Timeline April 1937

Events in April 1937 12

• 1937 Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) Died 27 April 1937, aged 46 Italian Marxist philosopher and founding member of the Italian Communist Party, imprisoned by Mussolini's regime from 1926. His Prison Notebooks, including the theory of cultural hegemony, became highly influential.
• 1937 Wallace Carothers (1896-1937) Died 29 April 1937, aged 41 American chemist at DuPont who led the team that invented nylon and did early work on neoprene. He suffered from depression and took his own life.
• 1937 William Gillette (1853-1937) Died 29 April 1937, aged 83 American actor and playwright who played Sherlock Holmes on stage more than 1,300 times. His performances shaped the popular image of Holmes.
• 1937 Burma separated from British India Burma becomes a separate British colony Under the Government of India Act 1935, Burma was separated from British India and given its own administration. Provincial autonomy took effect in the Indian provinces on the same day.
• 1937 Saab founded Svenska Aeroplan AB established in Sweden Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget was founded to build military aircraft for the Swedish Air Force. It later expanded into cars and defence electronics.
• 1937 – 2021 Colin Powell (1937-2021) Died 18 October 2021, aged 84 American general and diplomat, the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first Black secretary of state.
• 1937 – 2016 Merle Haggard (1937-2016) Died 6 April 2016, aged 79 Haggard was an American country music singer and songwriter known for hits including "Okie from Muskogee" and "Mama Tried." He was a leading figure of the Bakersfield sound and a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. He died on his 79th birthday.
• 1937 Trans-Canada Air Lines founded Forerunner of Air Canada is created The Canadian Parliament created Trans-Canada Air Lines as a subsidiary of the state-owned Canadian National Railway. The airline was renamed Air Canada in 1965.
• 1937 Whittle's jet engine first runs First ground run of Frank Whittle's turbojet Frank Whittle's experimental turbojet, the Power Jets WU, ran for the first time at the British Thomson-Houston works in Rugby. It was the first test of a jet engine designed for aircraft propulsion.
• 1937 Bombing of Guernica German and Italian aircraft destroy a Basque town Aircraft of the German Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria bombed the Basque town of Guernica in support of Franco's Nationalists. Much of the town was destroyed and civilians were killed. The attack became a worldwide symbol of the horror of bombing civilians and inspired Picasso's painting Guernica.
• 1937 Guernica painted Response to the bombing of a Basque town Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 in response to the Nazi bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The monumental black-and-white canvas is the most powerful anti-war statement in art history.
• 1937 – 2006 Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) Died 30 December 2006, aged 69 Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, was executed by hanging after being convicted of crimes against humanity for the 1982 Dujail massacre. His trial and execution were broadcast and photographed despite official restrictions, causing international controversy. His death marked a symbolic end to the Baathist era in Iraq.