions

    vte

1937 in various calendarsGregorian calendar    1937
MCMXXXVII
Ab urbe condita    2690
Armenian calendar    1386
ԹՎ ՌՅՁԶ
Assyrian calendar    6687
Baháʼí calendar    93–94
Balinese saka calendar    1858–1859
Bengali calendar    1343–1344
Berber calendar    2887
British Regnal year    1 Geo. 6 – 2 Geo. 6
Buddhist calendar    2481
Burmese calendar    1299
Byzantine calendar    7445–7446
Chinese calendar    丙子年 (Fire Rat)
4634 or 4427
    — to —
丁丑年 (Fire Ox)
4635 or 4428
Coptic calendar    1653–1654
Discordian calendar    3103
Ethiopian calendar    1929–1930
Hebrew calendar    5697–5698
Hindu calendars    
 - Vikram Samvat    1993–1994
 - Shaka Samvat    1858–1859
 - Kali Yuga    5037–5038
Holocene calendar    11937
Igbo calendar    937–938
Iranian calendar    1315–1316
Islamic calendar    1355–1356
Japanese calendar    Shōwa 12
(昭和１２年)
Javanese calendar    1867–1868
Juche calendar    26
Julian calendar    Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar    4270
Minguo calendar    ROC 26
民國26年
Nanakshahi calendar    469
Thai solar calendar    2479–2480
Tibetan calendar    阳火鼠年
(male Fire-Rat)
2063 or 1682 or 910
    — to —
阴火牛年
(female Fire-Ox)
2064 or 1683 or 911
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1937.

1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1937th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 937th year of the 2nd millennium, the 37th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1930s decade.
Events
January
Main article: January 1937
January 19: Howard Hughes sets record.
The Second Moscow Trial

    January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua.
    January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into February, leaving 1 million people homeless and 385 people dead.[1]
    January 15 – Spanish Civil War: The Second Battle of the Corunna Road ends inconclusively.[2]
    January 23 – Moscow Trials: Trial of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center – In the Soviet Union 17 leading Communists go on trial, accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime, and assassinate its leaders.
    January 30 – The Moscow Trial initiated on January 23 is concluded. Thirteen of the defendants are sentenced to death (including Georgy Pyatakov, Nikolay Muralov and Leonid Serebryakov), while the rest, including Karl Radek and Grigory Sokolnikov are sent to labor camps and later murdered. They were initially spared for implicating others, including Rykov, Bukharin and Tukhachevsky, setting the stage for further trials[3]

February
Main article: February 1937

    February 8 – Spanish Civil War: Falangist troops take Málaga.
    February 8–27 – Spanish Civil War – Battle of Jarama: Nationalist and Republican troops fight to a stalemate.
    February 16 – Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon in the United States.[4]
    February 19
        Airliner VH-UHH (Stinson) goes down over Lamington National Park, bound for Sydney, killing 5 people.
        Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritrean nationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. Italian security guards fire into the crowd of Ethiopian onlookers. Authorities exact further reprisals, which include indiscriminately slaughtering native Ethiopians over the next 3 days, detaining thousands of Ethiopians at Danan and slaughtering almost 300 monks at the Debre Libanos Monastery.
        The red, white and blue colours of the flag of the Netherlands are confirmed by royal decree.[5]
    February 21 – The League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee prohibits foreign nationals from fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
    February 25 – Hergé's Tintin adventure The Broken Ear (L'Oreille cassée) concludes serialization in the Belgian weekly newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième, and soon afterwards is published as a book in black and white.

March
Main article: March 1937

    March 10 (dated March 14 (Passion Sunday)) – The encyclical Mit brennender Sorge ("With burning concern") of Pope Pius XI is published in Germany in the German language. Largely the work of Cardinals von Faulhaber and Pacelli, it condemns breaches of the 1933 Reichskonkordat agreement signed between the Nazi government and the Catholic Church, and criticises Nazism's views on race and other matters incompatible with Catholicism.
    March 18 – New London School explosion: In the worst school disaster in American history in terms of lives lost, the New London School in New London, Texas, suffers a catastrophic natural gas explosion, killing in excess of 295 students and teachers. Mother Frances Hospital opens in Tyler, Texas, a day ahead of schedule, in response to the explosion.
    March 19 – The encyclical Divini Redemptoris of Pope Pius XI, critical of communism, is published.
    March 21 – Ponce massacre: A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opens fire on peaceful demonstrators protesting at the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist Party leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200.

April
Main article: April 1937

    April 1
        Aden becomes a British crown colony.
        The Bombing of Jaén is carried out in Spain, by the Condor Legion of the Nazi German Luftwaffe.
    April 9 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London; it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
    April 12 – Frank Whittle ground-tests the world's first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.[6]
    April 20 – A fire in an elementary school in Kilingi-Nõmme, Estonia, kills 17 students and injures 50.
    April 26 – Spanish Civil War: The Bombing of Guernica is carried out in Spain, by the Condor Legion of the Nazi German Luftwaffe, in support of the Francoists. Three-quarters of the town is destroyed and hundreds killed.[7]

May
Main article: May 1937
May 6: The Hindenburg disaster occurs.
May 27: The Golden Gate Bridge opens.

    May 6 – Hindenburg disaster: In the United States, the German airship Hindenburg bursts into flame when mooring to a mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew on board, 13 passengers and 22 crew die, as well as one member of the ground crew.
    May 7 – Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion Fighter Group, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
    May 8 – Wydad Athletic Club (WAC)(Arabic: نادي الوداد الرياضي; Berber: Wydad Dar al-Beida; commonly: Wydad al ouma) is established in Casablanca, Morocco; it will be best known for its Casablanca Association football team.
    May 12 – George VI and Elizabeth are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India at Westminster Abbey, London.
    May 21
        A Russian manned ice station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
        As one of the reprisals for the attempted assassination of Italian viceroy Rodolfo Graziani, a detachment of Italian troops massacres the entire community of Debre Libanos in Ethiopia, killing 297 monks and 23 laymen.
    May 28 – Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the retirement of Stanley Baldwin.
    May 30
        Spanish Civil War: Spanish ship Ciudad de Barcelona is torpedoed.
        Memorial Day massacre of 1937: The Chicago Police Department shoot and kill 10 unarmed demonstrators in Chicago.

June
Main article: June 1937

    June – Picasso completes his painting Guernica.
    June–July – The Dáil Éireann debates and passes the new draft Constitution of Ireland, which is then submitted for public approval by plebiscite.
    June 3 – Wallis Simpson marries the Duke of Windsor, the former Edward VIII, in France.
    June 8
        The Dáil Éireann passes the Executive Authority (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937, which abolishes the office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State, retrospectively dated to December 1936.[8]
        The first total solar eclipse to exceed 7 minutes of totality, in over 800 years, is visible in the Pacific and Peru.
    June 21 – The coalition government of Léon Blum resigns in France.

