text: A fire destroys Galen's library.

source_section: Events › By topic › Arts and Science


section: Births

text: Cao Zhi (or King Chen), Chinese prince and poet (d. 232)

source_section: Births


text: Gordian II, Roman emperor (Year of the Six Emperors) (d. 238)


date: May 22

section: Deaths

text: May 22 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese general and warlord (b. 134)

source_section: Deaths


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Commodus, Roman emperor (b. 161)


text: Zhang Zhi, Chinese scholar and calligrapher


text: Annia Fundania Faustina, Roman noblewoman


text: Liu Dai, Chinese official, general and politician


text: Bao Xin, Chinese general and warlord (b. 152)


text: Cai Yong, Chinese official and calligrapher (b. 132)


text: Yuan Yi, Chinese official and warlord


text: Wang Yun, Chinese official and politician (b. 137)


text: Lu Zhi, Chinese scholar and general (b. 159)


date: January 16

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: January 16 – The Allies of World War I demand that the Netherlands extradite ex-German Emperor Wilhelm II who fled there in 1918.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 21

text: January 21 – The final session of the Paris Peace Conference is held, even though peace treaties with Hungary and Turkey remain to be concluded. The United States does not conclude its own treaty with Germany until August 25, 1921.


date: January 28

text: January 28 – El Tercio de Extranjeros (the "Regiment of Foreigners"), later the Spanish Legion, is established by decree of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Estonian War of Independence: The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed, ending the war and recognizing the independence of both the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The Svalbard Treaty, signed by members of the League of Nations in Paris, recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (at this time called Spitzbergen), while giving the other signatories economic rights in the islands.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Adolf Hitler presents his National Socialist Program in Munich to the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), which renames itself as the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei).


date: March 10

text: March 10 – The world's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden as Hjalmar Branting takes over as prime minister when Nils Edén leaves office.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Admiral Miklós Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy, without anyone on the throne.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic is officially created by Soviet Russia, as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva.

source_section: Events › April


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Treaty of Trianon: Peace is restored between the Allied Powers and Hungary, which loses 72% of its territory.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 15

text: June 15 – The Estonian Constituent Assembly adopts the first constitution of Estonia, which will come into effect on December 21 this year.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Germany declares its neutrality in the Polish–Soviet War.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic recognizes independent Lithuania.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – The United Kingdom cedes its brief control of the key Black Sea port of Batum to the Democratic Republic of Georgia.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Representatives of British revolutionary socialist groups meet at the Cannon Street Hotel in London and agree to form the Communist Party of Great Britain.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres with the Allied Powers, confirming arrangements for the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 26

text: August 26 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Gabriele D'Annunzio proclaims the Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city of Fiume.

source_section: Events › September


date: November 2

text: November 2 – 1920 United States presidential election: Republican U.S. senator Warren G. Harding defeats Democratic governor of Ohio James M. Cox and Socialist Eugene V. Debs, in the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 28

text: November 28 – FIDAC (French: Fédération Interalliée des Anciens Combattants, English: The Interallied Federation of War Veterans Organisations) is established in Paris at the initiative of veterans from World War I, predominantly pacifists, joined by associations of veterans from France, the United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Serbia.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – The first draft of the Mandate for Palestine is submitted to the League of Nations.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 10

text: December 10 – Irish War of Independence: Martial law is declared in Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary by the British authorities.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – South Africa is granted a League of Nations Class C mandate over South West Africa.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, receives Royal Assent from George V, providing for the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, with separate parliaments, granting a measure of home rule.


date: January 1

section: Conflict & Security

text: January 1 – Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.


date: January 7

text: January 7 – Russian Civil War: The forces of Russian White Admiral Alexander Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk; the Great Siberian Ice March ensues.


date: March 13

text: March 13–17 – Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz's Kapp Putsch (an attempted coup in Germany) briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin, but fails due to public resistance and a general strike.


date: March 15

text: March 15–16 – Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement. Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Irish War of Independence: British recruits to the Royal Irish Constabulary begin to arrive in Ireland. They become known from their improvised uniforms as the "Black and Tans".


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Failed assassination attempts on General Mannerheim, retired leader of the victorious White Guard in the Finnish Civil War, led by Aleksander Weckman by order of Eino Rahja, during a White Guard parade in Tampere, Finland.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón flees from Mexico City (during a trial intended to ruin his reputation) to Guerrero, where he joins Fortunato Maycotte.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Polish–Soviet War: Polish and anti-Soviet Ukrainian troops attack the Red Army in Soviet Ukraine.


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Polish–Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. The government of the Ukrainian People's Republic returns to the city.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Ganja revolt: Anti-Soviet opposition in the Azerbaijan SSR launches an abortive revolt in Ganja.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army retakes Kyiv.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army continues its offensive into Poland.


date: July 19

text: July 19–August 7 – The Second Congress of the Communist International takes place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow; the Twenty-one Conditions are adopted.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Polish–Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Soviet Russia (which refuses).


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Battle of Maysalun: The French defeat the Syrian army, whose leader Yusuf al-'Azma is killed. French troops occupy Damascus and depose Faisal I of Syria as king.


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast, in protest at the continuing British Army presence.


date: August 13

text: August 13 – Irish War of Independence: The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom) receives Royal Assent, providing for Irish Republican Army activists to be tried by court-martial, rather than by jury in criminal courts.


text: August 13–25 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw – The Red Army is defeated.


date: August 19

text: August 19–25 – Second Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise up against the Germans.


text: August 19 – Russian Civil War: Peasants in Tambov Governorate begin the Tambov Rebellion against the Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia.


date: September 16

text: September 16 – Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon (perhaps planted by Galleanisti) explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan Building in New York City, killing 38 and injuring 400.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Polish–Soviet War: Soviet Russia sues for peace with Poland.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Polish–Soviet War: After the Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.

source_section: Events › October


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Irish War of Independence: Bloody Sunday – The Irish Republican Army (IRA), on the instructions of Michael Collins, shoot dead the "Cairo gang", 14 British undercover agents in Dublin, most in their homes. Later this day in retaliation, the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary open fire on a crowd at a Gaelic Athletic Association football match in Croke Park, resulting in 14 deaths with 60 wounded. Three men are shot this night in Dublin Castle "while trying to escape".


date: February 12

section: Religion & Belief

text: February 12–24 – Conference of London: Leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Italy meet to discuss the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Canonization of Joan of Arc: Over 30,000 people attend the ceremony in Rome, including 140 descendants of Joan of Arc's family. Pope Benedict XV presides over the rite, for which the interior of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is richly decorated.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Irish-born Australian Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix is detained on board ship by British authorities off Queenstown and prevented from landing in Ireland or from speaking in the main Irish Catholic communities elsewhere in the United Kingdom.


date: September 12

text: September 12 – The position of Patriarch of the Serbs is re-established as the authority over the Serbian Orthodox Church, almost 156 years to the day after it was abolished by the Ottoman Empire in 1766.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Meiji Shrine, one of many landmark spots in Tokyo, is officially built in Japan.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – In London, The Cenotaph is unveiled and The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey; while in Paris the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is consecrated beneath the Arc de Triomphe.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The council of the League of Nations accepts the constitution for the Free City of Danzig.


date: December 15

text: December 15–22 – The Brussels Conference establishes a timetable for German war reparations, intended to extend for over 42 years.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – The Rosicrucian Fellowship's spiritual healing temple The Ecclesia is dedicated at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California.


date: December

text: The first edition of the Poems of the English war poet Wilfred Owen, killed in action in 1918, appears in London, introduced by his friend Siegfried Sassoon. Only five of Owen's verses having been published in his lifetime, the collection introduces his work to many readers. It includes the 1917 poems "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and "Dulce et Decorum est", two of the best-known poetic condemnations of war.


date: January 1

section: Economy & Finance

text: January 1 – Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own market town.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Queensland and Northern Territory Aviation Services (Qantas) is founded by Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness.


