Timeline May 1937

Events in May 1937 13

• 1937 Alfred Adler (1870-1937) Died 28 May 1937, aged 67 Austrian psychotherapist who founded individual psychology and introduced the idea of the inferiority complex. He died in Aberdeen, Scotland, during a lecture tour.
• 1937 John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) Died 23 May 1937, aged 97 American businessman who founded Standard Oil and became the richest person of his era. In later life he gave away much of his fortune, founding the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Chicago.
• 1937 Barcelona May Days Street fighting between factions of the Republican left Fighting broke out in Barcelona between anarchists and the POUM on one side and Republican government and communist forces on the other. Several hundred people were killed. The POUM was later suppressed, as described by George Orwell in Homage to Catalonia.
• 1937 – 2014 Rubin Carter (1937-2014) Died 20 April 2014, aged 76 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the boxer wrongfully convicted of murder whose case became a cause celebre after Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane," died in Toronto. He spent almost 20 years in prison before his conviction was overturned in 1985. He spent his later years as an advocate for the wrongfully convicted.
• 1937 – 1996 Beryl Burton The Yorkshire Powerhouse One of Britain's greatest; set a 12-hour record that exceeded the men's record.
• 1937 Coronation of George VI George VI and Elizabeth crowned at Westminster Abbey George VI and Queen Elizabeth were crowned at Westminster Abbey on the date already set for his brother Edward VIII, who had abdicated. The ceremony was the first coronation to be broadcast on radio and partly filmed for television.
• 1937 – 2008 George Carlin (1937-2008) Died 22 June 2008, aged 71 American stand-up comedian and social critic famous for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television," which became the subject of a landmark US Supreme Court case. He was known for his sharp, provocative commentary on language, religion and politics.
• 1937 – 2022 Madeleine Albright (1937-2022) Died 23 March 2022, aged 84 Czech-born American diplomat who was the first woman to serve as United States secretary of state.
• 1937 Paris International Exposition World's fair dominated by the German and Soviet pavilions The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne ran in Paris. The German and Soviet pavilions faced each other near the Eiffel Tower, and Picasso's Guernica was shown in the Spanish Republic's pavilion.
• 1937 Golden Gate Bridge opens San Francisco's suspension bridge opens to the public The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrians, linking San Francisco with Marin County. Vehicle traffic began the following day. At the time it had the longest main span of any suspension bridge in the world.
• 1937 Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister Chamberlain succeeds Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Stanley Baldwin retired. His government is best remembered for its policy of appeasing Nazi Germany.
• 1937 Volkswagen founded Nazi state creates a company to build the people's car The German Labour Front set up the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens to produce an affordable car designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The company was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH in 1938.
• 1937 Memorial Day massacre Chicago police fire on steelworkers Chicago police opened fire on a crowd of striking steelworkers and supporters outside the Republic Steel plant, killing ten people. It was one of the most violent incidents of the Little Steel strike.