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Fast Facts

POP Culture: 1930

ICONS: FDR, 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hindenburg
FDR Jesse Owens Hindenburg

  • 3M employee Richard Drew invents Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape in 1930. Today, it is widely known simply as "Scotch Tape."
  • The Mickey Mouse comic strip debuts in the January 13, 1930, edition of the New York Mirror.
  • On October 17, 1931, Chicago gangster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and later sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
  • Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats incumbant Republican Herbert Hoover in the 1932 election.
  • The Boulder Dam (today known as "Hoover Dam") is completed 2 years ahead of schedule on March 1, 1936.
  • Jesse Owens wins four gold medals during the 1936 Summer Olympics.
  • Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner become the first inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
  • The German airship Hindenburg is destroyed while attempting to land at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station on May 6, 1937.
  • American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappears over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, July 2, 1937.
  • Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 in June 1938.
  • Gone with the Wind wins the Academy Award for "Best Picture" in 1939.

The 1930 Census

 

10 Largest Urban Places

U.S. Resident Population: 123,202,624 Rank Place Population
Population per square mile of land area: 34.7 1 New York City, NY 6,930,446
Percent increase of population from 1920 to 1930: 16.2 2 Chicago, IL 3,376,438
Official Enumeration Date: April 1 3 Philadelphia, PA 1,950,961
Number of States: 48 4 Detroit, MI 1,568,662
Cost: $40,156,000 5 Los Angeles, CA 1,238,048
Cost per Capita (cents): 32.6 6 Cleveland, OH 900,429
Total Pages in Published Reports: 35,700 7 St. Louis, MO 821,960
Number of Enumerators: 87,756 8 Baltimore, MD 804,874
Census Bureau Director: William M. Steuart 9 Boston, MA 781,188
Number of Questions Asked: 34 10 Pittsburgh, PA 669,817

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Census History Staff | Last Revised: December 14, 2023