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Confectionery company Haribo is founded in Bonn, Germany.


date: February 1

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: February 1 – The South African Air Force (SAAF) is established, the second autonomous Air Force in the world, after the British Royal Air Force (RAF).


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – The first flight of Dutch air company KLM, from Amsterdam to London, takes place.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Australian soprano Nellie Melba becomes history's first well-known performer to make a radio broadcast when she sings two arias as part of an experimental series of broadcasts from a studio at the Marconi Company's factory at Chelmsford in England.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – The United States Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of the Link River Dam, as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit. It is owned by the Detroit News, the first U.S. radio station owned by a newspaper.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The first domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States; a Westinghouse radio costs $10.


text: November 2 – In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the results of the presidential election.


date: January 13

section: Science & Discovery

text: January 13 – The New York Times ridicules American rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard, which it will rescind following the launch of Apollo 11 in 1969.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Greece begins using the Gregorian calendar.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – American fiction writer F. Scott Fitzgerald makes his name with publication of This Side of Paradise.


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza leaves Mexico City in a large train.


date: January 17

section: Health & Medicine

text: January 17 – Prohibition in the United States begins, with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution which bans the sale of alcohol in all states.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – The Netherlands refuses to extradite ex-German Emperor Wilhelm II; on May 15 he moves into Huis Doorn in the country where he remains permanently in exile until his death in 1941.


date: February 17

text: February 17 – A woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to a mental hospital where she claims she is Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – The 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak hits the Great Lakes region and Deep South of the United States.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – The United States Post Office Department rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) begin with 8,000 Catholic and Socialist workers driven from shipyards and industrial sites in Belfast.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – France prohibits the sale or prescription of contraceptives.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Dr. Frederick Banting of Ontario first records his insight on how to isolate insulin for the treatment of diabetes; the first successful human trial of insulin will occur 15 months later.


date: December

text: The so-called Spanish flu pandemic ends with an estimated total of between seventeen and fifty million dead since 1918. It would be the last global pandemic until the 2009 swine flu pandemic almost 90 years later.


text: Hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic closely related to codeine, is first synthesized in Germany, by Carl Mannich and Helene Löwenheim.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: Approximate date – The HIV/AIDS pandemic almost certainly originates in Léopoldville, modern-day Kinshasa, the capital of the Belgian Congo.


date: May 15

section: Crime & Justice

text: May 15 – Russian Revolution: Russian White soldier Maria Bochkareva is executed in Soviet Russia.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City; all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Duluth lynchings: Three African American circus workers are sprung from jail, subjected to a kangaroo court and hanged by a white mob in Duluth, Minnesota, in the northern United States.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – The London Metropolitan Police forms the Flying Squad, a motorised mobile detective patrol unit.


date: December 11

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: December 11 – Burning of Cork in Ireland: British forces set fire to some 5 acre m2 of the centre of Cork, including the City Hall, in reprisal attacks, after a British auxiliary is killed in a guerilla ambush.


date: February 20

section: Climate & Environment

text: February 20 – 1920 Gori earthquake: An earthquake hits Gori in the Democratic Republic of Georgia, killing 114.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – 1920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Floods at Louth, Lincolnshire in England kill 23.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – An 8.2 Richter scale Haiyuan earthquake causes a landslide in Gansu Province, China, killing 273,000.


date: January 16

section: Culture & Society

text: January 16 – Zeta Phi Beta sorority, is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – General Józef Haller first performs Poland's Wedding to the Sea, a symbolic celebration of the restitution of Polish access to the Baltic Sea.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – In Emeryville, California, the first dog racing track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Hungarian admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sir William Robertson is promoted to Field Marshal, the first man to rise from private (enlisted 1877) to the highest rank in the British Army.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Agnès Souret is elected "The most beautiful woman in France", retrospectively considered the first Miss France.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Sigma Tau Gamma is founded on campus at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri


date: July 30

text: July 30–August 8 – The 1st World Scout Jamboree is held at Olympia, London.


date: August 14

text: August 14–September 12 – Main events of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium (there have been ceremonies and outlying events since April). The Olympic symbols of five interlocking rings and the associated flag are first displayed at the games.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – The Salzburg Festival in Austria is inaugurated as a regular event.


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Mahatma Gandhi launches the non-cooperation movement in India, with the goal of obtaining independence from British rule


date: September 9

text: September 9 – The Lotta Svärd women's paramilitary auxiliary is founded in Finland.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – The National Football League is established, as the American Professional Football Association.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – The Communist Party of Uruguay is founded.


date: October 3

text: October 3 – The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race first runs in Paris.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, a Finnish non-governmental organization, is founded on the initiative of Sophie Mannerheim.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – The League of Nations moves its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.


date: October

text: October – English writer Agatha Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, appears in the U.S., introducing her long-running Belgian detective character Hercule Poirot in the setting of an English country house. (The book is published in the U.K. in 1921.)


date: November 14

text: November 14 – The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra holds its first concert, in Alberta.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Prince Arthur of Connaught is appointed the 3rd Governor-General of South Africa.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)

source_section: Births › March


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder, 2-time president and second prime minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2021)

source_section: Births › April


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German politician, President of Germany (1984–1994) (d. 2015)


date: April 20

text: April 20 – John Paul Stevens, American judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (d. 2019)


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Captain Sir Tom Moore, English army officer and fundraiser (d. 2021)


date: June 11

text: June 11 – King Mahendra of Nepal (d. 1972)

source_section: Births › June


date: June 17

text: June 17 – François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2013)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Clarissa Eden, wife of British prime minister Anthony Eden (d. 2021)


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Mickey Rooney, American actor, dancer and entertainer (d. 2014)

source_section: Births › September


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist, author and proponent of LSD (d. 1996)

source_section: Births › October


text: November 14 – Mary Greyeyes, first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (d. 2011)

source_section: Births › November


date: November 21

text: November 21 – S. M. Ahsan, Pakistani Vice Admiral, Naval Commander, and recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in World War II (d. 1989)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – George P. Shultz, American economist, politician and 60th United States secretary of state (d. 2021)

source_section: Births › December


date: January 3

text: January 3 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician; Spanish flu (b. 1888)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 6

text: January 6 – Heinrich Lammasch, Austrian statesman, last minister-president of Austria (as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in 1918 (b. 1853)


date: January 7

text: January 7 – Sir Edmund Barton, 1st prime minister of Australia (b. 1849)


date: January 14

text: January 14 – John Francis Dodge, American automobile manufacturer; Spanish flu (b. 1864)


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter, sculptor; tuberculosis (b. 1884)


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Viktor Pepelyayev, Russian politician; executed (b. 1874)

source_section: Deaths › February


text: February 7 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian naval commander; executed (b. 1874)


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Gaby Deslys, French dancer, actress and spy; Spanish flu (b. 1881)


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884), Spanish flu

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864); Spanish flu

source_section: Deaths › June


date: August 31

text: August 31 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist, psychologist (b. 1832)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Kevin Barry, Irish republican paramilitary; executed (b. 1902)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: December

text: Unknown date – Nikolai Pavlovich Bobyr, Russian general; executed (b. 1854)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: February 19

text: February 19 – The French Third Republic and Second Polish Republic form a defensive alliance.

