1934 The Americas

The Americas

Bahamas 

*Andre Rodgers, the first Bahamian to play Major League baseball, was born in Nassau, Bahamas (December 2).

Kenneth Andre Ian Rodgers (b. December 2, 1934, Nassau, Bahamas – d. December 13, 2004, Nassau, Bahamas) was a Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the New York and San Francisco Giants (1957–60), Chicago Cubs (1961–64) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1965–67). He also played one season in Japan for the Taiyo Whales (1969). He batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues.  He was a talented cricket player who paid his own way for a tryout with the Giants in 1954. Rodgers failed to make the team that year. He had to learn the rules of baseball, and not to jump away from curveballs.  Consequently, he adjusted and made his debut in 1957. Rodgers was a part of the Giants roster until October 1960 when he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for Alvin Dark, who ultimately became the San Francisco manager at the time.

Before the 1961 season started, the Braves traded Rodgers to the Cubs. In 1962, he became the regular Cubs shortstop when Ernie Banks moved to first base. In that season, Rodgers, second baseman Ken Hubbs and Banks set a league record for double plays.  After four productive seasons for the Cubs, Rodgers was traded to the Pirates.

In an 11-year career, Rodgers compiled a .249 batting average with 45 home runs and 245 RBI in 854 games. But even more important than the success he accomplished in his career was the fact that he opened the door for countrymen to follow such as Ed Armbrister, Tony Curry, Wenty Ford, and Wil Culmer.  Indeed, in the immediate years following his success, baseball began to emerge as the most popular sport in the Bahamas, and in the 1960s had become even more popular than cricket. 

Andre Rodgers died in Nassau, Bahamas at the age of 70.

Barbados

*Austin Clarke, a novelist, essayist and short story writer best known for his book The Polished Hoe, was born in St. James, Barbados.

Austin Ardinel Chesterfield "Tom" Clarke (b. July 26, 1934, St. James, Barbados – d. June 26, 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a Barbadian novelist, essayist and short story writer who was based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Born in St. James, Barbados, Clarke had his early education there and taught at a rural school for three years. In 1955 he moved to Canada to attend the University of Toronto.  After two years, he turned his hand to journalism and broadcasting. He was a reporter in the Ontario communities of Timmins and Kirkland Lake before joining the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation of as a freelance journalist. He taught subsequently at several American universities, including Yale University (1968–70), Duke University (1971–72), and the University of Texas (visiting professor, 1973).

In 1973, he was designated cultural attaché at the Barbadian embassy in Washington, D. C.  He was later General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in Barbados (1975-1977). Returning to Canada, in 1977 he ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario provincial election. He was writer in residence at Concordian University, Montreal, Quebec (1977), and at the University of Western Ontario (1978). From 1988 to 1993 he served on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Clarke won the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his 2002 novel, “The Polished Hoe.” Set in the years immediately after World War II, it tells the story of Mary-Mathilda, a former house servant and mistress to a plantation’s powerful overseer, who years later offers a murder confession that lasts an entire night, forming an oral history steeped in slavery, colonialism and sexual exploitation.

In September 2012, at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), Clarke was announced as the winner of the $10,000 Harbourfront Festival Prize "on the merits of his published work and efforts in fostering literary talent in new and aspiring writers". 

Clarke died on June 26, 2016 at the age of 81 in Toronto.

Belize

(British Honduras)

*A powerful hurricane made landfall in British Honduras (June 5).  Over the next four days between 1,000 and 3,000 people in Central America were killed by massive floods and landslides.

Brazil

*The Third Constitution of Brazil was promulgated (July 16).

Cuba

*Cuban President Ramon Grau signed a decree setting April 22 as the date for the election of a constitutional assembly (January 2). Grau also said that he would not be continuing in the presidency beyond May 20.

*10,000 teachers went on strike across Cuba in protest of President Grau, accusing his government of tyranny and oppression (January 8).

*Ramon Grau resigned as President of Cuba and was replaced by Carlos Hevia (January 15). Soldiers fired on a crowd of Grau supporters gathered around the presidential palace, killing three.

*Carlos Hevia resigned as President of Cuba on just his third day in office (January 17).

*Manuel Marquez Sterling became the new President of Cuba for a few hours and was then replaced by Carlos Mendieta (January 18).
  

