1933 CE

The Enabling Act of 1933 grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers following the Reichstag fire, allowing the Nazis to suppress opposition; the USS Akron disaster kills 73 off the New Jersey coast, becoming one of the deadliest airship accidents; the Repeal of Prohibition in the United States ends the nationwide alcohol ban, restoring legal liquor sales after 13 years; the 1933 Long Beach earthquake strikes Southern California, killing 120 and prompting stricter building codes; the Kansas City massacre shocks the nation as gangsters ambush law enforcement, killing four; and the release of King Kong captivates audiences with groundbreaking effects and iconic storytelling.

In the 1930s, the 20th century.

1933 at a glance

World population
about 2.13 billion Our World in Data
United States
Herbert Hoover, then Franklin D. Roosevelt (President) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
United Kingdom
George V (King); Ramsay MacDonald (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets); Vyacheslav Molotov (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Republic of China (1916–1949)
Wang Jingwei (Premier) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
French Third Republic
Albert François Lebrun (President); Joseph Paul-Boncour, then Édouard Daladier, then Albert Sarraut, then Camille Chautemps (President of the Council of ministers) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Weimar Republic of Germany
Paul von Hindenburg (President); Kurt von Schleicher (Chancellor) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
Nazi Germany
Paul von Hindenburg (President); Adolf Hitler (Chancellor) Wikipedia rev. 1377869146
$1 in 1933
$26.05 in September 2026 dollars BLS CPI-U

Who led every country in 1933 →Born in 1933? What it cost, who led, what was No. 1 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover.source
  • January 30 – Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg.source
  • January 30 – Édouard Daladier forms a government in France in succession to Joseph Paul-Boncour. He is succeeded on October 26 by Albert Sarraut and on November 26 by Camille Chautemps.source
  • February 3 – Adolf Hitler gives a secret speech to his military leaders, outlining his plans to rearm Germany in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles and to adopt a policy of Lebensraum in eastern Europe.source
  • February 9 – The King and Country debate: The Oxford Union student debating society in England passes a resolution stating, "That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and country."source
  • February 14 – unsuccessful attempt by Peruvian Air Force to bomb Colombian Navy, President Herrera breaks off diplomatic relationsColombiasource
  • February 17 – Repeal of Prohibition in the United States: The Blaine Act passes the United States Senate, submitting the proposed Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. The amendment is ratified on December 5, ending prohibition in the United States.source
  • March 4 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure; Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates authoritarian rule by decree, an origin of Austrofascism.source
  • March 4 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in as the 32nd president of the United States.source
  • March 5 – March 1933 German federal election: The Nazi Party gains 43.9% of the votes.source
  • March 15 – Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the Austrofascist dictatorship.source
  • March 23 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler effectively the dictator of Germany.source
  • 22 April – Agreement with the creditors of Ottoman Public Debt AdministrationTurkeysource
  • May 3 – In the Irish Free State, Dáil Éireann abolishes the oath of allegiance to the British Crown.source
  • May 17 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form the Nasjonal Samling (the National Gathering Party) of Norway.source
  • May 18 – New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.source
  • May - Bolivian legislative election, 1933Boliviasource
  • July 15 – The Four-Power Pact is signed by Britain, France, Germany and Italy.source
  • September 12 – Alejandro Lerroux forms a new government in Spain.source
  • 15 September – Ștefan Tătărescu, leader of the National Socialist Party and brother of future Prime Minister Gheorghe Tătărescu, visits Adolf Hitler in Germany, supported by Romanian Minister Foreign Affairs, Nicolae Titulescu, as part of a wider objective to undermine the Little Entente.Romaniasource
  • October 14–16 – The new constitution of Estonia is approved only on the third consecutive referendum.source
  • 14 October – plebiscite in favour of constitutional reform giving wide powers to a new office of the president. (to 16 October)Estoniasource
  • November 5 – Spanish Basque people vote for autonomy.source
  • November 5 - 1933 Basque Statute of Autonomy referendumSpainsource
  • November 16 – The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.source
  • November 18 - Francisco Javier Gaxiola, diplomat, lawyer and politician (born 1870)Mexicosource
  • November 19 – Second Spanish Republic: General elections result in a victory by the right-wing parties.source
  • November 22 – The Fujian People's Government is declared in Fujian Province, China.source
  • December 5 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition in the United States, making production and sale of alcohol legal in the U.S.source
  • December 26 – Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is signed by participants in the 7th International Conference of American States; it is significant in the development of the declarative theory of statehood.source
  • The Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery is created by the League of Nations.source
  • According to official statistics there were 30,327 Jewish immigrants during 1933.Mandatory Palestinesource

