The World in 1938 the year Martians landed on the radio

A new law set the lowest legal pay in the United States at 25 cents an hour. At that rate a worker needed 20 minutes to earn a loaf of bread and most of an hour for a movie ticket.

Life back then

Money was still tight nine years after the crash. Millions worked relief jobs for the Works Progress Administration, building roads and schools. Families ordered clothes and tools from thick mail order catalogs and waited weeks for the parcel. A block of ice kept the food cold and the milkman left bottles on the step. In London that September, workers dug trenches in the parks and handed out gas masks while people waited to hear if there would be war. On Halloween night a radio play about invading Martians fooled part of its audience, which shows how much people trusted the voice from the speaker.

The year in 8 events

• 🪃Jan 26 On the 150th anniversary of the first British settlement, Aboriginal Australians hold a Day of Mourning in Sydney and ask for equal rights.
• 🏛️Mar 12 German troops march into Austria. Germany takes over the country days later.
• 🛢️Mar 18 Mexico takes over the oil wells and refineries owned by British and American companies.
• 🥊Jun 22 Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York.
• 🕯️Sep 21 A hurricane sweeps into Long Island and Rhode Island with winds near 120 mph. Hundreds of people die and downtown Providence floods.
• 📜Sep 30 Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, which hands part of Czechoslovakia to Germany.
• 📻Oct 30 Orson Welles broadcasts The War of the Worlds on American radio as a string of news bulletins. Some listeners believe it.
• 🕯️Nov 9 Mobs attack Jewish shops, homes and synagogues across Germany and Austria. The night becomes known as Kristallnacht.

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