1930 - 1939

A year-by-year look at the decade.

On February 15, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara shot five bullets at President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Bayfront Park in Miami, Florida. Although all the bullets missed FDR, one did mortally wound Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

From 1932 to 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, mostly commonly known just as Bonnie and Clyde, were a young couple who went on a two-year crime rampage that included bank robberies, car theft, and murder. Their lives and their crime spree ended abruptly when police succeeded in ambushing them; Bonnie and Clyde died in their car from multiple...

Circulated from 1923 until 1945, Der Stuermer was a weekly, Nazi newspaper used to spread propaganda and incite hatred.

When the Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, it was the tallest building in the world. How did this gigantic icon get built? It started with a race to the sky.

The Great Depression struck the United States with surprising force. It began on October 29, 1929 with the Stock Market Crash and only ended after over a decade of hardship and suffering. Learn more about what caused the Great Depression, what life was like during it, and how it ended.

At 7:25 p.m. on May 6, 1937, while the Hindenburg was attempting to land at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, a flame appeared on the outer cover of the rear of the Hindenburg. Within 34 seconds, the entire airship was consumed by fire.

When the Great Depression hit America, many people blamed U.S. President Herbert Hoover for their problems. As part of their frustration, people used Hoover's name when coming up with negative nicknames, such as Hoover flags, for things that represented the Great Depression. Learn more about these nicknames.

The history of Thanksgiving is eclectic. It began with a three-day feast in 1621, but evolved through the next two centuries. Discover the history of Thanksgiving and find out how FDR tried to change it.

King Edward was in love with Mrs. Wallis Simpson, not only an American, but also a married woman already once divorced. Yet, in order to marry the woman he loved, King Edward was willing to give up the British throne - and he did.

On February 18, 1930, Clyde W. Tombaugh, an assistant at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, discovered Pluto. For decades, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system.

Prohibition officially ended with the ratificaton of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on December 5, 1933.

On March 3, 1931, U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed an act that officially made "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem for the United States. Before this time, the United States had been without any national anthem.

On November 9, 1938, the Nazis announced a government sanctioned pogrom against the Jews. Synagogues were ravaged and then burned. Jewish shop windows were broken. Jews were beaten, raped, arrested, and murdered. Throughout Germany and Austria, the pogrom rampaged.

A ship full of Jewish refugees fled Nazi Germany in 1939, but the world would not let them in. Learn more about the fate of the voyage of the damned.

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, millions of radio listeners were shocked when radio news alerts announced the arrival of Martians. They panicked when they learned of the Martians' ferocious and seemingly unstoppable attack on Earth.

Forty-six million soldiers and civilians died during the Second World War, learn how it started.