Conflict & Security

  • January 1-May 31 – Defense of the Great WallJapansource
  • January 11 - Casas Viejas incidentSpainsource
  • February 1 – Adolf Hitler gives his "Proclamation to the German People" in Berlin.source
  • February 5 – A mutiny starts on the Royal Netherlands Navy coastal defence ship De Zeven Provinciën in the Dutch East Indies. After 6 days, it is bombed by a Dutch aircraft, killing 23 men, and the remaining mutineers surrender.source
  • February 14 - unsuccessful attempt by Peruvian Air Force to bomb the Colombian NavyPerusource
  • February 15 – In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead fatally wounds the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Zangara is executed on March 20 by the electric chair.source
  • February 23 – The Imperial Japanese Army invades Rehe province in northern China.source
  • March 20 – Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed in Germany (it opens March 22 to hold political prisoners).source
  • April 1 – The recently elected Nazis (under Julius Streicher) organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany.source
  • April 3 – An anti-monarchist rebellion occurs in Siam (Thailand).source
  • May 10 – Chaco War: Paraguay formally declares war on Bolivia.source
  • May 24 – end of the Colombia–Peru WarColombiasource
  • 16 June – Haim Arlosoroff (born 1899), Russian (Ukraine)-born left-wing Zionist leader, leader of the Labor Zionist movement in Palestine during the mandate period and head of the political department of the Jewish Agency. Assassinated.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • June 17 – Kansas City massacre: At the Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, gangsters kill four law enforcement officers and detained fugitive bank robber Frank Nash.source
  • June 25 – Wilmersdorfer Tennishallen delegates convene in Berlin to protest against the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany.source
  • July 1 – Business Plot: Smedley Butler becomes involved in a coup attempt led by Gerald MacGuire against the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt which fails (according to his testimony in 1934).source
  • August 12 – British politician Winston Churchill makes his first speech publicly warning of the dangers of German rearmament.source
  • August 30-September 15 - Battle of Campo GrandeBoliviasource
  • October 1 – Engelbert Dollfuss, leader of the Fatherland's Front in Austria, is seriously injured in a failed assassination attempt.source
  • October 12 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz is acquired by the United States Department of Justice, which plans to incorporate the island into its Federal Bureau of Prisons as a penitentiary.source
  • December 29 – Members of the Iron Guard assassinate Ion Gheorghe Duca, prime minister of Romania.source
  • War of Independence Veterans' League emerges and enters into politics.Estoniasource
  • 15–16 February – The army breaks up the Grivița Workshops strikes and arrests the Communist leadership, which includes future Romanian President Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.Romaniasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.source
  • 21 February – representatives from the Netherlands and Germany arrive in Galway to inspect the site of a proposed new £3 million airport.Irelandsource
  • April 3 – The first flight over Mount Everest is made by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.source
  • April 11 – Aviator Bill Lancaster takes off from Lympne in England, in an attempt to make a speed record to the Cape of Good Hope, but vanishes (his body is not found in the Sahara Desert until 1962).source
  • 27 April – The Jessop & Son department store in Nottingham is acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, its first store outside London.United Kingdomsource
  • 24 May – Win 1–0 vs South Coast at BulliNew Zealandsource
  • May 27 – The Century of Progress World's Fair opens in Chicago.source
  • 24 July – Arne Hamarsland, middle-distance runnerNorwaysource
  • 25 August – The Haavara Agreement is signed between Nazi Germany, the Zionist Federation of Germany and the Anglo-Palestine Bank, allowing approximately 60,000 German Jews to leave Germany and move to Palestine.Germanysource
  • September 28 – Isetan Department Store of Shinjuku, officially opensJapansource
  • November 16 – American aviator Jimmie Angel becomes the first foreigner to see the Angel Falls in Venezuela (they are named after him).source
  • Peter Fleming – Brazilian AdventureBrazilsource
  • The first doughnut store under the Krispy Kreme name opens on Charlotte Pike in Nashville, Tennessee.United Statessource

