The following events occurred in February 1933:
February 1, 1933 (Wednesday) In his first speech as Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler addressed the Reichstag and was broadcast nationwide on the radio. He declared that "Within four years, the German farmer must be raised from destitution. Within four years, unemployment must be completely overcome." By 1936, full employment would be achieved, at the expense of suppressing all political opposition. Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave a radio talk titled, "The Younger Generation’s Altered view of the Concept of the Fuhrer", in which he warned that if a leader does not submit to an ultimate authority, the leader will ultimately become an idol. Bonhoeffer warned, "The fearful danger of the present time ... is that ... we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here is infringing eternal laws and taking upon himself superhuman authority which will eventually crush him." Tiburcio Carías Andino took office as President of Honduras. Born: Reynolds Price, American author, in Macon, North Carolina (d. 2011)
February 2, 1933 (Thursday) A ceasefire agreement was signed in Nicaragua between rebel leader Augusto Sandino and President Juan Bautista Sacasa. The withdrawal of American troops the month before prompted the government to negotiate with the Sandinistas, who were granted amnesty, a tract of land in the Coco River valley, and the right to keep 100 armed men, in return for the demobilization of the other 1,800 rebels and the surrender of weapons. Christine and Lea Papin, sisters who worked as servants for the Lancelin family at Le Mans in France, murdered their employer's wife and daughter. Their 1933 trial captured the nation's attention. Christine died in an asylum and Lea was released in 1941.Rachel Edwards and Keith Reader, The Papin Sisters (Oxford University Press, 2001) After a trial broadcast that had taken place on January 30, The Lone Ranger series began regular radio episodes, delivered 3 days a week until September 3, 1954.Nicolas S. Witschi, A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American West (John Wiley and Sons, 2011) p. 465 Born: Tony Jay, British-American stage and voice actor, in London (d. 2006)
February 3, 1933 (Friday) In a secret speech with Germany's senior Army and Navy commanders, Adolf Hitler outlined his plans to begin male conscription, to rearm Germany in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, and, eventually, to invade Eastern Europe to increase Germany's territory.Peter Hoffmann, German resistance to Hitler (Harvard University Press, 1988) pp. 15–16 Seven members of a family in Tomahawk, Kentucky, strangled Mrs. Lucinda Mills, age 72, in what was described as a cult sacrifice ritual."Strange Cult Kills Woman as Sacrifice", St. Petersburg Times, February 9, 1933, p. 1 The musical comedy film Hallelujah, I'm a Bum starring Al Jolson and Madge Evans was released. Born: General Than Shwe, Prime Minister of Burma 1992–2003 and head of state 1992–2011, in Kyaukse Paul Sarbanes, three-term U.S. Representative (1971–77), and five-term U.S. Senator for Maryland from 1977 to 2007, in Salisbury, Maryland. (d. 2020)
February 4, 1933 (Saturday) With the approval of Germany's President Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler decreed the "Ordinance for the Protection of the German People", which allowed the police to ban any publications which were a threat to public order. Violators could be arrested and detained without a warrant for as long as three months.Corey Ross, Media and the Making of Modern Germany: Mass Communications, Society, and Politics from the Empire to the Third Reich (Oxford University Press, October 15, 2008) p. 267 Without consulting his minister, Japan's Emperor Hirohito approved Prince Kan'in's request to deploy troops in the Jehol province of China, on the condition that the armies were not to "advance beyond the great wall."Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (HarperCollins, 2001) p. 259
February 5, 1933 (Sunday) After their pay had been cut by 15%, sailors on the Netherlands ship De Zeven Provinciën seized control of it in a mutiny that took place while most of the officers had gone ashore to an officers club at Olehleh in Sumatra. After Captain Henk Eikenboom returned to the port to find that the ship had been hijacked, he pursued in the ship Aldebaran. The next day, the mutineers announced that they would sail the ship to Surabaya and turn it over to the commander before arrival, adding "We do not intend force...We only want to protest against the unjust cutting of wages and the imprisonment of those who have already protested."."Mutineers Seize Warship, Commander Starts Pursuit", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 6, 1933, p. 1 The Dutch Navy intercepted the ship on February 10 and sent the mutineers an ultimatum, giving them ten minutes to hoist a white flag of surrender. When the leaders refused, an airstrike was ordered and a bomb was dropped on the ship, killing 22 people on the deck. The ship then surrendered unconditionally."Commander of Dutch Fleet Writes Graphic Account of Mutiny's End", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 11, 1933, p. 1 Died: James Herman Banning, 32, African-American pilot, as a passenger in a plane crash in San Diego.
February 6, 1933 (Monday) The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on January 23, was promulgated by the U.S. Secretary of State.Thomas L. Purvis, A Dictionary of American History (Wiley-Blackwell, 1997) p. 410 The coldest temperature for an inhabited area was recorded at the Siberian town of Oymyakon at -68 °C (or -90.4 °F).The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, The Handy Science Answer Book (Visible Ink Press, 2011 Radio Athlone, a high-power Irish AM radio station that could be heard as far as southern England, went on the air for the first time as Radio Ath Luain.Seán Street, Crossing the Ether: Pre-war Public Service Radio and Commercial Competition in the UK (Indiana University Press, 2006) p. 159 "Home Means Nevada" was adopted as the official state song of the American state of Nevada.Rebecca Stefoff, Nevada (Marshall Cavendish, 2010) Henry A. Wallace was asked by President-elect Roosevelt to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He hesitated for several days before agreeing to join the Cabinet.John C. Culver and John Hyde, American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace (W. W. Norton & Company, 2001) p. 107 Born: Leslie Crowther, British TV comedian and game show host, in West Bridgford (d. 1996) Walter E. Fauntroy, African-American Delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia, 1971–1991; in Washington, D.C.
