March 1, 1932. Charles and Ann Lindbergh’s young son, Charles Jr., is discovered missing from his crib in the family home. Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr. is found dead just a few miles from the Lindberghs’ home. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who will be tried, convicted, and executed for the crime, proclaims his innocence to the end.

March 1, 1932. Japan proclaims Manchuria an independent state called Manchukuo and installs Manchu (Chinese) Emperor Puyi as puppet emperor. (Without the minerals and food supply obtained from their occupation of Manchuria, the Japanese probably could not have carried out their plan for conquest over Southeast Asia or taken the risk to attack Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December, 1941.)

May 16, 1932. Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims in Bombay leave thousands dead and injured.

May 20-21, 1932. U.S. aviator Amelia Earhardt becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

May 29, 1932. The first of approximately 15,000 World War I veterans arrive in Washington, D.C. demanding the immediate payment of their military bonus, becoming known as the Bonus Army. On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell orders the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police meet with resistance, shots are fired and two veterans are wounded and later die. President Herbert Hoover then orders the army to clear the veterans’ campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commands the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children are driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

June 15, 1932. War breaks out between the South American countries of Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the Gran Chaco, a forested plain between the two countries. Paraguay needs the resources from the Gran Chaco, grazing land and hardwood from the forests, and landlocked Bolivia needs access to the Gran Chaco in order to trade overseas. The war will last until 1935 and will be the bloodiest military conflict fought in South America in the twentieth century.

September 20, 1932. Mohandas Gandhi begins a six-day hunger strike in Poona prison. This fast was the start of a new campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables (Dalit), whom he named Harijans, the children of God.

November 8, 1932. Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president of the United States. He promises to end the Great Depression with his “New Deal”, and he further promises that when he is president, “No American will starve.”

In 1932, unemployment in the US reaches between 25-33%—about 14 million people unemployed. A similar level of unemployment now affects Germany. The economic depression has spread worldwide.