With Paul von Hindenburg on his death bed, the German government passed the Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich, which abolished the title of President and merged its powers with those of Chancellor. Hitler was now to be known as Führer and Reich Chancellor. Passage of the law was not announced until noon the following day.[1][2]
During a 21–4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mel Ott of the New York Giants scored six runs in one game, something that no player had done since 1899. Ott would score six runs in a game again on April 30, 1944, and become the only player to ever accomplish the feat twice.[6][7]
Adolf Hitler said in a Daily Mail interview that "If it rests with Germany, war will not come again. This country has a more profound impression than any other of the evil that war causes. Ninety-five percent of the members of the National Administration have had personal experiences of its horrors. They know that it is not a romantic adventure but a ghastly catastrophe."[8][9]
The body of Paul von Hindenburg was brought to the Tannenberg Memorial. The road for the funeral procession was lined with mourners bearing torches.[10]
The Bluebell Collision occurred in Newcastle, Australia, when the harbour ferry Bluebell struck a coastal freighter and sank.
Adolf Hitler proclaimed a general amnesty for thousands of political prisoners, mostly affecting those incarcerated for lower-level crimes such as criticizing the government. The amnesty did not apply to those serving sentences for high treason, espionage or attempted murder. Hitler also ordered the dissolution of the Austrian Legion, the organization of Austrian Nazis who had crossed the border after Dollfuss had banned the Nazi Party there.[14][15]
The German Evangelical National Synod under ReichbischofLudwig Müller passed a resolution requiring pastors and church officials to swear an oath to be "faithful and obedient to the Führer of the German people, Adolf Hitler."[16]
Some 10,000 banana workers went on strike in Costa Rica. The strike, led by Carlos Luis Fallas and other Communist Party organizers, was the largest strike in Costa Rican history at the time.[17]
General Werner von Blomberg issued a decree ordering all German soldiers to refer to Hitler as "Mein Führer" instead of "Der Führer".[18]
Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees announced that the present season would be his last as a full-time player. "I really don't know what the future holds for me – only time will tell", Ruth said. "I would like to remain in the game as a manager and perhaps do a little pinch hitting on Saturdays and Sundays or days when I figured it would help the gate."[19]
Twenty-three-year-old American music student Isobel Lillian Steele was arrested in Berlin on suspicion of espionage. During her four months of captivity her case became a cause célèbre in the American media as the U.S. government worked to free her.[20][21]
William Beebe and Otis Barton broke their own deep-sea diving record, attaining a depth of 2,510 feet (770 m) in a bathysphere 8 miles (13 km) off Bermuda.[22] Beebe reported seeing strange deep sea fish equipped with "headlights" that gave him an impression that "stars in a black sky twisting around crazily, had suddenly gone mad."[23]
Babe Ruth visited Fenway Park for the last time as the Yankees split a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. A then-Fenway record of 46,776 fans came out to cheer for the Babe in the ballpark where his major league career began in 1914. Ruth went 2-for-5 with a double in the first game and 0-for-1 with two walks in the second game.[24][25]
Hitler received a signed document containing Hindenburg's 'last wish', which was for the restoration of the Hohenzollern monarchy. Hitler did not have the document published.[1]
Hermann Göring was injured in an accident outside Munich when the car he was driving collided with a truck on a narrow road. He sustained injuries to his back and cuts to his face and knees, but left the hospital the next day.[29]
William Beebe and Otis Barton broke their own deep-sea diving record again, achieving a depth of 3,028 feet (923 m). Beebe attempted to take some motion picture film of the deep sea fish he first saw on Saturday, but the fish kept swimming away from the bathysphere's searchlight and the film proved inconclusive.[30]
In Hamburg, Hitler made his lone campaign speech before the referendum, explaining that he arranged for the abolition of the presidency in order to prevent any attempts by foreign elements to stir up intrigues over the question of succession. Hitler also attacked the system of government under the old Weimar Republic as not being capable of action but "only of compromise."[34]
John Labatt was released by his kidnappers at Forest Hill, Toronto when they panicked over the ransom money not arriving fast enough while the police were closing in. Labatt promised his kidnappers he would deliver $25,000 to a place of their choosing in exchange for his release, but they did not try to contact him again and he never paid.[35]