July
Main article: July 1937
July 2: Amelia Earhart disappears from New Guinea.
July 9: The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.

    July 1
        The Gestapo arrests pastor Martin Niemöller in Germany.
        In a referendum the people of the Irish Free State accept the new Constitution by 685,105 votes to 527,945.
    July 2 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear after taking off from New Guinea, during Earhart's attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.[9]
    July 7
        In the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japanese and Chinese forces exchange fire near Beijing, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War.
        The Peel Commission proposes partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.[10]
    July 9 – 1937 Fox vault fire: The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed
    July 20 – The Geibeltbad Pirna water sports facility is opened in Dresden, Germany.
    July 21 – Éamon de Valera is elected President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the Irish Free State, by the Dáil (parliament).
    July 22 – New Deal: The United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.
    July 25–31 – Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Beiping–Tianjin, a series of actions fought around Beiping and Tianjin, result in Japanese victory.
    July 29 – Tongzhou Mutiny: Units of the East Hebei Army mutiny and kill Japanese troops and civilians in Tongzhou.
    July 31 – NKVD Order No. 00447 "Об операции по репрессированию бывших кулаков, уголовников и других антисоветских элементов" ("The operation for repression of former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements") is approved by the decision of the Politbureau of the CC of the VKP(b) of the Soviet Union, initially as a 4-month plan for 75,950 people to be executed and an additional 193,000 to be sent to the Gulag.

August
Main article: August 1937

    August 2 – The Marijuana Tax Act[11] in the United States is a significant bill on the path that will lead to the criminalization of cannabis. It was introduced to the U.S. Congress by Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger.
    August 5 – The Soviet Union commences one of the largest campaigns of the Great Purge, to "eliminate anti-Soviet elements". Within the following year, at least 724,000 people are fired[citation needed] on order of the troikas, directed by Joseph Stalin. This is an offensive that targets social classes (such as the kulaks or nobles) and Stalin's personal opponents from the Communist Party and their sympathizers.
    August 6 – Spanish Civil War: Falangist artillery bombards Madrid.
    August 8 – Japan occupies Beijing.
    August 9 – The Polish Operation of the NKVD (1937–38) is signed by Nikolai Yezhov, as a continuation of the Great Purge.
    August 13 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Shanghai opens.
    August 24 – Spanish Civil War: The government of the autonomous Basque Country agrees to surrender to the nationalists.
    August 26 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese aircraft attack the car carrying the ambassador of Great Britain, during a raid on Shanghai.

September
Main article: September 1937
September 17: Lincoln's head is dedicated at Mount Rushmore.

    September 2 – The Great Hong Kong Typhoon kills an estimated 11,000 persons.
    September 5
        Roberto Ortiz is elected president of Argentina.
        Spanish Civil War: The city of Llanes falls to the Falangists.
    September 7 – CBS broadcasts a two-and-a-half hour memorial concert nationwide on radio in memory of George Gershwin, live from the Hollywood Bowl. Many celebrities appear, including Oscar Levant, Fred Astaire, Otto Klemperer, Lily Pons and members of the original cast of Porgy and Bess. The concert is recorded and released complete years later in what is excellent sound for its time, on CD. The Los Angeles Philharmonic is the featured orchestra.
    September 10 – Nine nations meet in the Nyon Conference, led by the United Kingdom and France, to address international piracy in the Mediterranean.
    September 17 – Abraham Lincoln's head is dedicated at Mount Rushmore.
    September 19 – Swiss professional ice hockey club HC Ambrì-Piotta is founded.
    September 21 – George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London publishes the first edition of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
    September 25 – Second Sino-Japanese War - Battle of Pingxingguan: The Communist Chinese Eighth Route Army defeats the Japanese.
    September 27 – The last recorded Bali tiger dies.[12]
    September 30 – Austrian born actress of Jewish descent, Hedy Lamarr arrives in New York City to flee from her possessive husband Friedrich Mandl who made arms agreements with the Nazis, and to begin her Hollywood career.[13]

October
Main article: October 1937

    October 1 – The Marihuana Tax Act becomes law in the United States.
    October 2–8 – Parsley Massacre: Under the orders of President Rafael Trujillo, Dominican troops kill thousands of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.
    October 3 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese troops advance toward Nanjing, capital of the Republic of China.
    October 5 – Roosevelt gives his famous Quarantine Speech in Chicago.
    October 9 – Jimmie Angel lands his plane on top of Devil's Mountain; however, the plane gets damaged, and he has to trek through the rainforest for help.
    October 11 – Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor arrive in Berlin to begin a 12-day tour of Nazi Germany, meeting Adolf Hitler on the 22nd.
    October 13 – Germany, in a note to Brussels, guarantees the inviolability and integrity of Belgium, so long as the latter abstains from military action against Germany.
    October 15 – Ernest Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not is first published, in the United States.
    October 18–21 – Spanish Civil War: The whole Spanish northern seaboard falls into the Falangists' hands; Republican forces in Gijón, Spain, set fire to petrol reserves, prior to retreating before the advancing Falangists.
    October 23 – 1937 Australian federal election: Joseph Lyons' UAP/Country Coalition government is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by John Curtin.
    October 25 – Celâl Bayar forms the new (ninth) government of Turkey.

November
Main article: November 1937

    November 5 – World War II: In the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people (recorded in the Hossbach Memorandum).
    November 6 – Italy joins the Anti-Comintern Pact.
    November 9 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese troops take Shanghai.
    November 10 – Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas announces the Estado Novo ("New State"), thence becoming dictator of Brazil until 1945.
    November 11 – The Kogushi Sulfur Mine collapse, in western Gunma, Japan, kills at least 245 people.

December
Main article: December 1937
Duration: 1 minute and 37 seconds.1:37
Duration: 30 seconds.0:30Subtitles available.CC
December 21: Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released, the world's first full-length animated feature film, the first Disney film, and the first film to feature a Disney Princess. The top image shows the Seven Dwarfs singing "Heigh-Ho" while walking on a log. The second top image shows Walt Disney introducing the Seven Dwarfs in the trailer and the bottom images are the trailers.

