October 1933

Month of 1933

The following events occurred in October 1933:

The Schriftleitergesetz (Editorial Control Law) took effect in Germany, placing the press under the control of the government. All newspaper and magazine editors had to be members of the new "Reich League of the German Press", which banned non Aryans as well as people married to non Aryans.

Air France was formed by the merger of five French airline companies – Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA) and Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA) – beginning operations with 250 planes. The New York Giants won the 1933 World Series. Victory came in the fifth game, which went into extra innings before the Giants beat the Washington Senators, 4 3

Diego Martínez Barrio became the new Prime Minister of Spain after being appointed by President Niceto Alcalá Zamora. Korokī Mahuta was crowned as the fifth King of the Māori people in New Zealand, seven days after the death of his father, Te Rata Mahuta. He would be recognized by the New Zealand government as the chief spokesman for the nation's Māori population until his death on May 23, 1966. Born: James A. Corbett, American human rights activist and co founder of the Sanctuary Movement in 1980; in Casper, Wyoming (d. 2001)

The United States, United Kingdom and France agreed at Geneva that Germany's request for expansion of defensive armament should not be granted. The "International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age" was signed in Geneva. It would enter into force on August 24, 1934 and be superseded by another convention on March 21, 1950.

Three members of John Dillinger's gang— Harry Pierpont, Russell Clark and Charles Makley— invaded the city jail in Lima, Ohio and freed him, killing Sheriff Jesse Sarber in the process. U. S. Attorney General Homer Cummings announced that the Department of Justice would acquire the U. S. Army Disciplinary Barracks on California's Alcatraz Island, for the construction of the most secure federal penitentiary up to that time. Cummings told reporters, "Here may be isolated the criminals of the vicious and irredeemable type, so that their evil influence may not be extended to other prisoners who are disposed to rehabilitate themselves." Transfer took place the next day. The first inmates would arrive at Alcatraz Island in 1934.

Thirty workers were killed in the explosion of a fireworks factory at Visakhapatnam in India. President Roosevelt gave the FBI principal jurisdiction over the Lindbergh kidnapping case, 19 months after the March 1, 1932 disappearance of Charles Lindbergh Jr. The romantic comedy drama film Bombshell starring Jean Harlow and Lee Tracy was released.

Germany announced that it would withdraw from the League of Nations, after the three Allied Powers of World War I (France, the U. K. and the U. S.) denied its request to increase its military.

In parliamentary elections for Norway's Storting, the Arbeiderpartiet gained 22 seats to win a plurality (69 of 150 seats) but was still six short of a majority. In the USA the Commodity Credit Corporation was established by Executive Order 6340 in order to make loans to farmers in return for their delivery of their crops to a warehouse or grain elevator for use as collateral. Union County Junior College, the first community college in New Jersey, began classes.

The Grumman F2F fighter airplane was given its first flight, piloted by Jimmy Collins. The last lynching in Maryland took place in the town of Princess Anne. George Armwood had been arrested two days earlier and charged with the rape of an 81 year old woman. A mob of more than 1,000 people surrounded the Somerset County Jail, dragged him through the streets, hanged him, then brought the body back to the courthouse where it was hung from a telephone pole and burned.

William C. Bullitt and Henry Morgenthau Jr. were sent by U. S. President Roosevelt to speak informally with Soviet trade representative Boris Skvirskii about the prospect of establishing diplomatic relations between the U. S. and the U. S. S. R.
La Societe Besnier, a predecessor of Lactalis, a dairy product brand based in France and Europe, was founded. Died: Moses Orimolade, 55, Nigerian Yoruban religious leader who founded the Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim.

A storm on Japan's Oguri Island left 379 fishermen missing. Born: William Eteki Mboumoua, Cameroonian diplomat who was the Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1974 to 1978; in Douala (d. 2016)

Jaan Tõnisson resigned his leadership as the Riigivanem (State Elder) of Estonia, and was succeeded by Konstantin Päts. Let 'Em Eat Cake, a musical by George and Ira Gershwin that was a sequel to the successful Of Thee I Sing, premiered on Broadway, and proved to be a failure, running 89 performances.

Voters in Iceland overwhelmingly approved the repeal of a 1915 law that had prohibited the sale of alcohol. In 1922, the law had been modified to grant an exception to wines imported from Spain.

In his first bank robbery since escaping from jail and then raiding police stations for guns and bulletproof vests, John Dillinger and his gang robbed the Central National Bank in Greencastle, Indiana, taking $75,000. On the same day, Baby Face Nelson and his gang robbed the First National Bank of Brainerd, Minnesota, of $32,000.

U. S. President Roosevelt reversed economic policy and began a program of buying gold at higher than the existing rate of $20.67 per ounce. What one author has described as "radio's first romantic adventure", Dangerous Paradise premiered on the NBC Blue Network (later renamed the ABC Radio Network).

After the Dillinger gang continued its string of robberies in Indiana, Governor Paul V. McNutt took the unusual response of calling out the Indiana National Guard to stop the criminals. The gang then fled to Chicago. After the two days expired, Washington was 2 hours and 20 minutes away from another execution on October 30, when he received another reprieve. Grady Brooks was executed in Milledgeville, Georgia, for the murder of prison guard Lee Lindsay. Before going to the electric chair, the 19 year old African American confessed to 18 other murders, five of them when he was a 13 year old child. Miss Grace Fryer became the 18th employee of an Orange, New Jersey, watch factory to die of radium poisoning. Miss Fryer had developed the disease almost twenty years earlier, and had painted watch faces with radium so that they would glow. As with the other workers, she moistened the paint brushes with her lips and ingested the carcinogenic element. Died: Ramon Casanelles, Spanish anarchist who assassinated Prime Minister Dato, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Stadio Mussolini was formally dedicated in Turin during events marking the 11th anniversary of the March on Rome. The venue was renamed after World War II and is known today as Stadio Olimpico di Torino. Died: E. H. Sothern, 72, American stage actor who was half of the team, with his wife Julia Marlowe, of "Sothern and Marlowe"

The Falange Española, a Spanish fascist political party, was founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera with an organizational meeting at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid. After the success of the Phalangists in the Spanish Civil War, Primo de Rivera's successor, Francisco Franco, would rule Spain for almost 40 years. The Romance of Helen Trent premiered on the CBS Radio Network and began a run of almost 27 years and 7,222 episodes. The daytime soap opera would continue until June 24, 1960.