1920
1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar)
Events
January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. January 9 - Britain announces it will build 1,000,000 homes for war veterans. January 10 - League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I. January 15 - Prohibition goes into effect in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment coming into effect. January 16 - Allies demand that the Netherlands extradite the German Kaiser, who has fled there. January 19 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations. January 22 - The Australian Country Party is officially formed. January 23 - The Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser. January 28 - The Spanish legion is founded and stationed in North Africa to fight rebels in Morocco. January 28 - Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire and all non-Turkish areas.
February February 1 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations. February 2 - Estonia's independence is recognised. February 2 - France occupies Memel. February 9 - League of Nations gives Spitzbergen to Norway. February 10 - Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea. February 17 - Woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to mental hospital, where she claims she is Anastasia. February 14 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago. February 22 - In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens. February 24 - Adolf Hitler presents his national socialist program in Munich.
March March - World's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden. Hjalmar Branting takes over when Nils Edén resigns. March 1 - Hungarian Admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary March 1 - The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies. March 13-March 17 - Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike. March 15 ? Red Army of Ruhr, communist army 60.000 men strong, formed March 19 - US Congress refuses to ratify Versailles Treaty. March 23 - Admiral Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy without anyone on the throne. March 26 - German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against rebellious Ruhr Red Army in the French-occupied area. March 26 - The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland March 29 - Sir William Robertson, who enlisted in 1877, becomes a field marshal in the British Army, the first man to rise to this rank from private March 31 - Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in British parliament.
April-May April 2 - German army marches to Ruhr to fight Red Ruhr Army. April 4 - Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 ? Violence between Arabic and Jewish resident in Jerusalem ? governor declares the state of siege April 6 - French troops occupy Frankfurt. April 19 - Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war. April 23 - National council in Turkey denounces the government of sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution. April 24 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish and Ukrainian troops attack Soviet army occupying Ukraine. May 7 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. Ukrainian government returns to the city. May 16 - Referendum in Switzerland is favorable to joining League of Nations. May 16 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint. May 17 - French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany. May 17 - First flight of KLM, Dutch air company, from Amsterdam to London. May 27 - Thomas Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia. May 29 - Great Horncastle flood. 20 people killed.
June-July June 4 - Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Peace between The Allied and Hungary. June 12 - Polish-Soviet War: Red Army retakes Kyiv. June 15 - New border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark. June 22 - Greece attacks Turkish troops. July 1 ? Germany declares its neutrality in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia July 2 - Polish-Soviet War: Red Army continues offensive into Poland. July 10 - Arthur Meighen becomes Canada's ninth prime minister. July 12 - Bolshevist Russia recognizes independent Lithuania. July 13 - London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs. July 14 ? France declares that Faisal I of Syria is deposed and occupies Damascus and Aleppo July 22 - Polish-Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia.
* July 25 - First transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.
August-September August 2 - British parliament passes bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials. August 3 - Catholics riot in Belfast. August 10 - Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives signs the Treaty of Sevres. August 11 - Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Estonia and Latvia. August 13 - August 25 - Polish-Soviet War: The Red Army is defeated in the Battle of Warsaw. August 15 - Town Hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots. August 18 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage. 19 August-25 August - Second Silesian Uprising, the Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans August 20 - The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan. September 8 - Gabriele D'Annunzio declares Fiume a free state. September 16 - The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City - 39 dead, 400 injured September 22 - Flying Squad formed in London Metropolitan Police. September 29 - First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – Westinghouse radio costs $10. September 29 - Adolf Hitler's makes first public political speech, in Austria.
October-November October 9 ? Polish troops take Vilnius October 10 - The outwitted Carinthian Plebiscite, where Slovenia loses a larger part of Carinthia Province. October 12 - Polish-Soviet War After Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced. October 18 ? Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London ? 50 injured November 2 - Warren G. Harding defeats James M. Cox in the U.S. presidential election, the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote. November 2 - In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920. November 11 - Unknown Soldier buried in Westminster Abbey. November 15 - In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held. November 17 - Council of League of Nations accepts the constitution of Danzig free state. November 21 - Bloody Sunday - British forces open fire on spectators and players during a Football match in Dublin's Croke Park, following the assassinations of 12 British agents.
