What Happened in 1931 including Pop Culture, Significant Events, Key Technology and Inventions
How Much things cost in 1931
Average Cost of new house  $6,790.00
Average wages per year $1,850.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 10 cents
Average Cost for house rent  $18.00 per month
A loaf of Bread 8 cents
A LB of Hamburger Meat 11 cents
Alarm Clock $3.50
New Car Average Price $640.00
Shoulder of Ohio Spring lamb 17 cents per pound Ohio 1932
Dozen Eggs 18 Cents Ohio 1932
Bananas 19 cents for 4 Pounds Ohio 1932
Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price  600
 
United States -- Dust Bowl
The Great Plains suffers devastating droughts, dust storms, and soil erosion during the Dust Bowl years. Farms suffer and massive ecological damage is done to the Midwestern and Southern Plains areas of the country.
More Information and Timeline for the Dust Bowl
1. The United States Congress passes the Homestead Act of 1862 and settlers move into the Great Plains and begin farming the lands.
2. Farmers plant dry wheat in the Great Plains prairies and continue to plow and plant millions of acres. This over-working of the land is one of the main reasons that the Dust Bowl became so devastating and lasted so long.
3. A drought hits the Midwestern and Plains states in 1931, dust from the overworked land begins creating dust storms.
4. The drought worsens in 1932 and more dust storms are reported.
5. The drought continues in 1933 and many farmers face foreclosures as the Great Depression also worsens. The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act and the Farm Credit Act are created to help save farms.
6. Many farmers flee from the Plains and abandon their farms in hopes of finding work in California.
7. The drought becomes the worst in US history during 1934 and a total of twenty-seven states are affected by it.
8. The Taylor Grazing Act goes into effect in 1934 and created heavily monitored grazing districts. It was used to help stem the damage caused by over-grazing the land.
9. The Drought Relief Service is created and starts buying cattle from struggling farmers in 1935.
10. The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act is created in April of 1935 and it forms the Works Progress Administration as well as providing hundreds of millions of dollars of drought relief.
11. The Black Sunday dust blizzard hits on April 14th, 1935 and is the worst dust storm of the Dust Bowl Years. It does massive amounts of damage to lands and property.
12. The Soil Conservation Service is established with the aim of developing topsoil preservation programs in 1935.
13. Recovery efforts continue in 1937 with the Shelterbelt Project. This project would utilize the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant native trees throughout the Great Plains, another program to help stop soil erosion.
14. The drought still continues in 1938, work intended to help with the problems caused by the drought and programs aimed at preventing further land issues continue as well.
15. The drought ends in 1939 and the Plains states continue to recover and re-work the land with more soil-friendly and sustainable farming techniques and a better understanding of how to farm those lands.
 
 
United States -- Empire State Building
Empire State Building is completed and opens on May 1st , and becomes the tallest building in the world , it is a 102-story contemporary Art Deco style building in New York City
More Information and Timeline for the Empire State Building
1. The Empire State building was designed by William F. Lamb.
2. Excavation of the building site started on January 22nd of 1930.
3. Construction began on March 17th, 1930.
4. The Empire State Building officially opened on May 1st, 1931 and it was the world's tallest building until 1970.
 
United States -- Star Spangled Banner
U.S. National Anthem becomes The Star Spangled Banner on
March 3rd
More Information for the U.S. National Anthem
The "Star Spangled Banner" is officially adopted as the national anthem of the United States during March of 1931. The song's lyrics were from a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812 while the music was taken from song "To Anacreon in Heaven" which was believed to have been written some time in the late 1700s by British composer John Stafford Smith. The notoriously difficult to sing anthem had previously been used by the United States Navy in the late 1800's but it did not become the official national anthem until the United States Congress passed a resolution and President Hoover signed it into law in 1931. Prior to 1931 the country did not actually have an official national anthem.
 
 
Spain -- King Alfonso XIII
King Alfonso XIII of Spain is forced to live in Exile in Rome following Spain Becoming a Republic
More Information and Timeline for the Second Spanish Republic
1. General Miguel Primo de Rivera is overthrown as Spain's leader on January 28th, 1930.
2. Several Republican factions join together with the intention of overthrowing the Spanish monarchy and they form the Pact of San Sebastian.
3. Republicans won the April 12th, 1931 municipal elections in a landslide.
4. On April 14th, 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
5. King Alfonso XIII goes into exile after the Second Spanish Republic is created.
6. A provisional government is then formed under Niceto Alcala-Zamora.
7. A new constitution is drafted in June of 1931 and it is the law of the land by December of that year.
8. A civil war erupts in Spain, however the constitution of the Second Spanish Republic remains in effect until 1939 when the Spanish Civil War ended.
 
