Events of 1933

January

January 5: Golden Gate Bridge begun.

• January 5 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

• January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.

• January 15 – Political violence causes almost 100 deaths in Spain.

• January 17 – The U.S. Congress votes favorably for Philippines independence, against the view of President Herbert Hoover.

• January 23 – The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20.

• January 28 – The word Pakistan comes into being and is recognized by the Pakistan Movement to press for freedom.

• January 30

• *Edouard Daladier forms a government in France.

• *Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg.

• *The Lone Ranger debuts on American radio.

January 17: Vote on Philippines.

February

• February 1 – Adolf Hitler gives his "Proclamation to the German People" in Berlin.

• February 4 – A mutiny starts on the Dutch pantserschip De Zeven Provinciën.

• February 6 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect.

• February 6–February 7 – Officers on the USS Ramapo record a 34-meter high sea-wave in the Pacific Ocean.

• February 9 – The Oxford Union approves a resolution stating, "That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and country."

• February 10 – The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.

• February 15 – In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead fatally wounds Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak.

• February 17

• *The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.

• *The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.

• February 27 – Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire (see Reichstag fire).

• February 28 – The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in response to the Reichstag fire, nullifying many German civil liberties.

Feb.6: Wave of 34m/112ft.

March

• March 2 – The original film version of King Kong, starring Fay Wray, premieres at Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy Theatre in New York City.

• March 3

• *Ching Yun University is established.

• *Mount Rushmore National Memorial is dedicated.

• * A powerful earthquake and tsunami hit Honshū, Japan, killing some 3,000.

• March 4

• *U.S. President Herbert Hoover is succeeded by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in reference to the Great Depression, proclaims "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" in his inauguration speech. FDR is sworn in by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes. It is also the last time Inauguration Day in the United States occurs on March 4.

• *Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, and the first female member of the United States Cabinet.

• *The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure; Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates authoritarian rule by decree (see Austrofascism).

• March 5

• *Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all United States banks and freezing all financial transactions (the 'holiday' ends on March 13).

• *German election, 1933: National Socialists gain 43.9% of the votes.

• March 6 – Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago dies of the wound he received on February 15.

• March 9 – Great Depression: The U.S. Congress begins its first 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.

• March 10 – An earthquake in Long Beach, California kills 117 people.

• March 12 – Great Depression: Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States, in the first of his "Fireside Chats".

• March 15

• *The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises from 53.84 to 62.10. The day's gain of 15.34%, achieved during the depths of the Great Depression, remains to date as the largest 1-day percentage gain for the index.

• *Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the Austrofascist dictatorship.

• March 20 – Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed (it opens March 22).

• March 23 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

• March 24 – Jews call for a boycott of German goods.

• March 27 – Japan leaves the League of Nations.

• March 31 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission to relieve rampant unemployment.

April

• April 1 – The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a 1-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany.

• April 3 – An anti-monarchist rebellion occurs in Siam (Thailand).

• April 4 – The U.S. airship Akron crashes off the coast of New Jersey, leaving 73 dead.

• April 5

• *The International Court in the Hague decides that Greenland belongs to Denmark and condemns Norwegian landings on eastern Greenland. Norway submits to the decision.

• *U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national emergency and issues Executive Order 6102, making it illegal for U.S. citizens to own gold.

• April 7

• *Beer is legalized in the U.S., 8 months before the full repeal of Prohibition in December.

• *The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service is passed in Germany.

• April 11 – Aviator Bill Lancaster takes off in England, in an attempt to make a speed record to the Cape of Good Hope, but vanishes (his body is found 1962 in the Sahara Desert).

• April 19 – The United States officially goes off the gold standard.

• April 21 – Nazi Germany outlaws the kosher ritual shechita.

• April 26

• *The Gestapo is established in Germany.

• *Editors of the Harvard Lampoon steal the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts from the State House (it is returned 2 days later).

• April 27

• *The Jessop & Son department store in Nottingham, England is acquired by John Lewis Partnership (its first shop outside London).

• *The Stahlhelm organization joins the Nazi party.

May

• May 2

• *The first alleged modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster occurs.

• *Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler bans trade unions.

