1919 CE

The Treaty of Versailles ends World War I between Germany and Allied Powers, imposing reparations and redrawing borders; the Greco-Turkish War begins as Greece invades Anatolia, sparking the Turkish War of Independence; the Polish–Soviet War erupts over borderlands between Poland and Soviet Russia; the Irish War of Independence starts as the Irish Republican Army fights British rule; the May Fourth Movement rises in China against imperialism and Japanese encroachment; and the Hungarian Soviet Republic briefly becomes Europe’s first communist state before falling in the Hungarian–Romanian War.

In the 1910s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.source
  • January 3 – The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement is signed by Emir Faisal (representing the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz) and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, for Arab–Jewish cooperation in the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.source
  • 3 January – The signing of the Faisal Weizmann Agreement is held by Emir Feisal (son of the King of Hejaz) and Chaim Weizmann (later President of the World Zionist Organization) as part of the Paris Peace Conference.British-administered Palestinesource
  • 9 January – Estonian War of Independence: Estonians retake Tapa from the Bolsheviks, which enabled further liberation of Estonia.Estoniasource
  • January 14 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Tartu from the Red Army.source
  • January 18 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Narva, expelling the Red Army from Northern Estonia.source
  • January 18 – The Paris Peace Conference opens in France, with delegates from 27 nations attending for meetings at the Palace of Versailles.source
  • January 18 – The Paris Peace Conference opens at the Palace of Versailles, France. Japan sent a large delegation headed by the former Prime Minister, Marquess Saionji Kinmochi. It was originally one of the "big five" but relinquished that role because of its slight interest in European affairs. Instead it focused on two demands: the inclusion of their racial equality proposal in the League's Covenant and Japanese territorial claims with respect to former German colonies, namely Shantung (including Kiaochow) and the Pacific islands north of the Equator (the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Mariana Islands, and the Carolines). Makino Nobuaki was technically de facto chief while Saionji's role was symbolic and limited by his ill health.Japansource
  • January 19 – 1919 German federal election, first under the Weimar Republic and the first in Germany with female suffrage.source
  • January 21 – Dáil Éireann meets for the first time in the Mansion House, Dublin. It comprises Sinn Féin members elected in the 1918 general election who, in accordance with their manifesto, have not taken their seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but chosen to declare an independent Irish Republic. In the first shots of the Anglo-Irish War, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men are killed in an ambush at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary.source
  • February 1 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Valga and Võru, expelling the Red Army from the entire territory of Estonia.source
  • February 10 – The Inter-Allied Women's Conference convenes to compile a list of women's issues to present to the delegates of the Paris Peace Conference.source
  • February 11 – Friedrich Ebert is elected the first President of Germany (Reichspräsident), by the Weimar National Assembly.source
  • February 26 – Grand Canyon National Park: An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park.source
  • 1 March – Jorge Meléndez was sworn in as President of El Salvador. Alfonso Quiñónez Molina was sworn in as Vice President.El Salvadorsource
  • March 21 – The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established by Béla Kun.source
  • 1 April – Antonio Toledo Corro, Governor of Sinaloa 1981–1986 (died 2018)Mexicosource
  • 11 May – Portuguese legislative election, 1919.Portugalsource
  • May 12 – Supreme Council of the Paris Peace Conference accepts border proposals. Aside from the Austrian claims to Western Hungary, these roughly match the final borders to be defined by the Treaty of TrianonHungarysource
  • May 30 – By agreement with the United Kingdom, later confirmed by the League of Nations, Belgium is given the mandate over part of German East Africa (Ruanda-Urundi).source
  • June 4 – Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the states for ratification.source
  • June 28 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, formally ending World War I, five years to the day since the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. John Maynard Keynes, who has been present at the conference and is unhappy with the terms of the treaty, brings out his own analysis later in the year, entitled The Economic Consequences of the Peace.source
  • June 28 – The Treaty of Versailles ends the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers.Italysource
  • July 3 – Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The pro-German Baltische Landeswehr signs a peace treaty with Estonia and Latvia. The pro-German Prime Minister of Latvia Andrievs Niedra resigns, and Latvian forces take over Riga on July 8.source