Religion & Belief

  • 2 March – The completion of Ōgon Shrine in Taihoku Prefecture.Taiwansource
  • March – John Andrew Rice and other staff are dismissed (or resign) from Rollins College in a dispute over academic tenure, going on to found Black Mountain College.United Statessource
  • May 29 – The first consignment of 10,000 Afrikaans Bibles arrives at Cape Town from London on the Union-Castle Line's Carnarvon Castle.South Africasource
  • 11 June – Romania wins the Balkan Cup for the third time, with Gheorghe Ciolac and scoring the most goals in the tournament.Romaniasource
  • 10 July – Vilhelm Krag, author (born 1871)Norwaysource
  • July 20 – Reichskonkordat: Vatican state secretary Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) signs an accord with Germany.source
  • 13 November – The founding of the moshav Elyashiv by Jewish immigrants from Yemen, which was the first settlement to be established by Yemenite Jews.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • The first dated Inter-School Christian Fellowship group is started in Australia at North Sydney Boys High School, with the group continuing into the 21st century.source
  • Walter Krickeberg – Los totonaca contribución a la etnografía histórica de la América Central (translation of German work)Mexicosource
  • Scottish Democratic Fascist Party founded by William Weir Gilmour and Major Hume Sleigh to oppose Irish Catholic emigration to Scotland.Scotlandsource

Economy & Finance

  • 1 January – Establishment of the cooperative bus company Egged through a merger of four smaller bus cooperatives.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • March 5 – The Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "Bank holiday", closing all United States banks and freezing all financial transactions (the 'holiday' ends on March 13).source
  • 5 March – German federal election, March 1933: National Socialists gain 43.9% of the votes.Germanysource
  • March 15 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises from 53.84 to 62.10. The day's gain of 15.34%, achieved during the depths of the Great Depression, remains the largest 1-day percentage gain for the index.source
  • March 27 – Japan announces it will leave the League of Nations (due to a cancellation period of exactly two years, the egression becomes effective March 27, 1935).source
  • May 2 – Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler prohibits trade unions.source
  • May 3 – Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to be named director of the United States Mint.source
  • May 8 – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 3-week hunger strike because of the mistreatment of the lower castes in India.source
  • 8 May – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 3-week hunger strike because of the mistreatment of the lower castes.Indiasource
  • May 27 – New Deal in the United States: The Federal Securities Act is signed into law, requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.source
  • June 5 – The U.S. Congress abrogates the United States use of the gold standard, by enacting a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.source
  • 5 September – Australia signs a trade agreement with New Zealand.Australiasource
  • September 5 – The Mexican Stock Exchange is established.Mexicosource
  • December 2 – Newfoundland's independence is revoked due to its financial difficulties.Canadasource
  • December 26 – The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan.source
  • New Zealand's first distinctive coins issued by the New Zealand Treasury, see New Zealand pound.New Zealandsource
  • Schurter is established (incorporated 1949)Switzerlandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 28 January – The first in a series of Grivița Workshops strikes leads to confrontations between workers and government soldiers.Romaniasource
  • 31 January–7 April - A strike disrupts rail transport in Northern Ireland. The Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway ceases operation permanently.Northern Irelandsource
  • February 10 – The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.source
  • 20 March – Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed (it opens 22 March).Germanysource
  • May 10 – Tateishi Electronic Manufacturing, as predecessor of Omron was founded.Japansource
  • June 6 – The first drive-in movie theater is opened in Pennsauken Township, near Camden, New Jersey, by Richard Hollingshead, according to his patent granted May 16.source
  • July 1 – The London Passenger Transport Board begins operation.source
  • August 2 – The White Sea–Baltic Canal, Stalin's 227 km ship canal constructed using forced labour in the Soviet Union, opens, connecting the White Sea with Lake Onega and the Baltic.source
  • 2 August - White Sea–Baltic Canal opened.Soviet Unionsource
  • August 27 – opening of Captain Germán Olano Moreno Air BaseColombiasource
  • October 7 – Air France is formed by the merger of five French airline companies, beginning operations with 250 planes.source
  • 24 October – Yoram Aridor, Israeli former politician.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • November 8 – New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.source
  • December 26 – FM radio is patented.source
  • Integra-Signum, a Swiss train protection system, is establishedSwitzerlandsource