    December 1 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Nanjing begins.
    December 4 – The Dandy comic is first published in Scotland; it continued until 2012 as a physical publication, then online until 2013.
    December 11 – Italy withdraws from the League of Nations.
    December 12
        USS Panay incident: Japanese bombers sink the American gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze in China; the United States accepts the Japanese statement that this was unintentional.
        Mae West makes a risqué guest appearance on NBC's Chase and Sanborn Hour, which eventually results in her being banned from radio.
    December 13 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Nanjing ends with the Japanese occupying the city. In the Nanjing Massacre which follows, Japanese soldiers kill over 200,000 Chinese in 3 months. A few days previously, the Nationalist government of China had moved its capital to the southwestern city Chongqing.
    December 16 – The original production of the musical Me and My Girl opens at the Victoria Palace Theatre, in London's West End. A later revival will win an award.
    December 21 – Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first feature-length cel animated film, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.
    December 25 – At the age of 70, conductor Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra on radio for the first time, beginning his successful 17-year tenure with that orchestra. This first concert consists of music by Vivaldi (at a time when he is seldom played), Mozart, and Brahms. Millions tune in to listen, including U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
    December 29 – The new Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) comes into force. The Irish Free State becomes "Ireland", and Éamon de Valera becomes the first Taoiseach (prime minister) of the new state. A Presidential Commission (made up the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Dáil Éireann, and the President of the High Court) assumes the powers of the new presidency, pending the popular election of the first President of Ireland in June 1938. The new constitution prohibits divorce.

Date unknown

    Switzerland begins construction of its Border Line defences.
    The Vibora Luviminda sugar plantation trade unions strike on Maui island, Hawaii.
    Italian psychiatrist Amarro Fiamberti is the first to document a transorbital approach to the brain, which becomes the basis for the controversial medical procedure of transorbital lobotomy.
    Soviet industry produces about four times as much as it had in 1928.
    The Allen Organ Company, builder of church, home and theatre organs, is founded in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
    Slavery in Bahrain is abolished.

Births
Births
January · February · March · April · May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December
January
Shirley Bassey
Nadia Lutfi
John Hume
Vanessa Redgrave

    January 1 – Philip Akot Akok Kiir, South Sudanese pastor, former educator and politician[14]
    January 3
        Nadia Lutfi, Egyptian actress (d. 2020)
    January 4
        Grace Bumbry, African American opera singer (d. 2023)
        Dyan Cannon, American actress, film director and screenwriter
    January 6
        Paolo Conte, Italian singer, pianist and composer
        Harri Holkeri, 36th Prime Minister of Finland (d. 2011)
    January 8 – Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
    January 13 – Ati George Sokomanu, President of Vanuatu
    January 15 – Margaret O'Brien, American child actress
    January 16 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
    January 18
        Yukio Endō, Japanese gymnast (d. 2009)
        John Hume, Northern Irish politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 2020)
    January 19 – Princess Birgitta of Sweden (d. 2024)
    January 21 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, heir to the Bavarian Royal House
    January 22 – Joseph Wambaugh, American author (d. 2025)
    January 25 – Ange-Félix Patassé, 5th President of Central African Republic (d. 2011)
    January 30
        Vanessa Redgrave, British actress
        Boris Spassky, Russian chess grandmaster (d. 2025)
    January 31
        Philip Glass, American composer
        Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)

February
Rupiah Banda
Harald V of Norway

    February 1 – Don Everly, American rock and roll singer and musician (d. 2021)[15]
    February 2
        Tom Smothers, American musician, comedian (The Smothers Brothers) (d. 2023)
        Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer (d. 2015)
    February 4 – Magnar Solberg, Norwegian biathlete
    February 5 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian Olympic athlete[16]
    February 8 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
    February 10 – Roberta Flack, African-American singer (d. 2025)
    February 11 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer
    February 12 – Charles Dumas, American athlete (d. 2004)
    February 13 – Rupiah Banda, 4th President of Zambia (d. 2022)
    February 20
        Robert Huber, German chemist and Nobel laureate
        Nancy Wilson, African-American singer and actress (d. 2018)
    February 21
        Ron Clarke, Australian runner (d. 2015)
        King Harald V of Norway[17]
        Jilly Cooper, English writer
    February 25 – Sir Tom Courtenay, English actor

March
Olusegun Obasanjo
Benny Paret
Warren Beatty
Valentina Tereshkova

    March 2 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria (d. 2021)
    March 3 – Bobby Driscoll, American child actor and voice actor (d. 1968)
    March 4
        Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
        Yuri Senkevich, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2003)
    March 5 – Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria
    March 6 – Valentina Tereshkova, Russian cosmonaut, first woman in space
    March 8 – Juvénal Habyarimana, 3rd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
    March 14 – Benny Paret, Cuban welterweight boxer (d. 1962)
    March 15 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer (d. 2015)
    March 18
        Aleksei Zasukhin, Soviet boxer (d. 1996)
        Rudi Altig, German road racing cyclist (d. 2016)
    March 22
        Armin Hary, German athlete
        Foo Foo Lammar, British drag queen (d. 2003)
        Peter Vogel, German film actor (d. 1978)
    March 23 – Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016)
    March 24 – Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, 4th Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 2023)
    March 26 – Prince Karl of Hesse, German prince (d. 2022)
    March 29
        Billy Carter, American farmer, businessman, brewer, and politician (d. 1988)
        Smarck Michel, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2012)
    March 30 – Warren Beatty, American actor and director

April
Billy Dee Williams
Joseph Estrada
Jack Nicholson
Saddam Hussein

    April 1
        Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Indian politician, 12th Vice President of India
        Yılmaz Güney, Palme d'Or award-winning Kurdish film director, scenarist, actor, novelist and activist (d. 1984)
    April 4 – Obed Dlamini, 6th Prime Minister of Swaziland (d. 2017)
    April 5
        Maryanne Trump Barry, American attorney (d. 2023)
        Colin Powell, American politician (d. 2021)
        Guido Vildoso, 59th President of Bolivia
    April 6
        Merle Haggard, American country musician (d. 2016)
        Billy Dee Williams, African-American actor
    April 10 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet (d. 2010)
    April 17 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian engineer, business magnate (d. 2019)
    April 19
        Antonio Carluccio, Italian-born restaurateur (d. 2017)
        Joseph Estrada, Filipino actor and politician, 13th President of the Philippines
    April 20 – George Takei, Japanese-American actor, director and author (Star Trek)
    April 22 – Jack Nicholson, American film actor and director
    April 24
        Viktor Zubkov, Russian basketball player (d. 2016)
        Joe Henderson, American jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 2001)
    April 26 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver (d. 2015)
    April 27 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
    April 28 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006)