  • 25 July – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg is elected President of Finland by the country's Parliament.Finlandsource
  • August 8 – The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, signed in Rawalpindi, ends the Third Anglo-Afghan War, with the United Kingdom recognising the right of the Emirate of Afghanistan to manage its own foreign affairs and Afghanistan recognising the Durand Line as the border with British India.source
  • August 11 – In Germany, the Weimar Constitution is proclaimed to be in effect (ratified).source
  • August 21 – Friedrich Ebert becomes the first President of Germany (Reichspräsident) under the Weimar Constitution.source
  • September 10 – The Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, ending World War I with Austria-Hungary and declaring that the latter's empire is to be dissolved. The Republic of German-Austria becomes the First Austrian Republic but retains less than 40% of the prewar imperial territory.source
  • September 17 – German South West Africa is placed under South African administration.source
  • October 10 – Estonia adopts a radical land reform, nationalizing 97% of agrarian lands, mostly still belonging to the Baltic German nobility.source
  • October 13 – The Convention relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation is signed, in Paris, France.source
  • October 26 – 1919 Luxembourg general election, the first in the duchy with female suffrage, following constitutional amendments of May 15.source
  • December 1 – American-born Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, becomes the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having become the second to be elected on November 28.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 7 – Estonian War of Independence: With Soviet Russian forces just 40 km outside of the capital Tallinn, Estonian forces start a general and successful counter-offensive against the Red Army.source
  • January 7–14 - Tragic Week (Argentina)Argentinasource
  • January 9 – Estonian War of Independence: Battle of Tapa – Estonian forces liberate Tapa, Estonia, from the Red Army.source
  • February 11 – The Seattle General Strike ends, when Federal troops are summoned by the State of Washington's Attorney General.source
  • February 16–21 – Estonian War of Independence: Uniformed peasants in Saaremaa rebel against the government of Estonia; the rebellion is crushed by government forces, leaving more than 200 dead.source
  • March 1 – March 1st Movement: one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance during the occupation of the Korean Empire by Japan takes place when 33 activists convene at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul and read the Korean Declaration of Independence. The activists initially planned to assemble at Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul, but chose a more private location out of fear that the gathering might turn into a riot. The leaders of the movement signed the document and sent a copy to the Governor-General of Korea.Japansource
  • March 3–April – Russian Civil War: Beginning of the Chapan War as peasants of the provinces of Samara and Simbirsk rebel against Soviet rule.source
  • March 4 – Russian Civil War: The White forces in Siberia under the command of Admiral Alexander Kolchak attack the positions of the Red Army in the Spring Offensive. The Whites crush the 5th Red Army under Jan Blumberg, and capture Okhansk, Osa, Sarapul and finally Ufa over the next days.source
  • March 8 – British authorities in Egypt arrest populist leader Saad Zaghloul, exiling him to Malta, triggering the Egyptian Revolution of 1919.source
  • 10 April – Emiliano Zapata, (39), southern leader of the Mexican Revolution, assassinated (born 1879)Mexicosource
  • April 13 – Amritsar Massacre: Under the command of Reginald Dyer, detachments of the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles massacre 379 Sikh civilians at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, in the Punjab Province.source
  • April 13 – Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for speaking out against conscription in the United States during World War I.source
  • May 4 — May Fourth Movement, student protests over government's failure in Paris Peace Conference.Chinasource
  • May 15 – Greek landing at Smyrna: The Hellenic Army lands at Smyrna assisted by ships of the British Royal Navy.source
  • May 19 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, marking the start of the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is also an official day of Turkish Youth.source
  • May 25 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces capture Pskov from the Red Army, and soon hand it over to the White forces.source
  • May 27 – Siege of Spin Boldak (Third Anglo-Afghan War). This is the last time the British Army uses an escalade.source
  • June 5 – Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The advancing pro-German Baltische Landeswehr initiates war against Estonia in Northern Latvia.source
  • June 21 – Bloody Saturday of the Winnipeg general strike: Royal North-West Mounted Police fire a volley of bullets into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two.source