Science & Discovery

  • 2 May – First modern "sighting" of the Loch Ness Monster.Scotlandsource
  • May 5 – The detection by Karl Jansky of radio waves from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is reported in The New York Times. The discovery leads to the birth of radio astronomy.source
  • 10 June – The Australian Women's Weekly is first published.Australiasource
  • 20 July – New airline Aerolloyd Iguassu goes into operation, with flights between Curitiba and São Paulo.Brazilsource
  • July 22 – Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the world, landing at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, after traveling eastbound 15,596 mi in 7 days 18 hours 45 minutes.source
  • October 17 – Scientist Albert Einstein arrives from Europe in the United States, where he settles permanently as a refugee from Nazi Germany and takes up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey.source
  • October 17 – Albert Einstein arrives in the United States, where he settles permanently as a refugee from Nazi Germany and takes up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey.United Statessource
  • Pakistan Declaration publishedIndiasource
  • El vuelo de la muerte, starring Sara GarcíaMexicosource
  • New Zealand Trotting Cup – Red ShadowNew Zealandsource
  • Peter Karl Holmesland, jurist and politician (born 1866)Norwaysource

Health & Medicine

  • February 17 – Repeal of Prohibition in the United States: The Blaine Act passes the Senate, submitting the proposed Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification to end prohibition in the United States.United Statessource
  • March 22 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Cullen–Harrison Act, an amendment to the Volstead Act, allowing the manufacture and sale from April 7 of "3.2 beer" (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines, 8 months before the full repeal of Prohibition in the United States in December.source
  • April 2 – As a member of the English cricket team touring New Zealand, 1933, batsman Wally Hammond scores a record 336 runs in a test match at Eden Park, Auckland.source
  • 2 April – As a member of the English cricket team touring New Zealand, 1933, batsman Wally Hammond scores a record 336 runs in a test match at Eden Park, Auckland.United Kingdomsource
  • April 5 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national emergency and issues Executive Order 6102, making it illegal for U.S. citizens to own substantial amounts of monetary gold or bullion.source
  • April 7 – In Germany, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service is passed, the first law of the new regime directed against Jews (as well as political opponents).source
  • April 21 – Nazi Germany outlaws the kosher ritual shechita.source
  • April 24 – Jewish physicians are excluded from official insurance schemes, forcing many to give up their practices.source
  • May 26 – The Nazi Party in Germany introduces a law to legalize eugenic sterilization.source
  • 26 May – The Nazi Party introduces a law to legalise eugenic sterilisation.Germanysource
  • June 1 – Leonard Tilley becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Charles RichardsCanadasource
  • 10 June – Draw 2–2 vs Australian XI at NewcastleNew Zealandsource
  • 30 June - The third national Australian Census is taken, recording the population at 6,630,600.Australiasource
  • July 14 – The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring is enacted, allowing compulsory sterilization of citizens suffering from a list of alleged genetic disorders.source
  • July 14 – Formation of new political parties is forbidden.source
  • 29 November – Nikka Vonen, educator, folklorist and author (born 1836).Norwaysource
  • Margiad Evans – The Wooden DoctorWalessource