source_section: Events › February


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Cilicia Peace Treaty is signed between the French Third Republic and the Turkish National Movement in an attempt to end the Franco-Turkish War.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 12

text: March 12 – The İstiklâl Marşı (Independence March), the Turkish national anthem, is officially adopted.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Treaty of Moscow establishes friendly relations between the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – The second Peace of Riga ends the Polish–Soviet War. A permanent border is established between the Polish and Soviet states.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Upper Silesia votes for re-annexation to Germany.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Abkhazia becomes the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – The Emirate of Transjordan is created under British Mandate, with Abdullah I as emir.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 6

text: May 6 – The German-Soviet Provisional Agreement is signed: Germany recognises the Soviet government in the RSFSR.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 22

text: May 22 – In the first golf international between the two countries, the United States beats the United Kingdom 9 rounds to 3.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – 1921 Irish elections: In the first Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland, Ulster Unionists win 40 out of 52 seats. The dominant-party system here will last for fifty years.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Paris declaration: Representatives of the three states of Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus (the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian Socialist Soviet Republics) proclaim their independence, establishing a customs union and military alliance, not internationally recognized.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The first signings of Treaty 11, an agreement between George V, King of Canada, and various Canadian First Nations, are conducted at Fort Providence.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – The Constitutional Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes passes the Vidovdan Constitution, despite a boycott of the vote by the communists, and Croat and Slovene parties.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – U.S. President Warren Harding signs a joint congressional resolution, declaring an end to America's state of war with Germany, Austria and Hungary.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 4

text: July 4 – A new conservative government is formed in Italy by Ivanoe Bonomi.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – The Irish War of Independence ends under the terms of the truce (signed on 9 July) which becomes effective at noon between the British Army and the Irish Republican Army.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – The Republic of Mirdita is proclaimed near the Albanian-Serbian border, with Yugoslav support.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – Constitution of Liechtenstein granted by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, making the country a constitutional monarchy.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 11

text: October 11 – The Irish Treaty Conference opens in London.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Treaty of Kars is signed between the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian Socialist Soviet Republics in Transcaucasia, establishing common boundaries.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Treaty of Ankara signed between the French Third Republic and the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, ending the Franco-Turkish War.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty establishing the Irish Free State, an independent nation incorporating 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, is signed in London.

source_section: Events › December


text: December 6 – Agnes Macphail becomes the first woman to be elected to the Canadian Parliament.


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Democratic Republic of Georgia is invaded by forces of Bolshevist Russia.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – 1921 Persian coup d'état: Rezā Khan and Zia'eddin Tabatabaee stage a coup d'état in Qajar dynasty Iran.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Red Army enters the Georgian capital Tbilisi and occupies the country, installing a new government and proclaiming the Georgian Soviet Republic.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – The Kronstadt rebellion is initiated by sailors of the Soviet Navy's Baltic Fleet.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin ambush: A force of about 100 Irish Republican Army members attacks a British Army convoy of 40 soldiers, killing several, including Brigadier General Cumming.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato e Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Occupation of Mongolia: The Russian White Army captures Mongolia from China; Roman von Ungern-Sternberg declares himself ruler.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – The Red Army crushes the Kronstadt rebellion, and a number of sailors flee to Finland.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Irish War of Independence: Headford Ambush – The Irish Republican Army kills at least 9 British Army troops.


date: May 1

text: May 1–7 – Jaffa riots: Riots at Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine result in 47 Jewish and 48 Arab deaths.


date: May 2

text: May 2–July 5 – Third Silesian Uprising: Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed, and over 80 are captured by the British Army which surrounds the building.


date: May 31

text: May 31–June 1 – Tulsa Race Massacre (Greenwood Massacre): Mobs of white residents attack black residents and businesses in Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The official death toll is 36, but later investigations suggest an actual figure between 100 and 300. 1,250 homes are destroyed and roughly 6,000 African Americans imprisoned in one of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in the United States.


date: June 22

text: June 22–July 12 – The Third Congress of the Communist International takes place.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Rif War: Battle of Annual – Spanish troops are dealt a crushing defeat at the hands of Abd el-Krim in Morocco.


date: July 26

text: July 26 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding receives Princess Fatima of Afghanistan who is escorted by imposter Stanley Clifford Weyman.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – The Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history and the country's largest peacetime armed uprising, begins in Logan County, West Virginia as part of the Coal Wars, continuing until September 2.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Following the assassination of former Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger by right-wing terrorists, the German government declares martial law.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Poplar Rates Rebellion: Nine members of the borough council of Poplar, London, are arrested.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 3

text: October 3 – Simko, the leader of the Shikak tribe, kills the Iranian commander Colonel Mohammad Taqi Pessian by beheading him in the Battle of Jafarabad, which is the first incident of his rebellion.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – During his first rebellion, Simko Shikak launches an attack on the Savujbulak district of Mahabad. With a force of approximately 3,900, he attacks the gendarmes, killing 400 of them and looting the local population.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – In the continuing Rif War, the Spanish Army defeats rifkabyl rebels in Morocco.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – After a speech by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich (Germany), members of the Sturmabteilung ("brownshirts") physically assault his opposition.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 11

text: November 11 – During an Armistice Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by Warren G. Harding, President of the United States.


date: June 15

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: June 15 – Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's liner makes her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Conference of London of 1921–1922 convenes in an attempt to resolve problems arising from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – The Times newspaper in London begins a series of articles, written by its Constantinople correspondent Philip Graves, exposing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a forgery.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – The New Economic Policy starts in Soviet Russia.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – "Black Friday" in Britain: transport union members of the 'Triple Alliance' refuse to support national strike action by coal miners.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – London Schedule of Payments sets out the World War I reparations payable by the German Weimar Republic and other countries considered successors to the Central Powers – 132 billion gold marks ($33 billion), in annual installments of 2.5 billion.


date: November

text: November – Hyperinflation is rampant in Germany, where 263 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar, more than 20 times greater than the 12 marks needed in April 1919.


text: June 15 – 29-year-old African American Bessie Coleman obtains her pilot's licence in France and becomes the first black woman to have a pilot's licence.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Edward Harper, the "father of broadcasting" in Ceylon, arrives in Colombo to take up his post as Chief Engineer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The first radio baseball game is broadcast: Harold Arlin announces the Pirates-Phillies game from Forbes Field over Westinghouse KDKA in Pittsburgh.


date: October

text: Construction of the Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Project in Oregon, is completed.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci is righted in Taranto Harbour.

source_section: Events › January


text: May 5 – Chanel No. 5 perfume launched by Coco Chanel.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, announce the discovery of the hormone insulin.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The Australia national cricket team, led by Warwick Armstrong, becomes the first to complete a whitewash of the touring England team in The Ashes, something that will not be repeated for 86 years.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Marie Stopes opens the first birth control clinic in the British Empire in London, UK.


text: May 5 – Only 13 paying spectators attend the football match between Leicester City and Stockport County F.C. in England, the lowest attendance in The Football League's history.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The first BCG vaccination against tuberculosis is given, in Paris, France; the recipient is a newborn child.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – The temperature reaches 39 degrees Celsius in Breslau; the heat wave continues elsewhere in Europe as well.


text: August 11 – Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness strikes while he is vacationing; on August 25 he is diagnosed with polio and aged 39 becomes permanently disabled.


date: November 23

text: November 23 – In the United States, the Sheppard–Towner Act is signed by President Harding, providing federal funding for maternity and child care.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – The first recorded public performance of the illusion of "sawing a woman in half" is given by English stage magician P. T. Selbit at the Finsbury Park Empire variety theatre in London.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – The death penalty is abolished in Sweden.


date: July 14

text: July 14 – A Massachusetts jury finds Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti guilty of first degree murder following a widely publicized trial whose verdict will spark protests around the world.


date: January 2

text: January 2 – The Spanish liner Santa Isabel breaks in two and sinks off Villa Garcia, Mexico, with the loss of 244 of the 300 people on board.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 57 on board are lost.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The British government formally returns the coal mines from wartime control to their private owners, who demand wage cuts; in response, the Miners' Federation of Great Britain calls on its partner trade unions in the Triple Alliance to join it in strike action, leading in turn to the government declaring a state of emergency for the first time under the Emergency Powers Act 1920. On April 1, a lockout of striking coal miners begins.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – The coal strike in the United Kingdom ends with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain obliged to accept pay cuts.


