Events January–February January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people. January 26 – A 10-year German–Polish declaration of non-aggression is signed by Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic. January 30 In Nazi Germany, the political power of federal states such as Prussia is substantially abolished by the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" (Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches). Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, signs the Gold Reserve Act: all gold held in the Federal Reserve is to be surrendered to the United States Department of the Treasury; immediately following, the President raises the statutory gold price from US$20.67 per ounce to $35. February 6 – French political crisis: The French far-right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon, in an attempted coup d'état against the Third Republic. February 9 Gaston Doumergue forms a new government in France. Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia form the Balkan Pact. February 12 – 16 – Austrian Civil War: The Fatherland Front consolidates its power, in a series of clashes across the country. February 16 – The Commission of Government is sworn in, as a form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland. February 21 – Augusto César Sandino is assassinated in Managua, by the National Guard. February 23 – King Leopold III of Belgium succeeds to the throne, following the death (February 17) of his father King Albert I. March–April March 1 – Manchuria becomes Manchukuo, following an invasion by the Japanese. March 12 – Prime Minister Konstantin Päts stages a self-coup by declaring a state of emergency in Estonia, with the approval of the parliament. March 13 – John Dillinger and his gang rob the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa, United States, stealing $52,000. March 20 – The Great Hakodate Fire kills at least 2,166 people in southern Hokkaido, Japan. March 24 – The Tydings–McDuffie Act is passed, allowing the Philippines a greater degree of self-government from the United States. April 21 – The "surgeon's photograph" of the Loch Ness Monster, taken in Scotland by London gynaecologist Robert Kenneth Wilson and in 1994 admitted to be a hoax, is published in the Daily Mail London national newspaper. May–June May 1