Editorial archive online

RETROPAUSEARCHIVE / 1970—2009
VERIFIED ARCHIVE / WORLD INDEX

Timeline

Cultural dates, releases and technologies with reviewable evidence and editorial oversight.

1939
COMICS AND MAGAZINES / UNITED STATES

A Superman newspaper strip is commissioned

In 1939, McClure Syndicate commissioned a Superman newspaper strip. According to the article, this gave Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster an opportunity to expand the origin and use elements that did not fit the magazine format.

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1 source
  1. La evolución del origen de Supermantranslate.google.com · accessed 10/16/2026
1939
RESTORATION / ITALY

MAUTO opens to the public in Turin

The museum opened to the public in rooms beneath the municipal stadium’s stands, at a venue described as provisional.

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1 source
  1. El MAUTO - MAUTOwww.museoauto.com · accessed 11/11/2026
18 April 1938
COMICS AND MAGAZINES / UNITED STATES

Superman debuts in Action Comics #1

The source states that Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 on April 18, 1938; it also clarifies that the cover was dated June 1938.

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2 sources
  1. La evolución del origen de Supermantranslate.google.com · accessed 10/16/2026
  2. Supermanes.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/13/2026
1938
FOOD AND SWEETS / UNITED STATES

Founding of Dairy Queen by J.F. McCullough, Alex McCullough, and Sherb Noble

J.F. McCullough, his son Alex, and Sherb Noble founded Dairy Queen in Joliet, Illinois, introducing soft-serve ice cream as an innovation to prevent rapid melting.

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2 sources
  1. ¿Sabes cómo surgió el imperio de helados #DairyQueen? ...www.facebook.com · accessed 10/15/2026
  2. 44 años endulzando el camino: Origen, evolución y el ADN ...stenger.es · accessed 10/15/2026
1938
FILM / UNITED STATES

Disney decides to turn The Sorcerer’s Apprentice into a feature film

In 1938, Walt Disney decided to incorporate The Sorcerer’s Apprentice project into a multi-segment feature built around classical music.

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1 source
  1. Fantasía (película)es.wikipedia.org · accessed 09/25/2026
21 December 1937
ANIMATION / UNITED STATES

Premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The evidence states that the film premiered on December 21, 1937, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood.

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4 sources
  1. nuevas lecturas en torno al personaje de Cenicientawww.researchgate.net · accessed 10/17/2026
  2. Historia de la animacióntranslate.google.com · accessed 10/25/2026
  3. El Cine animado de Walt Disney - Fundamentos del Arte IIprofeanacob.wordpress.com · accessed 10/25/2026
  4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfses.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/17/2026
6 January 1933
TOYS / SPAIN

Royal toys donated to Madrid City Council

On Epiphany 1933, a ceremony was held at the former Royal Stables to donate toys to Madrid City Council. The Republican government had decided to preserve some toys from the rooms of Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenia’s children and offer the others to the council.

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1 source
  1. Juguetes Reales - La Galería de las Colecciones Realeswww.galeriadelascoleccionesreales.es · accessed 09/25/2026
1929
EVERYDAY LIFE / CHILE

Construction of the neoclassical building housing the Osorno Municipal Historical Museum

The neoclassical building that now houses the Osorno Municipal Historical Museum was constructed, hosting collections of everyday life and local heritage.

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1 source
  1. Museo Histórico Municipal de Osornoes.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/19/2026
1929
BOARD GAMES / UNITED STATES

Edwin Lowe popularizes the modern bingo format

In 1929, Edwin Lowe, a toy seller, discovered the game at a festival and began distributing the format now known as bingo. This event marks the transition from the Italian lottery game to a structured parlor game in the United States, laying the foundations for its commercial and social expansion in the following decades.

2 sources
  1. Explorando la historia del Bingoblog.yobingo.es · accessed 10/22/2026
  2. Bingo - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia librees.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/22/2026
1928
FILM / SPAIN

The Spanish Congress of Cinematography calls for a distribution quota

According to Archivo Cine, the First Spanish Congress of Cinematography called for a quota of one Spanish film for every 25 foreign films. The source records the proposal, not its adoption or implementation.

