The following events occurred in June 1937:
June 1, 1937 (Tuesday) In newspapers across the U.S., Oldsmobile announced the first automatic transmission available to the public, to be a feature in the 1938 model Oldsmobile Eight. The advertisement offered demonstrations the Automatic-Safety-Transmission at local dealers and boasted "First News of the Most Sensational Transmission Development in 20 years... An Astonishing New Automatic Gear-Shift That Sets a New World Standard of Driving Ease, Performance and Economy... New! Nothing Else Like It in the World!""Oldsmobile Announces the New Automatic-Safety-Transmission", advertisement, Akron (OH) Beacon Journal, June 1, 1937, p.8 Aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, departed the United States in her Lockheed Model 10 Electra twin-engine airplane to begin her mission to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth."Miss Earhart Ready for Take-Off Today", by C. B. Allen, The Miami Herald, June 1, 1937, p.1 Earhart and Noonan took off from Miami at 5:55 in the morning local time toward San Juan, Puerto Rico, leaving the United States for the last time, and landed at 12:30 in the afternoon."World Hop Launched by Amerlia— Flies From Miami to San Juan in 7 Hours, 34 Minutes", AP report in St. Louis Star-Times, June 1, 1937, p.1 By the end of the month, they were in New Guinea at Lae. Bill Dietrich of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 8-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. The feat was the only no-hitter of the 1937 MLB season and the first in the Major Leagues since August 31, 1935."No Hitters Chronologically", Retrosheet.org In Italy, the Ministry of Popular Culture ordered all foreign words and names to be Italianized. Louis Armstrong, for example, was to be known as Luigi Fortebraccio. Born: Morgan Freeman, American actor, director and narrator, 2004 Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor; in Memphis, Tennessee Rosaleen Linehan, Irish actress; in Dublin
June 2, 1937 (Wednesday) Rioting broke out around İskenderun and Antioch after the Syrian parliament refused to ratify the League of Nations' decision to make the İskenderun district autonomous. Willis Van Devanter, who had served on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1911, retired at the age of 78 after a new law had passed providing for full pay in retirement for any justice who retired after reaching 70. German War Minister Werner von Blomberg began a three-day visit to Italy to discuss military ties between the two nations. The first Printer's Devilry puzzle, a form of crossword invented by "Afrit" (Alistair Ferguson Ritchie) was published, making its initial appearance in The Listener, a British weekly magazine.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean was suspended by National League President Ford C. Frick for referring to Frick and umpire George Barr as "the two biggest crooks in baseball today." Dizzy Dean refused to sign a letter of apology and threatened to sue Ford Frick for $250,000, but did issue a "letter of explanation" and was reinstated on June 5. He lost $500 during the course of his suspension. Born: Jimmy Jones, U.S. singer-songwriter; in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2012) Sally Kellerman, American actress and singer; in Long Beach, California (d. 2022) Don Turnbull, English journalist, editor and game designer; in Preston, Lancashire(d. 2003) Died: Louis Vierne, 66, French organist and composer collapsed from a stroke while performing a concert at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. As he was playing the closing section of "Stèle pour un enfant défunt" from his Triptyque Opus 58, Vierne suddenly fell forward, then off of the bench."Vierne, Famous Organist, Dies at Recital in Paris", Chicago Daily Tribune, June 3, 1937, p.24
June 3, 1937 (Thursday)
The Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, and Wallis Warfield Simpson were married at the Château de Candé in Monts, Indre-et-Loire in France. Reportedly, the religious ceremony by an Anglican priest came "after the wedding party had come in from highballs and cocktails on the terrace," and no member of the British royal family was present at the ceremonies."Duke of Windsor Weds Wallis Warfield in Plain Dual Ceremony— Ex-King Happy as He Takes Bride.", The Evening Star (Washington DC) June 3, 1937, p.1 American Communist Juliet Stuart Poyntz, who had worked secretly for the Soviet Union as a spy against the U.S., vanished shortly after she severed relations with the Soviets. She was last seen in public as she was leaving her apartment at the American Woman's Association clubhouse at 353 West 57th Street in New York CityGary Kern, A Death in Washington: Walter Krivitsky and the Stalin Terror (Enigma Books, 2004) p.163 and was apparently kidnapped while outside her apartment building. Her disappearance was not reported in the press until December 18."Noted Woman Red-Laborite Vanishes Here", Daily News (New York), December 18, 1937, p.3"Woman Communist Missing 7 Months; Disappearance of Miss Poyntz Made Known as Robinson Clue Is Sought Here", The New York Times, December 18, 1937, p.10 Born: Solomon P. Ortiz, U.S. Representative for Texas for 28 years from 1983 to 2011 politician, in Robstown, Texas Died: Emilio Mola, 49, Spanish Nationalist commander and one of the four leaders of the military uprising that began the Spanish Civil War, was killed along with five other people when their airplane crashed. Flying in a fog, the Airspeed Envoy struck the side of a mountain near the town of Briviesca."General Mola, Second Fascist Chief in Spain, Killed in Plane Crash— Ship Hits Basque Mountain in Thick Fog; Four Die with Him", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 1937, p.1 The other three uprising leaders had been José Sanjurjo (who died in a crash in 1936); Manuel Goded (who was captured and executed by the Nationalist government in 1936) and Francisco Franco, who would control Spain for the next 38 years.
