SNIPPET: Genealogy is made all the more interesting against a background of events during a particular time period. In 1930, one out of every five Americans owned a car, the U. S. population was 122.7 million and life expectancy of the average American was 61 years. The median age for all living Americans at that time was 26.4. More than 1,300 banks closed in 1930. Fred MacMURRAY sings a song by George OLSEN and His Music: "I'll have to see my broker/Find out what he can do./'Cause I'm in the market for you." More than 14 million Americans are foreign-born, the highest number there will be in the United States for another six decades. The planet Pluto is discoverd by a 24-year-old astronomer Clyde TOMBAUGH. An article on bridal showers suggests that guests hunt for souvenirs: "such things as a ten-cent wedding ring, toy wash-boards and other articles suggestive of marriage and housewifery." The first installment of the comic strip "Blondie" appears. Grant WO! OD paints 'American Gothic." William Harrison HAYS, then president of the industry-created Motion Picture Producers and Distributors, established a production code to regulate the use of profanity, the depiction of sexual behavior and the treatment of material deemed to be unpatriotic. Throughout the 30s and 40s producers lobbied HAY's office repeatedly for the right to include certain material in their films. In 1931 between 4 and 5 million Americans are unemployed. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is made the national anthem by an act of Congress. Two white women claim they had been sexually assaulted onboard a freight train in AL. Despite scant evidence, nine black youths, who will become known as the Scottsboro boys (because the trial takes place in Scottsboro, AL) are convicted. Al CAPONE is ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and more than twice that in back taxes and is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion. James CAGNEY crushes a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face in the film "The Public Enemy." President Herbert HOOVER takes a 20 percent pay cut. In 1932 Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT is elected president after promising a "new deal" for the American people. On NBC and CBS, prices can now be mentioned in radio commercials. Popular songs include Jay GORNEY and E. Y. HARBURG's "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," Irving BERLIN's "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee," and Cole Porter's "Night and Day." The body of kidnapped baby Charles LINDBERGH, JR. is found in the woods near his parents' home. Radio City Music Hall, Skippy peanut butter, and Zippo lighters are new. Moving to radio, "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Walter WINCHELL begins his entertainment news and gossip show with the words, "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America, and all the ships at sea." In 1933 at New York's Cotton Club, 16-year-old Lena HORNE makes her debut. FDR broadcasts his first "fireside chat." Gasoline costs 18 cents a gallon. Wtih its billboard inviting customers to "sit in your car, see and hear movies," the first drive-in movie theater opens, in Camden, NJ. Prohibition is repealed. Formerly found in packs of cigarettes, baseball cards are now packaged with gum as well. Like many scientists in Germany, Albert EINSTEIN fled the Nazis to come to America. He accepted a teaching post at Princeton University in 1933 and remained there until his death. In 1934, in separate incidents, Bonnie PARKER and Clyde BARROW, John DILLINGER, Baby Face NELSON, and Pretty Boy FLOYD are all gunned down. Interestingly, six weeks earlier, notorious Clyde Champion BARROW, had written from Tulsa, OK to Henry FORD in Detroit, MI: "Dear Sir: While I still have got breath in my lungs I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned, and even if my business hasen't been strickly legal it don't hurt enything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8." In 1935, Louisiana's governor, 42-year-old Huey LONG is shot to death by Dr. Carl Austin WEISS. The Works Progress Adminstration is created by an executive order. The Social Security Act becomes law. Massive dust storms ravage the prairie states. Alcoholics Anonymous is founded by Bill WILSON and Dr. Robert H. SMITH. Pan American Airways becomes the first airline to serve hot meals in the air. In 1936, Margaret MITCHELL's first and only novel "Gone With the Wind" sells a million copies in six months. The Waring Blender and "The Joy of Cooking" are introduced. In 1937, Amelia EARHART disappears over the Pacific Ocean. The German airship Hindenburg explodes over Lakehurst, NJ. San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is opened. In gratitude for their increased sales, American spinach growers erect a six-foot-tall painted statue of the comic-strip character Popeye in Crystal City, TX. In 1938, tanks are set up outside Gimbel's department store so swimmeres can show that the newly invented ballpoint pen will write underwater. In spite of four explanatory announcements during the show, panic sweeps the nation when Orson WELLES, 23, and his Mercury Theatre broadcast a radio version of "War of the Worlds," complete with reports of "poisonous black smoke ... death rays (and) monstrous Martians." In 1939, acclaimed black contralto Marian ANDERSON, denied the right to perform in Constitutional Hall, sings before 75 thousand people at the Lincoln Memorial. "Gone With the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, " "Dark Victory," and "Wuthering Heights" are among the fine movies released. Baseball can be seen on television for the first time. Frank SINATRA is hired by bandleader Harry JAMES as lead vocalist. It takes 22 hours (and $675 per passenger, round trip) to cross the Atlantic Ocean on Pan Am's new commercial Clipper service. The Perisphere and the Trylon grace the New York World's Fair and become symbols of the optimistic theme "Building the World of Tomorrow." -- Excerpts, "Letters of the Century, America 1900-1999," eds. Grunwald and Adler (1999) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.725 / Virus Database: 480 - Release Date: 7/20/2004