Crime & Justice

  • 31 January – Shimon Levinson, Israeli intelligence officer who spied for the KGB.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • January – Extensive prosecutions of Communists for treason.Indiasource
  • 1 March – Hundreds are arrested as the National Socialists round up their political opponents.Germanysource
  • April 13 – The Children and Young Persons Act is passed in the United Kingdom. This raises the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 8, raises the minimum age for capital punishment to 18, places restrictions on the identification in the press of persons under 18 appearing in court, sets a minimum full-time working age of 14 and makes it illegal to sell tobacco products to under-16s.source
  • April 24 – Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses begins with the seizure of the Bible Students' office in Magdeburg.source
  • April 26 – The Gestapo secret police is established in Nazi Germany by Hermann Göring.source
  • April 27 – The Stahlhelm veterans' organization joins the Nazi party in Germany.source
  • 26 June – Win 4–2 vs Granville at GranvilleNew Zealandsource
  • July 4 – Gandhi is sentenced to prison in India.source
  • August 30 – German-Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing is shot in Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně), Czechoslovakia, dying the following day.source
  • September 12 – Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury (London), conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.source
  • October 16 – Parricides committed in the United States by Victor Licata lead to calls for the legal prohibition of cannabis.source
  • 6 November - Knut Johannesen, speed skater and double Olympic gold medallistNorwaysource
  • Gilberto Freyre – Casa-Grande e SenzalaBrazilsource
  • Joseph Stalin added Article 121 to the entire Soviet Union criminal code, which made male homosexuality a crime punishable by up to five years in prison with hard labor. The law remained intact until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and was repealed in 1993.Soviet Unionsource
  • Berne Trial is in progress until 1935Switzerlandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 25 – Arminda de Jesus is burned for witchcraft in Soalhães, Portugal.source
  • February 27 – Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag building, is set on fire under controversial circumstances. The following day, the Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in response to the Reichstag fire, nullifying many German civil liberties.source
  • 27 February – The Reichstag, Germany's parliament building in Berlin, is set on fire under controversial circumstances.Germanysource
  • 28 March – 1933 Imperial Airways Dixmude crash: The Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth Argosy biplane airliner City of Liverpool catches fire in the air over Belgium and crashes, killing the crew of three and all twelve passengers, the deadliest accident in the history of British civil aviation to this date. The fire onboard may have been started deliberately.United Kingdomsource
  • April 4 – American airship Akron crashes off the coast of New Jersey, killing 73 of its 76 crewmen. It is the worst aviation accident in history up to this date (and until 1950).source
  • April 4 – The U.S. airship Akron crashes off the coast of New Jersey, leaving 73 dead.United Statessource
  • April 5 – The International Court of Justice in The Hague decides that Greenland belongs to Denmark, and condemns Norwegian landings on eastern Greenland. Norway submits to the decision.source
  • April 7 – Raymond Paley becomes the first known skiing fatality in the Canadian Rockies on Fossil Mountain.Canadasource
  • 2 May - all Trade Unions closed down, their headquarters and records were seized, and their leaders attacked and imprisoned.Germanysource
  • 27 May – Lose 1–7 vs Northern Districts at NewcastleNew Zealandsource
  • June 22 – Nazi Germany outlaws the Social-Democratic Party (SPD).source
  • August 14 – Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres.source
  • 5 September - Tupolev ANT-7 crash near Podolsk, which led to a complete reorganization of air traffic in the Soviet Union.Soviet Unionsource
  • October 10 – 1933 United Airlines Boeing 247 mid-air explosion: A bomb destroys a United Airlines Boeing 247 on a transcontinental flight in mid-air near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all 7 on board, in the first proven case of sabotage in civil aviation, although no suspect is ever identified.source
  • December 12 – Eddie Shore of the Boston Bruins hits Ace Bailey of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bailey lands head first, and severe head trauma ends his career. The Ace Bailey Benefit Game, a forerunner of the NHL All-Star Game, is played on February 14, 1934.Canadasource
  • December 23 – Lagny-Pomponne rail accident: A train collision near Lagny-sur-Marne in France kills 204.source

Climate & Environment

  • February 6–7 – Officers on the USS Ramapo record a 34-meter high sea wave in the Pacific Ocean.source
  • March 2 – 1933 Sanriku earthquake. Although the earthquake itself does little damage, the associated tsunami, recorded at a height of 28.7 m at Ōfunato, Iwate, caused extensive damage, destroys many homes and causes numerous casualties.Japansource
  • March 3 – 1933 Sanriku earthquake: A powerful earthquake and tsunami hit Honshū, Japan, killing approximately 3,000 people.source
  • March 10 – The 6.4 Mw Long Beach earthquake shakes Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 115 people.source
  • March 10 – The 6.4 Mw Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 115–120 people dead, and causing an estimated $40 million in damage.United Statessource
  • March 29 – Welsh journalist Gareth Jones makes the first report in the West of the Holodomor famine genocide in Ukraine.source
  • 5 June – Lose 2–4 vs Australia at BrisbaneNew Zealandsource
  • June – The Holodomor famine-genocide in Ukraine reaches its peak, with 30,000 deaths from human-made starvation each day. The average life expectancy for a Ukrainian male born this year is 7.3 years.source
  • August 4 – 1933 Florida–Mexico hurricane: Having passed over Florida, the storm regains hurricane status on August 4, a day before striking northern Mexico with winds of 90 mph. It damages buildings and crops in Tamaulipas, while heavy rains lead to flooding that kills at least 31 people, particularly affecting the city of Monterrey.Mexicosource
  • August 25 – The Diexi earthquake shakes Mao County, Sichuan, China and kills 9,000 people.source
  • August 25 — 1933 Diexi earthquakeChinasource
  • September 26 – 1933 Tampico hurricane: A hurricane destroys the town of Tampico, Mexico.source
  • November 11 – Dust Bowl: In South Dakota, a very strong dust storm ("the great black blizzard") strips topsoil from desiccated farmlands (one of a series of disastrous dust storms this year).source
  • November 11 – The magnitude 7.3 Baffin Bay earthquake occurs at Baffin Bay, Northwest Territories.Canadasource
  • November–December - Campo Vía pocketBoliviasource
  • The Holodomor famine takes place in Ukraine.Soviet Unionsource

