1920
1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar)
| Years: 1917 1918 1919 – 1920 – 1921 1922 1923 | |
| Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s – 1920s – 1930s 1940s 1950s | |
| Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century 1920 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
Table of contents |
Events
January
- January 7 – Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk.
- January 9 – Britain announces it will build 1,000,000 homes for war veterans.
- January 10 – League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.
- January 15 – Prohibition goes into effect in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment coming into effect.
- January 16 – Allies demand that the Netherlands extradite the German Kaiser, who has fled there.
- January 19 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
- January 22 – The Australian Country Party is officially formed.
- January 23 – The Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser.
- January 28 – The Spanish legion is founded and stationed in North Africa to fight rebels in Morocco.
- January 28 – Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire and all non-Turkish areas.
February
- February 1 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
- February 2 – Estonia's independence is recognised.
- February 2 – France occupies Memel.
- February 9 – League of Nations gives Spitzbergen to Norway.
- February 10 – Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
- February 17 – Woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to mental hospital, where she claims she is Anastasia.
- February 14 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
- February 22 – In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
- February 24 – Adolf Hitler presents his national socialist program in Munich.
March
- March – World's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden. Hjalmar Branting takes over when Nils Edén resigns.
- March 1 – Hungarian Admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary
- March 1 – The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
- March 13-March 17 – Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike.
- March 15 ? Red Army of Ruhr, communist army 60.000 men strong, formed
- March 19 – US Congress refuses to ratify Versailles Treaty.
- March 23 – Admiral Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy without anyone on the throne.
- March 26 – German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against rebellious Ruhr Red Army in the French-occupied area.
- March 26 – The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland
- March 29 – Sir William Robertson, who enlisted in 1877, becomes a field marshal in the British Army, the first man to rise to this rank from private
- March 31 – Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in British parliament.
April-May
- April 2 – German army marches to Ruhr to fight Red Ruhr Army.
- April 4 – Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 ? Violence between Arabic and Jewish resident in Jerusalem ? governor declares the state of siege
- April 6 – French troops occupy Frankfurt.
- April 19 – Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war.
- April 23 – National council in Turkey denounces the government of sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
- April 24 – Polish-Soviet War: Polish and Ukrainian troops attack Soviet army occupying Ukraine.
- May 2 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- May 7 – Polish-Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. Ukrainian government returns to the city.
- May 16 – Referendum in Switzerland is favorable to joining League of Nations.
- May 16 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
- May 17 – French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
- May 17 – First flight of KLM, Dutch air company, from Amsterdam to London.
- May 27 – Thomas Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
- May 29 – Great Horncastle flood. 20 people killed.
June-July
- June 4 – Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Peace between The Allied and Hungary.
- June 12 – Polish-Soviet War: Red Army retakes Kyiv.
- June 15 – New border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
- June 22 – Greece attacks Turkish troops.
- July 1 ? Germany declares its neutrality in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia
- July 2 – Polish-Soviet War: Red Army continues offensive into Poland.
- July 10 – Arthur Meighen becomes Canada's ninth prime minister.
- July 12 – Bolshevist Russia recognizes independent Lithuania.
- July 13 – London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs.
- July 14 ? France declares that Faisal I of Syria is deposed and occupies Damascus and Aleppo
- July 22 – Polish-Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia.
* July 25 – First transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.
August-September
- August 2 – British parliament passes bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials.
- August 3 – Catholics riot in Belfast.
- August 10 – Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives signs the Treaty of Sevres.
- August 11 – Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Estonia and Latvia.
- August 13 – August 25 – Polish-Soviet War: The Red Army is defeated in the Battle of Warsaw.
- August 15 – Town Hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots.
- August 18 – 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 19 August-25 August – Second Silesian Uprising, the Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans
- August 20 – The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
- September 8 – Gabriele D'Annunzio declares Fiume a free state.
- September 16 – The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City – 39 dead, 400 injured
- September 22 – Flying Squad formed in London Metropolitan Police.
- September 29 – First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – Westinghouse radio costs $10.
- September 29 – Adolf Hitler's makes first public political speech, in Austria.
October-November
- October 9 ? Polish troops take Vilnius
- October 10 – In the Carinthian Plebiscite a large part of Carinthia Province votes to become part of Austia rather than of the Yugoslavia.
- October 12 – Polish-Soviet War After Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
- October 18 ? Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London ? 50 injured
- November 2 – Warren G. Harding defeats James M. Cox in the U.S. presidential election, the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
- November 2 – In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
- November 11 – Unknown Soldier buried in Westminster Abbey.
