A new marriage and divorce law went into effect in Nazi Germany and Austria, depriving the church of all legal authority in marital affairs and entitling the state to prevent certain marriages.[1]
The Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals played with yellow baseballs in the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field. The yellow dye was an experiment to see if players would see the ball better and reduce their chances of being hit by pitches. Most players agreed the yellow balls were easier to follow, but the dye tended to come off on the hands of the pitchers.[2]
The Soviet Union and Japan agreed to an armistice after several weeks of border clashes known as the Battle of Lake Khasan. Fighting ceased at noon.[14]
Hitler called up 750,000 German troops for an unprecedented series of military exercises.[3]
A head-to-head horse race for a $25,000 prize, hyped in advance as "one of the greatest match races of all time", was held between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti at Del Mar racetrack in California, broadcast nationwide over the radio. Seabiscuit narrowly won.[15]
A decree in Nazi Germany required Jews bearing first names of "non-Jewish" origin to adopt an additional name: "Israel" for men and "Sara" for women.[19]
A secret decree in Nazi Germany declared the SS-Verfügungstruppe to be neither part of the police nor the Wehrmacht, but an independent force at Hitler's personal disposal.[20]
Hitler staged a review of the Kriegsmarine in the Bay of Kiel, accompanied by Hungarian admiral Miklós Horthy. It was the grandest display of the German Navy since the end of the World War. Before the review, the new cruiser Prinz Eugen was launched.[25]
The Soviet Union warned the German Ambassador in Moscow that if Czechoslovakia were to be attacked, the Soviets would honour their 1935 treaty obligation to support that country.[26]
Italy began a special census of all Jews in the country, sending lengthy questionnaires to all Jews and "suspected Jews". Even foreign tourists were required to participate.[27]
Died:Frank Hawks, 41, American aviator (plane crash)
Hitler and Horthy watched a massive military parade in Berlin. The attention of foreign military experts was drawn by the inclusion of an enormous new howitzer that they had never seen before.[29]
Germany sent notes to Britain and France asking them to compel Czechoslovakia to accept the demands of the Sudeten Germans, including giving them the right to autonomy.[30]
The British government announced the mobilization of the Royal Navy in response to German military exercises.[3]
A bomb explosion at a market in Jaffa killed at least 20 Arabs.[31]
Winston Churchill made a speech in Theydon Bois saying that war was not inevitable, "But the danger to peace will not be removed until the vast German armies which have been called from their homes into the ranks have been dispersed. For a country which is itself not menaced by anyone, in no fear of anyone, to place over 150,000 soldiers upon a war footing is a very grave step." Churchill said that Europe's fate lay in the hands of "the extraordinary man at the summit of Germany. He has raised the country from defeat; he has brought it back again to the foremost ranks of power. It would indeed be a fatal act if he were to cast away all he has done for the German people by leading them into what would almost certainly become a world war."[26]
The British cabinet held a meeting on the Sudeten crisis and then issued a vague statement to the public: "At the conclusion of the meeting the ministers expressed their entire agreement with the action already taken and the policy to be pursued in the future."[35] In private they agreed that Britain would not threaten war if Hitler went into Czechoslovakia.[36]
Winston Churchill wrote the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax urging the formation of a united front with France, the Soviet Union and the United States.[37]
Douglas Corrigan went to the White House and briefly met President Roosevelt. After the meeting Corrigan said the president had told him to "be careful and not take any more chances."[38][39]
^Bar-On, Mordechai (2004). Never-Ending Conflict: Israeli Military History. p. 34.
^Gelber, Yoav. "The Arab Revolt, 1936–1939: A Turning Point in the Struggle over Palestine." Never-Ending Conflict: Israeli Military History. Ed. Mordechai Bar-On. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2006. p. 34. ISBN978-0-8117-3345-8.