• May 3 – Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to be named director of the United States Mint.

• May 5 – The detection by Karl Jansky of radio waves from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is reported in the New York Times. The discovery leads to the birth of radio astronomy.

• May 8 – Mohandas Gandhi begins a 3-week hunger strike because of the mistreatment of the lower castes.

• May 10

• *In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.

• *Paraguay declares war on Bolivia.

• May 12 – Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted in the USA.

• May 17 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form The Nasjonal Samling (the National-Socialist Party) of Norway.

• May 18 – New Deal: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.

• May 26 – The Nazi Party in Germany introduces a law to legalize eugenic sterilization.

• May 27

• *New Deal: The Federal Securities Act is signed into law, requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.

• *The Century of Progress World's Fair opens in Chicago.

• *Walt Disney's classic Silly Symphony cartoon The Three Little Pigs is first released.

June

• June 5 – The U.S. Congress abrogates the United States' use of the gold standard by enacting a joint resolution (48 Stat. 112) nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.

• June 6 – The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.

• June 12 – The London Economic Conference is held.

• June 17 – Union Station Massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, Pretty Boy Floyd kills 4 unarmed FBI agents and captures fugitive Frank Nash in a failed attempt to free him.

• June 21 – All non-Nazi parties are forbidden in Germany.

• June 25 – The Wilmersdorfer Tennishallen delegates convene in Berlin.

• June 26 – The American Totalisator Company unveils its first electronic pari-mutuel betting machine at the Arlington Park Racetrack near Chicago.

July

• July 4 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is sentenced to prison in India.

• July 6 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

• July 14 – Forming new political parties is forbidden in Germany.

• July 20 – Vatican state secretary Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) signs an accord with Hitler.

• July 22

• *Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the world, traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours, and 45 minutes.

• *"Machine-Gun" Kelly and Albert Bates kidnap Charles Urschel, an Oklahoma oilman, and demand $200,000 ransom.

• July 24 – Several members of the Barrow Gang are injured or captured during a running battle with local police near Dexter, Iowa.

August

• August – Simele massacre: More than 3,000 Assyrian Iraqis are killed by the government.

• August 1 – The Blue Eagle emblem of the National Recovery Administration is displayed publicly for the first time.

• August 14 – Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres (971 km²).

• August 25 – The Diexi earthquake shakes Mao County, Sichuan, China and kills 9,000 people.

• August 30 – Theodor Lessing is assassinated in Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně), Czechoslovakia.

• August 30 – Air France begins operations with 250 planes.

September

• September 3 – Alejandro Lerroux forms a new government in Spain.

• September 12 – Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

• September 26

• *A tornado destroys the town of Tampico, Mexico.

October

• October 1 – A failed assassination attempt against Englebert Dolfuss seriously injures him.

• October 10 – A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed near Chesterton, Indiana by a bomb. This is the first proven case of air sabotage in commercial airline history.

• October 12 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz is acquired by the United States Department of Justice, which plans to incorporate the island into its Federal Bureau of Prisons as a federal penitentiary.

• October 16 – Germany announces its intention to officially leave the League of Nations.

• October 17 – Albert Einstein arrives in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

November

• November 5 – Spanish Basques vote for autonomy.

• November 8 – New Deal: – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.

• November 11 – Dust Bowl: In South Dakota, a very strong dust storm strips topsoil from desiccated farmlands (one of a series of disastrous dust storms that year).

• November 16

• *The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations.

• *President of Brazil Getulio Vargas names himself dictator.

• November 19 – Spanish Second Republic: General elections result in victory by the right-wing parties.

December

• December 5 – The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, repealing Prohibition, goes into effect.

• December 21 – The British Plastics Federation (the oldest in the world) is founded.

• December 24 – A train crash in Lagny, France kills over 200.

• December 26

• *The Nissan Motor Company is organized in Tokyo, Japan.

• *FM radio is patented.

• December 29 – Members of the Iron Guard assassinate Ion Gheorghe Duca, prime minister of Romania.

Undated

• The British Interplanetary Society is founded.

• The chocolate chip cookie is invented by Ruth Wakefield.

• The United States Federal Government ends Prohibition and outlaws cannabis.