*The United States formally recognized Cuba (January 23).

*5,000 Cuban rail workers went on strike for more pay (January 28).

*Cuba adopted a new provisional constitution (February 4).

*The Partido Autentico was founded in Cuba (February 8).

*Unknown assailants made an attempt on the life of the American ambassador to Cuba Jefferson Caffery, firing at the entrance to his home in Havana with sawed off shotguns at the precise time that he usually came out (May 27).  Caffery was not injured but a soldier standing guard was seriously wounded.

*Representatives of the United States and Cuba signed a treaty in Washington abrogating the Platt Amendment (May 29).

*The United States Congress ratified the treaty with Cuba abrogating the Platt Amendment (May 31).

*Cuban President Carlos Mendieta narrowly avoided an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded directly behind his chair during a luncheon (June 15).  Mendieta was wounded and two naval officers were killed.

*Gunmen in Havana opened fire on a parade of a secret political organization known as the ABC (June 17).  Marchers prepared for such an attack returned fire, and police dispersed the battle with gas bombs.  A total of 12 people were killed.

*The United States and Cuban governments signed a reciprocal trade agreement to strengthen economic ties between the two countries (August 24).

*Eight were killed by bombs in Havana during a nationwide strike of government workers (September 4). President Carlos Mendieta promised a relaxation of martial law.


*Cuban officials revealed the confiscation of five mail packages containing bombs addressed to American ambassador Jefferson Caffery (September 11). 

*Former Cuban president Ramon Grau fled the country by plane with seven members of his family (September 27). The executive committee of his party, the Partido Autentic, issued a statement saying it had advised him to leave after receiving reports that he was in personal danger.

*A one-day general strike was held in Cuba (October 8). The Communist Confederation of Labor in Cuba called it off that night after a day of rioting.

*Rico Rodriguez, a Cuban-born Jamaican ska artist, was born in Havana, Cuba (October 17).

Emmanuel "Rico" Rodriguez  (b. October 17, 1934, Havana, Cuba – d. September 4, 2015, London, England), also known as simply Rico, Reco or El Reco, was a Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist. He recorded with many producers, including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd "Matador" Daley.  He was known as one of the first and most distinguished ska artists, and from the early 1960s performed and recorded in Britain, with the Specials, Jools Holland, Paul Young, and others.

Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved with his family to Jamaica at an early age. He grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and was taught to play the trombone by his slightly older schoolmate Don Drummond at the Alpha Boys School. In the 1950s, Rodriguez became a Rastafarian and was closely associated musically to the rasta drummer Count Ossie.  In 1961, Rodriguez moved to the United Kingdom and started to play in reggae bands. In 1976, he recorded the album Man from Wareika under a contract with Island Records.  In the late 1970s, with the arrival of the 2 Tone genre, he played with ska revival bands such as the Specials including their single "A Message to You, Rudy."

Rodriguez formed the group Rico and the Rudies and recorded the albums Blow Your Horn and Brixton Cat. In 1995, Island Records released the album  Roots to the Bone, an updated version of Rodriguez's earlier work Man from Wareika. After 1996, among other engagements, he played with Jools Holland's  Rhythm and Blues Orchestra and also performed at various ska festivals throughout Europe with his own band. He retired from performing with Jools Holland in 2012.

He was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace on July 12, 2007, for services to music. In October 2012, he was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican music.

Haiti

*President Roosevelt arrived at Cap-Haitien, Haiti to a 21-gun salute, the first president to visit Haiti while in office (July 5). Roosevelt delivered a speech, partly in French, announcing the withdrawal of United States Marines from the country by October.

*The United States occupation of Haiti ended after 19 years in accordance with President Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy towards Latin America, as the last contingent of American troops departed (August 15).

Puerto Rico

*President Roosevelt visited San Juan, Puerto Rico (July 6).

*Roberto Clemente, the first Latin American and Caribbean baseball player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was born in Barrio San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico (August 18).

Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (b. August 18, 1934, Barrio San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico – d. December 31, 1972, Isla Verde, Puerto Rico) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player. Clemente spent eighteen Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons playing in the National League (NL) as a right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be enshrined. His untimely death established the precedent that, as an alternative to the five-year retirement period, a player who has been deceased for at least six months is eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame.