  • June 26 – British Foreign Office official St John Philby and T. E. Lawrence arrive in Cairo for discussions about Arab unrest in Egypt, having been flown by Canadian pilot Harry Yates in a Handley Page bomber which set off from England on June 21.source
  • July 1 – Russian Civil War: Perm Operation (1918–19) begins on the Siberian Front: The 2nd and 3rd armies of Soviet Russia recapture the city of Perm.source
  • July 5–20 – Russian Civil War, Eastern or Siberian Front, Ekaterinburg Operation: The Red Army captures the city of Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains from the White rule of Admiral Alexander Kolchak.source
  • July 7 – The United States Army sends a convoy across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to assess the possibility of crossing North America by road. This crossing takes many months to complete, because the building of the U.S. Highway System has not commenced.source
  • August 1 – Romanians capture Füzesabony, Miskolc is cut off from BudapestHungarysource
  • August 18 – Russian Civil War: North Russia intervention – The Bolshevik fleet at Kronstadt, protecting Petrograd on the Baltic Sea, is substantially damaged by British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats (torpedo boats) and military aircraft in a combined operation.source
  • 20 August – The Taiwan Army of Japan was established.Taiwansource
  • September 1–October 2 – Russian Civil War, Siberian Front: Admiral Alexander Kolchak launches his final offensive in the Tobolsk operation, defeating the Red Army.source
  • September 12 – The nationalist poet Gabriele D’Annunzio leads 2,600 Italian irredentist troops against a mixed force of Allied soldiers to occupy the city of Fiume. The march to Fiume became known as the Impresa di Fiume ("Fiume Exploit"). D'Annunzio announces that he had annexed the territory to the Kingdom of Italy. He was enthusiastically welcomed by the Italian population of Fiume. The move was opposed by the Italian government, and D'Annunzio tried to resist pressure from Italy. The plotters sought to have Italy annex Fiume, but this was denied. Instead, Italy initiated a blockade of Fiume while demanding that the plotters surrender. The victors establish the Italian Regency of Carnaro, an unrecognized state based on the proto-fascist Charter of Carnaro.Italysource
  • 29 October – King George V approves the award of a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) to ‘Abdu’l-Baha, following a recommendation by the British military administration in Palestine, citing his cooperation and influence in Haifa during the period of British occupation.British-administered Palestinesource
  • November 11 – The first Remembrance Day is observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.source
  • November 11 – Russian Civil War: The Northwestern Army of General Nikolai Yudenich retreats to Estonia and is disarmed.source
  • November 14 – Russian Civil War, Siberian Front: Admiral Alexander Kolchak's White forces begin the Great Siberian Ice March from the cities of Omsk and Tomsk to Irkutsk, escaping from the victorious Red Army.source
  • November 16 – After Entente pressure, Romanian forces withdraw from Budapest and allow Admiral Horthy to march in.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January – George Bolt ascends to a record height of 6,500 ft.New Zealandsource
  • February 5 – The Czech delegation presents its proposal to the Paris Peace Conference, including the Czech CorridorHungarysource
  • Gabrielle D'Annunzio conceives the idea of the Rome–Tokyo Raid while meeting with the Japanese poet and Arditi Harukichi Shimoi.Italysource
  • May 8–27 – United States Navy Curtiss flying boat NC-4, commanded by Albert Cushing Read, makes the first transatlantic flight, from Naval Air Station Rockaway to Lisbon via Trepassey, Newfoundland (departs May 16) and the Azores (arrives May 17). (On May 30–31 it flies on to Plymouth in England.)source
  • June 14–15 – A Vickers Vimy piloted by British aviator John Alcock, with navigator Arthur Whitten Brown, makes the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.source
  • August 8 - Prónay crosses the Danube from Solt to DunaföldvárHungarysource
  • September 6 – The U.S. Army expedition across North America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco.source
  • September 6 – The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy: The U.S. Army expedition across America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco.United Statessource
  • September 12 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, with his entourage, marches into Fiume and convinces Italian troops to join him.source
  • October – W. B. Yeats travelled to the United States and began a lecture tour lasting until May 1920. In this year also, Yeats published a major revision of The Wild Swans at Coole (including "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death", "The Phases of the Moon", "The Scholars", and "On being asked for a War Poem"), Two Plays for Dancers and "A Prayer for My Daughter".Irelandsource
  • 16 December – George Bolt makes the first experimental airmail flight in New Zealand. He flies from Auckland to Dargaville and back again on the same day, a total distance of approximately 320 km.New Zealandsource
  • 14–15 June – A Vickers Vimy piloted by John Alcock DSC with navigator Arthur Whitten Brown makes the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.United Kingdomsource