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Bloody Sunday (1921) occurs in Belfast, Northern Ireland with 20 killings, at least 100 wounded and 200 homes destroyed.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – R38-class airship ZR-2 explodes on her fourth test flight near Kingston upon Hull, England, killing 44 of the 49 Anglo-American crew on board.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – The Oppau explosion occurs at BASF's nitrate factory in Oppau, Germany; over 500 are killed.


date: May 14

text: May 14–15 – The major May 1921 geomagnetic storm occurs.


text: Spring – Russian famine of 1921–22 begins; roughly 5,000,000 die.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: January 16

text: January 16 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – The full-length silent comedy drama film The Kid, written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin (in his Tramp character), with Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – The Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia is founded.


date: February 23

text: February 23 – The moderately conservative public official Oscar von Sydow takes over the Swedish premiership from Baron Louis De Geer the Younger.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – A Socialist congress at Vienna ends with the International Working Union of Socialist Parties founded.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The city of Kiryū, located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, is founded.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – The 1921 Women's Olympiad (the first international women's sports event) begins in Monte Carlo.


date: March

text: March – The Group Settlement Scheme in Western Australia begins.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom is first produced in English on Broadway. The play would later be adapted as the musical Carousel.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – A general strike begins in Norway, begun by 120,000 workers led by Ole O. Lian.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – The International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) is established as an agency of the League of Nations; it continues in this form until April 19, 1946.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opens in Shanghai.


date: August 23

text: August 23 – King Faisal I of Iraq is crowned in Baghdad.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Margaret Gorman, 16, wins the Golden Mermaid trophy at a beauty pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey; officials later dub her the first Miss America.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – White Castle hamburger restaurant opens in Wichita, Kansas, foundation of the world's first fast food chain.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Sauerländer Heimatbund is founded in Meschede, Germany.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – The World Series baseball game in North America is first broadcast on the radio, by Newark, New Jersey, station WJZ, Pittsburgh station KDKA, and a group of other commercial and amateur stations throughout the eastern United States.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – The first Sweetest Day is staged in Cleveland, Ohio.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Teaching at the University of Szeged begins, in the Kingdom of Hungary.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – George Melford's wildly successful silent film The Sheik, which will propel its leading actor Rudolph Valentino to international stardom, premieres in Los Angeles.


date: October

text: Centre College's American football team, led by quarterback Bo McMillin, defeats Harvard University 6–0, to break Harvard's five-year winning streak. For decades afterward, this is called "football's upset of the century".


date: November 9

text: November 9 – The National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista or PNF) is founded in Italy.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Visva-Bharati College is founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, Bengal Presidency, British India.


text: Luxury goods brand Gucci is founded in Florence, Italy.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American Islamic scholar (d. 1986)

source_section: Births › January


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani politician, first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, the world's youngest Air Vice Marshal at 36 and Air Marshal at 37 years old (d. 2018)


date: May 21

text: May 21 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist, human rights activist, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1989)

source_section: Births › May


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Bernard Lown, American medical innovator, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 2021)

source_section: Births › June


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Nancy Reagan, American actress, First Lady of the United States (d. 2016)

source_section: Births › July


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Ion Negoițescu, Romanian literary historian, critic, poet, novelist and memoirist (d. 1993)

source_section: Births › August


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Tom M. Rice, American soldier and paratrooper that fought in WWII (d. 2022)


date: August 19

text: August 19 – Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (Star Trek) (d. 1991)


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Kenneth Arrow, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Robert Muldoon, 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1992)

source_section: Births › September


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Alexander Dubček, Slovak politician, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (d. 1992)

source_section: Births › November


date: December 26

text: December 26 – John Severin, American humorous, war and western cartoonist (Mad Comics, Cracked) (d. 2012)

source_section: Births › December


text: January 1 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)

source_section: Deaths › January–February


date: February 8

text: February 8 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (b. 1842)


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Talaat Pasha, Ottoman Turkish ruler, initiator of the Armenian Genocide (b. 1874) (assassinated)

source_section: Deaths › March–April


date: April 11

text: April 11 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, last German Empress, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II (b. 1858)


date: May 19

text: May 19 – Edward Douglass White, 9th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1845)

source_section: Deaths › May–June


text: May 25 – Émile Combes, French statesman, 69th Prime Minister of France (b. 1835)


date: June 29

text: June 29 – Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill (b. 1854)


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Matthias Erzberger, German politician (assassinated; b. 1875)

source_section: Deaths › July–August


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Prince Louis of Battenberg, British naval officer, German prince (b. 1854)

source_section: Deaths › September–October


date: October 28

text: October 28 – William Speirs Bruce, British marine biologist and antarctic explorer (b. 1867)


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1856) (assassinated)

source_section: Deaths › November–December


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Peter Conover Hains, major general in the United States Army, and veteran of the American Civil War, Spanish–American War, and First World War (b. 1840)


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1846)


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)


date: January 7

text: January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera resigns.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Michael Collins becomes Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – The Five Power Naval Disarmament Treaty is signed between the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy. Japan returns some of its control over the Shandong Peninsula to China.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Leser v. Garnett: The Supreme Court of the United States rebuffs a challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote on the same terms as men.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – The Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence by the United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt, and grants the country nominal independence, reserving control of military and diplomatic matters.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – With Egypt having gained self-government from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Queensland, Australia, abolishes the Legislative Council (Upper House).


date: April 16

text: April 16 – The Treaty of Rapallo marks a rapprochement between the Weimar Republic and Bolshevik Russia.

source_section: Events › April


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Åland's Regional Assembly convenes for its first plenary session in Mariehamn, Åland; the day will be celebrated as Self-Government Day of Åland.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi becomes Reigning Prince Louis II of Monaco.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – The Syrian Federation is constituted by arrêté of Henri Gouraud.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – The final signings of Treaty 11, an agreement between George V, King of Canada, and various Canadian First Nations, are conducted at Fort Liard.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 20

text: July 20 – The German protectorate of Togoland is divided into the League of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.


date: September 24

text: September 24 - The Latvia national football team and Estonia national football team played their first official international match.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 25

text: October 25 – The 3rd Dáil enacts the Constitution of the Irish Free State.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Southern Rhodesians reject union with South Africa in a referendum.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Ottoman Empire is abolished after 600 years, and its last sultan, Mehmed VI, abdicates, leaving for exile, initially in Malta, on November 17.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 15

text: November 15 – In the 1922 United Kingdom general election forced by the Conservatives' withdrawal from the coalition government, the Conservative Party wins an overall majority. Labour for the first time becomes the main opposition party, winning more seats than the divided Liberals. A dining club of newly elected Conservative Members of Parliament evolves the following year into the 1922 Committee.


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Rebecca Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, formally becoming the first woman United States Senator.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – The British Parliament enacts the Irish Free State Constitution Act, by which it legally sanctions the new Constitution of the Irish Free State.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 6

text: December 6 – The Irish Free State officially comes into existence. George V becomes the Free State's monarch. Tim Healy is appointed first Governor-General of the Irish Free State, and W. T. Cosgrave becomes President of the Executive Council.