February 7, 1933 (Tuesday) Officers on the USS Ramapo measured a 112 foot high (34 meters) sea-wave in the Pacific Ocean, a record that has not been topped.Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of Discovery and Exploration (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000) pp. 110–111 A claim upon Antarctica was made by Australia as part of an Order in Council. The government asserted dominion over most of the Antarctic continent between 45°E and 160°E, directly south of Australia.Victor Prescott and Gillian D. Triggs, International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008) p. 386 The United States Senate voted 53–17 to fire its long-time sergeant at arms, David S. Barry, after he had written a magazine article that suggested that some of the Senators had taken bribes."Barry Ousted by 53 to 17 Vote", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 8, 1933, p. 1 Died: Count Albert Apponyi, Hungary's chief delegate to the League of Nations, died at age 87 during a session of the body in Geneva."Hungarian Statesman Dies at League Session"Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 8, 1933 p. 2
February 8, 1933 (Wednesday) The prototype of the Boeing 247, a twin-engine, all-aluminum airplane designed to be the first modern airliner, made its initial flight, piloted by Les Tower and copilot Louis Goldsmith.F. Robert Van der Linden, The Boeing 247: The First Modern Airliner (University of Washington Press, 1991) pp. 63–65; Sanford B. Kauffman, George E. Hopkins, Pan Am Pioneer: a Manager's Memoir from Seaplane Clippers to Jumbo Jets (Texas Tech University Press, 1995) p. 192 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was formally declared the President-elect of the United States, and John Nance Garner the Vice-President elect, as the electoral college results were announced by Vice-President Charles Curtis at a joint session of Congress. As expected, the vote was 472 to 59 in favor of Roosevelt and Garner over President Hoover and Vice-President Curtis."Congress Tells Nation That Roosevelt and Garner Won", Milwaukee Sentinel, February 9, 1933, p. 4 Adolf Hitler announced to his cabinet that he would pursue the goal of complete rearmament of the German people within five years, with every publicly sponsored employment program to be judged by whether it contributed to the Wehrmacht.Stephen Peter Rosen, War and Human Nature (Princeton University Press, 2007) pp. 166–167 The coldest recorded temperature in Texas was logged at Seminole at -23 °F.James A. Crutchfield, It Happened in Texas (Globe Pequot, 2007) p. 138 Born: Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano, in Rotterdam
February 9, 1933 (Thursday) Record cold temperatures were set in the states of Montana (-66 °F at Yellowstone National Park's Riverside Ranger Station),Christopher C. Burt and Mark Stroud, Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book (W. W. Norton & Company, 2007) p. 46 Oregon (-54 °F at Ukiah),Rebecca Stefoff, Oregon (Marshall Cavendish, 2005) p. 119 and Wyoming (-63 °F at Moran).Rick Petreycik, Wyoming (Marshall Cavendish, 2007) p. 9 The Montana reading was the lowest recorded temperature in United States history to that time."Coldest Day in United States Sixty-Six Below Zero", Popular Mechanics (March 1934) p. 419 The record for the 48 U.S. states would remain unbroken until January 20, 1954 in Montana (-70 °F), and, after the admission of Alaska, on January 23, 1971 (-80 °F). "Record Lowest Temperatures by State" The "Oxford Pledge" was approved by a 275–153 vote of England's foremost debating society at the University of Oxford, a resolution stating "this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country." Coinciding with the ascendance of Adolf Hitler to the leadership of Germany, the pacifist resolution attracted worldwide publicity and outraged many Britons. Winston Churchill described the resolution as "an abject, squalid, shameless avowal".Brian Harrison, ed. The History of the University of Oxford: The Twentieth Century (Volume 8) (Oxford University Press, 1994) As one observer would later note, "Most of those who took part in this debate certainly fought for King and Country seven years later", after war began in 1939.W. D. Rubinstein, Twentieth-Century Britain: A Political History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) p. 192
February 10, 1933 (Friday) The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduced the first singing telegram."The Singing Telegram at 50", New York Times, February 10, 1983 (Another Times article from October 29, 1996, gives the date as July 28, 1933). A gas storage tank at the German town of Neunkirchen, Saarland, exploded, killing 62 people and hospitalizing 160."Saar Blast Death Toll 62; 160 in Hospitals", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 13, 1933, p. 1 Primo Carnera knocked out Ernie Schaaf in the 13th round of a heavyweight boxing bout at New York's Madison Square Garden. Schaaf suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, developed a blood clot on his brain, and died during surgery four days later at age 24."Ernie Schaff Dies From Flight Injury", Ottawa Citizen, February 14, 1933, p. 10; Friedrich Unterharnscheidt and Julia Taylor-Unterharnscheidt, Boxing: Medical Aspects (Academic Press, 2003) pp. 554–556