1927 in the United States explained
Events from the year 1927 in the United States.
Incumbents
Events
January–March
April–June
- April 19 – Actress-playwright Mae West is sentenced to ten days incarceration for "corrupting the morals of youth" for her comedy-drama Sex after 375 performances on Broadway.
- April 22–May 5 – The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 affects 700,000 people in the greatest national disaster in U.S. history at this time.
- April 30 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens near Alderson, West Virginia, as the first federal prison for women in the U.S.
- May 2 – Buck v. Bell decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, permitting compulsory sterilization of people with intellectual disability.
- May 11 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the "Academy" in "Academy Awards," is founded.
- May 14 – The University of Chicago's local collegiate organization, Phi Sigma, becomes incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois as Eta Sigma Phi, the National Honorary Classical Fraternity.
- May 17 – Army aviation pioneer Major Harold Geiger dies in the crash of his Airco DH.4 de Havilland plane, at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania.
- May 18 – Bath School disaster: Bombings by a disaffected local official result in 45 deaths, mostly children, in Bath Township, Michigan.
- May 20–21 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight, from New York to Paris in the single-seat, single-engine monoplane Spirit of St. Louis.
- May 23 – Nearly 600 members of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers view the first live demonstration of television at the Bell Telephone Building in New York.
- May 26 – The final Model T rolls off the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company factory in Highland Park, Michigan, ending a run of 19 years and 15 million cars.
- June 13 – A ticker-tape parade is held for aviator Charles Lindbergh down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
July–September
- August 2 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge announces, "I do not choose to run for president in 1928."
- August 7 – The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York.
- August 23 – After six years of appeals, as protests rage in capital cities around the world, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are electrocuted at midnight in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
- August 26 – Paul Redfern leaves Brunswick, Georgia, flying his Stinson Detroiter Port of Brunswick to attempt a solo non-stop flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He later crashes in the Venezuela jungle (the crash site is never located).
- September 18 – The Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System (later known as CBS) is formed and goes on the air with 47 radio stations.
- September 29 – 79 are killed and 550 are injured when a tornado strikes the St. Louis, Missouri area; it is the second-costliest and at least 24th-deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
October–December
- October 6 – The Jazz Singer opens in the United States and becomes a huge success, leading to the end of the silent film era.
- October 8 – Murderer's Row: The New York Yankees complete a 4-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
- October 28 – Pan American Airways' first flight takes off from Key West, bound for Havana.
- November 3–4 – Floods devastating Vermont incur the "worst natural disaster in the state's history".[2]
- November 4
- Frank Heath and his horse Gypsy Queen return to Washington, D.C., having completed a 2-year journey of 11,356 miles to all 48 states.
- The 7.3 Lompoc earthquake affected the central coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing a tsunami and moderate damage.
- November 10 – Unexplained explosions occur in Canton, Ohio.
- November 13 – The Holland Tunnel opens to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicular tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.
- November 14 – The Pittsburgh Gasometer Explosion: Three Equitable Gas storage tanks in the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, exploded, killing 26 people and causing damage estimated between contemporary totals of $4 million and $5 million.
- December 2 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
- December 15 – Marion Parker, 12, is kidnapped in Los Angeles. Her dismembered body is found on December 19, prompting the largest manhunt to date on the West Coast for her killer, William Edward Hickman, who is arrested on December 22 in Oregon.
- December 17 – The U.S. submarine S-4 is accidentally rammed and sunk by the United States Coast Guard destroyer John Paulding off Provincetown, Massachusetts, killing everyone aboard after several unsuccessful attempts to raise the sub.
- December 27 – Kern and Hammerstein's musical play Show Boat, based on Edna Ferber's novel, opens on Broadway and goes on to become the first great classic of the American musical theatre.