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) come together to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Italian forces occupy Misrata, Libya; the reconquest of Libya begins.

source_section: Events › January


date: February 8

text: February 8 – In the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Cheka becomes the Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie (GPU), a section of the NKVD.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Finnish Minister of the Interior Heikki Ritavuori is assassinated by Ernst Tandefelt.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – The inaugural session of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) is held in The Hague.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – The Rand Rebellion, which began as a strike by white South African mine workers on 28 December 1921 and became open rebellion against the state, is suppressed.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – In Moscow, eight priests, two laymen and one woman are sentenced to death for opposition to the Soviet government's confiscation of church property.

source_section: Events › May


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Bolshevik forces defeat Basmachi troops, under Enver Pasha.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Irish Republican Army agents assassinate British Army field marshal Sir Henry Wilson in London; the assassins are sentenced to death on July 18.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – The Irish Civil War and Battle of Dublin begin when the Irish National Army, using artillery loaned by the British, begins to bombard the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army forces occupying the Four Courts in Dublin. Fighting in Dublin lasts until July 5.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Irish Civil War: General Michael Collins is assassinated in West Cork.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Morocco revolts against the Spanish.


date: August 26

text: August 26 – A Turkish large-scale attack opens against Greek forces in Afyon; Turkish victory is achieved on August 30.


date: August 28

text: August 28 – Japan agrees to withdraw its troops from Siberia.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Turkish forces pursuing withdrawing Greek troops enter İzmir, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).


date: September 24

text: September 24 (O. S. September 11) – 11 September 1922 Revolution in Greece.


date: October 11

text: October 11 – Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 ends in Turkish victory.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – The Red Army occupies Vladivostok.


text: October 28 – In Italy, the March on Rome brings the National Fascist Party and Benito Mussolini to power. Italy begins a period of dictatorship that lasts until the end of the Second World War.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – 1922 Guayaquil general strike: During a 3-day strike action in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, police and military fire into a crowd, killing at least 300.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Gabriel Narutowicz, sworn on December 11 as first president of the Second Polish Republic, is assassinated by a right-wing sympathizer in Warsaw.


text: During his first rebellion, Simko Shikak launched an attack on Mahabad in mid-May and July. In the ensuing fighting, Simko's forces captured Mahabad and killed a Persian commander.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun: in Egypt, English archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to the pharaonic tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings.


text: Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and makes rodeo's first hornless bronc saddle at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Pope Pius XI (Achille Ratti) succeeds Pope Benedict XV, to become the 259th pope.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – In Washington, D.C., United States, the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – The Mandate of Palestine is approved by the Council of the League of Nations.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Abdülmecid II, Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire, is elected Caliph.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Genoa Conference: The representatives of 34 countries convene to speak in Genoa, Italy about monetary economics, in the wake of World War I.


date: July

text: July – Hyperinflation in Germany means that 563 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar – more than double the 263 needed eight months before, dwarfing the mere 12 needed in April 1919, and even the 47 needed in December of that year.


date: August

text: Hyperinflation in Germany sees the value of the Papiermark against the dollar rise to 1,000.


date: October

text: October – 3,000 German marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar – triple the figure three months ago due to hyperinflation.


date: December

text: December – The year ends with hyperinflation showing no sign of slowing down in Germany, with 7,000 marks now needed to buy a single American dollar.


text: Wracked by rapid inflation and political assassinations, and motivated by hostility and arrogance as well, the Weimar Republic announces its inability to pay more, and proposes a moratorium on reparations for 3 years.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – President of the United States Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – An ice mass breaks the Oder Dam in Breslau.


text: March 2 – The British Civil Aviation Authority is established.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Radio station WLW in Cincinnati begins broadcasting.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – South African Railways takes control of all railway operations in South West Africa.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – The first portion of the Imperial Wireless Chain, a strategic international wireless telegraphy network created to link the British Empire, is opened, from the UK to Egypt.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – President of the United States Warren G. Harding makes his first speech on the radio.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – The Gdynia Seaport Construction Act is passed by the Polish Parliament.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – The British Broadcasting Company is formed.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – A broadcast receiving licence with a fee of ten shillings is introduced in the United Kingdom.


date: November 14

text: November 14 – The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) begins radio service in the United Kingdom, broadcasting from station 2LO in London.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to see inside KV62, the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, in over 3,000 years.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be commissioned.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – Baragoola, the last of the Binngarra class Manly ferries, is launched at Balmain, New South Wales.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The silent horror film Nosferatu is premièred at the Berlin Zoological Garden in Germany.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – The United Kingdom's Prince of Wales arrives in Yokohama aboard HMS Renown and rides by train to Tokyo, starting a one-month visit to Japan.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Dutch cyclist Piet Moeskops becomes world champion sprinter.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – The first successful insulin treatment of diabetes is made, by Frederick Banting in Toronto.


text: Vegemite is invented by Australian entrepreneur Fred Walker.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay for sedition.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – In British India, Mahatma Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for sedition (he serves only two).


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Six die in the Hinterkaifeck murders north of Munich.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – British Liberal MP Horatio Bottomley is jailed for seven years for fraud.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Weimar Republic foreign minister Walther Rathenau is assassinated; the murderers are captured on July 17.


date: August

text: The last hunted California grizzly bear is shot.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Popular author and anti-Treaty Republican Erskine Childers is executed by firing squad in Dublin, after conviction by an Irish Free State military court for the unlawful possession of a gun, a weapon presented to him by Michael Collins in 1920 as a gift.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – The trial of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters ends at the Old Bailey in London, for the murder of Thompson's husband; both are found guilty and sentenced to hang.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Antigone by Jean Cocteau appears on stage in Paris, with settings by Pablo Picasso, music by Arthur Honegger and costumes by Coco Chanel.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – 1922 Picardie mid-air collision: The first midair collision between airliners occurs, between a Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.18 and a Grands Express Aériens Farman Goliath over Poix-de-Picardie, Amiens, France.


date: September 13

text: September 13–15 – The Great Fire of Smyrna destroys most of İzmir. Responsibility is disputed.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – The 1922 Swatow typhoon hits Shantou, China, killing more than 5,000 people.


text: The Barbary lion becomes extinct in the wild, with the last killed in Morocco, in the area of the Zelan and Beni Mguild Forests.


text: The Amur tiger becomes extinct in South Korea.


date: February 10

text: February 10–17 – Modern Art Week in São Paulo marks the start of Modernism in Brazil.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Edward, Prince of Wales, inaugurates the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Dehradun, India, marking a capitulation of the Governor General and Secretary of State for India to growing pressure for Indianization of the officer cadre of the Indian Army.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – The State of Massachusetts opens all public offices to women.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Sergei Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Erik Satie and Clive Bell dine together at the Hotel Majestic in Paris, their only joint meeting.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – The All-Russian Young Pioneer Organisation is established.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The first issue of the magazine Krestyanka is published in Russia.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, is premiered in the U.S.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – The Hollywood Bowl open-air music venue opens.


date: September 3

text: September 3 – The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the world's third purpose-built motorsport race track, is officially opened at Monza in the Lombardy Region of Italy.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – The Sun News-Pictorial, a predecessor of the Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun, is founded.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Drums in the Night (Trommeln in der Nacht) becomes the first play by Bertolt Brecht to be staged, at the Munich Kammerspiele.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – G. I. Gurdjieff opens his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at Fontainebleau, France.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – T. S. Eliot establishes The Criterion magazine, containing the first publication of his poem The Waste Land. This first appears in the United States later this month in The Dial (dated November 1), and is first published complete with notes in book form, by Boni and Liveright in New York in December.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Rose Bowl sports stadium officially opens in Pasadena, California.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Sigma Gamma Rho (ΣΓΡ) Sorority, Incorporated is founded by seven educators in Indianapolis, Indiana. The group becomes an incorporated national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter is granted to the Alpha chapter at Butler University in Indianapolis.


text: L'Action sénégalaise weekly newspaper is founded in Senegal.