June 4, 1937 (Friday) The first modern shopping cart, invented by supermarket owner Sylvan Goldman, was introduced at the Humpty Dumpty he owned in Oklahoma City."No More Heavy Baskets to Carry", advertisement for Humpty Dumpty supermarkets, The Oklahoma News (Oklahoma City, OK), June 25, 1937, p.27 While vertical metal baskets on a frame with wheels had been introduced in some stores in 1933, Goldman's cart was the first of the shape and size that would become the standard that would still be used almost 90 years later. The Battle of Pochonbo took place in the northern section of Japanese-occupied Korea as a unit of 150 members of the Northeast Counter-Japanese United Army guerrilla group crossed the border from China and attacked a detachment of the Japanese Imperial Army at Pochon-up and briefly occupied the town before being forced to retreat. According to North Korea, the 25-year-old commander of the Sixth Division of the Counter-Japanese guerrillas, Kim Il Sung, led the group into battle and destroyed different Japanese-operated municipal services. Kim would later become the Great Leader of North Korea upon its founding in 1945. Prince Fumimaro Konoe became the new Prime Minister of Japan, replacing General Senjūrō Hayashi and serving until 1939. Nazi Germany's Navy, the Kriegsmarine, held its first maneuvers off Heligoland since the island was refortified in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Only a skeleton fleet participated because so many ships were deployed in Spain. Born: Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-born U.S. media mogul, journalist, and billionaire; in Montreal Gorilla Monsoon (ring name for Robert James Marella), American professional wrestler and commentator; in Rochester, New York(d. 1999)Tim Hornbaker, Legends of pro wrestling : 150 years of headlocks, bodyslams, and piledrivers (Sports Publishing, 2012) p.253 Died: Helmut Hirsch, 21, German Jew convicted of conspiring in a bombing plot against the government, was executed by guillotine.
June 5, 1937 (Saturday) War Admiral, who had captured the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in May, won the Belmont Stakes by three lengths to become only the fourth thoroughbred horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown."War Admiral Easily Wins Belmont Cup— Riddle Colt Is Fourth 3-Year-Old To Wear Triple Crown", AP story by Alan Gould, The Sunday Sun (Baltimore), June 6, 1937, p.1 French troops were rushed to the İskenderun region to control the rioting between Arabs and Turks. Died: John Challen, 72, Welsh cricketer and footballer for the Wales national teams from 1887 to 1890
June 6, 1937 (Sunday) The city of Rabaul, capital of the Territory of New Guinea, was destroyed by an eruption of the Tavurvur volcano and 507 people were killed."HOT LAVA STREAMS TAKE TOLL OF 500— Guinea Volcano Erupts", Edmonton Bulletin, June 7, 1937, p.1 Most of the island's residents had been evacuated by ships from several nations prior to the blast. The Soviet Union inaugurated North Pole-1 (Severnia Polyos-1), the world's first "drifting ice station", beginning operations (including an airstrip) on a floating ice floe located only from the North Pole. In the Spanish Civil War the Segovia Offensive, started on May 31 by the Spanish Republic's Army to divert the Nationalist rebels, was abandoned after the loss of 3,000 troops, 1,000 of whom were in the XIV International Brigade.Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 (Penguin Books, 2006) p.276 The Coppa Italia, the premier tournament of Italian association football, was won by Genoa 1893 (now Genoa CFC) over AS Roma 1–0, at the Stadio Comunale Giovanni Berta (now the Stadio Artemio Franchi) in Florence."Coppa Italia 1936/37", by Dinant Abbink (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, 2020) finished sixth in the 1936–37 Serie A league and AS Roma 10th, while Serie A champion Bologna FC 1909 had been eliminated in the first round. Born: Yan Shunkai, Chinese comedian, actor and film director; in Shanghai (d. 2017)
June 7, 1937 (Monday) Benito Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano became the first recipients of the Order of the German Eagle. Born: Roberto Blanco, German singer and actor; in Tunis Neeme Järvi, Estonian conductor; in Tallinn
Died: Jean Harlow (stage name for Harlean Harlow Carpenter), 26, American actress, died from kidney failure, nine days after having become ill during the filming of a scene in her final movie, Saratoga.
June 8, 1937 (Tuesday) In London, representatives of Argentina, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Germany and the United States reached an agreement to stop the dangerous reduction of the world's whale stocks through whaling. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, an assassination attempt on the life of U.S. District Judge Robert A. Cooper, the day after he had sentenced Pedro Albizu Campos and eight other Puerto Rican nationalists to long terms at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta. The assailants fired at least 12 bullets at Cooper's car as he was driving past them, though neither Cooper nor his bodyguard Francisco Davila were injured."Bullets Miss U. S. Judge in San Juan— Attempt Made on Life of Robert A. Cooper Who Sentenced Campos", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), June 9, 1937, p.1"FBI Files"; "Puerto Rico Nationalist Party"; SJ 100-3; Vol. 23; pages 104-134. The German Postal Ministry decreed that all non-Aryans must retire. A total solar eclipse that had the longest (at more than seven minutes) totality since the year 1098, was visible over the Pacific Ocean. Occurring between 18:04 to 23:17 UTC, it had the distinction of beginning at sunrise on Wednesday, June 9, local time over the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and ending at sunset on Tuesday, June 8, local time in Peru. The Carl Orff composition Carmina Burana premiered in Frankfurt. The French war film La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion) directed by Jean Renoir was released. Born: Toni Harper, American child singer; in Los Angeles (d. 2023) Died: Monroe Owsley, 36, American stage and film actor known for Honor Among Lovers with Claudette Colbert, died of a heart attack.