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January
February
- February 1 – Galway Kinnell, American poet (d. 2014)
- February 2
- February 3 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director and screenwriter
- February 8 – George Taliaferro, American football player (d. 2018)
- February 10 – Leontyne Price, African-American soprano
- February 11 – Nalda Bird, American professional baseball player (d. 2004)
- February 12
- February 13 – Buck Hill, American jazz tenor, soprano saxophonist (d. 2017)
- February 15 – Harvey Korman, American actor and Comedian (d. 2008)
- February 17 – John Selfridge, American mathematician (d. 2010)
- February 18 – John Warner, American politician
- February 20
- Roy Cohn, American lawyer, anti-Communist (d. 1986)
- Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, film director (d. 2022)
- February 21
- February 22
- February 23 – Paul W. Schroeder, historian (d. 2020)
- February 24 – Mark Lane, American conspiracy theorist (d. 2016)
- February 26 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host
March
- March 1
- George O. Abell, American astronomer, professor at UCLA, science popularizer, and skeptic (d. 1983)
- Harry Belafonte, Jamaican-American musician, actor, and civil rights activist (d. 2023)
- Robert Bork, American conservative law professor (d. 2012)
- March 3 – Harry Whittington, American lawyer, real estate investor and political figure (d. 2023)
- March 4
- March 5 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
- March 6
- March 7 – James Broderick, American actor (d. 1982)
- March 8 – Dick Hyman, American composer, pianist
- March 9 – Jackie Jensen, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- March 10 – Bill Fischer, American football offensive lineman (d. 2017)
- March 11 – Gloria Blackwell, African-American civil rights activist and educator (d. 2010)
- March 13 – Robert Denning, American interior designer (d. 2005)
- March 15
- March 16 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American author, politician, and statesman (d. 2003)
- March 18 – George Plimpton, American writer and actor (d. 2003)
- March 20 – Earlene Risinger, American professional baseball player (d. 2008)
- March 21 – Jerome Chazen, American businessman (d. 2022)
- March 27 – Lorry I. Lokey, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2022)
- March 31
- César Chávez, American labor activist, United Farm Workers founder (d. 1993)
- William Daniels, American actor
April
- April 1 – Amos Milburn, American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
- April 6 – Gerry Mulligan, American musician (d. 1996)
- April 10 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist (d. 2010)
- April 12 – Alvin Sargent, American screenwriter (d. 2019)
- April 15 – Robert Mills, American physicist (d. 1999)
- April 16
- April 17 – Junior Collins, American-French horn player (d. 1976)
- April 18 – Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist (d. 2008)
- April 20 – Phil Hill, American race car driver (d. 2008)
- April 26 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- April 27 – Coretta Scott King, African-American civil rights activist (d. 2006)
- April 28 – William Lewis Moore, American postal worker (d. 1963)
- April 29 – Big Jay McNeely, R&B saxophonist (d. 2018)
May
June
- June 1 – Joseph Z. Nederlander, American theater owner and operator (d. 2021)
- June 3 – Boots Randolph, American saxophone player (d. 2007)
- June 8 – Jerry Stiller, American actor (d. 2020)
- June 9 – George Nigh, American politician
- June 10 – Eugene Parker, American astrophysicist (d. 2022)
- June 11 – John W. O'Malley, American Catholic historian, author and Jesuit priest (d. 2022)
- June 17
- Austin Murphy, American politician (d. 2024)
- Wally Wood, American cartoonist (d. 1981)
- June 18 – Bud Brown, American politician (d. 2022)
- June 19 – John Glenn Beall, Jr., American politician (d. 2006)
- June 21 – Carl Stokes, American politician (d. 1996)
- June 23 – Bob Fosse, American choreographer (d. 1987)
- June 24 - Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)[11]
- June 25
- June 27
- June 28
- June 30
July
August
- August 1 – Warren Wolf, American football player (d. 2019)
- August 4
- August 5 – James Timlin, American Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2023)
- August 6 – William D. Ford, American politician (d. 2004)
- August 7
- August 8
- August 9 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist (d. 2016)