• A coup attempt against Franklin Delano Roosevelt fails in the United States (see Smedley Butler).

• The London Passenger Transport Board is founded.

• Jimmie Angel becomes the first foreigner to see the Angel Falls (they are named after him).

• Nazi Germany forms the Expert Committee on Questions of Population and Racial Policy under Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick.

• The Holodomor famine takes place in the Ukraine.

• The Adélaïde Concerto, a spurious work attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is published as "edited" (actually composed) by Marius Casadesus.

• The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is passed in Great Britain.

• US President Roosevelt rejects socialism and government ownership of industry.

• 15 million unemployed are in the USA.

• 5 coalition cabinets form and fall in France.

Births

January–February

• January 2 – Morimura Seiichi, Japanese novelist and author

• January 6

• *Oleg Makarov, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2003)

• *Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian, director, and writer

• January 8 – Charles Osgood, American journalist and commentator (CBS Sunday Morning)

• January 9 – Robert Garcia, American politician

• January 14 – Stan Brakhage, American filmmaker (d. 2003)

• January 16 – Susan Sontag, American author (d. 2004)

• January 17

• *Dalida, French singer (d. 1987)

• *Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)

• January 18 – John Boorman, English film director

• January 23 – Chita Rivera, American actress and dancer

• January 25 – Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines (d. 2009)

• February 6 – Leslie Crowther, British TV comedian & game show host (d. 1996)

• February 7 – John Anderton, English footballer

• February 8 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano

• February 12 – Costa-Gavras, Greek-born director and writer

• February 13 – Kim Novak, American actress

• February 14 – Madhubala, Indian actress (d. 1969)

• February 17 – Craig Thomas, American Senator (d. 2007)

• February 18 – Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer and artist, widow of John Lennon

• February 18 – Sir Bobby Robson, English soccer player and manager (d. 2009)

• February 21 – Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)

• February 22 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent

• February 27 – Raymond Berry, American football player

• February 28 – Miro Steržaj, Slovenian 9-pin bowler and businessman

March–April

• March 6 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (d. 2004)

• March 7 – Jackie Blanchflower, Irish footballer (d. 1998)

• March 12 – Barbara Feldon, American actress and model (Get Smart)

• March 13 – Mike Stoller, American songwriter

• March 14

• *Michael Caine, English actor (Alfie)

• *Quincy Jones, American music producer and composer

• *René Felber, Swiss Federal Councilor

• March 15

• *Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

• *Roy Clark, American country musician

• March 16 – Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist

• March 19 – Philip Roth, American author

• March 22 – May Britt, Swedish actress

• April 1 – Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• April 5

• *Larry Felser, American sports columnist

• *Frank Gorshin, American actor (Batman) (d. 2005)

• April 6 – Roy Goode, British legal academic

• April 12

• *Montserrat Caballé, Catalan soprano

• *Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S. Senator

• April 15 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (Bewitched) (d. 1995)

• April 16 – Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster

• April 18 – Michael Bradshaw, British actor

• April 19 – Jayne Mansfield, American actress (d. 1967)

• April 24

• *Patricia Bosworth, American writer/biographer

• *Claire Davenport, British actress (d. 2002)

• April 25 – Jerry Leiber, American composer

• April 26

• *Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and comedienne

• *Ilkka Kuusisto, Finnish composer

• *Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• April 29 – Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium

• April 30 – Willie Nelson, American country singer, songwriter

May–June

• May 3

• *James Brown, African-American soul musician (I Feel Good) (d. 2006)

• *Steven Weinberg, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• May 4 – J. Fred Duckett, Texan Sports announcer and teacher (d. 2007)

• May 7

• *Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)

• *Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer and actress

• May 9 – Jessica Steele, English romance novelist

• May 10 – Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer

• May 11 – Louis Farrakhan, African-American Muslim leader

• May 21 – Maurice André, French trumpeter

• May 22 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician (D. 1996 )

• May 23 – Joan Collins, English actress (Dynasty)

• May 25 – Ray Spencer, English footballer

• May 26 – Edward Whittemore, American writer and Central Intelligence agent (d. 1995)