United States -- Round the World Flight
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty complete their around-the-world flight.
More Information for Post and Gatty Flight
Aviator Wiley Post and navigator Harold Gatty began their record-breaking around-the-world flight during June of 1931. Post and Gatty took off from New York in their plane, the Winnie Mae, and made several stops as they traveled around the globe. Trouble with their propeller held them up in Alaska and after they had it replaced they resumed their journey. Post and Gatty successfully completed their trip of over 15,000 miles returning to New York in just over 8 days, eclipsing Hugo Eckner's previous record of 21 days in the Graf Zeppelin. Post would later become the first person to successfully complete a solo around-the-world flight two years later in 1933.
 
Japan invades Manchuria in China after the Mukden Incident.
More Information for the Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in China take place during September of 1931. The Mukden Incident happened when Japanese troops were sent into Manchuria under the pretense of protecting a Japanese controlled railway where there had been an explosion. Japan soon took over the entirety of Manchuria. Japan had already been occupying nearby Korea and was worried that the potential unification of China could endanger their control on the region. In order to maintain a neutral zone they decided to occupy the Northeast region of China and were met with little resistance. Japan would continue to occupy Manchuria until the end of World War II in 1945 .
 
The classic horror film "Dracula" is released.
More Information for the premiere of Dracula
The classic horror film "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi as the title character premieres during February of 1931 at the Roxy Theater in New York City. The film was directed by Tod Browning and was the first film to legally adapt Bram Stoker's Gothic vampire novel, with the film "Nosferatu" having done so in 1922 but without the rights to the story. The film also took many cues from the stage play with the same name that was created by Hamilton Deane and John Balderston in 1924. "Dracula" was a hit after its release and was praised by many critics who seemed to particularly appreciate Lugosi's performance. In 2000 the film was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress.
 
The first Warner Bros' Merrie Melodies cartoon is created.
More Information for Merrie Melodies
Warner Bros. creates their first "Merrie Melodies" cartoon "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" during August of 1931. The cartoon was about seven minutes long and featured the character of "Foxy" who looked similar to Disney's "Mickey Mouse" character. The "Merrie Melodies" series was created by the same team that created "Looney Tunes" during 1930 and many "Merrie Melodies" cartoons would go on to feature Looney Tunes characters. Merrie Melodies was primarily created to feature Warner Bros. music and to be used as advertisements for recordings and sheet music in what could be considered an early version of a music video. Merrie Melodies shorts would continue to be produced until 1969.
 
United States -- Classic Frankenstein Film Released
The iconic pre-code horror film �Frankenstein,� starring Boris Karloff as the Monster, debuted during November of 1931. The film also starred Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein and Mae Clarke as Elizabeth, his fiance. The film was an adaptation of Peggy Webling�s 1927 play, which was also based on Mary Shelley�s 1818 novel of the same name. �Frankenstein� was praised by both critics and the public as a thrilling piece of entertainment. In 1991, the black and white movie was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress due to its cultural significance.
 
September 17th -- The Bronx, New York, U.S.
John Le Carr�
October 19th -- Poole, Dorset, England
Angie Dickinson
September 30th -- Kulm, North Dakota, U.S.
Robert Duvall
January 5th -- San Diego, California, U.S.
Larry Hagman
September 21st -- Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Rupert Murdoch
March 11th -- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Leonard Nimoy
March 26th -- Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Willie Shoemaker
August 19th -- Fabens, Texas, United States
Desmond Tutu
October 7th -- Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa
 
 
Technology
More Television is broadcast and RCA places a transmitter at the top of The Empire State Building
Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Electric Razor USA   by Jacob Schick
Nylon USA   by Wallace Corothers - artificial silk
Aerosol Can Norway   by Erik Rotheim
 
Australia  --  Prime Minister  --  James Scullin  --
Brazil  --  President   -- Military Joint Tri --  Till  3 November
Brazil  --  President    -- Get�lio Vargas  --  From  3 November
Canada  --  Prime Minister  --  Richard Bedford Bennett  --
Italy  --  Prime Minister   -- Benito Mussolini   --
Japan  --  Prime Minister  -- Osachi Hamaguchi   --  Till 14 April
Japan  --  Prime Minister  -- Reijiro Wakatsuki  --   From 14 April
Japan  --  Prime Minister  -- Reijiro Wakatsuki  --   Till 13 December
Japan  --  Prime Minister  -- Tsuyoshi Inukai  --   From 13 December
Mexico  --  President  --  Pascual Ortiz Rubio  --
Russia / Soviet Union  --    General Secretary of the Central Committee    --  Joseph Stalin   --
South Africa  --  Prime Minister  --  James Barry Munnik Hertzog  --
United States  --  President  --  Herbert Hoover
United Kingdom  --  Prime Minister  --  Ramsay MacDonald  --
Political Elections
British General Election   1931  Stanley Baldwin ( Conservative ) defeats   Arthur Henderson ( Labour ) and  Sir Herbert Samuel ( Liberal  )
Due to the effects of the great depression although Conservative won a large majority Ramsay MacDonald stays on as The British Prime Minister in a (National Government)