May
George Carlin
Yvonne Craig
Mengistu Haile Mariam

    May 2 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, voice actor, writer, producer and musician (d. 2001)
    May 4 – Dick Dale, American guitarist (d. 2019)
    May 6 – Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, African-American boxer (d. 2014)
    May 8
        Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian justice, politician
        Thomas Pynchon, American writer
    May 9 – Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
    May 11 – Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Hungarian Olympic and world champion foil fencer
    May 12 – George Carlin, American stand-up comedian (d. 2008)
    May 13 – Roger Zelazny, American writer (d. 1995)
    May 15
        Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovakian-born American politician and diplomat (d. 2022)[18]
        Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 2020)
    May 16
        Yvonne Craig, American actress (Batman) (d. 2015)
        Robert B. Wilson, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
    May 18 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourg politician, 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg
    May 21
        Ricardo Alarcón, Cuban politician (d. 2022)[19]
        Sofiko Chiaureli, Georgian actress (d. 2008)
        Mengistu Haile Mariam, President of Ethiopia
    May 22 – Facundo Cabral, Argentine singer (d. 2011)
    May 26– Henry I. Smith, American inventor and physicist

June
Morgan Freeman
Simeon II
Martti Ahtisaari

    June 1
        Morgan Freeman, African-American actor
        Colleen McCullough, Australian author (d. 2015)
        Ezio Pascutti, Italian footballer (d. 2017)
    June 7 – Neeme Järvi, Estonian conductor
    June 8 – Bruce McCandless II, American astronaut (d. 2017)
    June 11 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2024)
    June 12 – Vladimir Arnold, Soviet-Russian mathematician (d. 2010)
    June 13 – Raj Reddy, Indian computer scientist
    June 15 – Waylon Jennings, American country singer (d. 2002)
    June 16
        Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Tsar of Bulgaria (1943–1946), 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2001–2005)
        Erich Segal, American author, screenwriter, and educator (d. 2010)
    June 18
        Ronald Venetiaan, 6th and 8th President of Suriname
        Vitaly Zholobov, Soviet cosmonaut
    June 19 – André Glucksmann, French philosopher, author (d. 2015)
    June 23 – Martti Ahtisaari, 10th President of Finland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2023)
    June 25
        Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (d. 2023)
        Keizō Obuchi, 54th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
    June 26 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)

July
Queen Sonja of Norway
Lionel Jospin
Ryutaro Hashimoto

    July 2 – Richard Petty, American stock car racer, 7-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion
    July 3
        Hacen Mefti, Algerian politician
        Tom Stoppard, Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter
    July 4 – Queen Sonja of Norway
    July 5 – Jo de Roo, Dutch road racing cyclist
    July 6
        Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist
        Ned Beatty, American actor (d. 2021)[20]
        Michael Sata, 5th President of Zambia (d. 2014)
    July 7
        Lars-Erik Larsson, Swedish rowing coxswain
        Nanami Shiono, Japanese author, novelist
        Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong businessman and politician
        Giovanni Arrighi, Italian economist, sociologist and world-systems analyst (d. 2009)
    July 9 – David Hockney, English-born artist
    July 12
        Bill Cosby, African-American actor, comedian, educator and convicted sex offender
        Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of France
    July 14 – Yoshirō Mori, 55th Prime Minister of Japan
    July 17 – Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, Ugandan politician, businessman
    July 18
        Roald Hoffmann, Polish-born chemist and Nobel laureate[21]
        Hunter S. Thompson, American author and journalist (d. 2005)
    July 22 – Adrienne Hill, British actress appeared in 199 Park Lane and Doctor Who (d. 1997)
    July 24 – Manoj Kumar, Indian actor and director
    July 27 – Mirko Marjanović, 63rd Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2006)
    July 29
        Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2006)
        Daniel McFadden, American economist and Nobel laureate

August
Manuel Pinto da Costa
Dustin Hoffman

    August 2 – María Duval, Mexican actress and singer
    August 3 – Andrés Gimeno, Spanish tennis player (d. 2019)
    August 5 – Manuel Pinto da Costa, Santoméan politician, 1st President of São Tomé and Príncipe
    August 6 – Charlie Haden, American jazz bassist (d. 2014)
    August 8
        Dustin Hoffman, American actor, director (The Graduate)
        S. Dhanabalan, Singaporean politician
    August 11 – Dieter Kemper, German cyclist (d. 2018)
    August 15 – Bounnhang Vorachith, 14th Prime Minister, 6th President of Laos
    August 18 – Jean Alingué Bawoyeu, Chadian politician, former Prime Minister
    August 21
        Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2000)[22]
        Gustavo Noboa, President of Ecuador (d. 2021)
    August 22
        Rima Melati, Indonesian actress and singer (d. 2022)[23]
        Francesco Musso, Italian Olympic boxer
    August 26 – Gennady Yanayev, former Soviet leader (d. 2010)
    August 27 – Alice Coltrane, African-American jazz harpist, organist, pianist and composer (d. 2007)
    August 30 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand founder of McLaren Racing (d. 1970)[24]

September
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
Fernando de la Rúa

    September 1 – Francisco Pinto Balsemão, Portuguese politician, 111th Prime Minister of Portugal
    September 4 – Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer
    September 5 – Antonio Angelillo, Italian-Argentine footballer (d. 2018)
    September 6 – Jo Anne Worley, American Actress, Comedienne and singer
    September 7 – John Phillip Law, American actor (d. 2008)
    September 9 – Alí Rodríguez Araque, Venezuelan politician, lawyer and diplomat (d. 2018)
    September 10 – Jared Diamond, American geographer, anthropologist, and author
    September 11 – Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Italian-born Queen of the Belgians
    September 12 – Henri Lopes, Congolese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville (d. 2023)
    September 15
        Robert Lucas Jr., American economist and Nobel laureate (d. 2023)
        Fernando de la Rúa, Argentine politician, 43rd President of Argentina (d. 2019)
    September 20 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish singer and actress (d. 2005)
    September 26 – Jerry Weintraub, American film producer and talent agent (d. 2015)
    September 28 – Bob Schul, American Olympic athlete (d. 2024)
    September 30 – Daniel Filho, Brazilian film producer, director, actor, and screenwriter

October
Jackie Collins
Bobby Charlton

    October 2 – Johnnie Cochran, African-American attorney (d. 2005)
    October 4
        Jackie Collins, English author (d. 2015)
        Franz Vranitzky, 19th Chancellor of Austria
    October 11 – Bobby Charlton, English footballer (d. 2023)
    October 19 – Teresa Ciepły, Polish Olympic athlete (d. 2006)
    October 20 – Wanda Jackson, American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist
    October 21 – Édith Scob, French film and theatre actress (d. 2019)
    October 22 – Kader Khan, Afghan-born Indian-Canadian film actor, screenwriter, comedian, and director (d. 2018)
    October 28 – Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach[25]
    October 30
        Claude Lelouch, French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer.
        Ashaari Mohammad, Malaysian spiritual leader (d. 2010)
    October 31 – Tom Paxton, American folk singer, songwriter