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)

source_section: Births › January


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Betty White, American actress, television personality and animal welfare activist (d. 2021)


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Abdul Razak Hussein, second Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)

source_section: Births › March


text: April 13 – Julius Nyerere, 1st President of Tanzania (d. 1999)

source_section: Births › April


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Pierre Cardin, Italian-born French fashion designer (d. 2020)

source_section: Births › July


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Leon M. Lederman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)


date: July 19

text: July 19 – George McGovern, American politician, historian and author (d. 2012)


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Norman Lear, American television writer and producer (d. 2023)


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Howard Zinn, American social activist and historian (d. 2010)

source_section: Births › August


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born American actress, dancer and singer (d. 2007)

source_section: Births › September


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Arthur Ashkin, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)


text: October 1 – Yang Chen-Ning, Chinese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2025)

source_section: Births › October


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 2016)

source_section: Births › November


date: November 16

text: November 16 – José Saramago, Portuguese author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Ōkuma Shigenobu, 2-time Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1838)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 22

text: January 22 – James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, Irish-born politician, diplomat and historian (b. 1838)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese field marshal, 3rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1838)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (executed) (b. 1869)


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Cap Anson, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1852)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet, British field marshal and politician (b. 1864)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Walther Rathenau, German statesman, Weimar Republic foreign minister (assassinated) (b. 1867)


date: August 4

text: August 4 – Enver Pasha, Ottoman military leader, Turkish revolutionary (b. 1881)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Arthur Griffith, Irish republican, President of Dáil Éireann (b. 1872)


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Michael Collins, Irish republican, revolutionary, and Chairman of the Provisional Government (assassinated) (b. 1890)


date: November 7

text: November 7 – Sam Thompson, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1860)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Erskine Childers, Irish novelist, nationalist (executed) (b. 1870)


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Gabriel Narutowicz, Polish professor and politician, 1st President of Poland (assassinated) (b. 1865)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Billy Hughes, having resigned as Prime Minister of Australia, after the Country Party refuses to govern in coalition with him as the leader of the Nationalist Party, is succeeded by Stanley Bruce. A Liberal–National Coalition will persist in the politics of Australia for at least 100 years.

source_section: Events › January–February


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Vladimir Lenin suffers his third stroke, which renders him bedridden and unable to speak; consequently he retires from his position as Chairman of the Soviet government.

source_section: Events › March–April


date: April 6

text: April 6 – The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed, in Victoria Institution, Federated Malay States.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – The Egyptian Constitution of 1923 is adopted, introducing a parliamentary system of democracy in the country.


text: April 19 – Hjalmar Branting leaves office as Prime Minister of Sweden, after the Swedish Riksdag has rejected a government proposal regarding unemployment benefits. Right-wing academic and jurist Ernst Trygger succeeds him.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – The Gdynia seaport is inaugurated, on the Polish Corridor.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Stanley Baldwin is appointed British Prime Minister.

source_section: Events › May–June


date: July 24

text: July 24 – The Treaty of Lausanne (1923), settling the boundaries of the modern Republic of Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in the First World War, bringing an end to the Ottoman Empire after 624 years.

source_section: Events › July–August


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Turkish head of state Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founds the Republican People's Party (CHP).

source_section: Events › September–October


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The Irish Free State joins the League of Nations.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (1922) comes into effect, officially creating under British administration the protectorates of Palestine and the separate Emirate of Transjordan under Abdullah I. The French-administered Mandate for Syria and Lebanon also takes effect.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Ankara replaces Istanbul (Constantinople), as the capital of Turkey.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Turkey becomes a republic, following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire; Kemal Atatürk is elected as first president.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – İsmet İnönü is appointed as the first prime minister of Turkey.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – 1923 United Kingdom general election: The governing Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin fail to achieve an overall majority and allow the Labour Party to form a minority government.

source_section: Events › November–December


date: December 21

text: December 21 – The Nepal–Britain Treaty is the first to define the international status of Nepal as an independent sovereign country.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, to force Germany to make reparation payments.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – The Irish Civil War ends.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – The Ku Klux Klan in the United States defies a law requiring publication of its membership.


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923: A military coup in Bulgaria ousts prime minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski (he is killed June 14).


date: June 16

text: June 16 – The storming of Ayan in Siberia concludes the Yakut Revolt and the Russian Civil War.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Kantō Massacre begins and continues for several weeks. Ethnic Koreans are killed by lynch mobs based on rumors that Koreans are committing crimes and plotting to overthrow the government. The death toll (and even the occurrence of) the massacre is disputed, with figures ranging from a few dozen to over 6,000 deaths. Most of the deaths are of Korean people, although it is said that other ethnic minorities and even Japanese people with unusual dialects are also killed.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – The Fukuda Village Incident occurs as a part of the larger Kantō Massacre. Nine Japanese people, including a pregnant woman and children, are killed based on false beliefs that they are ethnic Koreans.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Military coup in Spain: Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship. Trade unions are prohibited for 10 years.


date: September 26

text: September 26 – In Bavaria, Gustav Ritter von Kahr takes dictatorial powers.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Küstrin Putsch: Outside Berlin, Major Ernst Buchrucker, a leader of the Black Reichswehr, attempts a putsch by seizing several forts.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Küstrin Putsch: After two days of siege, Major Buchrucker and his men surrender.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Occupation of Constantinople ends when the great powers of World War I withdraw.


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Hamburg Uprising: In Germany, the Communists attempt a putsch in Hamburg, which results in street battles in that city for the next two days, when it ends unsuccessfully.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – In Germany, General Hans von Seeckt orders the Reichswehr to dissolve the Social Democratic-Communist government of Saxony, which is refusing to accept the authority of the Reich government.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – In Qajar dynasty Persia, Reza Khan becomes Ahmad Shah Qajar's prime minister.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government; police and troops crush the attempt the next day in one of several significant events on 9 November in German history. 20 people die as a result of associated violence.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Toranomon Incident: In Tokyo, Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan survives an assassination attempt by communist student Daisuke Nanba.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovers the first dinosaur eggs near Flaming Cliffs, Mongolia.


date: August 13

text: August 13 – The first major seagoing ship arrives at Gdynia, the newly constructed Polish seaport.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The first recorded example of a storm crossing from the Eastern Pacific into the Atlantic occurs in Oaxaca.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon: The future King George VI of the United Kingdom marries the future Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Westminster Abbey.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Belgium's Sabena Airlines is created.


date: July

text: July – Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic (Germany) sees the number of marks needed to purchase a single American dollar reach 353,000 – more than 200 times the amount needed at the start of the year.


text: August 13 – Gustav Stresemann is named Chancellor of Germany, and founds a coalition government for the Weimar Republic, where hyperinflation means that more than 4,600,000 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Roy and Walt Disney found The Walt Disney Company, at this time known as the Disney Brothers Studio.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic: Hyperinflation in Germany reaches its height. One United States dollar is worth 4,200,000,000,000 Papiermark (4.2 trillion on the short scale). Gustav Stresemann abolishes the old currency and replaces it with the Rentenmark, at an exchange rate of one Rentenmark to 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion on the short scale) Papiermark (effective November 20).


date: November 23

text: November 23 – Gustav Stresemann's coalition government collapses in Germany.


date: January 17

text: January 17 (or 9) – First flight of the first rotorcraft, Juan de la Cierva's Cierva C.4 autogyro, in Spain. (It is first demonstrated to the military on January 31.)


