Notable Historical Events - 1920
1920 Historical Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
Jan 1 |
The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party. |
Jan 2 |
10,000 US union & socialist organizers arrested (Palmer Raids) |
Jan 3 |
Arthur Honegger's "Chant de Nigamon," premieres |
Jan 4 |
1st Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes |
Jan 4 |
Amsterdam actors decide to strike for retirement benefits |
Jan 10 |
Mont Canadiens (14) & Tor St Patricks (7) score NHL record 21 goals |
Jan 10 |
Silver reaches record $1.37 an ounce |
Jan 11 |
French passenger ship Afrique sinks near La Rochelle; 553 die |
Jan 12 |
Annual drafting of baseball players from minor leagues to be done in inverse order of the final standings, agreed to |
Jan 13 |
NY Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly |
Jan 16 |
1st assembly of the League of Nations (Paris) |
Jan 16 |
Georgia declares independence |
Jan 17 |
Paul Deschanel elected president of France |
Jan 17 |
First day Prohibition comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th amendment |
Jan 19 |
Alexandre Millerand forms French government |
Jan 19 |
US Senate votes against membership in League of Nations |
Jan 20 |
Dutch 2nd Chamber passes school laws |
Jan 20 |
The American Civil Liberties Union is founded. |
Jan 21 |
14th Davis Cup: Australasia beats Great Britain in Sydney (4-1) |
Jan 23 |
Dutch refuse to turn over ex-kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany to allies |
Jan 26 |
Amadeo Modigliani's mistress jumps out of a window |
Jan 26 |
Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer. |
Jan 29 |
Walt Disney starts work as an artist with KC Slide Co for $40 a week |
Jan 31 |
1st Ukrainian daily newspaper in US (NYC) begins publication |
Jan 31 |
Joe Malone, Quebec Bulldogs, sets NHL record with 7 goals in a game |
Jan 31 |
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, at Howard University, incorporates |
Feb 1 |
1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul Minn) |
Feb 1 |
Soccer team Quick Boys forms |
Feb 1 |
Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police |
Feb 2 |
Estonia declares its Independence from Russia (Dorpat Peace) |
Feb 2 |
France occupies (German) Memel territory |
Feb 2 |
Tarto/Dorpat peace treaty: USSR recognizes Estonian independence |
Feb 4 |
1st flight from London to South Africa takes-off (lasts 1½ months) |
Feb 6 |
Saarland administrated by League of Nations |
Feb 8 |
Swiss men vote against women's suffrage |
Feb 9 |
International treaty recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard |
Feb 9 |
Joint Rules Com bans foreign substances & alterations to baseballs |
Feb 10 |
Baseball outlaws all pitches involving tampering with ball |
Feb 10 |
Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea. |
Feb 12 |
-Apr 26] 14,000 Rotterdam/Amsterdam harbor workers strike |
Feb 12 |
NL votes 6-2 for 1 commissioner AL votes 6-2 to keep group commission |
Feb 13 |
National Negro Baseball League organizes |
Feb 13 |
League of Nations recognizes perpetual neutrality of Switzerland |
Feb 13 |
Switzerland rejoins the League of Nations |
Feb 14 |
League of Women Voters forms in Chicago |
Feb 19 |
Netherlands joins League of Nations |
Feb 21 |
Darius Milhaud & Jean Cocteau's ballet, premieres in Paris |
Feb 22 |
1st artificial rabbit used at a dog race track (Emeryville California) |
Feb 24 |
NSDAP begins at Hofbrauhaus Munich |
Feb 24 |
Peace treaty gives Estonia independence |
Feb 28 |
Maurice Ravel's "Le tombeau de Couperin," premieres |
Mar 1 |
Austria becomes a kingdom again, under Adm Horthy |
Mar 1 |
Buriat ASSR, in RSFSR, constituted |
Mar 2 |
Karel Capék's "Loupeznik," premieres in Prague |
Mar 3 |
Montreal Canadiens scores NHL record 16 goals beating Quebec Bulldogs |
Mar 4 |
Last day of Julian civil calendar in Greece |
Mar 8 |
Denmark & Cuba join the League of Nations |
Mar 10 |
NHL's Quebec Bulldog Jim Malone scores 6 goals vs Ottawa Senators |
Mar 13 |
Wolfgang Kapp's coup attempt in Berlin fails |
Mar 16 |
1 Acre Park also known as Baby Park in the Bronx renamed Melrose Park |
Mar 18 |
Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar |
Mar 19 |
US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles for 2nd time refusing to ratify League of Nations' covenant (maintaining isolation policy) |
Mar 20 |
1st flight from London to South Africa lands (took 1½ months) |
Mar 20 |
US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld |
Mar 20 |
US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger |
Mar 23 |
Perserikatan Communist of India (PKI) political party forms |
Mar 24 |
1st US coast guard air station established (Morehead City NC) |
Mar 25 |
Greek Independence Day |
Mar 27 |
Hermann Muller becomes German chancellor (SPD) |
Mar 28 |
Thomas Masaryk elected president of Czechoslovakia |
Mar 28 |
Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states. |
Mar 31 |
British parliament accepts Irish Home Rule law |
Apr 1 |
The (Anglican) Church in Wales disestablished |
Apr 1 |
Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Seattle (PCHA), 3 games to 2 |
Apr 4 |
Arabs attack Jews in Jerusalem |
Apr 6 |
French troop attacks Main/Darmstadt/Hanau |
Apr 8 |
LONGA soccer team forms in Tilburg |
Apr 13 |
1st woman US Civil Service Commissioner, Helen Hamilton appointed |
Apr 14 |
Tornadoes killed 219 people in Alabama & Mississippi |
Apr 15 |
New Canadian small cent coin is released |
Apr 17 |
American Professional Football Association forms (NFL) |
Apr 19 |
24th Boston Marathon won by Peter Trivoulidas of Greece in 2:29:31 |
Apr 20 |
7th modern Olympic games opens in Antwerp Belgium |
Apr 20 |
Balfour Declaration recognized, makes Palestine a British Mandate |
Apr 20 |
Big Show ends 2 year run on NBC radio |
Apr 20 |
Tornadoes kill 219 in Alabama & Mississippi |
Apr 20 |
Phillies mgr Gravvy Cravath puts himself in as pinch hitter, his 3- run homer beats NY Giants 3-0 |
Apr 21 |
John Galsworthy's "Skin Game" premieres in London |
Apr 23 |
Turkish Grand National Assembly 1st meets, in Ankara |
Apr 23 |
The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution. |
Apr 24 |
British Mandate over Palestine goes into effect (lasts 28 years) |
Apr 24 |
Polish troops attack Ukraine |
Apr 26 |
Harlow Shapley & Heber D. Curtis hold "great debate" on nature of nebulae, dalaxies and size of universe at US National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C. |
Apr 27 |
Pogrom leader Petljoera declares Ukraine Independence |
Apr 28 |
Azerbaijan SSR joins USSR (1st time) |
May 1 |
Babe Ruth's 1st Yankee HR & 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds |
May 1 |
Belgium-Luxembourg toll tunnel opens |
May 1 |
Longest major league baseball game by inninngs - Brooklyn Dodgers tie Boston Braves, 1-1, in 26 innings |
May 2 |
1st game of National Negro Baseball League played in Indianapolis |
May 5 |
German-Latvian peace treaty signed |
May 5 |
Polish troops occupy Kiev |
May 5 |
US Pres Wilson makes Communist Labor Party illegal |
May 7 |
USSR recognizes Georgia's independence |
May 8 |
46th Kentucky Derby: Ted Rice aboard Paul Jones wins in 2:09 |
May 14 |
Wash Senator Walter Johnson wins his 300th game vs Detroit |
May 14 |
Giants inform Yankees that the lease allowing them to play in the Polo Grounds will not be renewed at end of 1920 season |
May 15 |
Soccer team ADO '20 forms in Heemskerk |
May 16 |
Joan of Arc (Jeanne D'arc) canonized a saint |
May 16 |
Spanish bullfighter Joselito is fatally gored fighting his last bull |
May 17 |
1st De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol |
May 17 |
1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij) |
May 18 |
46th Preakness: Clarence Kummer aboard Man o' War wins in 1:51.6 |
May 20 |
Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers & arrest 24 fans for gambling |
May 23 |
Pope Benedictus XV publishes encyclical Pacem Dei |
May 27 |
Tatar ASSR forms in Russian SFSR |
May 31 |
Indianapolis 500: Gaston Chevrolet wins in 5:38:31.901 (142.617 km/h) |
Jun 1 |
RKSV Volendam soccer team forms in Volendam |
Jun 1 |
Adolfo de la Huerta becomes president of Mexico. |
Jun 2 |
Pulitzer prize awarded to Eugene O'Neill (Beyond the Horizon) |
Jun 4 |