- November 15 – In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held.
- November 17 – Council of League of Nations accepts the constitution of Danzig free state.
- November 21 – Bloody Sunday – British forces open fire on spectators and players during a Football match in Dublin's Croke Park, following the assassinations of 12 British agents.
December
- December 1 – Álvaro Obregón becomes president of Mexico.
- December 5 – Referendum in Greece is favorable to reinstatement of monarchy.
- December 11 – Martial law in Ireland.
- December 16 – Finland joins the League of Nations.
- December 16 – 8.6 Richter scale Earthquake causes landslide in Gansu Province, China – 180.000 dead.
- December 23 – United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.
Undated
- Number of US Americans move to Paris to escape the Prohibition
- France prohibits selling of contraceptives.
- Roman Ungern von Sternberg conquers Urga and declares himself as a ruler of Mongolia.
- Kurd rebellion in Turkey begins.
- Johnny Torrio invites Al Capone to Chicago from New York.
Births
January
- January 1 – Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
- January 2 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
- January 3 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
- January 5 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
- January 6 – Early Wynn, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1999)
- January 6 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist
- January 19 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian United Nations Secretary General
- January 20 – Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
- January 20 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- January 20 – John O'Connor, Roman Catholic Cardinal of New York City
- January 23 – Ray Abrams, tenor saxophonist
- January 23 – Gottfried Böhm, architect
- January 27 – Frankie Albert, American football star
- January 30 – Delbert Mann, American television and director
- January 31 – Paul Warnke, diplomat
February-March
- February 7 – An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)
- February 11 – Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
- February 11 – Daniel Francis Galouye, American science fiction author
- February 11 – Farouk I, last King of Egypt (d. 1965)
- February 11 – Paul Peter Piech, artist (d. 1996)
- February 12 – William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (d. 2000)
- February 17 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian film director (d. 2001)
- February 18 – Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
- February 18 – Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (d. 1945)
- February 26 – Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
- February 29 – Howard Nemerov, American poet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize (d. 1991)
- March 3 – Ronald Searle, British cartoonist
- March 3 – James Doohan, Canadian actor
- March 14 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- March 15 – Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
- March 16 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
- March 17 – Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- March 19 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian poet and artist (d. 2002)
- March 25 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)
April-July
- April 1 – Toshirô Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
- April 2 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
- April 5 – Arther Hailey, American writer
- April 7 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player
- April 10 – Frank Cavaliero, pigeon racer and real estate tycoon
- April 11 – Peter O'Donnell, British cartoonist and writer
- April 15 – Thomas Stephen Szasz, Hungarian-born psychiatrist and writer
- April 13 – Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of Ireland
- April 27 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- April 29 – Harold Shapero, American composer
- May 2 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
- May 6 – Ross Hunter, producer
- May 6 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
- May 9 – Richard Adams, English author
- May 18 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
- May 18 – Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
- May 23 – Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
- May 26 – Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)
- May 30 – Franklin Schaffner, American film and television director (d. 1989)
- June 12 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist (Mad Magazine) (d. 2002)
- July 17 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president
- July 21 – Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
August-December
- August 8 – Leo Chiosso, Italian poet
- August 16 – Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
- August 18 – Bob Kennedy, Major League Baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- August 21 – Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne (d. 1996)
- August 22 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer
- August 29 – Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
- September 10 – Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (d. 2001)
- September 14 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer
- September 22 – William H. Riker, American political scientist (d. 1993)
- October 1 – Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
- October 1 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001)
- October 8 – Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
- October 9 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
- October 15 – Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999)
- October 31 – Fritz Walter, German football player (d. 2002)
- November 21 – Stan Musial, Baseball Hall of Famer
- November 23 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born German poet (d. 1970)
- November 25 – Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis and 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2000)
- December 6 – Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer
- December 24 – Evgeniya Rudneva, Soviet World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- Patrick Campbell Rodger, Anglican bishop (d. 2002)
Deaths
- January 2 – Paul Adam, French writer (b. 1862)
- January 3 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1888)
- January 4 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
- January 6 – Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathetmatician (b. 1839)