Religion & Belief

  • January 18 – Foundation of the Italian People's Party by Luigi Sturzo, a Sicilian Catholic priest. The PPI was backed by Pope Benedict XV to oppose the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). The party supported various social reforms, including the foundations of a welfare state, women's suffrage and Proportional representation voting.Italysource
  • 19 January – The Sunday Post first published under this title in Glasgow.Scotlandsource
  • 26 February – The first official meeting of the Zionist General Council.British-administered Palestinesource
  • 29 June – Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, cardinal (died 2008)Mexicosource
  • August 17 – Council of Germans in Németújvár (now Güssing) declare for AustriaHungarysource
  • September 1 – In a three-way splintering of the Socialist Party of America, the leadership of the 60,000 alien members of the Left Wing form the Communist Party of America at a separate convention in Chicago on September 1, 1919.United Statessource
  • December 22 – Toronto Arenas become the Toronto St. PatricksCanadasource
  • Men – H. E. Crosse (Napier) (second title)New Zealandsource

Economy & Finance

  • January 8 – Allied economic committee sent by the American mission of Archibald Cary Coolidge arrives to Budapest, led by Alonzo E. TaylorHungarysource
  • January 18 – Bentley Motors Limited is founded in England.source
  • February 25 – Oregon places a one cent per US gallon (0.26¢/liter) tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.source
  • 16 March — Société Nationale de Crédit à l'Industrie foundedBelgiumsource
  • 24 April - Ford Brasil, a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company, is founded.Brazilsource
  • October 29–November 29 – First Annual Meeting of the International Labour Conference.source
  • Election campaign amidst rising food prices and coal shortages.Italysource
  • December 1 – Toyo Lenoleum, later Toli was founded in Hyogo Prefecture.Japansource
  • 24 December – The Electrical Trades Union of Australia is federally registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904.Australiasource
  • December 26 – American baseball player Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at this time, a deal made public at the beginning of January 1920.source
  • Severe inflation in Germany sees the Papiermark rise to 47 marks against the United States dollar by December, compared to 12 marks in April.source
  • Forbo Movement Systems, a manufacturer of conveyor and power transmission belts is founded.Germanysource
  • 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)Russiasource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 20 – The Vix Note demands Hungary withdraw over 100 km to the Szeged–Debrecen–Vásárosnamény lineHungarysource
  • April 15 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issues a memorandum proposing a line, the so-called "Wilson Line", dividing the Istrian peninsula between Italy and Yugoslavia. Trieste and Pula, with the railway connecting them, lay on the Italian side; Fiume and Ljubljana, with the railway connecting them, on the Yugoslav. Učka (Monte Maggiore) was to be Italian, but the Wilson Line ran further west of Fiume than that of the Treaty of London. Italy would have none of the rights in northern Dalmatia granted it by that treaty, but it would receive the islands of Vis (Lissa) and Lošinj (Lussin). After the resignation of Orlando and Sonnino in June, the new Foreign Minister Tommaso Tittoni alters the course of negotiations by abandoning the Treaty of London and strengthening the Franco-Italian alliance, but he did not accept President Wilson's proposed "line". The French diplomat André Tardieu worked as an intermediary between Tittoni and the Americans, and he first suggested the creation of a buffer state out of a strip of land around Fiume, the future Free State of Fiume.Italysource
  • April 15 – Boston Telephone Strike of 1919 begins. Ends successfully for the telephone operators and supporters on April 20.United Statessource
  • 16 April – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, architect (Museo Nacional de Antropología).Mexicosource
  • April 20 – The French Army blows up the bridge over the Dniester at Bender, Moldova, to protect the city from the Bolsheviks.source
  • April 23 – The Potchefstroom Teachers' College opens.South Africasource
  • June – Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, along with his father John W. Bascom at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, designs and makes rodeo's first reverse-opening side-delivery bucking chute, which becomes the world standard.source
  • June – Rodeo's first reverse-opening side-delivery bronc chute is designed and made by rodeo cowboy Earl W. Bascom at the Bascom Ranch in Lethbridge, AlbertaCanadasource
  • October 7 – The Dutch airline KLM is founded (as of 2025, it is the world's oldest airline still flying under its original name).source
  • October 16 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler gives his first speech for the German Workers' Party (DAP).source
  • December 25 – Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge, Scotland, opens as the home of Albion Rovers F.C. They lose the opening match 2–0 to St Mirren.source
  • Plunket Shield: 25–29 December, Hagley Oval, Christchurch: Canterbury defeated Wellington by 7 wickets. See 1920 in New Zealand#Cricket for remaining matches in this Plunket Shield competition.New Zealandsource
  • Production of zinc begins in Glomfjord at the state-owned industrial plant.Norwaysource

