August 1931

The following events occurred in August 1931:

August 1, 1931 (Saturday)

• The Reichsbank raised its rate to 15%, a 5 percent jump from July 16.^[1]
• Born: Tom Wilson, cartoonist, in Grant Town, West Virginia (d. 2011)

August 2, 1931 (Sunday)

• Catalonia voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Spain in a provincial referendum.^[2]
• The Banque de France and Federal Reserve Bank of New York each lent £25 million to the Bank of England.^[3]

August 3, 1931 (Monday)

• 3 African-Americans died in a riot in Chicago. Police fought a crowd of 2,000 protesting an apartment landlord evicting an elderly African-American woman.^[4]

August 4, 1931 (Tuesday)

• A new German decree went into force making the purchase of foreign currency against the Reichsmark only possible through the Reichsbank.^[5]
• Ina Claire was granted a divorce from John Gilbert.^[6]

August 5, 1931 (Wednesday)

• German banks allowed regular transactions for the first time since July 13.^[3]
• Born: Gita Dey, actress, in Calcutta, West Bengal, British India (d. 2011)

August 6, 1931 (Thursday)

• Japan and China re-established normal diplomatic relations.^[7]
• Died: Bix Beiderbecke, 28, American jazz musician (lobar pneumonia)

August 7, 1931 (Friday)

• In Los Angeles, Marlene Dietrich was named as "the other woman" in the legal hearing of lawsuits filed by Riza Royce, wife of director Josef von Sternberg. Royce was suing Dietrich for $100,000 for defamation and von Sternberg for $500,000 for alienation of affections.^[8]
• The comedy film Huckleberry Finn starring Jackie Coogan was released.
• Born: Charles E. Rice, legal scholar and author, in New York City (d. 2015)

August 8, 1931 (Saturday)

• Bobby Burke of the Washington Senators pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox.^[9]

August 9, 1931 (Sunday)

• A referendum seeking to force the dissolution of the Prussian Landtag failed because only 37.1% of eligible voters showed up to vote, and a 50% turnout was required in order for it to pass. 16 died in communist-backed rioting in Berlin.^[10][11]
• Born: Mário Zagallo, footballer and manager, in Maceió, Brazil

August 10, 1931 (Monday)

• The Fuyun earthquake in northern Xinjiang, China killed approximately 10,000 people.^[12]
• Cuban President Gerardo Machado declared martial law to put down a rebellion.^[3]
• German police padlocked the communist headquarters of Karl Liebknecht House in Bülow-Platz as punishment for Sunday's riots. The communist newspaper Red Flag was also suspended for two weeks.^[13]
• Died: Richard Wettstein, 67, Austrian botanist

August 11, 1931 (Tuesday)

• The Hoover Moratorium plan was signed in London.^[14]
• Germany celebrated Constitution Day, the twelfth anniversary of the founding of the Weimar Republic. This year's festivities were dedicated to Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein on the centenary of his death.^[14]

August 12, 1931 (Wednesday)

• The Reichsbank dropped its rate back down again to 10%.^[15]
• Legs Diamond was sentenced to four years in prison for liquor offenses.^[3]
• Born: William Goldman, novelist, playwright and screenwriter, in Chicago, Illinois

August 13, 1931 (Thursday)

• Mahatma Gandhi stunned Britain by announcing he would not be participating in the second Round Table Conference in London as expected because of serious breaches in the Gandhi–Irwin Pact.^[16]

August 14, 1931 (Friday)

• Cuban revolutionary leaders Mario García Menocal and Carlos Mendieta surrendered to authorities in Pinar del Río Province.^[17]
• Carl Nielsen's Commotio was performed in public for the first time, at Aarhus Cathedral in Denmark.^[18]

August 15, 1931 (Saturday)

• The French government extended a major loan to Hungary.^[19]
• The Soviet Union made education compulsory for illiterates between 16 and 50 years of age.^[20]
• Born: Joe Feeney, tenor singer, in Grand Island, Nebraska (d. 2008)
• Died: Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani nurse

August 16, 1931 (Sunday)

• 13 died in a train collision near Leoben, Austria.^[21]
• Born: Betsy von Furstenberg, German-born American actress, in Arnsberg (d. 2015)

August 17, 1931 (Monday)

• Anti-Chinese sentiment increased in Japan after the Japanese government revealed that three Japanese nationals traveling in China had been arrested, killed and cremated. China admitted the action but contended that one of them was a spy.^[18]

August 18, 1931 (Tuesday)

• The 1931 China floods reached their worst point when the Yangtze peaked. The flooding killed about 3.7 million people in total, perhaps the worst natural disaster of the 20th century.^[22]
• A committee of bankers in Basel released a report recommending that credit be extended to Germany for another six months due to the country's inability to meet its debt obligations.^[18]
• The first worldwide opera broadcast was carried out during a production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.^[18]
• Born: Hans van Mierlo, politician, in Breda, Netherlands (d. 2010); Bramwell Tillsley, 14th General of the Salvation Army, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