- August 10 – W. Sterling Cary, African-American Christian minister (d. 2021)[16]
- August 11 – Stuart Rosenberg, American director (d. 2007)
- August 12
- August 15 – Carmela Marie Cristiano, American Roman Catholic nun (d. 2011)
- August 17 – F. Ray Keyser Jr., American lawyer, politician (d. 2015)
- August 18 – Rosalynn Carter, 39th First Lady of the United States (d. 2023)
- August 19
- August 21 – Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 2018)
- August 23 – Allan Kaprow, American painter and performance artist (d. 2006)
- August 24 – Harry Markowitz, American economist
- August 25 – Althea Gibson, African-American tennis player (d. 2003)
- August 26 – Sam Massell, American businessman (d. 2022)
- August 29
- August 30
September
- September 1 – Bob DiPietro, baseball player (d. 2012)
- September 2 – Gene Rhodes, basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
- September 4 – John McCarthy, computer and cognitive scientist (d. 2011)
- September 5 – Paul Volcker, economist and academic (d. 2019)
- September 8
- September 9 – Elvin Jones, African-American jazz drummer (d. 2004)
- September 11
- September 16
- September 17 – George Blanda, American football quarterback, placekicker (d. 2010)
- September 19
- September 21
- September 22
- September 23 – Thomas Vose Daily, Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2017
- September 28
- September 29 – Pete McCloskey, politician (d. 2024)
- September 30 – W. S. Merwin, poet (d. 2019)
October
- October 1 – Tom Bosley, American actor (d. 2010)
- October 5
- October 6 – Alice Bauer, American golfer (d. 2002)
- October 10 – Dana Elcar, American actor, director (d. 2005)
- October 11 – William J. Perry, American mathematician, engineer and businessman
- October 18 – George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
- October 19 – Red McCombs, American billionaire
- October 20 – Joyce Brothers, American psychologist (d. 2013)
- October 21 – Fran Landesman, American lyricist and poet (d. 2011)
- October 23 – Barron Hilton, American socialite and businessman
- October 25
- October 27 – Dominick Argento, American composer and educator (d. 2019)
- October 29 – William Cousins, American judge (d. 2018)
November
- November 2 – Steve Ditko, American comic book artist (d. 2018)
- November 3 – Peggy McCay, American actress (d. 2018)
- November 4 – Bobby Breen, Canadian-born American actor and singer (d. 2016)
- November 5 – Howard Terpning, American painter and illustrator
- November 8 – Patti Page, American singer (d. 2013)
- November 11 – Mose Allison, American jazz and blues pianist and singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- November 12 – Jack Butler, American football player (d. 2013)
- November 13 – John Pont, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
- November 16 – Barbara Payton, American actress (d. 1967)
- November 18
- November 19 – John Hulett, African American civil rights activist (d. 2006)
- November 20 – Estelle Parsons, American actress
- November 21
- November 23 – Guy Davenport, American writer and graphic artist (d. 2005)
- November 26
- November 27
- November 29
- November 30 – Robert Guillaume, African-American actor and singer (d. 2017)
December
- December 3 – Andy Williams, American singer (d. 2012)
- December 8 – Ferdie Pacheco, American physician and author (d. 2017)
- December 10 – Bob Farrell, American motivational speaker, author, and founder of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant (d. 2015)
- December 12 – Robert Noyce, American co-founder of Intel (d. 1990)
- December 13 – James Wright, American poet (d. 1980)
- December 14 – Hershel McGriff, American stock car racing driver
- December 18 – Ramsey Clark, American politician, lawyer (d. 2021)
- December 20 – Charlie Callas, American comedian, singer (d. 2011)
- December 23 – Edith Irby Jones, African-American physician (d. 2019)
- December 24 – Mary Higgins Clark, American novelist (d. 2020)
- December 25
- December 26 – Alan King, American actor, comedian (d. 2004)
- December 27 – Genevieve Audrey Wagner, American professional baseball player, physician (d. 1984)
- December 29 – Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
Deaths
- January 26 – Lyman J. Gage, financier and presidential Cabinet officer (b. 1836)
- February 7 – Walter Guion, U.S. Senator from Louisiana in 1918 (b. 1849)
- February 13
- February 20 – George McClellan, U.S. Representative from New York (b. 1856)
