World Events in 1933
Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
On 30 January, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg. Within months he used the Reichstag fire to suspend civil liberties and the Enabling Act to assume dictatorial powers, ending the Weimar Republic.
Roosevelt's First Hundred Days
After his inauguration on 4 March, Roosevelt launched an unprecedented flurry of legislation known as the First Hundred Days. Programmes including the CCC, TVA, and NRA laid the foundations of the New Deal and restored some public confidence in government.
Repeal of Prohibition
On 5 December, the 21st Amendment was ratified, ending the nationwide ban on alcohol that had been in effect since 1920. The repeal was driven by the failure of enforcement, the rise of organised crime, and the government's need for tax revenue during the Depression.
Reichstag Fire
On 27 February, the German parliament building was set ablaze. The Nazis blamed Communist agitators and used the incident to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending most civil liberties in Germany and enabling mass arrests of political opponents.
Dachau Concentration Camp Opens
In March, the first Nazi concentration camp opened at Dachau near Munich, initially to hold political prisoners. It became the model for all subsequent camps and a grim harbinger of the horrors to come over the next twelve years.
Music in 1933
"Stormy Weather"
Ethel Waters
Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler's classic, performed at Harlem's Cotton Club, became a transatlantic hit. Its themes of heartbreak and turmoil resonated powerfully with Depression-era listeners on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Stormy Weather"
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters' iconic recording of this Harold Arlen standard became one of the defining songs of 1933. Its emotional depth and Waters' extraordinary vocal performance made it a timeless classic that transcended the era.
#1 Film of 1933
King Kong
Box Office: $2.8 million
Merian C. Cooper's spectacular adventure film featuring revolutionary stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien was a box office sensation. Kong's rampage through New York and his tragic death atop the Empire State Building became one of cinema's most iconic sequences.
Born in 1933
Michael Caine
Actor — Alfie, The Italian Job, The Dark Knight trilogy; two-time Oscar winner
Yoko Ono
Artist, musician, and peace activist; wife of John Lennon
Roman Polanski
Film director — Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist
Joan Collins
Actress — Dynasty; British cultural icon
Quincy Jones
Music producer, composer, and arranger who produced Michael Jackson's Thriller
Lost in 1933
Calvin Coolidge
30th President of the United States (1923-1929)
Age 60
John Galsworthy
Novelist and playwright — The Forsyte Saga; Nobel Prize in Literature 1932
Age 65
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
Silent film comedian and director, one of early Hollywood's biggest stars
Age 46
Technology in 1933
Roosevelt used radio masterfully with his 'fireside chats', demonstrating the medium's political power. The first commercial airlines with modern all-metal monoplanes appeared. FM radio was patented by Edwin Armstrong, promising static-free broadcasting. The first drive-in cinema opened in New Jersey.
- ● Edwin Armstrong patents FM radio, vastly improving broadcast sound quality
- ● The Boeing 247, the first modern airliner, enters service with United Airlines
- ● The first drive-in movie theatre opens in Camden, New Jersey
- ● ICI chemists accidentally discover polyethylene (polythene) at their Cheshire lab
Cost of Living in 1933
| Item | UK | US |
|---|---|---|
| Average house price | £510 | $3,600 |
| Average salary | £175 | $1,045 |
| Pint of milk | 2d | $0.05 |
| Loaf of bread | 3d | $0.07 |
| Dozen eggs | 11d | $0.26 |
| Pint of beer | 5d | $0.15 |
| Cinema ticket | 6d | $0.20 |
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The Zeitgeist of 1933
The year split the world in two directions: America turned toward Roosevelt's optimistic experimentalism with the New Deal, while Germany surrendered to Hitler's National Socialism. Prohibition ended in the US after 13 years, and King Kong thrilled cinema audiences. The public craved spectacle and distraction from relentless economic hardship.
In the News in 1933
Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Roosevelt launched the New Deal's first hundred days. Prohibition was repealed. The Reichstag fire gave Hitler emergency powers.