Peace of Trianon between Allies & Hungary |
Jun 5 |
1st rivet driven on Bank of Italy headquarters at 1 Powell |
Jun 5 |
A's VP Thomas Shibe denies charges that baseballs are livelier |
Jun 6 |
Gen Wrangel opens offensive against red Army |
Jun 8 |
Reds' Edd Roush falls asleep in center during long infield argument Heinie Groh goes to wake him, but ump ejects Roush for delay of game |
Jun 11 |
Republicans nominate Warren G Harding for president |
Jun 12 |
52nd Belmont: Clarence Kummer aboard Man o' War wins in 2:14.2 |
Jun 12 |
Farmer Labor Party organized (Chicago) |
Jun 13 |
Post Office says children could not be sent by parcel post |
Jun 15 |
De Zweef soccer team forms in Nijverdal |
Jun 15 |
Duluth lynchings in Minnesota. |
Jun 17 |
Dutch 2nd Chamber accept Anti-revolution law |
Jun 20 |
Yanks win protest of 1-0 White Sox win & game is replayed |
Jun 24 |
Chuvash Autonomous Region forms in RSFSR |
Jun 25 |
League of Nations places Internationall Court of Justice in Hague |
Jul 1 |
Wash Senator Walter Johnson no-hits Boston Red Sox, 1-0 |
Jul 1 |
55th British Golf Open: George Duncan shoots a 303 at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club |
Jul 3 |
40th Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Bill Tilden beats Patterson (2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4) |
Jul 3 |
Java Technical School Bandung opens |
Jul 3 |
Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon, England |
Jul 3 |
33rd Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Suzanne Lenglen beats D Chambers (6-3 6-0) |
Jul 6 |
Yankees score 14 in 5th inning & beat Washington Senators, 17-0 |
Jul 10 |
Tris Speaker is stopped at 11 consecutive hits by Tom Zachary |
Jul 12 |
Lithuania & USSR sign peace treaty, Lithuania becomes independent republic |
Jul 15 |
Ruth ties his record of 29 HRs in a season |
Jul 16 |
15th Davis Cup: USA beats Australasia in Auckland (5-0) |
Jul 16 |
China joins the League of Nations |
Jul 16 |
Gen Amos Fries appointed 1st US army chemical warfare chief |
Jul 16 |
Ruth sets season home run record with 30 en route to 54 |
Jul 20 |
Heerenveen soccer team forms |
Jul 23 |
British East Africa renamed Kenya & becomes a British crown colony |
Jul 25 |
Red Sox turn triple-play, but Ruth's 35th HR leads Yanks to 8-2 win |
Jul 27 |
Radio compass used for 1st time for aircraft navigation |
Jul 27 |
Resolute beats Shamrock IV (England) in 14th running of America's Cup |
Jul 29 |
1st transcontinental airmail flight from NY to SF |
Jul 29 |
Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrenders |
Jul 29 |
Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project. |
Aug 1 |
Papendrecht soccer team forms |
Aug 1 |
Peace of Riga-Independence of Latvia |
Aug 2 |
Marcus Garvey presents his "Back To Africa" program in NYC |
Aug 8 |
Tigers beat Yanks 1-0 in shortest AL game, 73 minutes |
Aug 9 |
Bulgarian & allied Peace of Neuilly-sur-Seine goes into effect |
Aug 10 |
Allies recognize Poland, Czechoslovakia & Romania |
Aug 10 |
Treaty of Sèvres (Allies & Turkey) |
Aug 10 |
Turkish government renounces its claim to Israel, recognizes British mandate |
Aug 11 |
1st peace of Riga-Soviet Union recognizes Independence of Latvia |
Aug 12 |
Battle of Warsaw (Vistula) between Poland and Russia begins |
Aug 13 |
24th US Golf Open: Ted Ray shoots a 295 at Inverness Club in Ohio |
Aug 14 |
Little Entente formed by Czechoslovakia & Yugoslavia |
Aug 14 |
Olympic Games open in Antwerp |
Aug 16 |
Ray Chapman, of Indians is hit in head by Yanks' Carl Mays pitch; he dies next day, only major league fatality |
Aug 17 |
In memory of Ray Chapman (died Aug 16), Yanks cancel game with Indians |
Aug 18 |
1st class cricket debut of Walter Hammond |
Aug 18 |
US ratifies the 19th Amendment to the constitution bringing in women's suffrage |
Aug 20 |
1st US commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), Detroit begins daily broadcasting |
Aug 20 |
Allen Woodring wins Oympic 200 m dash wearing borrowed shoes |
Aug 20 |
Israel publishes its first medical journal "Ha-Refuah" |
Aug 20 |
Preliminary meeting in Akron to form American Pro Football League |
Aug 20 |