December December 1 - Álvaro Obregón becomes president of Mexico. December 5 - Referendum in Greece is favorable to reinstatement of monarchy. December 11 - Martial law in Ireland. December 16 - Finland joins the League of Nations. December 16 - 8.6 Richter scale Earthquake causes landslide in Gansu Province, China - 180.000 dead. December 23 - United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.
Undated Number of US Americans move to Paris to escape the Prohibition France prohibits selling of contraceptives. Roman Ungern von Sternberg conquers Urga and declares himself as a ruler of Mongolia. Kurd rebellion in Turkey begins. Johnny Torrio invites Al Capone to Chicago from New York.
BirthsJanuary January 1 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra) January 2 - Isaac Asimov, author (d. 1992) January 3 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001) January 5 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995) January 6 - Early Wynn, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1999) January 6 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist January 19 - Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, United Nations Secretary General January 20 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993) January 20 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999) January 20 - John O'Connor, Cardinal of New York City January 23 - Ray Abrams, tenor saxophonist January 23 - Gottfried Böhm, architect January 27 - Frankie Albert, American football star January 30 - Delbert Mann, American television and director January 31 - Paul Warnke, diplomat
February-March February 7 - An Wang, computer pioneer (d. 1990) February 11 - Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976) February 11 - Daniel Francis Galouye, American science fiction author February 11 - Farouk I, last King of Egypt (d. 1965) February 11 - Paul Peter Piech, artist (d. 1996) February 12 - William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000) February 17 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian film director (d. 2001) February 18 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990) February 18 - Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (d. 1945) February 26 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004) February 29 - Howard Nemerov, American poet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize (d. 1991) March 3 - Ronald Searle, British cartoonist March 3 - James Doohan, Canadian actor March 14 - Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001) March 15 - Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998) March 16 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002) March 17 - Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975) March 19 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian poet and artist (d. 2002) March 25 - Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)
April-July April 1 - Toshirô Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997) April 2 - Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982) April 5 - Arther Hailey, American writer April 7 - Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player April 10 - Frank Cavaliero, pigeon racer and real estate tycoon April 11 - Peter O'Donnell, creator of Modesty Blaise April 15 - Thomas Stephen Szasz, professor of psychiatry and writer April 13 - Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of Ireland April 27 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956) April 29 - Harold Shapero, composer May 2 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004) May 6 - Ross Hunter, producer May 6 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister and President of Fiji (d. 2004) May 9 - Richard Adams, English author May 18 - Pope John Paul II (d. 2005) May 18 - Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) May 23 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993) May 26 - Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002) May 30 - Franklin Schaffner, American film and television director (d. 1989) June 12 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (Mad Magazine) (d. 2002) July 17 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president July 21 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
August-December August 8 - Leo Chiosso, Italian poet August 16 - Charles Bukowski, writer (d. 1994) August 18 - Bob Kennedy, Major League Baseball player and manager (d. 2005) August 21 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne, basis for the Winnie the Pooh character Christopher Robin (d. 1996) August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer August 29 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist and composer September 10 - Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (d. 2001) September 14 - Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer September 22 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (d. 1993]) October 1 - Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000) October 1 - Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001) October 8 - Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986) October 9 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976) October 15 - Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999) October 31 - Fritz Walter, German football player (d. 2002) November 21 - Stan Musial, Baseball Hall of Famer November 23 - Paul Celan, Romanian-born German poet (d. 1970) November 25 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis and 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2000) December 6 - Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer December 24 - Evgeniya Rudneva, Soviet World War II heroine (d. 1944)