Manchukuo severed all relations with the Soviet Union due to a variety of border incidents including soldiers firing on each other. The two states did not have formal diplomatic relations but had been communicating unofficially due to shared borders and commercial interests.[36]
An international Jewish conference in Geneva declared that the boycotting of Nazi Germany would be redoubled until the rights of German Jews were fully restored. Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise said that the boycott would not be abandoned until the Nazi regime canceled every law or practice "violating human freedom, political equality and the ideals of civilization."[40]
In Warsaw, Polish newspaper editor and former Treasury Minister Ignacy Matuszewski fought a duel with Professor Wladimir Lednizcki. The professor accused Matuszewski of slandering his late father, a lawyer who committed suicide after a company he was representing lost a case. Matuszewski was shot and seriously wounded, but survived.[44]
It was announced that the Canadian government would move 40,000 Canadian families with 500,000 head of starving livestock out of parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba stricken by drought due to the Dust Bowl.[45]
Eugenics officials in Nazi Germany issued Ten Commandments for marriage.[46] Number 5 proclaimed, "As a German choose only a spouse of the same or Nordic blood", while Number 10 said, "You should want to have as many children as possible."[47]
American journalist Dorothy Thompson received a letter from the Gestapo ordering her to leave Germany, citing what it called "numerous anti-German articles in the American press."[48]
The U.S. and Cuban governments signed a reciprocal trade agreement to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.[39]
The biggest boxing event ever staged in Germany was held in Hamburg, as 90,000 fans watched former champion Max Schmeling begin his bid for a comeback by knocking out Walter Neusel in the ninth round.[51]
The mural painting Nightmare of 1934, satirizing the Roosevelt Administration despite being funded by the PWA, was placed on exhibition at the Westchester Galleries of Fine Arts in Tarrytown, New York. The identity of the mysterious painter was only given as Jeremiah II.[57]
Nazi Germany ordered workers under 25 years of age to surrender their jobs to older unemployed men, especially fathers of large families. All employers would be required to submit reports to the labour office divulging the number of workers they employed under the age of 25 and what measures they would be taking to replace them.[58]
The German press office announced that 65,000 Jews had emigrated from Germany since Hitler became chancellor on January 30, 1933. 21,000 of them had gone to France, 10,000 to Palestine, 8,000 to Poland and 4,000 to Czechoslovakia.[60]
The Nightmare of 1934 painting was vandalized by an illegal immigrant who set it on fire because he found it offensive to the Roosevelt family.[61]
^"Germany Will Never Start Another War Says Hitler; Intention of Annexing Austria Denied by Chancellor". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: 2. August 6, 1934.
^"Sound Tattoo for Hindenburg on Last March". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 7, 1934. pp. 1, 13.
^Mason, Kevin (2007). Building an Unwanted Nation: The Anglo-American Partnership and Austrian Proponents of a Separate Nationhood, 1918–1934. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. p. 288. ISBN978-0-549-32486-7.
^"Beebe Finds Fish with Headlights at 2,510 Ft. Depth". Chicago Daily Tribune: 11. August 13, 1934.
^"46,000 at Ruth's Last Roundup in Boston Stands". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 13, 1934. p. 21.
^Redmount, Robert (1998). The Red Sox Encyclopedia. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing. p. 216. ISBN978-1-58261-012-2.
^Green, Diana. "Li'l Abner." Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. Ed. M. Keith Booker. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2014. 230. ISBN978-0-313-39751-6.
^Ettlinger, Harold (August 14, 1934). "Four Policemen Hanged for Part in Dollfuss Raid". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 2.
^"Kidnapers Ask $150,000 for Canada Brewer". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 15, 1934. p. 1.
^"All Ties With Russia Broken by Manchukuo". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 19, 1934. p. 2.
^Limbach, Raymond D. "Loyalty Oath to Hitler (August 2, 1934)." Germany at War: 500 Years of Military History. Ed. David T. Zabecki. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC. 2014. 786. ISBN978-1-59884-981-3.
^"Hindenburg's Real Will Named Kaiser, Paris Soir Claims". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 21, 1934. p. 6.