May 1, 1931: The 102-story tall Empire State Building, tallest in the world, opens in New York CityMay 19, 1931: German luxury ocean liner Deutschland accidentally launched early from Kiel
The following events occurred in May 1931:
Friday, May 1, 1931
The Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world, opened in New York City. At 11:30 a.m., President Hoover pressed a button in the White House that turned on the lights of all 102 stories.[1]
A mock air raid was conducted over Toulon, France. Although the military maneuvers were called off after two hours due to bad weather, it sufficiently demonstrated to military experts that the important naval base would have been reduced to ruins by a fleet of 150 bombers had the attack been real.[3]
The Battle of Evarts took place in the U.S. in Harlan County, Kentucky, as two county sheriff's office deputies, one miner and another man were killed in a gun battle between striking miners and strikebreakers. The battle was one of a series of violent coal mining-related incidents in the region known as the Harlan County War.[8][9][10]
A force of 325 National Guardsmen were dispatched to Harlan County, Kentucky, by that U.S. state's Governor, under orders to "protect those who behave themselves and take charge of those who do not."[12]
The Creditanstalt Bank in Vienna failed,[19] leading to a national currency crisis as investors began pulling their funds from Austrian banks and moving them to other countries.[20][21]
Four Roman Catholic convents were burned during the night by anticlerical rioters in Madrid.[22]
Jim Jones, American cult leader who guided the mass suicide and murder of hundreds of his followers and their families in Guyana in 1978; in Randolph County, Indiana (d. 1978)
Jiří Petr, agroscientist and university professor, in Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia (d. 2014)
Thursday, May 14, 1931
The Bank of England's lending rate was cut to 2.5%, its lowest rate in 22 years.[6]
Toscanini
In Bologna, the conductor Arturo Toscanini was assaulted by a Fascist youth for refusing to play Giovinezza at the beginning of a concert devoted to the 75th birthday of Giuseppe Martucci. Toscanini escaped into a car and returned to his hotel; the concert was postponed.[26]
Jack Dodson, U.S. television actor known for The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.; in Pittsburgh (d. 1994)
Sunday, May 17, 1931
The Nazi Party won Landtag elections in Oldenburg with 37.2% of the vote. It was the first time the Nazis became the largest party in a Landtag.[4][30]
The German cruiser Deutschland was launched from Kiel. It accidentally slid into the water ahead of schedule before President Hindenburg had a chance to smash a bottle of champagne against its prow.[32]
Died:Ralph Barton, 39, American caricaturist, committed suicide
Wednesday, May 20, 1931
A report by International Labour Office Director General Albert Thomas was publicized, estimating that 20 million people were out of work around the world, double the numbers of one year ago.[33]
Died:Charlie Poole, 39, American country musician, died of a heart attack
Friday, May 22, 1931
The Spanish provisional government granted equal freedom to all religions.[36]
Saturday, May 23, 1931
Commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Pius XI published a lengthy message in L'Osservatore Romano calling the modern business world cruel and corrupting of the working class.[37]
Serge Koussevitzky sent a telegram to the management of La Scala in Milan, explaining he would postpone his scheduled June performance there until the Italian government apologized to Arturo Toscanini over the events at Bologna.[41][42]
Wednesday, May 27, 1931
In Augsburg, Germany, Professor Auguste Piccard and physicist Paul Kipfer took off in an airtight ball attached to a hydrogen balloon in an attempt to be the first persons to reach the Earth's stratosphere. They attained an altitude of 15,606 m (51,200 ft) and then landed in the Austrian Alps after more than eighteen hours in the air.[43][44][45]
Between 2,000 and 3,000 Japanese railway workers went on strike in protest against proposed salary reductions.[46]
Thursday, May 28, 1931
Three people were killed in fighting between Communists and Nazis in Hagen.[47]
Texas Guinan and her ensemble of entertainers were refused entry into France for failing to get a work permit before departing New York. "Hell! What have I done to be treated like this?" Guinan fumed. "I entertained at the front during the war on a permit signed by President Wilson. Why ain't I good enough to come here and sing now?"[48]
Died:Michele Schirru, 31, Italian-born American anarchist, was executed by a firing squad after being convicted of plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini. [49]
William "Red" Hill went over Niagara Falls in a barrel for the third time. After going over, the barrel was stuck in a whirlpool for almost three hours until it floated free and Hill could be rescued by his son, William Jr.[50]
^Hett, Benjamin Carter (2007). "Hans Litten and the Politics of Criminal Law in the Weimar Republic". In Dubber, Markus Dirk; Farmer, Lindsay (eds.). Modern Histories of Crime and Punishment. Stanford University Press.
^Allen, Jay (May 9, 1931). "Spain Decrees Free Education for Children". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 4.
^"Mate Wins Preakness; Twenty Grand 2D". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 10, 1931. p. Part 2, p. 1.
^"Building Exposition Opened in Germany; U. S. is Represented". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 10, 1931. p. 6.
^Allen, Jay (May 11, 1931). "Madrid Swept by Riots; Use Guns and Clubs". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^Kindleberger, Charles P. (1995). The World Economy and National Finance in Historical Perspective. University of Michigan Press. p. 193. ISBN978-0-472-10642-4.
^Schubert, Aurel (1991). The Credit-Anstalt Crisis of 1931. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN978-0-521-36537-6.
^Paxton, Robert; Hessler, Julie (2012). Europe in the Twentieth Century, Fifth Edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. p. 265. ISBN978-1-133-17112-6.
^Allen, Jay (May 12, 1931). "Madrid Mobs Fire Churches; Nuns in Flight". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^"Koussevitsky Supports Toscanini, Says Politics and Art Don't Mix, Assails Fascism". San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California. May 27, 1931. p. 4.
^"Pair Takes Off in Balloon on Nine Mile Climb". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 27, 1931. p. 1.
^Davis, Jeffrey R.; Johnson, Robert; Stepanek, Jan; Fogarty, Jennifer A. (2008). Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine, Fourth Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 17. ISBN978-0-7817-7466-6.
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