Clemente was an All-Star for twelve seasons and fifteen All-Star Games.  He was the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1966; the National League batting leader in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967; and a Gold Glove winner for twelve consecutive seasons from 1961 through 1972. His batting average was over .300 for thirteen seasons and he had 3,000 major league hits during his career. He also played in two World Series championships.  Clemente is the first Latin American and Caribbean player to help win a World Series as a starter (1960), to receive an National League MVP Award (1966), and to receive a World Series MVP Award (1971).

Clemente was married in 1964; he and his wife had three children. He was involved in charity work in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the off-seasons, often delivering baseball equipment and food to those in need. On December 31, 1972, he died in an aviation accident while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 

Virgin Islands

*President Roosevelt visited Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands (July 7).

Europe

France

*Josephine Baker appeared in the movie ZouZou.

*Josephine Baker was the lead in a revival of Jacques Offenbach's opera La creole,  which premiered in December of 1934 for a six-month run at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Elysees of Paris.

Germany

*The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring went into effect in Nazi Germany (January 1).

Italy

*On March 18, Benito Mussolini made a speech in Rome outlining a 60-year plan that would give Italy the "primacy of the world" in the 21st century and would make that century a "blackshirt era".  Mussolini proclaimed that Italy's future lay to the "east and south in Asia and Africa.  The vast resources of Africa must be valorized and Africa brought within the civilized circle.  I do not refer to conquest of territory but to natural expansion.  We demand that nations which have already arrived in Africa do not block at every step Italian expansion."

*On March 24, an editorial in Mussolini's newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia wrote that "The diminution of births in the United States is assuming alarming proportions"  The editorial concluded:  "When we reflect there are in the United States 11,500,000 Negroes, people of extraordinary fecundity, it is necessary to conclude with a real cry of alarm. The Yellow Peril is nothing.  We will encounter an Africanized America in which the white race, by the inexorable law of numbers, will end by being suffocated by the fertile grandsons of Uncle Tom.  Are we to see within a century a Negro in the White House?"

Africa

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Nnamdi Azikiwe received a master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He also worked as an instructor at Lincoln University before returning to Nigeria.

In November, Azikiwe took the position of editor for the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Accra, Ghana.  In that position he promoted a pro-African nationalist agenda. In his passionately denunciatory articles and public statements, Azikiwe censured the existing colonial order: the restrictions on the Africans' right to express their opinions, and racial discrimination. He also criticized those Africans who belonged to the "elite" of colonial society and favored retaining the existing order, as they regarded it as the basis of their well being.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela and several other boys travelled to Tyhalarha to undergo the circumcision ritual that symbolically marked their transition from boys to men. The rite over, Mandela was given the name Dalibunga.

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Angola

*Jonas Savimbi, the founder and leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), was born Munhango, Moxico Province, Angola (August 3).

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (b. August 3, 1934, Munhango, Moxico Province, Angola – d. February 22, 2002, Lucusse, Moxico Province, Angola) was an Angolan political and military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). 

UNITA first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–74, then confronted the rival People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) during the decolonization conflict, 1974–75, and after independence in 1975, fought the ruling MPLA in the Angolan until his death in a clash with government troops in 2002.

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Cape Verde

*Pedro Pires, the third President of Cape Verde (2001-2011), was born in Fogo, Overseas Province of Cabo Verde, Portugal (April 29).

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Ethiopia

(Abyssinia)

*In 1934 Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Fascist Italy, moved against Ethiopia in a border incident. His pretense, that of bringing civilization to a backward country, concealed Italian imperial ambitions for an African colony to supplement Italian Somaliland and Eritrea. In the diplomatic footwork that followed the border clash, the Emperor Haile Selassie referred the dispute to the League of Nations for mediation; but Britain and France gave Mussolini to understand that he could expect a free hand in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the 1930s.  Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to Ethiopia in the First Italo-Abyssinian War (1895-1896),  and to efface the failed attempt by "liberal" Italy to conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat at Adowa (March 1, 1896). A conquest of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and embolden its rhetoric of empire. Additionally, the conquest of Ethiopia would provide a bridge between Italy's Eritrean and Italian Somaliland possessions. Ethiopia's position in the League of Nations did not dissuade the Italians from invading in 1935. The "collective security" envisaged by the League proved useless, and a scandal erupted when the Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935)  revealed that Ethiopia's League allies were scheming to appease Italy.

