Ronald Reagan Events

1911 Feb 6 Ronald Reagan is Born
Ronald Reagan was born in an apartment above the local bank building in Tampico, Illinois, on February 6, 1911, to John Edward "Jack" Reagan and Nelle Wilson Reagan. Reagan's father was o...
1919 Aug 25 The Reagan Family Returns to Tampico, IL
The H.C. Pitney Variety Store Building is a commercial building in downtown Tampico, Illinois, United States. The building was constructed in 1900 but is probably most notable for its ups...
1920 The Reagan Family Moves to Dixon, IL
The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home is the house located at 816 South Hennepin Street, Dixon, Illinois, in which the late former President of the United States Ronald Reagan lived as a youth b...
1922 Sep 21 Ronald Reagan is Baptized at His Mother's Disciples of Christ Church
Reagan's father, Jack, was a lapsed Catholic. Ronald's brother Neil was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church but Ronald was baptized into the Disciples of Christ. His mother, Nell, was...
1924 Ronald Reagan Enters Dixon's Northside High School
From 1945 until he entered the political arena in 1965 Ronald Reagan continued his movie career. He had actually had some political experience both at Northside High School, Dixon, IL an...
1926 Ronald Reagan Takes Job as Lifeguard
During a recent interview on "60 Minutes" about his Ronald Reagan biography, "Dutch", author Edmond Morris commented that Reagan loved being a lifeguard as a young man. He was credited wi...
1928 Aug 3 "Dixon Daily Telegraph" Front Page Headline Reads: "Ronald Reagan Saves Drowning Man."
"Dixon Daily Telegraph" front page headline reads: "Ronald Reagan saves drowning man." By the time he leaves his job, after seven summers, the count of those he has Reagan as a young manp...
1928 Sep 20 Ronald Reagan Attends Eureka College
In the fall of 1928 Ronald Reagan, from Dixon, Ill., enrolled as a freshman at Eureka College. He became an active participant in many phases of campus life, culminating in his role as pr...
1928 Nov Ronald Reagan Becomes Leader in Strike at Eureka College
Ronald Reagan spoke publicly and became a leader in a student strike movement on the Eureka College campus. After successfully staging a five-day strike, the student demands were met and...
1931 Ronald Reagan Wins Award for Performance in "Aria da Capo"
His mother taught him to read before entering elementary school. He was a good student in high school and a star athlete, playing on the football, basketball, and track teams. As a senior...
1932 Jun 7 Ronald Reagan Graduates from Eureka College
"Dutch," as the boy was called, was president of Dixon High School's student council. He worked his way through small Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, where he was student senate presi...
1932 Dec Ronald Reagan Finds Radio Work
After graduating from Eureka in 1932, Reagan drove himself to Iowa, where he auditioned for a job at many small-town radio stations. The University of Iowa hired him to broadcast home foo...
1937 Ronald Reagan Earns Seven-Year Contract with Warner Brothers Studios
While traveling with the Cubs in California, Reagan took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios. He spent the majority of his Hollywood caree...
1937 Apr 29 Ronald Reagan Enlists in the Army Enlisted Reserve
After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses, Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve[26] on April 29, 1937, as a private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moi...
1937 Oct 2 Ronald Reagan Makes First Film Debut as Andy McCaine in "Love Is On the Air"
Love is on the Air is a 1937 film directed by Nick Grinde. The film stars Eddie Acuff, Robert Barrat, Raymond Hatton, Willard Parker and Ronald Reagan in his first film debut.
1938 Ronald Reagan Appears as Jack Withering in "Going Places"
Dick Powell and Anita Louise are the nominal stars of the horse-racing comedy Going Places (1938), but Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong steals the show as a groom whose rendition of "Jeepers Cre...
1938 Ronald Reagan Appears in "Boy Meets Girl"
Boy Meets Girl (1938) is a perfect example of why Warners' contract actors and directors were called The Warner Bros. Stock Company. The film marked James Cagney's eighth time working wit...