Red Sox-Indians game postponed in Boston to allow Indian players to attend Ray Chapman's funeral in Cleveland |
Aug 21 |
3rd PGA Championship: Jock Hutchison at Flossmoor CC Flossmoor Ill |
Aug 23 |
M R Rinehart & A Hopwood's "Bat" premieres in NYC |
Aug 25 |
1st US woman to win in Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey) |
Aug 25 |
Russia suffers a decisive defeat in the battle of Warsaw against Poland |
Aug 26 |
Percy Fender (Surrey v Northants) scores 100 in 35 mins |
Aug 31 |
Belgium starts paying old age pensions |
Aug 31 |
Detroit radio station is 1st to broadcast a news program on the air |
Sep 1 |
France creates Greater Lebanon |
Sep 1 |
New town hall of Rotterdam opens |
Sep 2 |
W Somerset Maugham's "East of Suez" premieres in London |
Sep 4 |
Last day of Julian civil calendar (in parts of Bulgaria) |
Sep 5 |
Iron monument unveiled at Stone churches, Flanders |
Sep 6 |
40th US Men's Tennis: Wm Tilden beats Wm M Johnston (6-1 1-6 7-5 5-7 6-3) |
Sep 6 |
Jack Dempsey KOs Billy Miske in 3 for heavyweight boxing title 1st radio broadcast of a prizefight |
Sep 8 |
US Air Mail service begins (NYC to SF) |
Sep 12 |
7th Olympic games close in Antwerp Belgium |
Sep 16 |
Bomb explosion in Wall Street, kills 30 |
Sep 17 |
Cards set a record of 12 consecutive hits in 4th (10) & 5th (2) innings |
Sep 17 |
National Football League organizes in Canton Ohio 12 teams pay $100 each to join American Prof Football Association |
Sep 20 |
Foundation of the Spanish Legion. |
Sep 22 |
Chicago grand jury convenes to investigate charges that 8 White Sox players conspired to fix the 1919 World Series |
Sep 23 |
Alexander Millerand elected president of France |
Sep 25 |
34th US Women's Tennis: Molla Mallory beats M Zinderstein (6-3 6-1) |
Sep 25 |
Vern Bradburn of Winnipeg Victorias kicks 9 singles in a game |
Sep 28 |
8 White Sox indicted, threw 1919 World Series (Black Sox scandal) |
Sep 28 |
Dirk Fock appointed as governor-general of Dutch East Indies |
Sep 29 |
Babe Ruth sets then home run season record at 54 |
Sep 29 |
Belgium annexes Eupen/Malmö dy |
Sep 29 |
Joseph Horne Company in Pittsburgh sells radios for $10 |
Sep 30 |
Time Square Theater opens at 217 W 42nd St NYC |
Oct 1 |
Dutch law provides for an 8 hour working day |
Oct 1 |
Sir Percy Cox landed in Basra to assume his responsibilities as high commissioner in Iraq. |
Oct 2 |
Only tripleheader of century (Reds win 13-4, 7-3 then Pirates win 6-0) |
Oct 3 |
Browns 1st baseman George Sisler gets his record 257th hit of season |
Oct 3 |
NFL (then American Pro Football Association) plays 1st games |
Oct 6 |
1st brothers oppose each other in World Series, Cleve's Wheeler Johnston pinch-hits as brother Jimmy plays 3rd base for Bkln |
Oct 9 |
1st World Series game in Cleveland, Indians win 2-1 |
Oct 10 |
1st Grandslam in WS (Smith) & 1st unassisted triple play (Wambsganss) |
Oct 10 |
Italy annexes South Tirol (Alto Adige) |
Oct 10 |
Phoenix Cardinals (then in Chicago) play 1st NFL game, a 0-0 tie |
Oct 10 |
Indian Bill Wambsganns makes 1st unassisted World Series triple play |
Oct 10 |
Indian's Elmer Smith hits baseball's 1st World Series grand slam |
Oct 12 |
Cleve Indians beat Bkln Dodgers, 5 games to 2 in 17th World Series |
Oct 12 |
Construction begins on Holland Tunnel connecting NJ & NYC |
Oct 12 |
Man O'War's last race & win |
Oct 12 |
Soccer team Quick '20 forms |
Oct 13 |
World Series celebration in Wade Park brings out 50,000+ Clevelanders |
Oct 14 |
Part of Petsamo province ceded by Soviet Union to Finland |
Oct 17 |
Chicago Bears (as Decatur Staleys) play 1st NFL game, win 7-0 |
Oct 20 |
"1st Year" with Frank Craven premieres in NYC |
Oct 23 |
Chicago grand jury indicts Abe Attell, Hal Chase, & Bill Burns as go-betweens in Black Sox World Series scandal |
Oct 23 |
African demonstrators shot in Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
Oct 27 |
League of Nations moves headquarters in Geneva |
Oct 27 |
Westinghouse radio station in East Pittsburgh, KDKA begins |
Oct 29 |
Ed Barrow appointed GM of NY Yankees |
Oct 30 |
The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney. |
Oct 31 |