November
Sir Ridley Scott

    November 4 – Loretta Swit, American actress (M*A*S*H)
    November 5 – Chan Sek Keong, third Chief Justice of Singapore
    November 8 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (d. 2019)
    November 15 – Little Willie John, African-American R&B singer (d. 1968)
    November 17 – Peter Cook, English comedian, writer and actor (d. 1995)
    November 20 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish Olympic cross-country skier (d. 2013)
    November 21
        Ingrid Pitt, Polish-born British actress (d. 2010)
        Marlo Thomas, American actress, producer and social activist (That Girl)
        Ferenc Kósa, Hungarian film director (d. 2018)
    November 25 – Serikbolsyn Abdildin, Kazakh economist and politician (d. 2019)
    November 26 – Boris Yegorov, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1994)
    November 30 – Ridley Scott, British film director, producer

December
Jane Fonda
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Sir Anthony Hopkins

    December 1 – Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of Latvia[26]
    December 3 – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 1st President of East Timor (d. 2012)
    December 6 – Ramon Torrents, Spanish artist
    December 8
        James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010)
        Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountaineer, businessman (d. 2004)
    December 12
        Connie Francis, American singer
        Michael Jeffery, 24th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2020)
    December 17 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (d. 2007)
    December 18 – Sami-ul-Haq, Pakistani cleric, politician (d. 2018)
    December 21 – Jane Fonda, American actress and activist[27]
    December 26 – John Horton Conway, English-born mathematician (d. 2020)
    December 28 – Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 2024)
    December 29 – Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives (1978–2008)
    December 30 – Gordon Banks, English footballer (d. 2019)
    December 31
        Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
        Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor
        Milutin Šoškić, Serbian footballer (d. 2022)[28]

Deaths
January
Saint André Bessette

    January 1
        Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian spiritual teacher (b. 1874)
        John Gresham Machen, American Presbyterian theologian (b. 1881)
    January 2 – Ross Alexander, American actor (b. 1907)
    January 5
        Alberto de Oliveira, Brazilian poet (b. 1857)
        Ernst Löfström, Finnish general of World War I (b. 1865)
    January 6
        André Bessette, Canadian religious leader, saint (b. 1845)
        Albert Gleaves, American admiral (b. 1858)
    January 13 – Martin Johnson, American adventurer, documentary filmmaker (plane crash) (b. 1884)
    January 15
        Pietro Biginelli, Italian chemist (b. 1860)
        Georges Hilaire Bousquet, French scholar (b. 1845)
    January 16 – Pyotr Bark, Soviet statesman (b. 1869)
    January 17 – Richard Boleslawski, Polish film director (b. 1889)
    January 18 – Jaime Hilario Barbal, Spanish Roman Catholic religious professed and saint (executed) (b. 1889)
    January 21
        Yasin al-Hashimi, Iraqi politician and 4th Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1884)
        Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1896)
    January 23 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist, politician (b. 1876)

February
George Hassell

    February 1 – Asano Nagakoto, Japanese diplomat, politician (b. 1842)
    February 2 – Reinhold Hanisch, Austrian politician, worker (b. 1884)
    February 5
        Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-born writer (b. 1861)
        José Nicoletti Filho, Italian revolutionary hero (b. 1871)
    February 7 – Elihu Root, American statesman, diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1845)
    February 11
        Walter Burley Griffin, American architect, town planner (b. 1876)
        Vasily Gurko, Russian general (b. 1864)
        Maria Luisa Josefa, Mexican Roman Catholic nun and venerable (b. 1866)
        Peter of Jesus Maldonado, Mexican priest, martyr and saint (b. 1892)
    February 14
        Vicente Vilar David, Spanish Roman Catholic priest, saint and martyr (killed in battle) (b. 1889)
        Erkki Melartin, Finnish composer (b. 1875)[29]
    February 17 – George Hassell, English actor (b. 1881)
    February 19 – Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan writer (b. 1878)[30]
    February 20 – Sir Percy Cox, British army general and colonial administrator (b.1864)
    February 24
        Vladimir Lipsky, Soviet scientist, botanist (b. 1863)
        Beyene Merid, Ethiopian military commander (b. 1897)
        Sir Guy Standing, British actor (b. 1873)
    February 27
        Douglas Carnegie, British politician (b. 1870)
        Charles Donnelly, Irish poet (killed in battle) (b. 1915)

March
Blessed Concepcion Cabrera de Armida
H. P. Lovecraft
Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco
Lucy Beaumont

    March 6 – John Ellis Martineau, American politician (b. 1873)
    March 7 – Concepción Cabrera de Armida, Mexican Roman Catholic mystic and blessed (b. 1862)
    March 8
        Yuriy Kotsiubynsky, Soviet politician, activist (b. 1896)
        Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
    March 9 – Paul Elmer More, American critic, essayist (b. 1864)
    March 11 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist, founder of Texaco (b. 1860)
    March 12
        Jenő Hubay, Hungarian composer, violinist (b. 1858)
        Charles-Marie Widor, French organist, composer (b. 1844)
    March 13 – Elihu Thomson, English-American engineer and inventor, co-founder of General Electric (b. 1853)
    March 15 – H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (b. 1890)
    March 16 – Sir Austen Chamberlain, British statesman, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1863)
    March 18
        Mélanie Bonis, French composer (b. 1858)
        Felix Graf von Bothmer, German general (b. 1852)
        Julio Sanchez Gardel, Argentine dramatist (b. 1870)
    March 20
        Arthur Bernède, French writer, poet and playwright (b. 1870)
        Harry Vardon, English golf professional (b. 1870)
    March 22
        Thorvald Aagaard, Danish composer (b. 1877)
        Alfred Dyke Acland, British military officer (b. 1858)
        Vladimir Maksimov, Soviet actor (b. 1880)
        Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, British aviator, ornithologist (plane crash) (b. 1865)
    March 25 – John Drinkwater, British poet, dramatist (b. 1882)
    March 27 – Victor Gustav Bloede, Swedish chemist (b. 1849)
    March 28 – Josef Klička, Czechoslovak organist, violinist and composer (b. 1855)
    March 29
        Fyodor Keneman, Soviet pianist, composer (b. 1873)
        Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)
        Kim You-jeong, Korean novelist (b. 1908)
    March 31 – Ahmed Izzet Pasha, Turkish general (b. 1864)