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Eskom, the largest electricity producer in Africa, is established in South Africa.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – Dobrolyot is formed as the first Soviet civil aviation service; it will become part of flag carrier Aeroflot.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – Regia Aeronautica, the air force of Fascist Italy, is founded.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – The original Wembley Stadium in London, England, opens its doors to the public for the first time, staging the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race is held, and is won by André Lagache and René Léonard.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – The United States Navy's first home-built rigid airship makes her first flight at Naval Air Station Lakehurst (New Jersey); she contains most of the world's extracted reserves of helium at this time.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – The Johor–Singapore Causeway opens to public traffic.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Finnish flag carrier airline Finnair is started, as Aero oy.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – In Italy, the Gleno Dam on the Gleno River, in the Valle di Scalve in the northern province of Bergamo, bursts, killing at least 356 people.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Calvin Coolidge addresses the United States Congress in the first radio broadcast from a President of the U.S.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Vladimir K. Zworykin files his first patent (in the United States) for "television systems".


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford makes 429 runs to break the world record for the highest first-class cricket score for the first time in his third match at this level, at Melbourne Cricket Ground, giving the Victoria cricket team an innings total of 1,059.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – The Kandersteg International Scout Centre comes into existence in Switzerland.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – British Prime Minister Bonar Law resigns, due to ill health.


date: August 31

text: August 31 – The Italian navy occupies Corfu, in retaliation for the murder of an Italian officer. The League of Nations protests, and the occupation ends on September 30.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – At the International Police Conference in Vienna, the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), better known as Interpol, is set up.


text: November 1 – The 1923 Victorian Police strike begins in Australia, with half of the Victoria Police force standing down over the use of labor spies. Rioting and looting take place in Melbourne city centre.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Adolf Hitler is arrested for his leading role in the Beer Hall Putsch.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Large hailstones kill 23 people in Rostov, Soviet Union.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Honda Point disaster: Nine United States Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Southeastern Michigan receives a record 15 cm in of snow, after temperatures plummeted from 17 °F °C to 1 °F °C between 1 and 6 pm on the previous day.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Mount Etna erupts in Italy, making 60,000 homeless.


date: August 30

text: August 30 – Hurricane season begins, with a tropical storm northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing more than 100,000 people.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – 1923 Berkeley fire: A major fire in Berkeley, California, erupts, consuming some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely built neighborhoods north of the campus of the University of California.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – The fourth tropical storm of the year forms just north of Panama.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – The fifth tropical storm of the year forms north of the Leeward Islands.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – A sixth tropical storm develops in the Gulf of Mexico; a rare occurrence, it consists of four active tropical storms simultaneously.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – The first issue of TIME magazine is published.


date: March 6

text: March 6 – The Egyptian Feminist Union (Arabic: الاتحاد النسائي المصري), the first nationwide feminist movement in Egypt, is founded at the home of activist Huda Sha'arawi.


text: May 9 – The premiere of Bertolt Brecht's play In the Jungle (Im Dickicht), at the Residenztheater in Munich, is interrupted by Nazi demonstrators.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – The first British Track & Field championships for women are held in London.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – The first American Track & Field championships for women are held in New Jersey.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Her Highness Princess Maud of Fife marries Captain Charles Alexander Carnegie, in Wellington Barracks, London.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Diana Douglas, British-born American actress, mother of actor/producer Michael Douglas (d. 2015)

source_section: Births › January


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Norman Mailer, American novelist, journalist and dramatist (d. 2007)


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Henry Kissinger, German-born United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2023)

source_section: Births › May


date: June 16

text: June 16 – Wanda Janicka, Polish architect, participant in the Warsaw Uprising (d. 2023)

source_section: Births › June


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish Communist politician, 8th Prime Minister of Poland and President of Poland (d. 2014)

source_section: Births › July


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Bob Dole, American Republican politician, presidential candidate (d. 2021)


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Shimon Peres, 8th Prime Minister of Israel, 9th President of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2016)

source_section: Births › August


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (d. 2012)


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Glen Bell, American entrepreneur, founder of Taco Bell (d. 2010)

source_section: Births › September


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Charlton Heston, American actor (The Ten Commandments) (d. 2008)

source_section: Births › October


date: November 18

text: November 18 – Alan Shepard, first American astronaut, fifth person to walk on the Moon (d. 1998)

source_section: Births › November


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Nadine Gordimer, South African fiction writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)

source_section: Births › December


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Jo-Carroll Dennison, American actress, Miss America (d. 2021)


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, British couple hanged for murder (Thompson b. 1893, Bywaters b. 1902)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 13

text: January 13 – Alexandre Ribot, French statesman, 46th Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Columba Marmion, Irish Benedictine and Roman Catholic monk and blessed (b. 1858)


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Konstantin Budkevich, Soviet Roman Catholic priest and servant of God (executed) (b. 1867)


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Charles de Freycinet, French statesman, Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, third daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1846)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Aleksandar Stamboliyski, 20th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (assassinated) (b. 1879)


date: July 9

text: July 9 – William R. Day, American lawyer and diplomat, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1849)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares, Indian Orthodox priest and saint (b. 1836)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American engineer and electrician (b. 1865)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Bonar Law, British politician, 39th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Gustave Eiffel, French engineer, architect (Eiffel Tower) (b. 1832)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: January 20

text: January 20–30 – Kuomintang in China holds its first National Congress, initiating a policy of alliance with the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 21

text: January 21 – The Earl of Athlone is appointed Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, and High Commissioner for Southern Africa.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Petrograd in the Soviet Union is renamed Leningrad; it will revert to Saint Petersburg in 1991.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Treaty of Rome: The Kingdom of Italy annexes the Free State of Fiume, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes absorbs Sušak.

source_section: Events › February


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Horacio Vásquez wins the Dominican Republic general election, becoming president, coinciding with the end of United States military occupation.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 25

text: March 25 – The Second Hellenic Republic is proclaimed in Greece.


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Italian general election, 1924: Fascists win the elections in Italy with a two-thirds majority.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 13

text: April 13 – The Greek republic referendum favors formation of the Second Hellenic Republic.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – The British Empire Exhibition opens in London; it is the largest colonial exhibition, with 58 countries of the empire dramatically represented.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Lithuania signs the Klaipėda Convention with the nations of the Conference of Ambassadors, taking the Klaipėda Region from East Prussia and making it into an autonomous region.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 10

text: May 10 – In the United States, J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – The United States Immigration Act of 1924, commonly known as the Johnson-Reed Act, becomes effective. The act modifies the National Origins Quotas introduced in the Immigration Act of 1921.


date: June 2

text: June 2 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 30

text: June 30 – J. B. M. Hertzog becomes the third Prime Minister of South Africa.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24) comes to an end. The constitutional government headed by General Horacio Vázquez, elected in the elections held in March, is established.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 16

text: August 16 – The Dawes Plan is signed in Paris, temporarily resolving German reparations dispute.

source_section: Events › August


date: October 2

text: October 2 – The Geneva Protocol is adopted by the League of Nations Assembly as a means to strengthen the League, but later fails to be ratified.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 27

text: October 27 – The Uzbek SSR joins the Soviet Union.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected as the first woman governor in the United States.

source_section: Events › November


text: November 4 – Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom again


text: November 4 – 1924 United States presidential election: Republican Calvin Coolidge defeats Democrat John W. Davis and Progressive Wisconsin Senator, Robert M. La Follette Sr.


