January 1934


The following events occurred in January 1934:

[January 1], 1934 (Monday)

[January 2], 1934 (Tuesday)

  • The Warka Vase was found at Uruk, as a collection of fragments, by German Assyriologists in their sixth excavation season.
  • Cuban President Ramón Grau signed a decree setting April 22 as the date for the election of a constitutional assembly. Grau also said that he would not be continuing in the presidency beyond May 20.

[January 3], 1934 (Wednesday)

[January 4], 1934 (Thursday)

  • The Henschel Hs 121 aircraft made its maiden flight.
  • A new station building was opened at Leigh-on-Sea railway station, UK.
  • A bomb was thrown at the Yugoslavian consulate in Klagenfurt, Austria, damaging the building and blowing out windows of nearby buildings but not causing any injuries. Officials suspected Austrian Nazis were to blame due to recent articles in a government newspaper alleging that the Nazis promised to give Carinthia to Yugoslavia in the event of a German annexation of Austria.
  • Born: Rudolf Schuster, President of Slovakia 1999–2004; in Košice

[January 5], 1934 (Friday)

[January 6], 1934 (Saturday)

  • Reich Bishop of Germany Ludwig Müller issued a sweeping decree giving himself the power to dismiss pastors and church officials who opposed the government.
  • The Norwegian cargo ship SS Torlak sprung a leak and was abandoned in the Norwegian Sea. All crew were rescued by the Queen's Cross, which had been towing the ship to the United Kingdom for scrapping. Torlak was towed into Bodø, Nordland by another Norwegian ship SS Hadsel. where she was beached.
  • Died: Herbert Chapman, 55, English footballer and manager

[January 7], 1934 (Sunday)

[January 8], 1934 (Monday)

[January 9], 1934 (Tuesday)

[January 10], 1934 (Wednesday)

[January 11], 1934 (Thursday)

[January 12], 1934 (Friday)

[January 13], 1934 (Saturday)

[January 14], 1934 (Sunday)

[January 15], 1934 (Monday)

[January 16], 1934 (Tuesday)

[January 17], 1934 (Wednesday)

[January 18], 1934 (Thursday)

  • At 1:20 in the morning Manuel Márquez Sterling was named the new President of Cuba by the military chiefs of staff, to take over from Carlos Hevia, who had quit after three days. Marquez served for six hours before being removed at 7:20 a.m. and was then replaced by Carlos Mendieta, who would serve until December 11, 1935.
  • Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss made a speech implicitly warning Germany not to meddle in Austrian affairs, saying that "it is perhaps not an entirely safe game when a country, whose importance in central Europe and, indeed, all Europe is generally understood and recognized, continues to be constitutionally threatened in its independence and freedom by a great power – which unfortunately is also a country inhabited by brother folk."
  • Nine of the crew of the SS Oakford were killed when the British cargo ship ran aground off Vlieland in the Netherlands.
  • The Australian airline, Qantas, and the British company, Imperial Airways, joined forces to establish a joint subsidiary, "Qantas Empire Airways Ltd".
  • Born: Raymond Briggs, British illustrator and author; in Wimbledon, London

[January 19], 1934 (Friday)

[January 20], 1934 (Saturday)

[January 21], 1934 (Sunday)

[January 22], 1934 (Monday)

[January 23], 1934 (Tuesday)

[January 24], 1934 (Wednesday)

[January 25], 1934 (Thursday)

[January 26], 1934 (Friday)

[January 27], 1934 (Saturday)

[January 28], 1934 (Sunday)

[January 29], 1934 (Monday)

  • The Chinese cargo liner SS Chungshing was crushed by ice and sank in the Bohai Sea. All passengers and crew were rescued.
  • Austria was in a state of alarm over fears that Nazis would attempt a coup on the first anniversary of Hitler's chancellorship. Engelbert Dollfuss warned, "Trouble will brew on the Nazi front on or about January 30. I am asking you to risk life and limb in the defense of Austria."
  • Died: Fritz Haber, 65, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

[January 30], 1934 (Tuesday)

  • On the first anniversary of Hitler's appointment as chancellor, the Reichstag passed the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich", transferring sovereignty rights of the states to the federal government and dissolving the state parliaments. Hitler appeared before the Reichstag and gave a lengthy speech listing his government's accomplishments.
  • U.S. President Roosevelt signed the Gold Reserve Act into law in the United States, and all gold held in the Federal Reserve was surrendered to the United States Department of the Treasury; immediately following this, Roosevelt raised the statutory gold price from US$20.67 per troy ounce to $35.
  • Soviet pilots Pavel Fedosenko, Andrey Vasenko, and Ilya Usyskin took the hydrogen-filled high-altitude balloon Osoaviakhim-1 on its maiden flight to a record-setting altitude of, where it remained for twelve minutes. The 7-hour 14-minute flight—during which the balloon traveled from its launch site—ended in tragedy when the crew lost control of the balloon during its descent. The gondola disintegrated and crashed near the village of Potizh-Ostrog in the Insarsky District of the Mordovian Autonomous Oblast, killing the crew.
  • Over 6,000 dances and parties were held across the United States on the occasion of President Roosevelt's 52nd birthday as a fundraiser for the Warm Springs Foundation and polio rehabilitation. Over $1 million was raised.
  • Artist Salvador Dalí and his muse Gala were married in a simple civil ceremony in Paris.
  • Born: Tammy Grimes, American actress and singer; in Lynn, Massachusetts

[January 31], 1934 (Wednesday)