| 8th January 1932 | The Archbishop of Canterbury forbids the church remarriage of divorced persons in Britain. |
| 26th January 1932 | The British submarine HMS M2 sinks with all sixty hands. |
| 4th February 1932 | The 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York. |
| 26th February 1932 | Birth of Johnny Cash, American country singer (d. 2003). |
| 19th March 1932 | The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens in Australia. |
| 25th March 1932 | “Tarzan the Ape Man” opens in cinemas, with Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. Weissmuller will star in a total of twelve ‘Tarzan’ films. |
| 16th May 1932 | Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims take place in Bombay, leaving thousands dead or injured. |
| 30th July 1932 | The 1932 Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles. |
| 8th November 1932 | Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory at the 1932 U.S. presidential election. |
| 19th December 1932 | BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service. |