 the USSR and the USA; Japan and Russia had been enemies since the 1905 war, and Hitler’s alliance with Russia, signed in 1939, was looking more uncertain.. The USA now realised that entering the war on the side of the Allies would now entail a war in the Pacific.
20/7/1940. The first singles charts were published in the US journal Billboard.
15/5/1940. Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time, in America. In New York. Alone, 72,000 pairs were sold in the first eight hours.
26/2/1940, The United States Air Defense Command was created, to provide co-ordinated air defence for the USA.
7/2/1940, Disney’s film Pinocchio was given a gala premiere in New York.
8/12/1939, As the UK began a naval blockade of Germany, the US protested at restrictions on international free trade.
4/11/1939. President Roosevelt announced he would amend the Neutrality Act to allow Britain and France to buy arms from the USA. Roosevelt hoped this would avoid direct US involvement in the war.
18/10/1939, Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin, was born in New Orleans.
17/10/1939, Evel Kneivel, American stuntman , was born.
13/10/1939, Hitler made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade US President Roosevelt to mediate a peace between Germany, France and Britain.
5/9/1939. President Roosevelt declared the USA neutral in World War Two.
2/8/1939, Albert Einstein wrote to US President Franklin D Roosevelt urging him to commit to research into the possibility of atomic bombs.
28/7/1939, William James Mayo, US surgeon and co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, died aged 78.
30/4/1939, The World Fair in New York opened. It was opened by President Franklin D Roosevelt, who became the first US President to appear on TV, as NBC began their TV news service this day.
14/4/1939, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was published.
1/4/1939, The USA recognised Franco’s government in Spain.
31/10/1938. A radio broadcast of H G Well’s War of the Worlds caused widespread panic because of its vivid realism. The adaptation of the play carried a warning that it was not for real but this warning was not broadcast until 40 minutes after the play had begun. Terrified Americans packed the roads, hid in cellars, loaded guns, and wrapped their heads in wet towels to protect themselves against Martian poison gas. The event proved both the power of mass media and the American capacity for hysteria.
26/5/1938, The Dies Committee was established by the US House of Representatives. Named after its Chairman, Martin Dies, its remit was to investigate ‘Un-American’ activities by Nazis and Communists within the USA. See 3/1/1945.
14/1/1938, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full length colour and sound animated cartoon, went on general release across the USA.
21/12/1937. Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full length colour and sound animated cartoon was premiered in Los Angeles, USA.
1/6/1937, Morgan Freeman, US actor, was born.
6/1/1937, In the USA, President Roosevelt forbade shipments of arms to either side in Spain.
1936, In the US, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was established. Riral telephone lines were also developed by the REA from 1949.
30/12/1936, Striking workers in the USA closed 7 General Motors plants.
29/2/1936. President Roosevelt signed a second neutrality bill, banning loans to countries at war.
4/1/1936, The first pop music chart was compiled, based on record sales published in New York in The Billboard.
10/9/1035, Huey Pierce Long, Louisiana politician, was shot dead in Baton Rouge. He had opposed ‘lying newspapers’ and got the Louisiana legislature to impose a tax on any newspaper with a circulation of over 20,000.
31/8/1935, In the USA, President Roosevelt banned arms sales to warring countries.
14/8/1935. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Bill, introducing welfare for the old, sick, and unemployed.
10/6/1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the United States by Bill Wilson and Dr Robert Smith.
21/5/1935, Death of Jane Addams (born 6/9/1860). She founded Hull House, a mission to help poor imm