February 4 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.
February 18 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.
February 25 - Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
February 29 - TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
March 1 - The son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, is kidnapped.
March 9 - The Egyptian University rector "Ahmed Lotfy El-Said" resigns in protest of the transfer of Dr.Taha Hussein without the University's permission. In 2003, an academic group called "March 9" is established in Egypt to defend academic rights and university independence.
March 9 - The first Ford Flathead engine leaves the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.
April 5 - Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends. Alcohol sales begin in Alko liquor stores.
April 5 - Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
April 23 - The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, the Netherlands burns down.
April 28 - A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans.
May 2 - Comedian Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time.
May 4 - In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
May 12 - Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.
May 15 - The May 15 Incident: in an attempted Coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.
May 20 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
May 21 - Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and thereby becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
May 29 - World War I Veterans begin to assemble in Washington, DC in the Bonus Army to request cash bonuses promised to them to be paid in 1945.
June 6 - The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (1/4 ¢/L) sold.
June 17 - Bonus Army: around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
June 24 - A military coup ends the absolute power of the king of Siam (Thailand).
July 8 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22.
July 9 - The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution
July 12 - Hedley Verity establishes a first-class record by taking all ten wickets for only ten runs against Nottinghamshire on a pitch affected by a storm.
July 20 - In Washington, D.C., police fire tear gas on World War I veterans part of the Bonus Expeditionary Force who attempt to march to the White House.
July 20 - Crowds in the capitals of Bolivia and Paraguay demand their governments declare war on the other after fighting on their border.
July 28 - U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.
July 29 - Great Depression: in Washington, DC, U.S. troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.
July 30 - Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short
July 31 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
August 2 - The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
August 10 - A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
August 22 - The BBC first experiments with television broadcasting. (See also Timeline of the BBC.)
August 24 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
September 5 - The French Upper Volta is broken apart between Ivory Coast, French Sudan, and Niger.
September 10 - The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally-owned IND, is opened.
September 11 - Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura, Polish Challenge 1932 winners, are killed in a plane crash when their RWD 6 crashes into the ground during a storm.
September 18 - Actress Peg Entwistle commits suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the Hollywood sign.
September 23 - The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd is renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
October 3 - Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom.
October 15 - Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.
November 9 - Riots between conservative and socialist supporters in Switzerland kill 12 and injure 60.
November 24 - In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
December 5 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
December 10 - Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional monarchy.
December 18 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards long.
December 19 - BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
December 25 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills ~70,000 people.