*Italy and Ethiopia released a joint statement refuting any aggression between each other (September 29).

*An Anglo–Ethiopian boundary commission discovered the Italian force at Walwal. British members of the delegation soon retired to avoid an international incident (November 23).

The Italo–Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 stated that the border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia was twenty-one leagues parallel to the Benadir coast (approximately 118.3 km [73.5 mi]). In 1930, Italy built a fort at the Walwal oasis (also Welwel, Italian: Ual-Ual) in the Ogaden, well beyond the twenty-one league limit.

On November 22, 1934, a force of 1,000 Ethiopian militia with three fitaurari (Ethiopian military-political commanders) arrived near Walwal and formally asked the Dubats garrison (Somali irregulars) stationed there (comprising about 60 soldiers) to withdraw from the area. The Somali NCO leading the garrison refused to withdraw and alerted Captain Cimmaruta, commander of the garrison of Uarder, 20 km away, to what had happened.

The next day, November 23, 1934, in the course of surveying the border between British Somaliland and Ethiopia, an Anglo–Ethiopian boundary commission arrived at Walwal. The commission was confronted by a newly arrived Italian force. The British members of the boundary commission protested, but withdrew to avoid an international incident. The Ethiopian members of the boundary commission, however, stayed at Walwal.

*Tensions resulted in a border clash at Walwal.  Italy invaded Ethiopia at Walwal, Ogaden Province (December 5), 

In November 1934, Ethiopian territorial troops, escorting the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, protested against Italy's incursion at Walwal. The British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid embarrassing Italy. Italian and Ethiopian troops remained encamped in close proximity.

In early December 1934, the tensions on both sides erupted into what was known as the "Wal Wal incident." For reasons which have never been clearly determined, there was a skirmish between the garrison of Somalis, who were in Italian service, and a force of armed Ethiopians. According to the Italians, the Ethiopians attacked the Somalis with rifle and machine-gun fire. According to the Ethiopians, the Italians attacked them, supported by two tanks and three aircraft.  In the end, approximately 107 Ethiopians and 50 Italians and Somalis were killed.

Neither side did anything to avoid confrontation.  The Ethiopians repeatedly menaced the Italian garrison with the threat of an armed attack, and the Italians sent two planes over the Ethiopian camp and one of them even shot a short machine gun burst, that no one on the ground noticed, after the pilot, seeing Captain Cimmaruta in the midst of the Ethiopians, thought that he was taken prisoner by them.

*Abyssinia protested Italian aggression at Walwal (December 6).

*Italy demanded an apology for the Walwal incident (December 8).

*Italy demanded financial and strategic compensation for the Walwal incident (December 11).

*Mussolini ordered General Emilio De Bono to Eritrea to take command of the Italian forces there (December 24).

*Mussolini wrote a memorandum for Marshal Pietro Badoglio titled "Directive and Plan of Action to Solve the Abyssinian question" (December 30). "I decide on this war, the object of which is nothing more than the complete destruction of the Abyssinian army and the total conquest of Abyssinia", Mussolini wrote. "In no other way can we build the empire."

Guinea

(French Guinea)

*Lansana Conté (b. November 30, 1934, Dubreka, French Guinea – d. December 22, 2008), the second President of Guinea, serving from April 3, 1984 until his death in December 2008, was born in Dubreka, French Guinea (November 30). He was a Muslim and a member of the Susu ethnic group.

Malawi

(Nyasaland)

*Bingu wa Muthanka, the President of Malawi from 2004 to 2012, was born in Thyolo, Nyasaland (Malawi) (February 24).

Bingu wa Mutharika (b. Brightson Webster Ryson Thom, February 24,1934, Thyolo, Nyasaland (Malawi) – b. April 5, 2012, Lilongwe, Malawi) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death. He was also President of the Democratic Progressive Party,  which he founded in February 2005.  It obtained a majority in Malawi's parliament in the 2009 general election. During his two terms in office he was noted for being the Chairperson of the African Union in 2010–2011, as well as for several domestic controversies. In 2009 he purchased a private presidential jet for $13.26 million. This was followed almost immediately by a nationwide fuel shortage which was officially blamed on logistical problems, but was more likely due to the hard currency shortage caused by the jet purchase. He died of a heart attack in Lilongwe while in office on April 5, 2012.