1938 Jan 1 Ronald Reagan Appears at Private Dennis Reilley in "Sergeant Murphy"
Private Dennis Reilly has followed his horse, Sergeant Murphy, into the army and when Murphy is transferred to the cavalry, Dennis transfers also. Because he wants the horse to be dischar...
1938 Jan 8 Ronald Reagan Appears as Jack Miller in Swing Your Lady
Wrestler Joe Skopapolous, together with his manager, Ed, and his trainers, Popeye and Shiner, arrives in a small town in the Ozarks hoping to promote a wrestling match. Things look hopele...
1938 Jan 15 Ronald Reagan Appears in "Hollywood Hotel"
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American film, directed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Ted Healy. Ronald Reagan and Benny Goodman also appear. Product...
1938 Apr 9 Ronald Reagan Appears as Eric Gregg in "Accidents Will Happen"
Insurance investigator Eric Gregg shows great promise, but he is not advancing fast enough in his career to suit his wife Nona. Eric's shrewd investigation saves the company from liabilit...
1938 Jul 9 Ronald Reagan Appears as Pat Dunn in "Cowboy from Brooklyn"
Cowboy from Brooklyn is a 1938 American film. Ronald Reagan starred in the film. Plot Singer Elly Jordan, a Brooklyn man who is terrified of animals, ends up broke along with his...
1938 Jul 20 Ronald Reagan Appears in "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse"
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a 1938 Warner Bros. crime film starring Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart. It was directed by Anatole Litvak and written by John Wexley...
1938 Oct 22 Ronald Reagan Appears as Neil Dillon in "Girl on Probation"
Warner Bros.' Girls on Probation was, and is, a potboiler, redeemed slightly by its cast. The fascinating, underused Jane Bryan stars as innocent young Connie Heath, who is falsely accuse...
1938 Oct 29 Ronald Reagan Appears as Dan Crawford in "Brother Rat"
Billy Randolph, Dan Crawford, and Bing Edwards are roommates at the Virginia Military Institute, known as the West Point of the South. Billy is in love with Joyce Winfree, who has brought...
1939 Mar 4 Ronald Reagan Appears as Lieutenant 'Brass' Bancroft in "Secret Service of the Air"
At the end of the 1930s, Ronald Reagan's career was typical of any second-string studio contract actor––playing supporting roles and bits in top productions, occasionally getting a shot a...
1939 Apr 22 Ronald Reagan Appears as Alec Hamm in "Dark Victory"
Dark Victory is a 1939 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by Casey Robinson was based on the unsuccessful 1934 play of the same title by George Brewer and Ber...
1939 May 27 Ronald Reagan Appears as Lieutenant 'Brass' Bancroft in "Code of the Secret Service"
Ronald Reagan stars as Treasury Department agent Brass Bancroft in Code of the Secret Service (1939) – the second film in Warner Bros.'s Secret Service series. The saga kicked off with Se...
1939 Jul 1 Ronald Reagan Appears as Ed 'Eddie' Clark in "Naughty But Nice"
One Warner Bros. career ended while another rose in Naughty But Nice (1939), a light-hearted musical that spelled the end of Dick Powell's contract as a boy crooner and the start of Ann S...
1939 Jul 8 Ronald Reagan Appears as Jim Donohue in "Hell's Kitchen"
Hell's Kitchen is a 1939 Warner Bros. film starring Ronald Reagan and The Dead End Kids. Plot Buck Caesar (Stanley Fields) is a paroled convict who makes a contribution to a reform ...
1939 Aug 26 Ronald Reagan Appears as Deputy District Attorney Patrick "Pat" Remson in "The Angels Wash Their Faces"
The Angels Wash Their Faces is a 1939 Warner Bros. film starring Ronald Reagan and The Dead End Kids. Plot Gabe Ryan (Frankie Thomas) is released from reform school and it taken to ...
1939 Oct 21 Ronald Reagan Appears as Lieutenant 'Brass' Bancroft in "Smashing the Money Ring"
After appearing in a small role in Edmund Goulding’s Dark Victory, a big hit for Warner Brothers in 1939 and recipient of multiple Academy Award® nominations, jobbing actor Ronald Reagan ...