Culture & Society

  • 17 January – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod introduces the third sacrificial curve, reducing wages by 10 to 12.5 percent, which leads to widespread demonstrations.Romaniasource
  • January 28 – "Pakistan Declaration": Choudhry Rahmat Ali publishes (in Cambridge, UK) a pamphlet entitled Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?, in which he calls for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he calls "Pakstan"; this influences the Pakistan Movement.source
  • 30 January – The Zionist Youth Aliyah movement is founded in Germany with the aim of arranging the resettlement of Jewish youth in Palestine in kibbutzim and youth villages, where they would be trained for agricultural work.Mandatory Palestinesource
  • February 28 – English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33: The England cricket team wins The Ashes using the controversial bodyline tactic.source
  • March 2 – King Kong: The original King Kong film, starring Fay Wray and directed by Merian C. Cooper, debuts in New York City.source
  • 3 March – Ching Yun University is established.Taiwansource
  • March 31 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established in the United States as an unemployment relief program.source
  • 31 May – Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast, opened by the Governor of Northern Ireland, James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn.Northern Irelandsource
  • 1 June – The Federal University of São Paulo is founded in São Paulo, Brazil.Brazilsource
  • June 12 – The London Economic Conference is held.source
  • July 6 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park in Chicago.source
  • July 8 – The first rugby union test match is played between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa, at Newlands in Cape Town.source
  • July 15 – The International Left Opposition (ILO) is renamed the International Communist League (ICL).source
  • 1 August – Modern Istanbul University replaced Ottoman DarülfünunTurkeysource
  • December 17 – The first NFL Championship game in American football is played. The Chicago Bears defeat the New York Giants 23–21.source
  • S.C. Mineiro Aljustrelense foundedPortugalsource
  • Tour de Suisse, a Swiss bike race, is foundedSwitzerlandsource

Births

Deaths

  • January 5 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (born 1872)source
  • 16 January – Bekir Sami Kunduh (born in 1867), diplomat, politicianTurkeysource
  • January 17 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist, jewellery designer, son of Charles Lewis Tiffany (born 1848)source
  • January 31 – John Galsworthy, British writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)source
  • February 12 – Sir William Robertson, British field marshal (born 1860)source
  • February 15 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-born American director, producer of animated films (born 1885)source
  • March 14 – Balto, American sled dog (born 1919)source
  • April 2 – Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer and ruler of Nawanagar. (born 1872)source
  • April 22 – Sir Henry Royce, English car manufacturer (born 1863)source
  • April 30 - Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro, President, assassinationPerusource
  • May 26 – Horatio Bottomley, British politician and businessman (born 1860)source
  • June 29 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, comedian, film director and screenwriter (born 1887)source
  • July 3 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, 18th President of Argentina (born 1852)source
  • 7 July – Mykola Skrypnyk, Ukrainian communist leaderSoviet Unionsource
  • August 7 – Simele massacre: More than 3,000 Assyrian Iraqis are killed by Iraqi government troops.source
  • August 29 – August Kirsimägi, writer (born 1905)Estoniasource
  • September 8 – King Faisal I of Iraq (born 1885)source
  • September 20 – Annie Besant, British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator (born 1847)source