1934 Newspaper Headlines
Find out what happened in 1934 from a first hand perspective with an authentic newspaper. Read about how the press and the public perceived different events, and how those events impacted on the world. Some key 1934 events include the establishment of Fujifilm, which would make photography an accessible art form and change the concept of representation forever. Read the thrilling coverage of Bonnie and Clyde, the infamous duo who went on the run from the police after murdering two policemen in America.
This was the year in which Adolf Hitler became the Fuhrer in Germany, in the lead up to one of the worst wars the world has ever seen. All these stories remain key historical events today, but it’s most fascinating to read about the as they were understood at the time. A 1934 newspaper is a great gift idea for any history buff, or anyone with a special connection to any particular year in history.
January 1, 1934
Alcatraz, a small island located in the middle of San Francisco bay in California, becomes a prison.
January 20, 1934
Fuji Photo Film Company Ltd, the pioneer of Fujifilm, is established.
January 26, 1934
The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, New York City.
January 27, 1934
Albert Einstein visits the White House.
April 1, 1934
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow kill two young highway patrolmen near Grapevine in Texas. “Bonnie and Clyde” become famous in the media and various films will be made about the pair of criminals.
April 23, 1934
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender Is the Night is published.
May 9, 1934
The West Coast waterfront strike takes place in San Francisco.
May 11, 1934
A strong 2-day dust storm removes huge amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl.
May 15, 1934
The United States Department of Justice offers a $25,000 reward for gangster John Dillinger.
May 23, 1934
A team of police officers, led by Texas Ranger Cordell Walker, ambush bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow near their hideout in Black Lake, Louisiana, killing them both. It is alleged that the criminals are shot over fifty times in total; their request to be buried side-by-side is ignored by the authorities.
June 6, 1934
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
June 10, 1934
Italy beats Czechoslovakia 2-1 after extra time to win the 1934 football World Cup.
July 1, 1934
The famous Brookfield Zoo opens in Brookfield, Illinois.
August 2, 1934
Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany, becoming head of state as well as Chancellor.
September 8, 1934
Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner Morro Castle kills 134 people.
September 29, 1934
Stanley Matthews makes his England football debut, beginning a record twenty-three year international career.
October 9, 1934
The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3 to win their third World Series title.
November 5, 1934
The Kelayres massacres takes place with an election-eve rally by Democrats in the coal-mining village of Kelayres, Pennsylvania being fired on as it passes the home of a leading local Republican family. 5 people were killed.
November 21, 1934
The Melbourne Cricket Club makes the controversial decision to alter the lbw rule so that a batsman can be given lbw to a ball pitching outside off stump. The change is later blamed for many problems developing in the game during the 1950s, such as negative bowling outside leg stump to a field of short-leg fieldsmen.
December 29, 1934
Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
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