1940 Jan 13 Ronald Reagan Appears as Dan Crawford in "Brother Rat and a Baby"
The 1938 Warner Bros. picture Brother Rat -a breezy comedy about a trio of rapscallion military cadets - was a sizable enough hit to compel the Warner brass to revisit the now-graduated c...
1940 Jan 26 Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman Get Married
In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman (1917–2007). They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre,[35] and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' t...
1940 Apr 27 Ronald Regan Appears as Marty Allen in "An Angel from Texas"
...An Angel from Texas (1940), reunited the Reagans with Eddie Albert and Wayne Morris, their co-stars in the popular military academy comedy Brother Rat (1938). It's a pleasant enough fa...
1940 Jun 1 Ronald Reagan Appears as Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft in "Muder in the Air"
As a wave of sabotage threatens the security of the country, Saxby, the head of the U.S. Secret Service, assigns agent Brass Bancroft to impersonate the deceased spy Steve Swenko. Gabby W...
1940 Oct 4 Ronald Reagan Appears as George 'The Gipper' Gipp in "Knute Rockne, All American"
Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, perhaps the most famous of all of the football coaches at Notre Dame, one of the most success...
1940 Oct 26 Ronald Reagan Appears as Eddie Kent in "Tugboat Annie Sails Again"
Tugboat Annie Sails Again stars Marjorie Rambeau as the rambunctious female skipper created by Norman Reilly Raine. In this one, Tugboat Annie is threatened with the loss of her job as ca...
1940 Nov 16 Ronald Reagan Appears in "Alice in Movieland"
Alice in Movieland (1940) – this black-and-white dreamlike trip is part Alice in Wonderland, part A Star Is Born. When a young starlet, played by Joan Leslie, boards a train for Hollywood...
1940 Dec 28 Ronald Reagan Appears as George Armstrong Custer in "Santa Fe Trail"
Santa Fe Trail is a 1940 western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite glaring historical inaccuracies and racist overtones, the film w...
1941 John Edward "Jack" Reagan dies
John Edward "Jack" Reagan (1883–1941) was the father of United States President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) and his older brother Neil "Moon" Reagan (1908–1996). Contents Early life ...
1941 Ronald Reagan is Elected to Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild
Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 1941, serving as an alternate. Following World War II, he resumed service and became 3rd Vice president in...
1941 Jan 4 Maureen Elizabeth Reagan is Born
Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941–August 8, 2001) was the only biological child of the former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Hollywood actress Jane Wyman, to survive ...
1941 Mar 28 Ronald Reagan Appears as Gilbert "Gil" Jones in "The Bad Man"
The Bad Man is a 1941 Western film starring Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, and Ronald Reagan. The movie was written by Wells Root from the Porter Emerson Browne play, and d...
1941 May 31 Ronald Reagan Appears as Peter "Pete" Rowan in "Million Dollar Baby"
Million Dollar Baby is a 1941 romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn. Plot The story centers aro...
1941 Aug 13 Ronald Reagan Appears as Jimmy Grant in "International Squadron"
American flying ace Jimmy Grant is a daredevil when it comes to flying airplanes, but when his friend, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt, encourages him to join the Internatio...
1941 Sep 10 Ronald Reagan Appears as Matt Sawyer in "Nine Lives Are Not Enough"
Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941) was a typical Warner Bros. “B” film of its era, centering around the ever-popular world of newspaper reporters. Ronald Reagan starred as a reporter on the...
1942 Apr 18 Ronald Reagan Appears as Drake McHugh in "King's Row"
Kings Row is a 1942 drama film, directed by Sam Wood, that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, beset b...
1942 Apr 18 Ronald Reagan is Ordered for Active Duty
Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. H...
1942 May 15 Ronald Reagan is Assigned to the Army Air Force (AAF) Public Relations
Upon the approval of the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on May 15, 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st ...