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Ali Fethi Okyar forms a new government in Turkey (3rd government).


date: November 26

text: November 26 – The Mongolian People's Republic is proclaimed.


text: May 26 – Harry Grindell Matthews attempts to demonstrate his "death ray" to the War Office in the United Kingdom.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Napalpí massacre: Around 400 indigenous people of Toba ethnicity are massacred in Argentina.


date: August 28

text: August 28 – August Uprising: Georgia rises against rule by the Soviet Union in an abortive rebellion, in which several thousands die.


date: September 9

text: September 9–11 – The Kohat riots break out in India.

source_section: Events › September


text: September 9 – The Hanapepe massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – The British press publishes the Zinoviev letter, released the previous day by the Foreign Office. This purports to be a directive from Grigory Zinoviev, head of the Communist International in Moscow, to the Communist Party of Great Britain.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Major-General Sir Lee Stack, British Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, is shot in Cairo by a gang of Egyptian nationalist students, dying the following day.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – A Soviet-backed communist 1924 Estonian coup d'état attempt fails in Estonia.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 20

text: December 20 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison after serving nine months for his crucial role in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.


text: Autumn – In the United States, the final raid of the Renegade period of the Apache Wars takes place, bringing the American Indian Wars to a close, after 315 years.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Ernst Alexanderson sends the first facsimile across the Atlantic Ocean, which goes to his father in Sweden.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – British mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine are last seen "going strong for the top" of Mount Everest by teammate Noel Odell at 12:50 P.M. They are never seen alive again.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – U.S. Army pilots John Harding and Erik Nelson complete the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. It has taken them 175 days and 74 stops before their return to Seattle.


text: Spring – Francophone explorer, spiritualist and former operatic soprano Alexandra David-Néel, disguised as a male pilgrim, makes a 2-month stay in the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – The Ottoman Caliphate, a remnant of the Ottoman Empire abolished on November 1, 1922, and one of the historical claims of succession to the Islamic State of Muhammad, comes to an end with the deposition of Abdülmecid II, Caliph of the Ottoman dynasty. This marks the end of an era, giving way to the drastic political transformations of Turkey under President Atatürk's reforms.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – Abdul Aziz, founder of Saudi Arabia, declares himself protector of holy places in Mecca.


date: February 14

text: February 14 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), based in the U.S. state of New York, is renamed International Business Machines (IBM).


date: May 11

text: May 11 – Mercedes-Benz is formed by the merging of companies owned by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – GMT: A radio time signal is broadcast for the first time, from the Royal Greenwich Observatory.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – 1-RO begins regular radio broadcasting services in Italy.


date: October 12

text: October 12–15 – Zeppelin LZ-126 makes a transatlantic delivery flight from Friedrichshafen, Germany, to Lakehurst, New Jersey.


date: October

text: October – The skull of the Taung Child is discovered in South Africa.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.


date: January 12

text: January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Adolf Hitler is sentenced to 5 years in Landsberg Prison in Germany for his participation in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch (he serves less than 9 months).


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Italian socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti speaks out against fascism. A few days later he is kidnapped and murdered in Rome.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Authorities of the British Raj in India arrest Subhas Chandra Bose and jail him for the next 2 years.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – The Trial of the 149 begins in Estonia, eventually resulting in the conviction of 129 communists, including several members of the Riigikogu.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for the murder and dismemberment of at least 24 young males in Hanover.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – 1924 Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.34 crash: An airliner crashes soon after takeoff from London's Croydon Airport killing all eight people aboard. This leads to the first public inquiry into a civil aviation accident ever held in the United Kingdom.


text: December 24 – Babbs Switch fire: A flash fire at a Christmas celebration in a one-room schoolhouse in Babbs, Oklahoma, United States, kills 36 people, mostly small children.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – In Hungary, a devastating tornado, "Wildkansas", strikes, in 3 hours leaving a 500–1500m wide and 70 km long path of destruction from landfall at Bia to its end near Vác, completely destroying the village of Páty. 9 people are killed, 50 injured and many left homeless by one of the strongest tornadoes ever not only in Hungary but in Europe, estimated as F4.


date: November

text: November – The last known sighting of a California grizzly bear is recorded, by Colonel John R. White at Sequoia National Park.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, open in Chamonix, in the French Alps.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – Jean Sibelius conducts the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 in Stockholm.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – In France, the Third Ministry of Raymond Poincaré begins.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – The 1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies are held in Paris, France.


date: June 7

text: June 7–16 – Rudolf Steiner delivers his Agriculture Course at Koberwitz beginning of the organic agriculture movement.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is founded.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Paavo Nurmi of Finland wins the 1,500 and 5,000 m runs within two hours at the Paris Olympics.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – The 8-hour work day is introduced in Belgium.


date: October 9

text: October 9 – Municipal Grant Park Stadium, in Chicago, Illinois (later known as Soldier Field) is officially dedicated.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – The first Surrealist Manifesto is published, in which André Breton defines the movement as "pure psychic automatism".


text: The International Union of Official Organizations for Tourist Propaganda is established.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Francisco Macías Nguema, 1st President of Equatorial Guinea (d. 1979)

source_section: Births › January


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Kim Dae-jung, 15th President of South Korea, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2009)


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Stanley Donen, American film director and choreographer (d. 2019)

source_section: Births › April


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Karunanidhi, Indian politician, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, referred to as Kalaignar (d. 2018)

source_section: Births › June


date: August 2

text: August 2 – James Baldwin, African-American author, novelist, playwright and activist (d. 1987)

source_section: Births › August


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Robert Solow, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2023)


text: September 9 – Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 2025)

source_section: Births › September


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Rudolf Vrba, Slovak-Jewish Holocaust survivor, escapee from Auschwitz (d. 2006)


date: October 1

text: October 1 – William Rehnquist, 16th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 2005)

source_section: Births › October


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Jakub Nowakowski, Polish zoologist, participant of the Warsaw Uprising

source_section: Births › December


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Wally Cox, American television, motion picture actor (d. 1973)


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Mário Soares, 105th Prime Minister of Portugal, 17th President of Portugal (d. 2017)


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 10th Prime Minister of India (d. 2018)


text: December 25 – Rod Serling, American television screenwriter (The Twilight Zone) (d. 1975)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, resident in United Kingdom (b. 1852)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Nilo Peçanha, Brazilian politician and 7th President of Brazil (b. 1867)


text: June 3 – Franz Kafka, Austrian author (The Trial) (b. 1883)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 9

text: June 9 – George Mallory, British mountain climber (lost on Mount Everest) (b. 1886)


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian socialist politician (assassinated) (b. 1885)


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-born author (b. 1857)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Samuel Baldwin Marks Young, American general, first Chief of Staff of the United States Army (b. 1840)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Frank Chance, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1877)


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Manuel Estrada Cabrera, 13th President of Guatemala (b. 1857)


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Ebenezer Cobb Morley, English sportsman and the father of the Football Association and modern football (b. 1831)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Florence Harding, First Lady of the United States (b. 1860)


text: December 4 – Cipriano Castro, Venezuelan military officer, politician and 38th President of Venezuela (b. 1858)

source_section: Deaths › December


text: December 6 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (b. 1863)


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor (Wyoming) in the United States. Fifteen days later, Miriam A. Ferguson becomes first female governor of Texas.

source_section: Events › January


date: March 4

text: March 4 – İsmet İnönü is appointed prime minister in Turkey (Turkey's 4th and İnönü's 3rd government).

source_section: Events › March


date: May 5

text: May 5 – The General Election Law is passed in Japan, extending suffrage to all males aged 25 and over.

source_section: Events › May


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Temporary Slavery Commission of the League of Nations files its report on their global investigation of slavery and the slave trade, preparing the ground for the introduction of the 1926 Slavery Convention.

source_section: Events › July