- February 25 – David Baird Sr., U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1918 to 1919 (b. 1839 in Ireland)
- March 4 – Ira Remsen, chemist (b. 1846)
- March 6 – Annie Keeler, early woman physician (b. 1846)
- March 11 – August Paulsen, Danish-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1871)
- April 25 – Earle Williams, actor (b. 1880)
- May 2 – Katherine Corri Harris, socialite and actress, first wife of John Barrymore (b. 1890)
- May 6 – Hudson Maxim, inventor and chemist (b. 1853)
- May 17 – Harold Geiger, aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
- May 23 – Henry E. Huntington, railroad magnate (b. 1850)
- June 9 – Victoria Woodhull, American leader of the woman's suffrage movement (b. 1838)
- June 15 – William Joseph Deboe, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1897 to 1903 (b. 1849)
- July 17 – Florence Roberts, actress (b. 1871)
- August 15 – B. B. Comer, 33rd Governor of Alabama from 1907 to 1911 and U.S. Senator from Alabama in 1920 (b. 1848)
- September 6 – Lloyd W. Bertaud, aviator (b. 1895)
- September 7 – Mary Canfield Ballard, poet and hymn-writer (b. 1852)
- September 14 – Isadora Duncan American-born dancer and choreographer (b. 1878)
- September 20 – George Nichols, American actor and director (b. 1864)
- September 27 – Leopold Wharton, film director (b. 1870)
- September 30 – Charles Kilpatrick, one-legged trick cyclist (b. 1869)
- October 21 – William Bromwell Melish, business president and Freemason leader.[19]
- December 3 – Orrin Dubbs Bleakley, U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (b. 1854)
- December 18 – Nicholas Fessenden, politician (b. 1847)
See also
Notes and References
- News: 1927-01-18 . Thousands Hear New Governor Declare for Law Enforcement After Oath Is Administered . 1 . The Montgomery Advertiser . 2023-07-29.
- Web site: National Weather Service - Burlington, VT - The Flood of 1927 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140211060450/http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/events/27flood.shtml . 2014-02-11 . dead.
- News: The long legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haiti . Washington Post . 19 August 2022.
- Web site: Volstead Act History, Definition, & Significance Britannica . www.britannica.com . 15 August 2022 . en.
- https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1167375710/virginia-norwood-satellite-land-imaging-nasa-died Virginia Norwood, a pioneer in satellite land imaging, dies at age 96
- Web site: Jack . Adrian . Obituary: Eartha Kitt . the Guardian . 10 December 2020 . en . 26 December 2008.
- https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article255734411.html Art Stewart, who drafted Bo Jackson, Mike Sweeney and others for Royals, dies at 94
- http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-wichita_20met.ART0.State.Edition2.383793f.html "Last fluent speaker of Wichita tribal language preserves what's left."
- Ruckman, S. E. "Tribal language fading away." Tulsa World. 26 Nov 2007 (retrieved 3 Oct 2009)
- Book: Chris Strodder. The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool: A Celebration of the Grooviest People, Events, and Artifacts of the 1960s. March 1, 2007. Santa Monica Press. 978-1-59580-986-5. 109.
- Book: John Gribbin. Q is for Quantum: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics. 22 February 2000. Simon and Schuster. 978-0-684-86315-3. 277.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/14/business/william-post-dead-pop-tarts.html William Post, Who Helped Create Pop-Tarts, Dies at 96
- Web site: Neil Simon obituary . the Guardian . 10 March 2022 . en . 26 August 2018.
- https://www.film-news.co.uk/news/UK/94711/Joe-Turkel-dead-at-94 Joe Turkel dead at 94
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/books/midge-decter-dead.html Midge Decter, an Architect of Neoconservatism, Dies at 94
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/us/rev-w-sterling-cary-dead.html Rev. W. Sterling Cary, Pioneering Black Churchman, Dies at 94
- News: Former Knicks star Carl Braun dies at 82 . USATODAY.com . February 10, 2010 . February 10, 2010.
- Web site: Birth details for Paul Lawrence Brady. FamilySearch.org. September 21, 2017.
- Web site: William Bromwell Melish . 2009-07-24 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106141356/http://www.freemason.com/html/pgm_detail.php?yearServed=1895 . January 6, 2009 .