Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The World of Indiana Jones: 1936

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first film released in the Indy movie series and takes place during 1936. The largest majority of the film takes place in Egypt.

The World of Indiana Jones did not change much from 1935 to 1936 as much of the political unrest that would lead into the start of World War II was continuing to build. Let's have a look at the major historical events that Indy would have read about in the Papers in 1936, the year when Roosevelt was elected to his second term, a first class stamp still cost $0.03, and the world was introduced to electric guitars, helicopters, and the artificial heart.

January

* January 4 - England's first ever win over the All Blacks in Rugby Union, in particular the 2 famous tries by "The Prince" HH Alexander Obolensky.
* January 15 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.
* January 20 - King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds the throne becoming Edward VIII.
* January 31 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts on WXYZ Radio in Detroit, MI

February

* February 4 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
* February 6 - The IV Olympic Winter Games opens in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
* February 17 The first superhero to wear a skin-tight costume and mask, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in US newspapers
* February 29 - Emperor Hirohito orders the Japanese army to arrest 123 conspirators in Tokyo government offices - 19 of them are executed in July.


March

* March 1 - Construction of Hoover Dam is completed.
* March 7 - In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Nazi Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
* March 9 - Pro-democratic militarist Keisuke Okada stepped down as Prime Minister of Japan and was replaced by radical militarist Koki Hirota.
* March 17-18, "St. Patrick's Day Flood" - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suffered the worst flooding in its history.

April

* April 3 - Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh III, is executed in New Jersey.
* April 5 - A tornado hits Tupelo, Mississippi killing 216 and injuring over 700. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
* April 6 - Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. The smaller tornado hit north Gainsville and the stronger tornado hit west side of town. The two paths eventually met but not the tornadoes. 203 die and 1600 are injured in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

May

* May 5 - The Italian forces finally occupied Addis Ababa.
* May 7 - Italy annexes Ethiopia.
* May 9 - Italian East Africa is formed from the Italian territories of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland.
* May 12 - The Santa Fe railroad in the United States inaugurates the all-Pullman Super Chief passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.
* May 25 - The Remington Rand strike of 1936–1937 begins, spawning the notorious "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking.
* May 27 - British luxury liner RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic

June

* June - A major heat wave strikes North America; high temperature records are set and thousands die.
* June 19 - Max Schmeling knocks out Joe Louis in the twelfth round of their heavyweight boxing match at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
* June 30 - Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind is first published.

July

* July 13 to 14 - Peak of July 1936 heat wave. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana all set new state records for high temperature. At Mio, in northern Michigan it soars to 113°F (45°C)
* July 18 - Spain's civil war begins when nationalist troops under the command of General Francisco Franco rise against the legal republic.

August

* August 1 - 1936 Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany, and mark the first live television coverage of a sports event in world history.
* August 3 - African-American athlete Jesse Owens wins the 100-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics.
* August 14 - Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States

September

* September 6 - The last surviving Tasmanian Tiger dies in Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.

October

* October 11 - Earl Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and builds Mississippi's first permanent rodeo arena at Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi.

November

* November 3 - U.S. presidential election: Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Alf Landon.
* November 23 - The first edition of Life is published.
* November 25 - Abraham Lincoln Brigade sails from New York City on its way to Spanish Civil War
* November 26 - The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed by Germany and Japan.

December

* December 10-11 - King Edward VIII signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
* December 11
o The British Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 on behalf of the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
o The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act.
o Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, ruling as King George VI
o The abdicated King Edward VIII, now HRH The Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria
* December 12 - Irish Free State passes the External Relations Act to legislate for Edward VIII's abdication in that realm.
* December 12 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
* December 29 - The United Auto Workers begins the Flint Sit-Down Strike in Flint, Michigan.


Notable Births:

* January 2 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
* January 28 - Alan Alda, American actor
* February 11 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
* February 17 - Jim Brown, American football player
* March 11 - Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
* March 19 - Ursula Andress, Swiss actress, the first Bond girl
* April 10 - John Madden, American football coach and sportscaster
* April 21 - James Dobson, PH.D, Founder of Focus On The Family, child psychologist
* April 22 - Glen Campbell, American musician
* April 23 - Roy Orbison, American singer (d. 1988)
* May 2 - Engelbert Humperdinck, British/American singer
* May 17 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
* June 22 - Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor
* August 18 - Robert Redford, American actor
* August 21 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)
* August 29 - John McCain, American politician
* September 7 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)
* September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor (Chekhov on Star Trek).
* September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, filmmaker (d. 1990)
* October 31 - Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
* December 29 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress

Sports in 1936
* Plans are announced for a Baseball Hall of Fame to be established in 1939, the game's supposed centennial, in Cooperstown, New York. In the first elections to select 15 initial inductees (5 from the 19th century and 10 from the 20th), Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson are selected from the 20th century; the election for 19th century players is plagued by problems and results in no selections.
* World Series: New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4-2.
* Green Bay Packers defeated Boston Redskins 21-6 for the NFL championship. The game was moved from Boston to New York's Polo Grounds.
* The Detroit Red Wings won the championship in the National Hockey League. Combine this with the Detroit Tigers World Series win and the Detroit Lions NFL Championship in 1934 and in one 12 month period Detroit played home to the Championship teams in the MLB, NFL, and NHL. This feat has yet to be duplicated by any other city.

2 comments:

Starla said...

I thought this was very interesting, "Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States."

Also for some reason I thought James Dobson was dead. But I noticed you didn't have a death date down for him. I don't know why I would think he was dead.

http://dominusnovo.blogspot.com/ said...

Nope, Dr. Dobson is still very much alive and was at the Talladega race recently pulling for the National Day of Prayer car