- January 7 – Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
- January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet (b. 1825)
- January 24 – William Percy French, Irish songwriter and entertainer (b. 1854)
- January 24 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (tuberculosis) (b. 1884)
- January 24 – William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, British diplomat and administrator (b. 1864)
- January 26 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist, model, and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani (suicide) (b. 1898)
- February 2 – Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
- February 3 – Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
- February 6 – Augustus F. Goodridge, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1839)
- February 7 – Aleksandr Kolchak, Russian naval commander (b. 1874)
- February 15 – Joseph Burton Sumner, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837)
- February 20 – Joseph J. Fern, Mayor of Honolulu (b. 1872)
- February 20 – Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856)
- February 27 – William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)
- March 1 – John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842)
- March 1 – William A. Stone, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846)
- March 1 – Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (b. 1880)
- March 4 – Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)
- March 11 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
- March 13 – Charles Lapworth, English geologist (b. 1842)
- March 26 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)
- March 26 – Mary Augusta Ward, Tasmanian novelist (b. 1851)
- March 31 – Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (b. 1837)
- March 31 – Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)
- April 8 – John Brashear, American astronomer (b. 1840)
- April 8 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
- April 9 – Moritz Cantor, historian of mathematics (b. 1829)
- April 21 – Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)
- April 26 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
- May 1 – Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (b. 1882)
- May 9 – Agnes Macdonald, wife of John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1836
- May 11 – James Colosimo, Italian-born gangster (b. 1877)
- May 11 – William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
- May 16 – Levi P. Morton, Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)
- May 21 – Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)
- May 21 – Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)
- May 23 – Svetozar Borojevic, Austro-Hungarian field marshall (b. 1856)
- May 30 – George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer (b. 1862)
- June 5 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh writer (b. 1840)
- June 5 – Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)
- June 6 – James Dunsmuir, Canadian politician (b. 1851)
- June 13 – Essad Pasha, Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1863)
- June 14 – Gabrielle Réjane, French actress (b. 1856)
- June 14 – Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864)
- June 18 – Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)
- June 18 – John Macoun, Irish born naturalist (b. 1831)
- June 20 – Marie Adolphe Carnot, French chemist, mining engineer, and politician (b. 1839)
- June 20 – John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1838)
- June 27 – Adolphe Basile Routhier, Canadian who wrote the words to the national anthem (b. 1839)
- July 1 – Delfim Moreira, President of Brazil (b. 1868)
- July 10 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
- July 11 – Empress Eugénie of France (b. 1826)
- July 14 – Albert Keller, German painter (b. 1844)
- July 22 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)
- August 1 – Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)
- August 1 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist (b. 1856)
- August 2 – Ormer Locklear, American stunt flyer (b. 1891)
- August 9 – Samuel Griffith, Australian politician and judge (b. 1845)
- August 10 – Adam Politzer, Austrian otologist (b. 1835)
- August 12 – Hermann Struve, Russian-born German astronomer (b. 1854)
- August 16 – Henry Daglish, Premier of Australia (b. 1866)
- August 16 – Joseph Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (b. 1836)
- August 17 – Ray Chapman, Major League Baseball player (b. 1891)
- August 22 – Anders Zorn, Swedish painter (b. 1860)
- August 26 – James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)
- August 31 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist and psychologist (b. 1832)
- September 4 – Flora Sheldon, grandmother of George H. W. Bush (b. 1852)
- September 7 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)
- September 10 – Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)
- September 18 – Robert Beaven, Canadian politician (b. 1836)
- September 24 – Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweler (b. 1846)
- September 25 – Jacob Schiff, German-born banker and philanthropist (b. 1847)
- September 30 – William Wilfred Sullivan, Canadian journalist, politician, and jurist (b. 1843)
- October 2 – Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator from Massachusetts (b. 1853)
- October 10 – Hudson Stuck, English mountaineer (b. 1865)
- October 19 – John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
- October 20 – Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)
- October 24 – Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (b. 1853)
- November 4 – Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1858)
- November 13 – Luc-Olivier Merson, French painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
- November 23 – George Callaghan, British admiral (b. 1852)
- November 25 – Gaston Chevrolet, Swiss-born automobile race driver and manufacturer (b. 1892)
- November 30 – Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)
- December 3 – William de Wiveleslie Abney, English astronomer and photographer (b. 1843)
- December 11 – Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
- December 12 – Edward Gawler Prior, Canadian mining engineer and politician (b. 1854)
- December 14 – George Gipp, American college football player (b. 1895)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics – Charles Edouard Guillaume
- Chemistry – Walther Nernst
- Medicine – Schack August Steenberg Krogh
- Literature – Knut Hamsun
- Peace – Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Categories: 1920