August 19, 1931 (Wednesday)

• István Bethlen announced he was stepping down as Prime Minister of Hungary after ten years in power.^[23]
• Born: Bill Shoemaker, jockey, in Fabens, Texas (d. 2003)
• Died: Aristides Agramonte, 63, Cuban American physician, pathologist and bacteriologist

August 20, 1931 (Thursday)

• Spain passed a decree forbidding churches from selling their property, in response to a rumor that exiled cardinal Pedro Segura y Sáenz had ordered the churches to sell their property before it could be confiscated.^[24][25]
• Born: Don King, boxing promoter, in Cleveland, Ohio
• Died: Waldemar von Baußnern. 64, German composer

August 21, 1931 (Friday)

• The eighth Great German Radio Exhibition opened in Berlin. Attractions included the first electronic television receiver with a Braun tube, manufactured by Loewe AG.^[26]
• Babe Ruth hit his 600th career home run during a game against the St. Louis Browns.^[27]

August 22, 1931 (Saturday)

• King George V cut short his vacation at Balmoral Castle to head back to London as the resignation of the Ramsay MacDonald government appeared imminent due to the country's budget deficit crisis.^[28]

August 23, 1931 (Sunday)

• Lefty Grove started a game for the Philadelphia Athletics tied for the American League record of most consecutive wins with 16. Facing the St. Louis Browns, Grove lost his shot at sole possession of the record when he was outduelled by Dick Coffman and lost 1-0. After the game, Grove went on an infamous rampage in the clubhouse and destroyed everything in sight, from uniforms to lockers to chairs.^[29][30]
• Born: Barbara Eden, actress and singer, in Tucson, Arizona; Lyle Lahey, political cartoonist, in Abrams, Wisconsin (d. 2013); Hamilton O. Smith, microbiologist and Nobel laureate, in New York City

August 24, 1931 (Monday)

• Ramsay MacDonald submitted his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and then agreed to form a new coalition government which would include representatives of all three major parties.^[3]
• Gyula Károlyi became Prime Minister of Hungary.
• The Soviet Union and France signed a non-aggression pact.^[3]

August 25, 1931 (Tuesday)

• Ramsay MacDonald announced his new cabinet, the First National ministry, which included members of the Conservative and Liberal parties.^[31]
• Charles Lindbergh and wife Anne landed in Tokyo, completing a journey of over 7,000 miles from New York.^[32]
• Born: Hal Fishman, news anchor, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007); Regis Philbin, television personality, in the Bronx, New York

August 26, 1931 (Wednesday)

• Mahatma Gandhi announced he had reversed his decision not to attend the Round Table Conference after a three-hour discussion with Viceroy The Earl of Willingdon.^[33]
• The Portuguese Army put down a revolt in Lisbon.^[34]
• Died: Frank Harris, 75, Irish-born American editor, journalist and publisher; Osachi Hamaguchi, 61, Japanese politician

August 27, 1931 (Thursday)

• The German flying boat Dornier Do X arrived in New York, ending a 12,500-mile trip lasting almost a year that spanned four continents.^[35][36]
• Born: Sri Chinmoy, spiritual master, in Shakpura, Chittagong District, East Bengal, British India (d. 2007)
• Died: Francis Marion Smith, 85, American business magnate and civic builder

August 28, 1931 (Friday)

• The Labour Party voted to oust Ramsay MacDonald as its leader. Former foreign secretary Arthur Henderson was named as his successor.^[37]
• Born: John Shirley-Quirk, bass-baritone, in Liverpool, England (d. 2014)

August 29, 1931 (Saturday)

• Mahatma Gandhi set sail on the SS Rajputana from Bombay to Marseilles en route to the Round Table Conference in London. "I see nothing on the horizon to warrant hope, but I am an optimist and I am hoping against hope. For me the service of India is identical with the service of humanity", Gandhi said as he boarded.^[38][39]
• In Clarksburg, West Virginia, Harry Powers confessed to the murder of a woman and three children that made national headlines.^[40][41]
• Billy Herman made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs, getting a base hit in his only plate appearance.^[42]
• Died: David T. Abercrombie, 64, co-founder of Abercrombie & Fitch

August 30, 1931 (Sunday)

• The Netherlands and Turkey signed a trade and sea navigation treaty.^[43]
• Born: Jacques Braunstein, economist, publicist and disc jockey, in Bucharest, Romania (d. 2009); Jack Swigert, pilot and astronaut, in Denver, Colorado (d. 1982)
• Died: Mickey Duffy, 42 or 43, American mobster (assassinated)

August 31, 1931 (Monday)

• A court in Kaunas acquitted former Lithuanian Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras of charges of high treason.^[44]
• Born: Jean Béliveau, ice hockey player, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada (d. 2014); Kenny Burrell, jazz guitarist, in Detroit, Michigan; Noble Willingham, actor, in Mineola, Texas (d. 2004)
• Died: Hall Caine, 78, Manx author

References