1932May, 12
Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Jr., is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from the crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey, United States. On May 12, the child's corpse was discovered by a truck driver by the side of a nearby road.In September 1934, a German immigrant carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the crime. After a trial that lasted from January 2 to February 13, 1935, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Despite his conviction, he continued to profess his innocence, but all appeals failed and he was executed in the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison on April 3, 1936. Newspaper writer H. L. Mencken called the kidnapping and trial "the biggest story since the Resurrection". Legal scholars have referred to the trial as one of the "trials of the century". The crime spurred Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly called the "Little Lindbergh Law", which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime.
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Events on 1932
- 3Jan
United Fruit Company
Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers fired by the United Fruit Company. - 18Feb
Manchuria
The Empire of Japan declares a puppet state of Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China and installed former Chinese Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as Chief Executive of the State. - 1Mar
Lindbergh kidnapping
Charles Lindbergh's son is reportedly kidnapped. - 4May
Al Capone
In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion. - 20Jul
Paul von Hindenburg
In the Preußenschlag ("Prussian coup"), German President Paul von Hindenburg dissolves the government of Prussia