First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits the Mansion during a trip to Austin. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act. Neville Chamberlin takes office as Prime Minister of Great Britain. Disney releases the animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Patent for nylon obtained for the American chemical company, du Pont.
Japan installs a puppet government for China in Nanking, controls several major cities.
Germany invades Austria. American author Pearl S. Buck wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. The play Our Town by Thornton Wilder wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Winston Churchill becomes the British Prime Minister in 1940.