April
Noel Rosa
Afonso Costa

    April 2 – Nathan Birnbaum, Austrian writer, journalist (b. 1864)
    April 4
        Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco (b. 1875)
        Maria Teresa Casini, Italian Roman Catholic nun and blessed (b. 1864)
    April 5 – Jose Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
    April 6 – Gyula Juhász, Hungarian poet (b. 1883)
    April 7 – Helen Burgess, American actress (b. 1916)
    April 8 – Billy Bassett, English association footballer (b. 1869)
    April 10
        Ralph Ince, American film director (b. 1887)
        Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar, Indian sociologist, historian (b. 1884)
    April 14 – Ned Hanlon, American baseball manager, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1857)
    April 16 – Jay Johnson Morrow, American military engineer, politician and 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (b. 1870)
    April 19
        Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, British art critic, mountaineer (b. 1856)
        William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist (b. 1865)
    April 20
        Gaston Chérau, French journalist (b. 1872)
        Josef Mařatka, Czech sculptor (b. 1874)
    April 21 – Saima Harmaja, Finnish poet (b. 1913)
    April 22 – Arthur Edmund Carewe, Armenian-American actor (b. 1884)
    April 23 – Caroline Harris, American actress (b. 1867)
    April 24 – Lucy Beaumont, British actress (b. 1869)
    April 25 – Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b. 1857)
    April 27 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer, politician (b. 1891)
    April 29
        Wallace Carothers, American chemist, inventor of nylon (b. 1896)
        William Gillette, American actor (b. 1853)

May
John D. Rockefeller
Lizardo García
Jean Harlow

    May 1
        Snitz Edwards, Hungarian actor (b. 1868)
        Herbert Hughes, Irish composer (b. 1882)
    May 2 – Takuji Iwasaki, Japanese meteorologist (b. 1869)
    May 4 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1910)
    May 5
        Camillo Berneri, Italian philosopher, anarchist (b. 1897)
        C.K.G. Billings, American horseman (b. 1861)
    May 7 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain of the Hindenburg (b. 1886)[31]
    May 9
        Harry Barton, American architect (b. 1876)
        Maurice Conner, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
    May 10 – Sir James Blindell, British politician (b. 1884)
    May 11
        Afonso Costa, Portuguese lawyer, professor, politician and 3-time Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1871)
        Ellen Hansell, American tennis champion (b. 1869)
    May 15 – Percy Lee Gassaway, American politician (b. 1885)
    May 23 – John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist, philanthropist (b. 1839)
    May 24
        Luis F. Álvarez, Spanish physician (b. 1853)
        Francis Bird, Australian architect (b. 1845)
    May 25 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American artist (b. 1859)
    May 26 – Bertha May Crawford, Canadian opera singer (b. 1886)
    May 28 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (b. 1870)
    May 29 – Lizardo García, 17th President of Ecuador (b. 1844)

June
Robert Laird Borden
Gaston Doumergue
J. M. Barrie

    June 2 – Louis Vierne, French composer (b. 1870)
    June 3 – Emilio Mola, Spanish Nationalist commander (plane crash) (b. 1887)
    June 4
        Fernand Cabrol, French theologian (b. 1855)
        Keke Geladze, mother of Joseph Stalin, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1858)
    June 7 – Jean Harlow, American actress (b. 1911)
    June 10
        Jane Foss Barff, American activist (b. 1863)
        Sir Robert Borden, Canadian lawyer, politician and 8th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1854)
        Malcolm Williams, American actor (b. 1870)
    June 12 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Soviet Army officer, Red Army commander-in-chief and military theoretician (executed) (b. 1893)
    June 16 – Alexander Chervyakov, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1892)
    June 18
        Pierre Bodard, French painter (b. 1881)
        Gaston Doumergue, 60th Prime Minister of France, 13th President of France (b. 1863)
    June 19 – J. M. Barrie, British novelist, dramatist (b. 1860)
    June 20 – Andreu Nin Pérez, Spanish politician (b. 1892)
    June 22 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy poet (b. 1901)[32]
    June 25
        Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
        Marta Cunningham, American opera singer (b. 1869)
    June 26 – Minoru Murata, Japanese actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1894)
    June 27 – Sandro Akhmeteli, Soviet director (b. 1866)
    June 28 – Max Adler, Austrian Marxist theorist (b. 1873)

July
George Gershwin
Guglielmo Marconi
Reverend Nazzareno Formosa
Varnava, Serbian Patriarch

    July 1
        Ilya Garkavyi, Soviet general (b. 1888)
        Matvei Vasilenko, Soviet komkor (b. 1888)
    July 2 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator (missing on this date) (b. 1897)
    July 3 – Boris Gorbachyov, Soviet general (b. 1892)
    July 6
        Bohdan Ihor Antonych, Soviet poet (b. 1909)
        Ernesto Badini, Italian opera singer (b. 1876)
    July 7 – Åke Hammarskjöld, Swedish diplomat, lawyer (b. 1893)
    July 8 – Diana Abgar, Armenian diplomat (b. 1859)
    July 9 – Oliver Law, American labor organizer, Army officer (killed in Spanish Civil War) (b. 1899)
    July 10 – Arthur Edmund Seaman, American professor and museum curator (b. 1858)
    July 11
        George Gershwin, American composer (b. 1898)
        Rodrigues Ottolengui, American writer (b. 1861)
    July 12 – Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss, British politician, public servant (b. 1857)
    July 13
        Mykhailo Boychuk, Soviet painter (b. 1882)
        Victor Laloux, French architect (b. 1850)
    July 14
        Julius Meier, American businessman, politician (b. 1874)
        Joseph Taylor Robinson, American politician (b. 1872)
    July 15 – Walter Gay, American painter (b. 1856)
    July 16 – Vladimir Kirillov, Soviet poet (b. 1889)
    July 17
        Annie Furuhjelm, Finnish feminist activist, politician (b. 1859)
        Percy Gardner, British archaeologist (b. 1846)
    July 18
        Julian Bell, British poet (killed in Spanish Civil War) (b. 1908)
        Grigol Giorgadze, Soviet historian, jurist and politician (b. 1879)
    July 20 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian-born American inventor (b. 1874)
    July 22
        Nazzareno Formosa, American Roman Catholic priest and reverend (b. 1901)
        Paolo Iashvili, Soviet poet (b. 1894)
    July 23 – Varnava, Serbian Patriarch (b. 1880)
    July 31 – Noë Bloch, Soviet producer (b. 1875)

August
Saint Alexander Hotovitzky
Pierre de Coubertin

    August 5 – Jean Louis Conneau, French aviator (b. 1880)
    August 6
        Adeodato Barreto, Portuguese poet (b. 1905)
        F. C. S. Schiller, German-British philosopher (b. 1864)
    August 8 – Martin Rázus, Czechoslovakian poet, writer and politician (b. 1888)
    August 9 – Na Woon-gyu, Korean actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
    August 11 – Edith Wharton, American writer (b. 1862)
    August 13 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot (b. 1902)
    August 19
        Alexander Hotovitzky, Russian Orthodox priest, missionary and saint (b. 1872)
        Asaichi Isobe, Japanese army officer (b. 1905)
        Ivan Kataev, Russian novelist, writer (b. 1902)
    August 22
        Owen Burns, American entrepreneur (b. 1869)
        Gelegdorjiin Demid, Russian political military figure (b. 1900)
    August 24 – Gervase Beckett, British politician (b. 1866)
    August 26
        Christos Christovasilis, Greek journalist, author (b. 1861)
        Andrew Mellon, American banker, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1855)
    August 30
        Gaetano Bisleti, Italian cardinal (b. 1856)
        Tomás António Garcia Rosado, Portuguese general (b. 1854)
    August 31 – Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (b. 1905)

September
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Bessie Smith
Ray Ewry

    September 2
        Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Indian revolutionary hero (b. 1880)
        Pierre de Coubertin, 2nd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1863)[33]
    September 3 – François Guiguet, French painter (b. 1860)
    September 4
        Daniel Alexander Cameron, Canadian politician (b. 1870)
        Juan Campisteguy, Uruguayan lawyer, soldier and 25th President of Uruguay (b. 1859)
    September 5 – David Hendricks Bergey, American bacteriologist (b. 1860)
    September 6 – Harry Charles Purvis Bell, British civil servant, commissioner (b. 1851)
    September 8 – Frank Alexander, American actor (b. 1879)
    September 9
        Mikhail Diterikhs, Russian general (b. 1874)
        Géza Horváth, Hungarian doctor, entomologist (b. 1847)
    September 11 – Nazmi Ziya Güran, Turkish painter (b. 1881)
    September 13 – Ellis Parker Butler, American humorist (b. 1869)
    September 14 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Czechoslovakian politician, sociologist, philosopher and 1st President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1850)
    September 15
        Anders Bundgaard, Danish sculptor (b. 1864)
        Clifford Heatherley, British actor (b. 1888)
    September 20
        Maksymilian Horwitz, Polish socialist, communist activist (b. 1877)
        Lev Karakhan, Soviet revolutionary hero, diplomat (b. 1889)
    September 23 – Cleto González Víquez, 18th and 26th President of Costa Rica (b. 1858)
    September 22 – Ruth Roland, American actress (b. 1892)
    September 26
        Bessie Smith, African-American blues singer (b. 1894)
        Edward Filene, American businessman, philanthropist (b. 1860)
    September 27 – Alikhan Bukeikhanov, Kazakh statesman, politician, publicist, teacher, writer and Prime Minister of Alash Autonomy (b. 1866)
    September 29 – Ray Ewry, American Olympic athlete (b. 1873)

October
Prince Kuni Taka
Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy
Ernest Rutherford

    October 1 – Prince Kuni Taka of Japan (b. 1875)
    October 2 – Granville Ryrie, Australian Army general, politician, and diplomat (b. 1865)[34]
    October 3
        Baden Baden-Powell, American aviator pioneer (b. 1860)
        Richard Hertwig, German zoologist (b. 1850)
    October 6 – Angelo Musco, Italian actor (b. 1872)
    October 8 – Nisar Muhammad Yousafzai, Afghan revolutionary war hero (b. 1897)
    October 9
        August de Boeck, Flemish composer (b. 1865)
        Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, German prince (b. 1868)
    October 10 – Peter of Krutitsy, Soviet Orthodox priest, martyr and metropolitan (b. 1862)
    October 11 – Emma E. Bower, American physician, club-woman, and newspaperwoman (b. 1852)
    October 13 – Kazimierz Nowak, Polish traveller (b. 1897)
    October 14
        Agustín de Luque y Coca, Spanish general and politician (b. 1850)
        Salvatore Micalizzi, Italian Roman Catholic priest and venerable (b. 1856)
    October 15 – James Marcus, American actor (b. 1867)
    October 16
        Jean de Brunhoff, French writer (b. 1899)
        William Sealy Gosset, English chemist and statistician (b. 1876)[35]
    October 17
        J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman (b. 1862)
        Antônio Parreiras, Brazilian painter, illustrator (b. 1860)
    October 19
        Pedro Chutró, Argentine physician (b. 1880)
        Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand physicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient (b. 1871)
    October 23 – Nikolai Klyuev, Russian poet (b. 1884)
    October 26 – Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, Polish general (b. 1867)
    October 27
        Joseph-Félix Bouchor, French painter (b. 1853)
        Abdul Karim Khan, Indian classical singer (b. 1872)
    October 29 – Kazimierz Cichowski, Polish-born Soviet politician (b. 1887)
    October 30
        Mendel Khatayevich, Soviet politician (b. 1893)
        Ivan Zhukov, Soviet politician (b. 1889)

November
Ramsay MacDonald
Princess Cecilie
Saint Aleksandr Glagolev
Peljidiin Genden

    November 1 – Ivar Bauck, Norwegian general (b. 1863)
    November 2 – Félix Gaffiot, French philologist (b. 1870)
    November 4
        William Bennett, British politician (b. 1873)
        Alfred Walter Campbell, Australian neurologist (b. 1868)
        Gustav Gärtner, Austrian pathologist (b. 1855)
        Emil Hassler, Swiss physician, botanist (b. 1864)
    November 5 – Naoe Kinoshita, Japanese Christian socialist (b. 1869)
    November 6 – Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, British stage actor (b. 1853)
    November 8 – Francis de Croisset, Belgian-born French playwright (b. 1877)
    November 9 – Ramsay MacDonald, British statesman, 2-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1866)
    November 10 – Nikolai Batalov, Soviet actor (b. 1899)
    November 11 – Uryū Sotokichi, Japanese admiral (b. 1857)
    November 13 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, American actress (b. 1857)
    November 15 – Eero Järnefelt, Finnish realist painter (b. 1863)
    November 16
        Némèse Garneau, Canadian politician (b. 1847)
        Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, wife of Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse, and sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1911)
    November 17 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, coach (b. 1860)
    November 20 – Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh) of the Soviet Union (b. 1872)
    November 23
        Miklós Kovács, Hungarian-born Yugoslav poet (b. 1857)
        Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian physicist (b. 1858)
        George Albert Boulenger, Belgian naturalist (b. 1858)
    November 25
        Aleksandr Glagolev, Russian Orthodox priest, religious philosopher and saint (b. 1872)
        Alessandro Padoa, Italian mathematician (b. 1868)
        Raymond Stanton Patton, American admiral, engineer and second Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (b. 1882)
    November 26 – Peljidiin Genden, Mongolian political figure, 9th Prime Minister of Mongolia and 2nd President of Mongolia (b. 1892)
    November 27
        Vsevolod Balitsky, Leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1892)
        Eero Haapalainen, Finnish Communist leader, activist (b. 1880)
        Felix Hamrin, 22nd Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1875)
        Vasyl Lypkivsky, Soviet Orthodox priest, metropolitan (b. 1864)
        Wilhelm Weinberg, German physician (b. 1862)
    November 28 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1879)

