History of Watchmaking

Patents were filed for a chronograph with two push-buttons (Breitling). The company Porte-Echappement Universel (Fritz Marti) invented the "Incabloc" shock absorption system that could be adapted to any calibre. Introduction of the "Nivarox" compensating balance-spring and the "Nivaflex" mainspring.
Invented in the 1880s, the speaking clock came into service at the Paris Observatory. 140,000 people called on the first day, blocking the 20 lines; only 20,000 callers got through.
Patek Philippe created the Calatrava.

World history

Hitler became Chancellor of the Reich.
The Reichstag fire.
Roosevelt launched his New Deal.
Einstein was forced to leave Nazi Germany after his house was ransacked early in the year.
Prohibition was repealed in the United States.

Art and Culture

The film King Kong was released.
Fritz Lang fled Nazi Germany.
Walt Disney made his first colour cartoon, The Three Little Pigs.
The French writer André Malraux was awarded the Prix Goncourt for his novel, Man’s Fate.
Nelson Rockefeller commissioned Diego Rivera to paint a fresco that was subsequently destroyed because it featured a portrait of Lenin.