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1 source
  1. EMPRESAS DE DISTRIBUCIONarchivocine.com · accessed 09/23/2026
1928
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO / UNITED STATES

The Met begins collecting photographs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) begins its photography collection in 1928, a milestone associated with Alfred Stieglitz's advocacy of photography as an art form.

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1 source
  1. Photographswww.metmuseum.org · accessed 10/16/2026
1922
HOME DÉCOR / BRAZIL

Former Arsenal buildings adapted to house the National Historical Museum

In the context of the National Historical Museum’s creation, buildings of the former War Arsenal were expanded and decorated with neocolonial features to host the event. The documentation does not detail the specific decorative choices.

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1 source
  1. Archivo del Museo Histórico Nacional (Brasil) - Censo-Guíacensoarchivos.mcu.es · accessed 09/23/2026
1921
RESTORATION / SPAIN

The Museu de la Música de Barcelona collection begins

The Municipal Culture Commission accepted a donation of musical instruments to launch a new museum project devoted to theatre, music and dance.

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1 source
  1. Historia | Museu de la Músicaajuntament.barcelona.cat · accessed 09/25/2026
1920
EVERYDAY LIFE / ARGENTINA

The period studied for durable goods in Argentina begins

Fernando Rocchi’s study examines the circulation of electric refrigerators and gas stoves in Argentina from 1920 to 1970, and how these appliances influenced domestic practices.

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3 sources
  1. la evolución de los bienes durables en Argentina, 1920-1970journals.openedition.org · accessed 10/17/2026
  2. la evolución de los bienes durables en Argentina, 1920-1970www.researchgate.net · accessed 10/17/2026
  3. la evolución de los bienes durables en Argentina, 1920-1970www.scielo.org.co · accessed 10/17/2026
1920
ANIMATION / UNITED STATES

Birth of Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen is born, the American filmmaker who would become a fundamental pioneer in integrating stop motion animation into live-action cinema.

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1 source
  1. La Maquina del tiempo +www.facebook.com · accessed 10/18/2026
1918
ANIMATION / UNITED STATES

Start of the Out of the Inkwell series

Max Fleischer begins production of the animated series Out of the Inkwell, which becomes a milestone for the use of the rotoscope.

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1 source
  1. Out of the Inkwelles.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/17/2026
1917
ANIMATION / JAPAN

Namakura Gatana is dated to 1917

The sources place the Junichi Kouchi-attributed short film Namakura Gatana in 1917. They do not document a release month or day, so year precision is retained.

8 sources
  1. Historia del Manga y Anime en la Cultura Japonesa 🔴japonpedia.com · accessed 09/18/2026
  2. Manga y animeartsandculture.google.com · accessed 10/31/2026
  3. ¿Cuándo comenzó el anime?: una historia en disputa - Infobaewww.infobae.com · accessed 09/18/2026
  4. Cronología de la historia de la animación japonesa - Poggerstranslate.google.com · accessed 10/20/2026
  5. ¡Sumérgete en el origen de la animación que conquistó el mundo!www.facebook.com · accessed 10/20/2026
  6. La espada desafiladatranslate.google.com · accessed 11/08/2026
  7. Del pergamino flotante a los cortos animados. Los precursores del manga y el animeopenalex.org · accessed 10/31/2026
  8. Animees.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/31/2026
1914
ANIMATION / UNITED STATES

Start of Max Fleischer's experimental shorts

Max Fleischer began producing experimental shorts between 1914 and 1916 to demonstrate the rotoscope, a technique that projected images through a glass panel to be traced frame by frame.

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1 source
  1. Out of the Inkwelles.wikipedia.org · accessed 10/17/2026
18 March 1913
DESIGN AND ADVERTISING / SPAIN

Azorín publishes the last article in the series 'La generación del 98'

On 18 March 1913, Azorín published in ABC the fourth and last article in the series 'La generación del 98', a documented step in the definitive formulation of the historiographical category.

1 source
  1. Generación del 98: origen y evolución de una categoría historiográficadoi.org · accessed 11/06/2026