Nigeria

*Yaba Higher College officially opened (January).

Republic of the Congo

(French Congo)

*France introduced air service between Algiers and Brazzaville in the French Congo (June 18).

*In the French Congo, a railway line connecting Pointe-Noire with Brazzaville opened (July 10).

Rhodesia

(Southern Rhodesia)

*The Southern Rhodesian general election was held.  The new United Party led by Godfrey Huggins won 24 out of 30 seats.

South Africa

*The Jonker diamond was found at the Elandsfontein mine in South Africa by Johannes Jacobus Jonker (January 17).

*The Status of the Union Act, declaring the Union of South Africa to be a "sovereign independent state", received royal assent (June 22).

*Hertzog and Smuts formed the United South African National Party.

The United Party was South Africa's ruling political party between 1934 and 1948.

The United Party was formed by a merger of most of Prime Minister Barry Hertzog's National Party with the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts, plus the remnants of the Unionist Party.  Its full name was the United National South African Party, but it was generally called the "United Party". The party drew support from several different parts of South African society, including English-speakers, Afrikaners and Coloureds. 

Hertzog led the party until 1939. In that year, Hertzog refused to commit South Africa to Great Britain's war effort against Nazi Germany. Many Afrikaners who had fought in the Second Boer War were still alive, and the atrocities committed by the British during that conflict were fresh in their memory. Hertzog felt that siding with the former enemy would be unacceptable to Afrikaners. Furthermore, he could see little benefit for South Africa in taking part in a war that he saw as an essentially European affair.

The majority of the United Party caucus were of a different mind, however, and Hertzog resigned. Jan Smuts succeeded him and led the party and the country throughout World War II and the immediate post-war years.

Smuts and the United Party lost the 1948 election to the National Party. It was never to hold power again.

*Disgruntled former South African Party Members of Parliament formed the Dominion Party (October).

The Dominion Party was a South African political party establish in late October 1934 by dissatisfied members of the South African Party when that party merged with the National Party to form the United South African Party,  commonly referred to as the "United Party". Its formation was mainly due to distrust of the motives of then-Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog and the new Afrikaner nationalist faction he brought into the now-united Party. The Party was established principally to maintain South Africa's "British connection" (it campaigned to keep the Union Jack and God Save the Queen in 1938 and to enter the Second World War in 1939 on the side of Great Britain) and particularly the Natal's distinct British culture. The Party won 8 seats in the 1938 general election and lost one in 1943.  It acquired no seats in the 1948 election, and disappeared from national politics. The Dominion Party leader was Colonel C. F. Stallard, who later served as Minister of Mines during the second Ministry of Jan Smuts.

*The Volkskas bank was established.

From the 1860s onward, more and more whites in the Cape and the Transvaal were forced off the land to join a burgeoning working class while the landed entrepreneur became wealthier at the expense of less efficient farmers.  Reacting to the poverty which resulted, the mainly Afrikaans-speaking poor whites nurtured a nationalism that sought to unite wealthy and impoverished Afrikaners -- first under organizations such as the Afrikaner Broederbond (Afrikaner Brotherhood), and then in financial establishments to rival those of English-speaking capitalism -- such as the insurance giant, SANLAM, and the financial institution, Volkskas Beperk -- the People's Bank.

The Volkskas Beperk (Afrikaans: Peoples' Bank) was a South African bank founded in 1934 as a cooperative loan bank, becoming a commercial bank in 1941.  In 1991, by which time it had become South Africa's largest Afrikaner bank, Volkskas merged with United Bank, Allied Bank and Trust Bank to form Amalgamated Banks of South Africa.  

The bank issued banknotes for circulation in South West Africa between 1949 and 1959 from its Windhoek branch.

*Abdullah Ibrahim, a South African pianist and composer, was born in Cape Town, South Africa (October 9). 

Abdullah Ibrahim (b. Adolph Johannes Brand on October 9, 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multi-cultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church and ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre Cape jazz.  Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of  Theolonious Monk and Duke Ellington.  With his wife, the jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, he is father to the New York underground rapper Jean Grae, as well as to a son, Tsakwe.

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