Science & Discovery

  • May 1 – Oszkár Jászi emigrates to ViennaHungarysource
  • May 29 – Eddington experiment: Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested by Arthur Eddington's observation of the "bending of light" during a total solar eclipse in Príncipe, and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil (confirmed November 19).source
  • 29 May – Observations made by Arthur Eddington during a solar eclipse test part of Einstein's general theory of relativity (confirmed 6 November).United Kingdomsource
  • 31 May – George Bolt flies from Auckland to Russell in a Boeing and Westervelt floatplane. The distance of 233 km is a record for a flight in New Zealand.New Zealandsource
  • July 2–6 – British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible, and the first westbound flight, from RAF East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York.source
  • July 6 – The British dirigible airship R34 lands at Mineola, New York, completing the first transatlantic flight by airship.United Statessource
  • July 28 – The International Astronomical Union is founded in Paris, France.source
  • 17 November – American expatriate Sylvia Beach opens the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris.Francesource
  • 10 December – Keith and Ross Smith, piloting a Vickers Vimy, reach Darwin at the end of the first England to Australia flight.Australiasource
  • Romeo Gómez Aguilar (97), músician and academic (died 2019).Mexicosource
  • John Cowper Powys – After My Fashion (unpublished until 1980)Walessource

Health & Medicine

  • April 15 – The Save the Children Fund is created in the UK to raise money for the relief of German and Austrian children.source
  • 28 April – Fraserburgh life-boat Lady Rothes, on service to HM Drifter Eminent, suffers two crew swept overboard.Scotlandsource
  • July 4 – Food riots and strikes in Romagna and Bologna spread to other cities like Milan, Genoa, Livorno, Pisa, Florence, Palermo and others, with several people dead. Shopkeepers reduce food prices; sometimes to as much as 50 to 70 per cent.Italysource
  • September 9 – John Howatt Bell becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Aubin Arsenault.Canadasource
  • September 9 – Pogrom in Tapolca and Diszel kills 15 peopleHungarysource
  • October 2 – President of the United States Woodrow Wilson suffers a serious stroke, rendering him an invalid for the remainder of his life.source
  • October 28 – Prohibition in the United States: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Prohibition goes into effect on January 17, 1920, under the provisions of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.source
  • October 28 – Prohibition begins: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.United Statessource
  • The worldwide Spanish flu epidemic continues, eventually claiming almost 12,000 lives in Australia.Australiasource
  • Ongoing – Spanish Flu pandemicJapansource
  • The National Chess championship was not held (the influenza epidemic was still subsiding at its traditional new year dates).New Zealandsource

