January 1927 Explained
The following events occurred in January 1927:
January 1, 1927 (Saturday)
January 2, 1927 (Sunday)
- The Cristero War began in villages across Mexico in the Los Altos region of the state of Jalisco. The uprising began in protest against anti-clerical laws in Mexico and the rebels called themselves "Cristeros" as fighters for so named because they fought for Christ.[6]
January 3, 1927 (Monday)
- British concessions in China, located at Hankou (Hankow) and Jiujiang (Kiukiang) were invaded by crowds of protesters against British imperialism. A British soldier fired into the crowd at Hankou, killing one protester and wounding dozens of others. Within days, Britain relinquished control of both concessions to the Chinese government, but soon sent troops to protect its concession at Shanghai.[7]
- A large annular solar eclipse covered 99.947% of the Sun, creating a dramatic spectacle for observers in only a tiny path, just 2.1 km wide; however, it was fleeting, lasting a very brief 2.62 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse. The path of the eclipse took it over New Zealand and Argentina.[8]
- Born: William Boyett, American character actor known for portraying law enforcement officials, primarily as the co-star, with Martin Milner and Kent McCord as LAPD Sergeant "Mac" MacDonald on all episodes of Adam-12; in Akron, Ohio (d. 2004)[9] [10]
January 4, 1927 (Tuesday)
- Boris Rtcheouloff filed a patent application for "Means of recording and reproducing pictures, images and the like", the first means for magnetic recording of a television signal onto a moving strip. British patent no. 288,680 was granted in 1928, but the forerunner of videotape was never manufactured.[11]
- Born: Dr. Thomas Noguchi, Japanese-born American pathologist and Los Angeles County Coroner and Chief Medical Examiner from 1967 to 1982, known for his autopsies on famous people who died in Los Angeles; as Tsunetomi Noguchi in Fukuoka Prefecture
January 5, 1927 (Wednesday)
- A force of 160 United States Marines was dispatched to Nicaragua for the purpose of protecting the American embassy in Managua. The Marines arrived the next day at Corinto on the USS Galveston.[12]
- Born: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Hindu guru, author and publisher; as Robert Hansen in Oakland, California (d. 2001)
January 6, 1927 (Thursday)
- Robert G. Elliott, the state electrician for several states, carried out six executions in the electric chair in the same day. In the morning, he put to death Edward Hinlein, John Devereaux and John McGlaughlin in Boston for the 1925 murder of a night watchman. Elliott then caught a train to New York, had dinner, took his family to the movies, and then went up to Sing Sing, where he carried out the capital punishment for Charles Goldson, Edgar Humes and George Williams for the 1926 murder of another watchman.[13]
January 7, 1927 (Friday)
- At 8:44 am in New York City and in London, the first transatlantic telephone call was made between the two cities. Walter S. Gifford of AT&T was connected with Sir G. Evelyn V. Murray of the General Post Office. A half minute later, the two were talking.[14]
- Philo T. Farnsworth, a 20-year-old American inventor, filed his first of many patent applications, for a method of electronically scanning images and transmitting them as a television signal. U.S. Patent No. 1,773,980 was granted on August 26, 1930.[15]
- The Harlem Globetrotters played their very first road game, against a local team in Hinckley, Illinois. Founded by Abe Saperstein, the all African-American team was originally called "Saperstein's New York", before assuming its current name in the 1930s.[16]
- Shadow Lawn, the West Long Branch, New Jersey, home that had served as the "Summer White House" for Woodrow Wilson from 1916 to 1920, was destroyed by a fire.[17]
January 8, 1927 (Saturday)
January 9, 1927 (Sunday)
- For the first time in the 368-year history of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Roman Catholic Church's list of prohibited books, a newspaper was banned by papal decree. Pope Pius XI banned the French royalist daily Action Française for articles "written against the Holy See and the supreme pontiff himself".[19]
- Seventy-eight children were killed in a panic that followed the outbreak of a fire at the Laurier Palace cinema in Montreal. Shortly after the 2:00 matinee began, flames were spotted. On three of the theatre's four fire exits, the evacuation was orderly, but on the stairway at the east side of the building, children were trampled five steps away from the door. The dead ranged in age from 4 to 16. Only one of the victims was older than 18.[20] [21]
January 10, 1927 (Monday)
- Fritz Lang's silent science fiction film Metropolis had its world premiere at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin.[22]
- In a special message to Congress, President Coolidge said that the 15 American warships and 5,000 members of the Navy and the Marines would be dispatched toward Nicaragua and Mexico to protect American interests.[23] On the same day, the U.S. Department of the Navy announced that 800 U.S. Marines would be sent to China for the same purpose, to be transported from Guam by the cruiser USS Huron.[24]
- Born:
January 11, 1927 (Tuesday)
- The American freighter John Tracy, with 27 men on board, foundered and sank off Cape Cod during a winter storm. Wreckage, including the vessel's nameplate, would be recovered ten days later.[25]
- Thirty-six Hollywood celebrities gathered at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for the purpose of acknowledging cinematic excellence. The academy's awards for motion picture industry would later be nicknamed "The Oscars".[26]
- Died: Houston Chamberlain, 71, British anti-Semite turned German Nazi. His book The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century was an inspiration for the Nazi ideology.
