3rd January » The March of Dimes is established by President of the United States known as President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
9th January » Paul of Greece marries Frederica of Hanover in Athens.
14th January » Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
28th January » The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of convert 432.7 km/h mph.
18th February » During the Nanking Massacre tha Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee" and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
3rd March » Petroleum known as Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
3rd March » The 'Mallard (locomotive) known as Mallard' the fastest steam driven train on the planet, was built by LNER Doncaster Works England
12th March » 'Anschluss:' Nazi Germany called German troops occupy Austria.
13th March » World News Roundup is broadcast for the first time on CBS Radio in the United States.
18th March » Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned petroleum or oil properties within its borders.
25th April » U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in 'Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins' and overturns a century of federal common law.
30th April » The first televised 1938 FA Cup Final FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town F.C. Huddersfield Town and Preston North End F.C. Preston North End.
25th May » Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 313 deaths.
26th May » In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
7th June » The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight.
7th June » Second Sino-Japanese War: The Kuomintang called Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Imperial Japanese Army named Japanese forces. 500,000 to 900,000 civilians are killed.
11th June » Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
23rd June » The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
25th June » Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.
3rd July » World speed record for a steam engine steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the 'Mallard (locomotive) Mallard', which reaches a speed of convert 126 mph km/h.
3rd July » United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
10th July » Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
17th July » Douglas Corrigan takes off from Floyd Bennett Field e.g Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
20th July » The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York City or New York, New York against the motion picture industry charging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio system. The case would eventually result in a break-up
28th July » 'Hawaii Clipper' disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific 'China Clipper' service.
31st July » Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
31st July » Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius I known as Darius the Great in Persepolis.
7th August » The Holocaust: The building of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp called Mauthausen concentration camp begins.
18th August » The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States with Ontario, Canada over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by President of the United States called U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
20th August » Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years until it was broken by Alex Rodriguez.
23rd August » England English cricketer Len Hutton sets a world record for the List of Test cricket records Innings or series highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test cricket Test match against Australia national cricket team Australia.
5th September » Chile: A group of youths affiliated with the fascist National Socialist Movement of Chile are assassinated in the Seguro Obrero massacre.
12th September » Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
21st September » The 1938 New England hurricane named Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.
23rd September » Mobilization of the Czechoslovakia named Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Agreement e.g Munich Crisis.
27th September » Ocean liner 'RMS Queen Elizabeth or Queen Elizabeth' launched in Glasgow.
29th September » Munich Agreement: Germany is given permission from France, Italy, and Great Britain to seize the territory of Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. The meeting takes place in Munich, and leaders from neither the Soviet Union nor Czechoslovakia attend.
30th September » At 2:00 am, United Kingdom known as Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to occupy the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
30th September » The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations".
10th October » The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
25th October » The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis Beckman known as Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces Swing (genre) e.g swing music as "a degenerated musical system… turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path
31st October » Great Depression: In an effort to restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
1st November » Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing.
9th November » The Nazi German diplomat Ernst vom Rath dies from the fatal gunshot wounds of Jewish resistance fighter Herschel Grynszpan, an act which the Nazis used as an excuse to instigate the 1938 national pogrom, also known as Kristallnacht (Crystal Night).
16th November » Lysergic acid diethylamide LSD is first synthesized by Swiss people Swiss Chemistry chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.
18th November » Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
13th December » The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
17th December » Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of Nuclear power known as nuclear energy.
23rd December » Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.