About the day » Wednesday December 21, 1938Calender converter

• Freerkje Kloosterman, Harkema Opeinde († 2009)
• Jantje Wijnholds, Emmen, Drenthe, Nederland († 2018)
• Cornelis Struiksma, Marsum († 2023)
• Jan Meijer, Emmen, Drenthe, Nederland († 1938)
• Gerhardus Johannes Jozef Goossen, Almelo, Overijssel, Nederland († 1944)
• Adrien Gilbert Covemaeker, Klerken († 1938)
• Jan Van den Bergh († 2008)
• Fritz Adolf Bauer, Tübingen (Reg.-Bez. Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg) († 2003)
• Alberto Garcia Esparza, San Benito, Cameron, Texas, Verenigde Staten († 1972)
• Clementina Klein († 1943)

• Anna Wubbina Rolfes (84), Musselkanaal
• Anna Petronella Maria Monde (37), Maastricht, Netherlands
• Antonius Motmans (83), Gelinden, België
• Anna Teerink (60), Zutphen, Gelderland, Nederland
• Aalt Cornelis Snellen (76), Barneveld, Gelderland, Nederland
• Aagje Heijne (72), Castricum
• Arie Ariensz Aandewiel (81), Katwijk
• Aagje Hoogendoorn (73), Giessendam
• Antje Schouten (73), Ursem, Koggenland, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Aloisius Curvers (81), Venray,, Limburg, Nederland

• 1934 » Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter
• 1935 » Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, 22nd Governor General of Canada
• 1935 » John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer († 2017)
• 1935 » Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver († 1967)
• 1935 » Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer
• 1935 » Stela Popescu, Romanian actress († 2017)
• 1937 » Jane Fonda, American actress, producer, and activist
• 1939 » Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1939 » Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist
• 1940 » Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer († 1993)

• 1929 » I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (b. 1859)
• 1933 » Knud Rasmussen, Greenlandic anthropologist and explorer (b. 1879)
• 1935 » Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1890)
• 1935 » Ted Birnie, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
• 1937 » Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
• 1937 » Ted Healy, American comedian and actor (b. 1896)
• 1937 » Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge (b. 1882)
• 1940 » F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1896)
• 1945 » George S. Patton, American general (b. 1885)
• 1948 » Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (b. 1878)

1. Johannes
2. Jan
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Willem
6. Pieter
7. Adrianus
8. Petrus
9. Gerrit
10. Wilhelmus
11. Jacobus
12. Gerardus
13. Jacob
14. Robert
15. Antonius
16. Arie

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Anna
4. Cornelia
5. Elisabeth
6. Wilhelmina
7. Adriana
8. Petronella
9. Catharina
10. Hendrika
11. Geertruida
12. Margaretha
13. Jacoba
14. Helena
15. Grietje
16. Mary

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from June 24, 1937 to July 25, 1939 the cabinet Colijn IV, with Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 8.6 million citizens.
• February 18 » Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre, the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee", and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
• March 3 » Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
• June 7 » Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed.
• June 23 » The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
• August 20 » Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years until it was broken by Alex Rodriguez.
• November 9 » The Nazi German diplomat Ernst vom Rath dies from gunshot wounds by Herschel Grynszpan, an act which the Nazis used as an excuse to instigate the 1938 national pogrom, also known as Kristallnacht.

The temperature on December 21, 1938 was between -11.6 °C and -8.6 °C and averaged -9.7 °C. There was 7.7 mm of rain during 12.5 hours. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the east-northeast.