Crime & Justice

  • 8 January – Strike leader Paul Freeman was arrested outside of Dobbyn, Queensland, sparking a chain of events that would lead to his deportation.Australiasource
  • February 21 – Communist leaders arrested. Béla Kun is beaten up and imprisonedHungarysource
  • February 27 – Robert Harris, Canadian painter (born 1848)Canadasource
  • March 5 – A. Mitchell Palmer becomes United States Attorney General, through recess appointment.source
  • April 10 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead in Morelos.source
  • April 12 – French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru is arrested.source
  • April 25 – Pancho Villa takes Parral, Chihuahua, in Mexico, and executes the mayor and his two sons.source
  • 25 May: Francisco "Pancho" Villa takes the town of Parral, Chihuahua, and hangs the mayor.Mexicosource
  • July 31 – British police strikes in London and Liverpool for recognition of the National Union of Police and Prison Officers; over 2,000 strikers are dismissed.source
  • 12 September – Adolf Hitler spies on the German's Worker Party meeting in 1919 for the Reichswehr, also joining the party.Germanysource
  • November 7 – The first of the Palmer Raids is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution: over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in 23 different U.S. cities by the end of January 1920.source
  • November 10 – Abrams v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the conviction of Abrams for inciting resistance to the war effort against Soviet Russia.source
  • 22 November – Salem Hanna Khamis, Palestinian statistician and UN official. (died 2005)British-administered Palestinesource
  • Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1917–1919)Italysource
  • Wellington Cup – Red Ribbon / Rewi Poto (dead heat)New Zealandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 1 January – HMY Iolaire is wrecked on rocks off Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis: 205 die, mostly servicemen returning home.Scotlandsource
  • January 15 – The Boston Molasses Disaster: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150.United Statessource
  • February 20 – Communists attack MSZDP newspaper Népszava's building, 8 fatalitiesHungarysource
  • March 15 – Election rally of János Vass is crashed by József Migray's bandHungarysource
  • 15 July – Naval sloops HMS Gentian and HMS Myrtle sunk by mines in the Gulf of Finland while assisting Estonia against the Bolsheviks, with nine crew lost.United Kingdomsource
  • July 21 – Wingfoot Air Express crash: The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago. Two passengers, one aircrewman and ten people on the ground are killed; however, two people parachute to the ground safely.source
  • August 1 – Béla Kun's Hungarian Soviet Republic collapses.source
  • 1 November – Vigerslev train crash takes place in the Valby district of Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • 20 December – Six seamen drown while returning to their ship by boat at Milford Haven.Walessource
  • December 21 – The United States deports 249 people, including Emma Goldman, to Russia on the USAT Buford.source
  • Seumas O'Kelly's novella The Golden Barque and The Weaver's Grave were published posthumously.Irelandsource

Climate & Environment

  • January 15 – Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 people and injuring 150.source
  • 4 February – New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own) disbanded.New Zealandsource
  • May 4 – The May Fourth Movement erupts in China as a result of the decision at the Paris Peace Conference to transfer former German concessions in Jiaozhou Bay to Japan rather than return sovereign authority to China.source
  • May 19 – Volcano Kelud erupts in Java, killing about 5,000.source
  • 1 September – Forestry Commission set up.United Kingdomsource
  • September 10–15 – The Florida Keys hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.source
  • September 10 – September 15: The Florida Keys Hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.United Statessource
  • 1 October – Women's Royal Naval Service disbanded.United Kingdomsource
  • Disestablishment of the Evolutionist Party and Republican Union political parties.Portugalsource

Culture & Society

  • January 25 – The League of Nations is founded in Paris, France.source
  • February 5 – United Artists (UA) is incorporated in the United States by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a motion picture producer.source
  • March 1 – The March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea is formed.source
  • March 2 – The Founding Congress of the Comintern opens in Moscow.source
  • March 4 – The Communist International (Comintern) is founded.source
  • March 23 – Benito Mussolini founds his Italian Fascist political movement in Milan.source
  • March 26 – Queen of the South F.C. is formed in Dumfries, Scotland.source
  • April 25 – The Bauhaus architectural and design movement is founded in Weimar, Germany.source
  • April 25 – Anzac Day is observed for the first time in Australia.source
  • 29 April – The Hebrew Scouts Movement is established.British-administered Palestinesource
  • May 4 – The League of Red Cross Societies is formed in Paris.source
  • May 14 – The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, establishes probably the world's first chair in International Politics, endowed by David Davies and his sisters in honour of Woodrow Wilson, with Alfred Eckhard Zimmern as first professor.source
  • May 15 – Winnipeg general strike: Workers in Winnipeg, Canada, begin a strike for better wages and working conditions; the strike lasts for six weeks.source
  • May 23 – The University of California opens its second campus in Los Angeles. Initially called Southern Branch of the University of California (SBUC), it is eventually renamed the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).source
  • June 18 – The second most popular football club in Costa Rica, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, is founded.source
  • June 28 – The International Labour Organization (ILO) is established as an agency of the League of Nations.source
  • July 11 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.source
  • September 19 – The silent film Dalagang Bukid by José Nepomuceno is released. It is the first film to be produced locally.Philippinessource
  • September 21 – The Steel strike of 1919 begins across the United States.source
  • October 5 – USA General Harry Hill Bandholtz prevents the Romanian looting of the Hungarian National Museum.Hungarysource
  • October 9 – In Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds win the World Series, five games to three, over the Chicago White Sox, whose players are later found to have lost intentionally.source
  • October 12 – Olympus was founded.Japansource
  • November 1 – The Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States, by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis; a final agreement is reached on December 10.source
  • November 9 – Felix the Cat debuts in Feline Follies.source
  • 9 November – Virginia Salinas de Carranza, wife of President Venustiano CarranzaMexicosource
  • 1 December – Tartu University is re-opened.Estoniasource
  • December 4 – The French Opera House in New Orleans, Louisiana is destroyed by fire.source
  • December 23 – Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 becomes law in the United Kingdom, removing legal disabilities on women entering the secular professions.source
  • 11-29 May - The 1919 South American Championship football tournament is held in Rio de Janeiro, with Brazil winning it.Brazilsource
  • The Yugoslav Olympic Committee founded in Zagreb. Recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1920, it was later moved to Belgrade in 1927.Croatiasource

