The last time a British man made it to the final of Wimbledon, the war — World War II — hadn’t yet begun. It was 1938 when Bunny Austin lost the championship in straight sets to Don Budge. And around the world:
• Bands of Nazis began roaming the streets of Germany and Austria, looting and burning synagogues, Jewish-owned stores and houses in a pogrom that became known as “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of the Broken Glass.”
• The Queen Elizabeth ocean liner was christened at Clydebank, Scotland, by the British queen consort for whom the ship was named.
• Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
• Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” opened on Broadway.
• Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrived in London after concluding the Munich agreement allowing Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland. His phrase “peace in our time” becomes synonymous with “appeasement.” War breaks out a year later
• Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• The Oscar for best picture went to “The Life of Emile Zola,” directed by William Dieterle.
• Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: “nylon.”
• Pilot Douglas “Wrong-Way” Corrigan arrived in Ireland after leaving New York with the announced intention of flying to California.
• A hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives.
• Orson Welles’s radio dramatization of H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” airs.
• Seabiscuit beat War Admiral in match race of the century at Pimlico.
• Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Adolf Hitler.
On Sunday, Andy Murray will try to beat Roger Federer in the Wimbledon men’s final and become a champion: His countryman Fred Perry was the last British man to win Wimbledon. In 1936.
One 76-year Wimbledon wait did come to end for Britain on Saturday — in men’s doubles.
Jonathan Marray of Britain and Frederik Nielsen of Denmark beat Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3 on Centre Court.
Marray, from England, is the first British man to win a men’s doubles title at Wimbledon since 1936.
Nielsen’s grandfather, Kurt, lost in the men’s Wimbledon singles finals in 1953 and ’55.
In the women’s final, Wimbledon champion Serena Williams and big sister Venus defeated Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4.
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