• May 29

• *Marc Carbonneau, Canadian terrorist

• *Helmuth Rilling, German conductor

• June 1 – Charles Wilson, American politician

• June 6 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

• June 8 – Joan Rivers, American comedian

• June 11 – Gene Wilder, American actor (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

• June 14 – Vladislav Rastorotsky, Soviet gymnastics coach

• June 17

• *Harry Browne, American writer and Presidential candidate (d. 2006)

• *Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)

• June 19 – Viktor Patsayev, Russian cosmonaut (d. 1971)

• June 20 – Danny Aiello, American actor

• June 21 – Bernie Kopell, American actor and comedian (Love Boat)

• June 23 – Dave Bristol, American baseball manager

• June 26 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor

• June 29 – John Bradshaw, American theologian and educator

July–August

• July 6 – Frank Austin, English footballer

• July 7

• *Murray Halberg, New Zealand runner

• *David McCullough, American historian and author

• *Bruce Wells, English boxer/actor

• July 8 – Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (Young Frankenstein) (d. 1982)

• July 11 – Bob McGrath, American actor (Sesame Street)

• July 15

• *Julian Bream, English guitarist and lutenist

• *Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (d. 2003)

• July 20

• * Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize winning and National Book Award winning author

• *Buddy Knox, American singer (d. 1999)

• July 21 – John Gardner, American novelist (d. 1982)

• July 23 – Bert Convy, American game show host, actor, and singer (d. 1991)

• July 26 – Kathryn Hays, American actress/soap opera star

• August 1

• *Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian (d. 2009)

• *Jesse Corti, Venezuelan-born actor and comedian

• August 2 – Tom Bell, English actor (d. 2006)

• August 8 – Joe Tex, African-American soul singer (d. 1982)

• August 10 – Doyle Brunson, American poker player

• August 11 – Jerry Falwell, American evangelist and conservative political activist (d. 2007)

• August 14 – Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

• August 15 – Jim Lange, American disc jockey and game show host (The Dating Game)

• August 16

• *Julie Newmar, American actress (Batman)

• *Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (d. 1994)

• August 17 – Gene Kranz, retired American NASA Flight Director

• August 18 – Roman Polanski, French film director

• August 20 – George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator

• August 21

• *Janet Baker, English mezzo-soprano

• *Barry Norman, English film critic

• August 23 – Robert Curl, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

• August 25 – Tom Skerritt, American actor

• August 29 – Arnold Koller, Swiss Federal Councilor

September–October

• September 1 – Conway Twitty, American country music artist (d. 1993)

• September 1 – Ann Richards, Governor of Texas (d. 2006)

• September 4 – Mathieu Kérékou, President of Benin

• September 4 – Victor Spinetti, Welsh actor

• September 9 – Michael Novak, American philosopher and author

• September 10 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2000)

• September 13 – Eileen Fulton, American actress/soap opera star

• September 17 – Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)

• September 18 – Scotty Bowman, Canadian ice hockey coach

• September 15 – Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor

• September 25 – Hubie Brown, American basketball coach and broadcaster

• September 26 – Donna Douglas, American actress (The Beverly Hillbillies)

• September 29 – Samora Machel, President of Mozambique (d. 1986)

• October 9 – Peter Mansfield, British physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

• October 10 – Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (d. 1969)

• October 17 – Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun and singer (d. 1985)

• October 24 – Reginald Kray, British gangster

• October 24 – Ronald Kray, British gangster

• October 24 – Norman Rush, American writer

November–December

• November 1 – Samir Roychoudhury, Indian Bengali poet and philosopher of Hungry generation

• November 3

• *Michael Dukakis, American politician and 1988 Democratic Presidential candidate

• *Amartya Sen, Indian economist, Nobel Prize laureate

• *Jeremy Brett, British actor (d. 1995)

• November 10 – Don Clarke, Rugby football player of New Zealand (d. 2002)

• November 12 – Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq

• November 14 – Fred Haise, American astronaut who flew in Apollo 13

• November 19 – Larry King, American talk show host

• November 23 – Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer

• November 26 – Robert Goulet, American entertainer (d. 2007)

• November 28 – Hope Lange, American actress (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) (d. 2003)

