Timeline February 1938

Events in February 1938 7

• 1868 – 1938 George Ellery Hale (1868-1938) Died 21 February 1938, aged 69 Hale was an American solar astronomer who founded the Yerkes and Mount Wilson observatories. He also launched the project that built the 200-inch Palomar telescope.
• 1868 – 1938 Harvey Firestone (1868-1938) Died 7 February 1938, aged 69 Firestone founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tyres.
• 1883 – 1938 Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko (1883-1938) Died 10 February 1938, aged 54 Antonov-Ovseenko led the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917 and later served as Soviet consul in Barcelona. He was shot during the Great Purge.
• 1938 Bringing Up Baby A leopard, a dinosaur bone and Cary Grant It lost money on release and is now considered the finest screwball comedy ever made.
• 1938 Blomberg-Fritsch affair Hitler takes personal command of the armed forces War Minister Werner von Blomberg and army chief Werner von Fritsch were forced out after manufactured scandals. Hitler abolished the War Ministry and created the OKW with himself as supreme commander.
• 1938 Our Town premieres on Broadway Thornton Wilder's play opens in New York Thornton Wilder's play about the fictional town of Grover's Corners opened at Henry Miller's Theatre. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is one of the most frequently staged American plays.
• 1938 – 1999 Oliver Reed (1938-1999) Died 2 May 1999, aged 61 Oliver Reed was an English actor known for films including Oliver!, The Three Musketeers, and Gladiator, his final role. He died of a heart attack in a bar in Valletta, Malta, while filming Gladiator. The film was completed using body doubles and digital effects and was dedicated to his memory.