istoryworld
USA timeline
US trombonist Glenn Miller forms his first band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra
The first can of Spam goes on sale, produced by the Hormel company of Austin, Minnesota
The German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames over New Jersey, bringing to an end the era of rigid airships
Congress passes a Neutrality Act, to prevent US aid being given to belligerent nations
The Golden Gate Bridge, linking San Francisco and Marin County, is the world's longest suspension bridge with a main span of 4200 feet (1280m)
John Steinbeck publishes Of Mice and Men, a novel about two itinerant farm labourers in California
Amelia Earhart and her navigator vanish somewhere over the Pacific four weeks into their attempt to fly round the world
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated feature film
US architect Frank Lloyd Wright designs Taliesin West in Arizona as his winter home and studio
The House Un-American Activities Committee is formed by US congressmen to investigate politically subversive groups
Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens on Broadway
The Du Pont Corporation begins manufacture of a new synthetic silk yarn, subsequently known as nylon
Delmore Schwartz publishes his first book of poems, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
American naïve painter Grandma Moses has her first exhibition in a local drug store at the age of 78
Wind erosion makes this the worst year of the Dust Bowl crisis in the midwest USA
A dramatized version of H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds, broadcast on US radio, terrifies listeners who think Martians are invading
US architectural critic Lewis Mumford publishes The Culture of Cities
US tennis player Donald Budge becomes the first person to achieve the grand slam, winning all four majors in the same year
James Thurber publishes his short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Marian Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington effectively launches the US civil rights movement
Victor Fleming directs 17-year-old Judy Garland in the film of the famous musical The Wizard of Oz
US chemist Linus Pauling publishes his collected discoveries on The nature of the chemical bond
John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath follows the Joad family, sharecroppers who are forced to move west to escape the horrors of the Dust Bowl
Ninotchka, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, is another great success for the Swedish film star Greta Garbo
US designer Igor Sikorsky tests the first practical helicopter, using a rotor on a long tail boom to counter torque