• December 1 – Lou Rawls, African-American singer (d. 2006)

• *Fujiko F. Fujio, Japanese cartoon artist (d. 1996)

• December 2 – Michael Larrabee, American athlete (d. 2003)

• December 3 – Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

• December 6 – Henryk Górecki, Polish composer

• December 9 – Orville Moody, American golfer (d. 2008)

• December 15 – Tim Conway, American actor and comedian

• December 17 – Walter Booker, American jazz bassist (d. 2006)

• December 20 – Jean Carnahan, American politician

• December 23 – Emperor Akihito of Japan

• December 26

• *Ugly Dave Gray, Australian television personality

• *Carroll Spinney, American puppeteer

Undated

• Augusto Odone, creator of Lorenzo's Oil

Deaths

January–June

• January 1 – Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (b. 1876)

• January 3

• *Wilhelm Cuno, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)

• *Jack Pickford, Canadian-born actor (b. 1896)

• January 5 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)

• January 7 – Bert Hinkler, Australian pioneer aviator (b. 1892)

• January 17 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, stained glass artist and jewelry designer, son of Charles Lewis Tiffany

• January 25 – Lewis J. Selznick, American film producer (b. 1870)

• January 29

• *Thomas Coward, English ornithologist (b. 1867)

• *Sara Teasdale, American lyrical poet (b. 1884)

• January 31 – John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)

• February 5 – Josiah Thomas, Australian politician (b. 1863)

• February 12 – Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)

• February 15 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-born director and producer of animated films (b. 1887)

• February 18 – James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)

• February 26 – Spottiswoode Aitken, Scottish-American actor (b. 1868)

• February 27 – Walter Hiers, American actor (b. 1893)

• March 1 – Uładzimir Zylka, Belarusian poet (b. 1900)

• March 6 – Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (assassinated) (b. 1873)

• March 10 – Ahmed Sharif es Senussi, Chief of the Senussi order in Libya (b. 1873)

• March 14 – Balto, American sled dog (b. 1919)

• March 20 – Giuseppe Zangara, attempted assassin of Franklin D. Roosevelt (b. 1900)

• March 26 – Eddie Lang, American musician (b. 1902)

• April 3 – William A. Moffett, U.S. admiral (sinking of the USS Akron) (b. 1869)

• April 22 – Henry Royce, English car manufacturer (b. 1863)

• May 13 – Ernest Torrance, Scottish actor (b. 1878)

• May 16 – John Henry Mackay, German writer (b. 1864)

• May 24 – Percy C. Mather, English Protestant missionary

• May 26 – Jimmie Rodgers, American country singer (b. 1897)

• June 2 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)

• June 29 – Fatty Arbuckle, American comedian (b. 1887)

July–December

• July 3 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)

• July 15

• *Irving Babbitt, American literary critic (b. 1865)

• *Freddie Keppard, American jazz musician (b. 1890)

• September 7 – Edward Grey, British statesman (b. 1862)

• September 8 – Faisal I of Iraq, king of Iraq

• September 10 – Giuseppe Campari, Italian opera singer and Grand Prix driver (b. 1892)

• September 20 – Annie Besant, English women's rights activist, writer and orator (b. 1847)

• September 25 – Ring Lardner, American writer (b. 1885)

• October 5 – Renée Adorée, French actress (b. 1898)

• November 3 – Émile Roux, French physician (b. 1853)

• November 5 – Texas Guinan, American actress (b. 1884)

• November 30 – Arthur Currie, Canadian military leader (b. 1875)

• December 4 – Stefan George, German poet (b. 1868)

• December 8 – Karl Jatho, German airplane pioneer (b. 1873)

• December 17 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)

• December 19 – George Jackson Churchward, GWR Chief mechanical engineer (b. 1857)

• December 25 – Francesc Macià, President of the Generalitat (autonomous government of Catalonia) (b. 1859)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac

• Chemistry – not awarded

• Physiology or Medicine – Thomas Hunt Morgan

• Literature – Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin

• Peace – Sir Norman Angell (Ralph Lane)

Ship events

• List of ship launches in 1933

• List of ship commissionings in 1933

• List of ship decommissionings in 1933

See also

• 20th century