December
Prosper Poullet
Dimitrie Călugăreanu
Maurice Ravel

    December 1 – Rao Guohua, Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1894)
    December 2 – Josep Comas i Solà, Andorran astronomer (b. 1868)
    December 3
        Attila József, Hungarian poet (b. 1905)
        Prosper Poullet, Belgian politician, 26th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1868)
        Yue Yiqin, Chinese flying ace (b. 1914)
    December 4
        Ralph Lewis, American actor (b. 1872)
        Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Indian politician and educationist (b. 1863)
    December 8
        Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist (b. 1856)
        Akhmet Baitursynov, Kazakh poet, politician, turkologist (b. 1872)
    December 9
        Lilias Armstrong, British phonetician (b. 1882)
        Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
    December 10 – Robert Bolder, British actor (b. 1859)
    December 12 – Alfred Abel, German actor (b. 1879)
    December 14 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter (b. 1869)
    December 16 – Giorgi Mazniashvili, Soviet general (b. 1870)
    December 17 – Dimitrie Călugăreanu, Romanian physician, naturalist and physiologist (b. 1868)
    December 18 – Robert Worth Bingham, American politician (b. 1871)
    December 20 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
    December 21
        Meliton Balanchivadze, Soviet composer (b. 1862)
        Ted Healy, American actor (b. 1896)
        Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1856)
    December 22 – Joseph Darby, British jumper (b. 1861)
    December 23 – Osman Nuri Hadžić, Bosnian writer (b. 1869)
    December 25 – Newton D. Baker, 37th Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, United States Secretary of War (b. 1871)
    December 27
        Sir Coote Hedley, British army officer and sportsman (b. 1865)
        William N. Andrews, American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1919 to 1921 (b. 1876)
    December 28
        Herbert Bullmore, Scottish Rugby Union international player, grandfather of Kerry Packer (b. 1874)
        Maurice Ravel, French composer (Boléro) (b. 1875)
        Sir Algernon Thomas, New Zealand scientist (b. 1857)
    December 29
        Frederik Beichmann, Norwegian jurist (b. 1859)
        Don Marquis, American poet (b. 1878)[36]
    December 30 – Hans Niels Andersen, Danish businessman, founder of the East Asiatic Company (b. 1852)
    December 31 – Dezső Czigány, Hungarian painter (b. 1883)

Nobel Prizes

    Physics – Clinton Joseph Davisson, George Paget Thomson
    Chemistry – Walter Haworth, Paul Karrer
    Physiology or Medicine – Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt
    Literature – Roger Martin du Gard
    Peace – Robert Cecil

References

"Fact Sheet: Ohio River Floods". Western Kentucky University. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
Thomas, Hugh (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. p. 480.
Andrey Vyshinsky The Treason Case Summed Up Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine April 1938 (in English)
U.S. patent 2,071,250 "Linear Condensation Polymers", filed July 1931, issued February 1937
Wilhelmina en De Minister van Staat, Minister van Koloniën, Voorzitter van den Raad van Ministers (19 februari 1937): Koninklijk Besluit nr. 93, Zell am See.
*Golley, John (1997). Genesis of the Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention of the Jet Engine. Crowood Press. pp. 86–91. ISBN 1-85310-860-X.
Journalist George Steer's report to The Times (London) connects Germany with the attack.
The Irish Jurist, Together with the Irish Jurist Reports. Jurist Publishing Company. 1937. p. 64.
"Amelia Earhart | Biography, Disappearance, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
League of Nations Mandates – Palestine: Report of the Palestine Royal Commission. July 1937. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
Pub. 238, 75th Congress, 50 Stat. 551 (subsequently, commonly referred to using the modern spelling as the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937)
Loadstar. "The Balinese Tiger".
Shearer, Stephen Michael (2010). Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr. Thomas Dunne Books. pp. 52–56. ISBN 978-1-250-04183-8.
"Fear of torture". Amnesty International. February 25, 1992. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
Marco, Guy (1993). Encyclopedia of recorded sound in the United States. New York: Garland Pub. p. 253. ISBN 9780824047825.
Quercetani, Roberto (2009). World History of Hurdle and Steeplechase Racing Men and Women. City: Gardners Books. p. 49. ISBN 9788895684291.
Allison, Ronald (1991). The Royal encyclopedia. London: Macmillan Press. p. 240. ISBN 9780333538104.
"Madeleine Albright obituary". the Guardian. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
Ricardo Alarcón, powerful Cuban foreign minister, dies at 84
Vigdor, Neil (June 14, 2021). "Ned Beatty, Actor Known for 'Network' and 'Deliverance,' Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
"Roald Hoffmann - Biographical". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
MacAskill, Ewen (October 11, 2000). "Donald Dewar". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
Afifa, Laila (June 23, 2022). "Indonesia's Veteran Actress Rima Melati Passes Away at 84". Tempo.
"Bruce McLaren". Automobile Quarterly. 40 (4): 72. 2000.
LaBlanc, Michael (1994). Professional sports team histories. Detroit: Gale Research. p. 129. ISBN 9780810388604.
"Vaira Vike-Freiberga". Britannica Presents 100 Women Trailblazers. February 25, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
"Jane Fonda". Britannica Presents 100 Women Trailblazers. March 25, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
"Velika tuga: Preminuo legendarni Milutin Šoškić". NOVA portal. August 27, 2022.
"Melartin, Erkki (1875-1937): Fennica Gehrman - Finnish sheet music". www.fennicagehrman.fi.
"Horacio Quiroga | Biography, Books, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. April 3, 2024.
Moody, Sid (May 6, 1962). "The Day the Angels Lost Their Grip". Tuscaloosa News. p. 6. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
Jean-Joseph Rabéarivelo Madagascan author
"Pierre, baron de Coubertin | Biography, Olympics, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
Serle, Percival (1949). "Ryrie, Granville". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
Mane, Abhay (July 1, 2016). "From a brewer to the faraday of statistics: William Sealy Gosset". Muller Journal of Medical Sciences and Research. 7 (2): 147. doi:10.4103/0975-9727.185019. S2CID 77720857 – via go.gale.com.

    "Don Marquis | American writer | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved March 24, 2022.

External links

    1937 WWII Timeline
    The 1930s Timeline: 1937 – from American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia

    vte

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