Births

  • January 10 – Janko Bobetko, general (died 2003)Croatiasource
  • January 14 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian politician, 3-time Prime Minister of Italy (died 2013)source
  • January 31 – Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player (died 1972)source
  • February 5 – Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (1981–89 and 1993–96) (died 1996)source
  • 10 March – Pavel Bogovski, Estonian oncologist and anatomy pathologistEstoniasource
  • April 8 – Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1967–79) (died 2007)source
  • May 3 – Pete Seeger, American folk singer and musician (died 2014)source
  • May 7 – Eva Perón, wife of Argentine President Juan Perón (died 1952)source
  • May 18 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (died 1991)source
  • 5 June – Veikko Huhtanen, artistic gymnast (died 1976)Finlandsource
  • August 25 – George Wallace, American politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (died 1998)source
  • October 3 – James M. Buchanan, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)source
  • 8 October – Teruo Nakamura, soldier, last Japanese holdout.Taiwansource
  • October 17 – Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 2005)source
  • October 18 – Pierre Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (died 2000)source
  • October 26 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (died 1980)source
  • November 28 – Keith Miller, Australian sportsman and Air force pilot (died 2004)source
  • December 8 – Mieczysław Weinberg, Polish composer (died 1996)source

Deaths

  • January 1 – HMY Iolaire sinks off the coast of the Hebrides; 201 people, mostly servicemen returning home to Lewis and Harris, are killed.source
  • January 6 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (born 1858)source
  • January 15 – Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered following the Spartacist uprising.source
  • January 15 – Rosa Luxemburg, German communist politician; assassinated (born 1871)source
  • February 2 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian military commander (born 1894)Estoniasource
  • February 17 – Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1841)source
  • 25 February – Oskari Suutala, politician (born 1887)Finlandsource
  • April 5 – Pinsk massacre: 35 Jews are killed by the Polish Army without trial after being accused of Bolshevism.source
  • April 10 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, assassinated (born 1879)source
  • June 19 – Petre P. Carp, twice Prime Minister of Romania (born 1837)source
  • June 21 – Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow: Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet interned at Scapa Flow, Scotland; nine German sailors are killed.source
  • 2 August – Nehemiah Persoff, Jerusalem-born American Jewish film and television actor, and later painter (died 2022).British-administered Palestinesource
  • August 9 – Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, naturalist and philosopher (born 1834)source
  • August 11 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born businessman and philanthropist (born 1835)source
  • August 27 – South African Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office of 'Spanish flu'.source
  • September 30 – Elaine massacre: An estimated 100 to 800 African Americans are killed in Elaine, Arkansas, by white mobs and vigilante militias assisted by federal troops in "the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the United States".source
  • October 7 – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1856)source
  • 8 October – Carlos Meléndez Ramírez (born 1861)El Salvadorsource
  • December 19 – Martin Savage, Irish Republican Army commander; killed in action (born 1898)source