Romania annexes Bessarabia |
Nov 1 |
Eugene O'Neill's "Emperor Jones" premieres in NYC |
Nov 1 |
American Fishing Schooner Esperanto defeats the Canadian Fishing Schooner Delawana in the first International Fishing Schooner Championship Races in Halifax. |
Nov 2 |
Warren G Harding elected 29th president |
Nov 3 |
"Emperor Jones" opens at Provincetown Theater |
Nov 8 |
Actress Edna Lewis Thomas debuts at Putnam Theatre Brooklyn |
Nov 8 |
Baseball meeting to depose Ban Johnson is set for Nov 12th |
Nov 10 |
George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House" premieres in NYC |
Nov 11 |
Great Britain's monument to her war dead, the Cenotaph in Whitehall, designed by Edwin Lutyens, unveiled |
Nov 11 |
The burials of unknown soldiers take place simultaneously in Westminster Abbey, London, at at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris. |
Nov 12 |
Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis elected 1st baseball commissioner |
Nov 13 |
Hudson River frozen at Albany |
Nov 14 |
American Pro Football League's Chic Tiger Joe Guyon punts 95 yards |
Nov 15 |
Ernst Toller's "Massen und Menschen" premieres in Nuremberg |
Nov 15 |
Free City of Danzig forms under League of Nations protection |
Nov 15 |
League of Nations holds first meeting in Geneva |
Nov 16 |
Australia's Qantas airways founded in Winton, Queensland as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited |
Nov 16 |
1st postage stamp meter is set in Stamford Conn |
Nov 18 |
Apollo Theater (Academy, Bryant) opens at 221 W 42nd St NYC |
Nov 20 |
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to US president W Wilson |
Nov 21 |
Karel Capék's "Vec Makropulos" premieres in Prague |
Nov 21 |
Mussolini's squad begins terror, 11 die in Bologna, Italy |
Nov 25 |
1st Thanksgiving Parade (Phila) |
Nov 25 |
WTAW of College Station, Tx, broadcast 1st football play-by-play |
Nov 28 |
Kilmichael Ambush, Battle of the Irish War of Independence. |
Dec 3 |
Turkey & Armenia agree to peace treaty |
Dec 4 |
1st Pro football playoff game Buffalo-7, Canton-3 at Polo Grounds |
Dec 4 |
8th CFL Grey Cup: U of Toronto defeats Toronto Argonauts, 16-3 |
Dec 5 |
Pro football playoff game Akron & Buffalo 0-0 tie, title undecided |
Dec 5 |
Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece. |
Dec 7 |
NSW make 802 against South Australia, then Mailey takes 8-81 |
Dec 7 |
USPD-KPD parties merge into Vereinigte Communist Party of Germany |
Dec 10 |
August Krogh is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the regulation mechanisms of capillaries in skeletal muscle |
Dec 12 |
Maurice Ravels ballet "La Valse" premieres in Paris |
Dec 13 |
F Pease's interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star (Betelgeuse) |
Dec 13 |
League of nations establishes Intl Court of Justice in The Hague |
Dec 13 |
Netherland breaks contact with kingdom of Serbia, Croatia & Slavia |
Dec 14 |
Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in NYC |
Dec 16 |
8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000 |
Dec 17 |
AL votes to let spitball pitchers to continue using it |
Dec 17 |
British Empire receives League of Nations mandate to Nauru |
Dec 17 |
Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands |
Dec 17 |
South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over SW Africa |
Dec 18 |
1st US postage stamps printed without the words United States or US |
Dec 19 |
1st US indoor curling rink opens (Brookline, Mass) |
Dec 19 |
King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite. |
Dec 20 |
Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut v England SCG |
Dec 20 |
Bob Hope becomes an American citizen |
Dec 21 |
Jerome Kern/BG DeSylva's musical "Sally" premieres in NYC |
Dec 23 |
Government of Ireland Act / Home Rule Act passed partitioning Ireland |
Dec 24 |
Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (NYC) |
Dec 29 |
The netherlands/Venezuela recover diplomatic relations |
Dec 29 |
Yugoslav government bans communist party |
Dec 31 |
Roy Park makes 1st-ball duck in only Test Cricket inn, v Eng at MCG |
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