WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1937
Find out what all happened January to December 1937

Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders. (11. June 1937)

A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers. (11. February 1937)

Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed. (6. May 1937)

Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon. (16. February 1937)

Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again. (16. December 1937)

The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London – it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe. (9. April 1937)

The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative. (30. April 1937)

A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak. (15. June 1937)

Spanish Civil War: Guernica (or Gernika in Basque), Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe. (26. April 1937)

Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road. (15. January 1937)

Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeated the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara. (18. March 1937)

Yekatit 12: During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Ethiopian nationalists of Eritrean origin attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. (19. February 1937)

Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing (Nanking). (9. December 1937)

Ponce Massacre: 18 people and a 7-year-old girl in Ponce, Puerto Rico, are gunned down by a police squad acting under orders of US-appointed Governor, Blanton C. Winship. (21. March 1937)

The world's first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London (30. June 1937)

The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy, is published. (4. December 1937)

The Battle of Shanghai begins. (13. August 1937)

The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until Sept. 18, 2009. (25. January 1937)

Spanish Civil War: Jaén, Spain is bombed by Nazi forces. (1. April 1937)

Second Italo–Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations. (11. December 1937)