Year 1935 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1935. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment news, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-New York) was the 32nd U.S. president, and John Nance Garner (D-Texas) was the nation’s vice president.
2. In 1935, America was in the midst of the Great Depression (1929-39), “the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time.” The economy grew by 8.9%, unemployment fell to 20.1%, and prices rose by 3.0%.
3. Consumer products launched in 1935 included Arrid deodorant, Hostess potato chips, Hummel figurines, Kit Kat bars, nylon, paper shredders, Preparation H, Sterzing’s potato chips, and the Wonderbra.
4. January 1: The first Orange Bowl game was played in Miami. Bucknell University won over the University of Miami, 26-0.
5. January 1: The first Sugar Bowl game was played in New Orleans. Tulane won over Temple, 20-14.
6. January 3: The trial of Richard Hauptmann, who was accused of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., began in Flemington, New Jersey.
7. January 4: Dry Tortugas National Park was established in the Florida Keys.
8. January 11: Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
9. January 16: The FBI gunned down the Barker Gang, including Ma Barker, during a shootout in Florida. The Barker-Karpis Gang was responsible for three kidnappings, 10 murders, and thefts of more than $1 million during a three-year rampage, primarily in the Midwest, that began in 1931.
10. February 13: Richard Hauptmann was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.
11. February 22: Airplanes were banned from flying over the White House.
12. February 26: The Soil Conservation & Domestic Allotment Act began paying farmers to plant soil-building crops.
13. February 26: Robert Watson-Watt, a Scottish physicist, invented RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging). He had been looking for a reliable way to help airmen locate and avoid approaching thunderstorms.
14. February 27: At the seventh Academy Awards, which honored the best films of 1934, It Happened One Night won an Oscar for Best Picture, Clark Gable (It Happened One Night) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night) won an Oscar for Best Actress. Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) won an Oscar for Best Director, and Manhattan Melodrama won an Oscar for Best Original Story.
15. March 9: Porky Pig made his debut as a major Looney Tunes cartoon character in the short film I Haven't Got a Hat. Porky went on to become the trademark of Warner Bros. cartoons.
16. On April 14, the Black Sunday dust storm displaced an estimated 300 million tons of topsoil in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma. It was one of the worst dust storms in American history, and “drivers were forced to take refuge in their cars, while other residents hunkered down in basements, barns, fire stations, and tornado shelters, as well as under beds.” The combination of drought, dried-out topsoil, and high winds caused the dust to fly freely and at tremendous speeds.
17. May 6: President Roosevelt signed an executive order that created the Works Progress Administration (WPA). History.com explains that the WPA, the Public Works Administration (PWA), and other federal assistance programs “put unemployed Americans to work in return for temporary financial assistance. Out of the 10 million jobless men in the United States in 1935, three million were helped by WPA jobs alone.”
18. May 20: The Rural Electrification Act began helping farms to generate electricity.
19. May 24: The first nighttime MLB game was played between the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
20. June 26: The National Youth Administration, a New Deal agency that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25, was established.
21. June 10: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a 12-step program that helps its members stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety, was founded in Akron, Ohio.
22. June 28: President Roosevelt suggested that a federal gold vault be built at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
23. July 5: President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) into law. Also known as the Wagner Act, the NLRA guarantees the right of employees to organize and form unions and to engage in collective bargaining.
24. July 16: The world's first parking meters were installed in the business district of Oklahoma City.
25. July 24: The Dust Bowl heat wave reached its peak, sending temperatures in Chicago to a record high of 109°F.
26. July 27: The Federal Writers' Project, a federal program created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression, was established.
27. August 14: President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The act “established old-age benefits for retirees, benefits for the jobless, as well as aid for dependent mothers and children, victims of work-related accidents, blind people, and those who have physical disabilities. Under the act, the U.S. government started collecting the Social Security tax from workers in 1937 and began making payments in 1940.”
28. September 2: On Labor Day, the strongest hurricane ever to hit the United States made landfall in the upper Florida Keys, killing 423 and destroying the railroad to Key West. It was rated as a Category 5 storm with winds of up to 200 mph.
29. September 30: President Roosevelt dedicated the Hoover Dam in Nevada.
30. October 6: The Market Street Railway in San Francisco began using trackless trolleys.
31. December 5: Mary McLeod Bethune established the National Council of Negro Women.
32. December 26: Shenandoah National Park was established in Virginia.
33. In 1935, Good-Bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton was a best-selling book, The Bride of Frankenstein was a popular film, and Fred Astaire’s Cheek to Cheek was a top-rated song. In addition, the Parker Brothers began selling the board game Monopoly in the United States.
34. Bob Denver, Bobby Vinton, Bruno Sammartino, Diahann Carroll, Donald Sutherland, Dudley Moore, Elvis Presley, Frank Robinson, Gary Player, Johnny Mathis, Julie Andrews, Sandy Koufax, and Woody Allen were all born.
35. Here are some sports facts from 1935: The Detroit Lions were the NFL champs, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, and the Montreal Maroons were the Stanley Cup champions. In addition, Babe Ruth hit his 714th and final career home run at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/1935-history-trivia-and-fun-facts/
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1935
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_in_the_United_States
4. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1935
5. https://www.onthisday.com/deaths/date/1935
6. https://www.history.com/articles/remembering-black-sunday
7. https://www.mashed.com/253585/depression-era-foods-that-are-weirdly-making-a-comeback/
8. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1935.html
9. https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/vintage-recipes-from-the-1930s/
10. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1935
11. https://www.thebalancemoney.com/great-depression-timeline-1929-1941-4048064
12. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices
13. https://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/slang.html
14. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1930.html

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor