1920 in the United States explained
Events from the year 1920 in the United States.
Incumbents
Demographics
See main article: 1920 United States census.
Events
January
- January 2 – First Red Scare: The second of the Palmer Raids takes place with another 4,025 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial in several cities.
- January 5 – 1920 United States Census count begins. This becomes the first census to record a population exceeding 100 million, at 106,021,537. Because there are so many mixed-race persons and because so many Americans with some black ancestry appear white, the Census Bureau stops counting mixed-race peoples and the one-drop rule becomes the national legal standard.
- January 6 – Babe Ruth's December 26 trade to the New York Yankees is made public.[1] (See 1919 in the United States.)
- January 7 – The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
- January 9 – Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George Polley climbs New York City's Woolworth Building. He reaches the 30th floor when a policeman arrests him for climbing without a permit.
- January 13 – The New York Times ridicules the American rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard. (Decades later, on July 17, 1969, as the Apollo 11 crew head to the Moon, the newspaper will retract this editorial.)[2]
- January 16 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
- January 17 – Prohibition in the United States begins with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect.[3] [4]
- January 19
- January 30 – A professional wrestling match in which Joe Stecher defeats Earl Caddock at New York City's Madison Square Garden is filmed by Pioneer Film Corporation for later viewing by cinema audiences; this is the oldest surviving movie of a pro wrestling match.[5]
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
- August 1–6 – Denver streetcar strike of 1920
- August 20
- The first commercial radio station in the U.S., 8MK (WWJ), owned by the Detroit News, begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
- The National Football League is founded as the American Professional Football Conference (renamed September 17 as 'Association').
- August 26 – Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
September
October–November
December
Undated
- Black Cross Nurses founded.
- Van Wyck Brooks publishes The Ordeal of Mark Twain, arguing that Twain's genius was twisted by the conditions and culture of late 19th-century America. This begins a reassessment of Twain, who has been seen hitherto mainly as a humorous entertainer, and his contemporaries.
Ongoing
Sport
Births
January
- January 1 – Pete Turnham, American politician (died 2019)
- January 4 – Cris Alexander, actor, singer, dancer, designer and photographer (died 2012)
- January 6 – Early Wynn, baseball player (died 1999)
- January 8
- January 10 – Max Patkin, baseball player and clown (died 1999)
- January 12 – James Farmer, civil rights leader (died 1999)
- January 15
- Bob Davies, basketball player and coach (died 1990)
- Joseph Mendenhall, ambassador (died 2013)
- John O'Connor, Catholic cardinal (died 2000)[8]
- January 16
- January 19 – Buddy O'Grady, basketball player, coach (died 1992)
- January 20
- January 24 – Jerry Maren, actor (died 2018)
- January 30 – Delbert Mann, television and film director (died 2007)
- January 31 – James Yimm Lee, martial arts pioneer, teacher, author and publisher (died 1972)
February
- February 3
- February 8 – George W. George, theater, Broadway and film producer (died 2007)
- February 11 – Billy Halop, actor (died 1976)
- February 12
- February 17 – Annie Glenn, disability, communication disorder activist (died 2020)
- February 18
- February 20 – Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington ("Kick" Kennedy), socialite (killed in aviation accident 1948)
- February 22 – Burt L. Talcott, American politician (died 2016)
- February 26 – Tony Randall, actor (died 2004)
- February 29 – Howard Nemerov, poet (died 1991)
March
April
- April 1 – Harry Lewis, actor and businessman (died 2013)
- April 2 – Jack Webb, television actor, director and producer (died 1982)
- April 5 – Arthur Hailey, writer (died 2004)
- April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 2021)
- April 12 – Buck Young, actor (died 2000)
- April 13 – Jack Lambert, actor (died 2002)
- April 19
- April 20 – Ronald Speirs, colonel (died 2007)
- April 29 – Harold Shapero, composer (died 2013)
May
- May 7 - James B. Pearson, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1962 to 1978 (died 2009)
- May 8
- May 10 - Jeff Cooper, soldier and journalist (died 2006)
- May 11
- May 23 - Helen O'Connell, singer (died 1993)
- May 26 - Peggy Lee, singer (died 2002)
- May 28 - Gene Levitt, television writer, producer and director (died 1999)
- May 30 - Franklin Schaffner, film and television director (died 1989)
June
July
- July 4
- Norm Drucker, basketball player and referee (died 2015)
- Leona Helmsley, born Lena Rosenthal, businesswoman and tax evader (died 2007)
- July 5 – Viola Harris, American actress (d. 2017)
- July 7
- July 9 – Robert H. B. Baldwin, banker and Under Secretary of the Navy (died 2016)
- July 10 – Owen Chamberlain, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2006)
- July 11 – Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (died 1985)
- July 15 – Theresa Kobuszewski, underhand baseball pitcher (died 2005)
- July 16
- July 19 – Robert Mann, violinist (died 2018)
- July 24 – Bella Abzug, politician (died 1998)
August
- August 1
- August 2 – Bill Scott, voice actor and writer (died 1985)
- August 3 – Earl Killian, college sports coach and athletic director (died 2022)[13]
- August 4
- August 6 – Ella Raines, screen actress (died 1988)
- August 8 – Jimmy Witherspoon, singer (died 1997)
- August 10
- August 11 – Clifford E. Dorr, Wisconsin politician (died 1978)[15]
- August 13 – Neville Brand, actor and combat soldier (died 1992)
- August 14 – Gorham Getchell, basketball and baseball player (died 1980)
- August 16 – Charles Bukowski, writer (died 1994)
- August 18
- Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (died 2005)
- Shelley Winters, actress (died 2006)
- August 22 – Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (died 2012)[16]
- August 23 - Jim Leavelle, American detective (died 2019)
- August 24
- August 26 – Richard E. Bellman, mathematician (died 1984)[17]
- August 29
September
- September 1 – Richard Farnsworth, actor, stuntman (died 2000)
- September 3 – Sterling Lord, literary agent and editor (died 2022)[19]
- September 5 – Apolonia Muñoz Abarca, health professional and reproductive rights advocate (died 2009)
- September 7 – Al Caiola, guitarist and composer (died 2016)
- September 8 – Lawrence LeShan, psychologist (died 2020)
- September 13 – Alan Sagner, politician and public servant (died 2018)
- September 14
- September 15 – Dave Garcia, baseball coach, manager (died 2018)
- September 17 – Marjorie Holt, politician (died 2018)
- September 18 – Jack Warden, actor (died 2006)
- September 19 – Roger Angell, journalist, author, and editor (died 2022)
- September 22 – William H. Riker, political scientist (died 1993)
- September 23 – Mickey Rooney, film actor (died 2014)
- September 24
- September 27 – William Conrad, actor (died 1994)
- September 30 – Milton P. Rice, politician (died 2018)
October
November
- November 5
- November 8
- November 13
- November 19 – Gene Tierney, actress (died 1991)
- November 21
- November 29 – Bob Wolff, sportscaster (died 2017)
- November 30 – Virginia Mayo, film actress (died 2005)
December
- December 6 – Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist and composer (died 2012)
- December 14
- December 15
- December 19
- December 21
- December 30 – Jack Lord, actor (died 1998)[20]
- December 31 – Rex Allen, screen actor, singer and songwriter, "the Arizona Cowboy" (d. 1999)
Deaths
- January 8 – Maud Powell, violinist (born 1867)
- January 14 – John Francis Dodge, automobile manufacturer (born 1864)
- January 16 – Reginald De Koven, composer, conductor and critic (born 1859)
- February 2 – Field Eugene Kindley, World War I aviator (born 1896)
- February 3 – Frank Brown, 42nd Governor of Maryland from 1892 to 1896 (born 1846)
- February 15 – Joseph Burton Sumner, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (born 1837)
- February 20
- Joseph J. Fern, Mayor of Honolulu from 1909 to 1915 and from 1917 to 1920 (born 1872)
- Robert Peary, Arctic explorer (born 1856)
- February 27 – William Sherman Jennings, 18th Governor of Florida from 1901 to 1905 (born 1863)
- March 1
- March 4 – Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1895 to 1907 (born 1843)
- March 13 – Mary Devens, photographer (born 1857)
- March 14 – Henry W. Blair, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1879 to 1891 (born 1834)
- March 26
- March 31 – Edwin Warfield, 45th Governor of Maryland from 1904 to 1908 (born 1848)
- April 3 – Mary Katharine Brandegee, botanist (born 1844)
- April 6 – Mary Evelyn Hitchcock, author and explorer (born 1849)
- April 8
- John Brashear, astronomer (born 1840)
- Charles Griffes, composer (born 1884)
- April 12 – Walter Edwards, film director (born 1870)
- April 21 – Maria L. Sanford, educator (born 1836)
- April 25 – Clarine Seymour, actress (born 1898)
- May 11 – William Dean Howells, novelist (born 1837)
- May 10 – John Wesley Hyatt, inventor (born 1837)
- May 16 – Levi P. Morton, 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893 (born 1824)
- May 21 – Eleanor H. Porter, novelist (born 1868)
- June 5 – Julia A. Moore, poet (born 1847)[21]
- June 11 – Esther G. Frame, Quaker minister and evangelist (born 1840)
- June 18 – Jewett W. Adams, 4th Governor of Nevada from 1883 to 1887 (born 1835)
- July 2 – William Louis Marshall, general and engineer (born 1846)
- July 6 – Andrew Traynor, soldier (born 1843)
- July 17 – Charles E. Courtney, rower and coach (born 1849)
- July 22 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, heir (born 1849)
- August 1 – Frank Hanly, 26th Governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909 (born 1863)
- August 2 – Ormer Locklear, pilot (born 1891)
- August 6 – Edward Francis Searles, interior designer (born 1841)
- August 9 – Melvin O. Adams, attorney and railroad executive (born 1847)
- August 10 – James O'Neill, actor (born 1847 in Ireland)
- August 12 – Walter W. Winans, sculptor, painter, marksman and horse-breeder (born 1852)
- August 17 – Ray Chapman, baseball player (born 1891)
- August 26 – James Wilson, politician (born 1835 in Scotland)
- September 5 – Robert Harron, actor (born 1893)
- September 10 – Olive Thomas, silent film actress (born 1894)
- October 2 – Winthrop M. Crane, 40th Governor of Massachusetts from 1900 to 1903 and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1904 to 1913 (born 1853)
- October 17 – John Reed, journalist, in Moscow (born 1887)
- November 2 – Louise Imogen Guiney, poet and essayist (born 1861)
- November 3 – Warren Terhune, United States Navy Commander and 13th Governor of American Samoa (born 1869)
- November 7 – Amelie Veiller Van Norman, educator and civic reformer (born 1844 in France)
- November 25 – Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, women's suffrage campaigner (born 1872)
- November 30 – Eugene W. Chafin, politician (born 1852)
- December 9 – Mollie McConnell, actress (born 1865)
- December 14
- December 18 – Casimiro Barela, politician, member of the Colorado Senate (born 1847)
- December 24 – Stephen Mosher Wood, politician (born 1832)
See also
Further reading
- Burns, Eric. (2015). 1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar. New York: Pegasus Books. IMDb 978-1-605-98772-9.
Notes and References
- News: Ruth Bought By New York Americans For $125,000, Highest Price in Baseball Annals. The New York Times. January 6, 1920. October 27, 2009.
- Web site: FAQs about Robert H. Goddard. Clark University. https://web.archive.org/web/20091103060910/http://www.clarku.edu/research/archives/goddard/faqs.cfm#question8. November 3, 2009. dead. October 27, 2009. "When was the famous New York Times editorial about Dr. Goddard?"
- Web site: History of Alcohol Prohibition. National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. January 17, 2020.
- Book: Vick, Dwight. Drugs and Alcohol in the 21st Century: Theory, Behavior, and Policy. January 18, 2011. 2010. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 978-0-7637-7488-2. 128.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQl6mmAtkbE Film on YouTube.
- News: The long legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haiti . The Washington Post. August 19, 2022.
- Web site: Volstead Act History, Definition, & Significance Britannica . Encyclopædia Britannica . August 15, 2022.
- Book: Golway, Terry. Terry Golway. 2001. Full of Grace: An Oral Biography of John Cardinal O'Connor. New York. Simon & Schuster. 978-0-7434-4814-7 . 1.
- News: Walter Fredrick Morrison dies at 90; father of the Frisbee . Los Angeles Times . February 14, 2010 . February 13, 2010 . McLellan . Dennis.
- Web site: DeForest Kelley actor . Encyclopædia Britannica . August 10, 2019.
- Web site: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1990 . NobelPrize.org . August 15, 2022.
- Web site: Marvin Mandel (1920-2015) . Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) . June 19, 2019.
- Web site: Earl W Killian. November 7, 2016. Florida Resident Database. December 5, 2016.
- News: Helen Thomas Fast Facts . CNN . July 21, 2013.
- Journal of the Assembly (June 13, 1978). Assembly Journal. 5. 4420. Wisconsin Legislature Legislative Reference Bureau. 1977.
- Book: Martin Harry Greenberg. Joseph D. Olander. Ray Bradbury. 1980. Taplinger Publishing Company. 978-0-8008-6638-9. 214.
- Book: National Academy of Engineering. Memorial Tributes: Volume 3. January 1, 1989. National Academies Press. 978-0-309-03939-0. 23.
- Book: Johnson Publishing Company. Ebony. January 1989. Johnson Publishing Company. 132.
- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/04/sterling-lord-agent-jack-kerouac-dies Sterling Lord, agent who championed Jack Kerouac and more, dies at 102
- Book: Chase's Calendar of Events 2021: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months . October 27, 2020 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-64143-424-9 . 616 .
- Web site: Julia A. Moore American poet Britannica . Encyclopædia Britannica . August 15, 2022.