DeathsJanuary 2 - Paul Adam, French writer (b. 1862)January 3 - Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1888)January 4 - Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)January 6 - Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathetmatician (b. 1839)January 7 - Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)January 18 - Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet (b. 1825)January 24 - William Percy French, Irish songwriter and entertainer (b. 1854)January 24 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (tuberculosis) (b. 1884)January 24 - William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, British diplomat and administrator (b. 1864)January 26 - Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist, model, and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani (suicide) (b. 1898)February 2 - Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)February 3 - Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)February 6 - Augustus F. Goodridge, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1839)February 7 - Aleksandr Kolchak, Russian naval commander (b. 1874)February 15 - Joseph Burton Sumner, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837)February 20 - Joseph J. Fern, Mayor of Honolulu (b. 1872)February 20 - Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856)February 27 - William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)March 1 - John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842)March 1 - William A. Stone, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846)March 1 - Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (b. 1880)March 4 - Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)March 11 - Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)March 13 - Charles Lapworth, English geologist (b. 1842)March 26 - William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)March 26 - Mary Augusta Ward, Tasmanian novelist (b. 1851)March 31 - Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (b. 1837)March 31 - Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)April 8 - John Brashear, American astronomer (b. 1840)April 8 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)April 9 - Moritz Cantor, historian of mathematics (b. 1829)April 21 - Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)April 26 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)May 1 - Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (b. 1882)May 9 - Agnes Macdonald, wife of John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1836May 11 - James Colosimo, Italian-born gangster (b. 1877)May 11 - William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)May 16 - Levi P. Morton, Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)May 21 - Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)May 21 - Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)May 23 - Svetozar Borojevic, Austro-Hungarian field marshall (b. 1856)May 30 - George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer (b. 1862)June 5 - Rhoda Broughton, Welsh writer (b. 1840)June 5 - Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)June 6 - James Dunsmuir, Canadian politician (b. 1851)June 13 - Essad Pasha, Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1863)June 14 - Gabrielle Réjane, French actress (b. 1856)June 14 - Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864)June 18 - Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)June 18 - John Macoun, Irish born naturalist (b. 1831)June 20 - Marie Adolphe Carnot, French chemist, mining engineer, and politician (b. 1839)June 20 - John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1838)June 27 - Adolphe Basile Routhier, Canadian who wrote the words to the national anthem (b. 1839)July 1 - Delfim Moreira, President of Brazil (b. 1868)July 10 - John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)July 11 - Empress Eugénie of France (b. 1826)July 14 - Albert Keller, German painter (b. 1844)July 22 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)August 1 - Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)August 1 - Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist (b. 1856)August 2 - Ormer Locklear, American stunt flyer (b. 1891)August 9 - Samuel Griffith, Australian politician and judge (b. 1845)August 10 - Adam Politzer, Austrian otologist (b. 1835)August 12 - Hermann Struve, Russian-born German astronomer (b. 1854)August 16 - Henry Daglish, Premier of Australia (b. 1866)August 16 - Joseph Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (b. 1836)August 17 - Ray Chapman, Major League Baseball player (b. 1891)August 22 - Anders Zorn, Swedish painter (b. 1860)August 26 - James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)August 31 - Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist and psychologist (b. 1832)September 4 - Flora Sheldon, grandmother of George H. W. Bush (b. 1852)September 7 - Simon-Napoléon Parent, Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)September 10 - Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)September 18 - Robert Beaven, Canadian politician (b. 1836)September 24 - Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweler (b. 1846)September 25 - Jacob Schiff, German-born banker and philanthropist (b. 1847)September 30 - William Wilfred Sullivan, Canadian journalist, politician, and jurist (b. 1843)October 2 - Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator from Massachusetts (b. 1853)October 10 - Hudson Stuck, English mountaineer (b. 1865)October 19 - John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)October 20 - Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)October 24 - Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (b. 1853)November 4 - Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1858)November 13 - Luc-Olivier Merson, French painter and illustrator (b. 1846)November 23 - George Callaghan, British admiral (b. 1852)November 25 - Gaston Chevrolet, Swiss-born automobile race driver and manufacturer (b. 1892)November 30 - Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)December 3 - William de Wiveleslie Abney, English astronomer and photographer (b. 1843)December 11 - Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)December 12 - Edward Gawler Prior, Canadian mining engineer and politician (b. 1854)December 14 - George Gipp, American college football player (b. 1895)
Physics - Charles Edouard Guillaume Chemistry - Walther Nernst Medicine - Schack August Steenberg Krogh Literature - Knut Hamsun Peace - Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois
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