January 12, 1927 (Wednesday)
January 13, 1927 (Thursday)
- At Tampico, Mexico, the British steamer Essex Isles exploded while its cargo of gasoline barrels was being unloaded. Thirty-seven men, mostly Mexican dockworkers, died in the accident.[28]
- Belgium became the first European power to renounce any claims to use of territory in China, and ceded back a concession that had been granted to it at Tianjin.[29]
- Born:
January 14, 1927 (Friday)
- With four days left in her term, Texas Governor Miriam A. Ferguson (known popularly as "Ma Ferguson") halted further grants of clemency to Texas convicts. The lame duck governor had pardoned or commuted the sentences of a record 3,595 persons convicted of crimes, including 1,350 full pardons.[30]
January 15, 1927 (Saturday)
- The English broadcaster and rugby player Teddy Wakelam gave the first ever running sports commentary on BBC Radio, a Rugby International match between England and Wales from the Twickenham stadium in Middlesex, which England won by 11 points to 9.
- In a split decision on the appeal of the verdict in the Scopes Trial, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Section 49-1922 of the Tennessee Code, which prohibited the teaching of evolution. The Court set aside the order for the fine levied against teacher John T. Scopes. Chief Justice Grafton Green said, "All of us agree that nothing is to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case."[31]
- The Dumbarton Bridge linking the town of Newark, California to the city of Menlo Park opened to traffic, becoming the first auto bridge over San Francisco Bay.[32]
- Born: Yaakov Heruti, Polish-born Israeli Zionist militant and political activist (d. 2022)[33]
January 16, 1927 (Sunday)
January 17, 1927 (Monday)
- Movie comedian Charlie Chaplin was ordered to pay $4,000 a month alimony to his wife, Lita Grey Chaplin, by a Los Angeles court. The same day, the Internal Revenue Service filed a lien against Chaplin for seven years of back taxes and penalties, totalling $1,073,721.47 between 1918 and 1924.[35]
- Born: Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer; in North, South Carolina (d. 2008)
- Died: Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (b. 1860)
January 18, 1927 (Tuesday)
January 19, 1927 (Wednesday)
- The first legislative session held in The Council House of India (now the Parliament House) was opened with a meeting of the Central Legislative Assembly. The House, a circular building covering nearly six acres, is now part of the Parliament Assembly where the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha convene.[38]
- Died: Empress Carlota of Mexico, 86, Belgian princess whose husband reigned as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico from 1864 to 1867.
January 20, 1927 (Thursday)
- Frank L. Smith, recently selected to serve as a United States Senator from Illinois, was not allowed to take the oath of office. The U.S. Senate voted 48–33 against seating him pending further investigation of the financing of his 1926 primary election campaign.[39]
January 21, 1927 (Friday)
January 22, 1927 (Saturday)
- The second sports broadcast in the United Kingdom was made by BBC Radio, with Teddy Wakelam providing the play-by-play of a soccer football game between Arsenal and Sheffield United. Subscribers to Radio Times could follow the game with a diagram, designed by producer Lance Sieveking, that divided the field into eight squares. The game ended in a 1–1 draw.[41]
January 23, 1927 (Sunday)
January 24, 1927 (Monday)
- The United Kingdom dispatched 16,000 servicemen to defend the British concession in Shanghai. Commanded by Major General John Duncan, the Shanghai Defense Force consisted of 12,000 men from the 13th and 14th British infantry brigades, and the 20th Indian Infantry, to join 3,000 naval ratings and 1,000 marines.[49]
January 25, 1927 (Tuesday)
- At Oslo, the Storthing voted 112 to 33 to reject a proposal for the complete disarmament of Norway. A bill to reorganize the army and navy was approved as an alternative.[50]
- Amid fears that the Coolidge Administration would lead the United States into war with Mexico, the U.S. Senate voted 79–0 to ask President Coolidge to seek arbitration of disputes over oil rights.[51]
- The merger of the Remington Typewriter Company and Rand-Kardex Bureau, Inc. (created from the merger of two business recordkeeping systems) formed Remington Rand, which would make the UNIVAC, the world's first business computer. Through further mergers, the company became Sperry Rand (1955), and Unisys (1986).[52] [53]
- J. Frank Norris, popular Southern Baptist leader, was acquitted of murder charges arising from the July 17, 1926, death of wholesale lumberman Dexter B. Chipps.[54]
- Born: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer credited with popularizing the bossa nova style; in Rio de Janeiro (d. 1994)
January 26, 1927 (Wednesday)
January 27, 1927 (Thursday)
- United Independent Broadcasters, Inc., was incorporated as a network of 16 radio stations. On September 18, 1927, United would be acquired by William S. Paley and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System, providing CBS Radio, and later the CBS Television Network.[57]
- A year after proclaiming himself King of the Hejaz, Arabian sultan Ibn Saud proclaimed himself as King of Najd as well. The independence of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd was recognized on May 20, 1927, and renamed as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.[58]
- Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two of the greatest outfielders in American baseball history, were both exonerated of charges of wrongdoing by Commissioner Landis. Both had been accused, by Dutch Leonard, of conspiracy to throw a game in 1919.[59] Cobb was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in its first year (1936), and Speaker in its second.[60]
January 28, 1927 (Friday)
- A hurricane swept across the British Isles, killing twenty people and injuring hundreds. Nineteen of the dead were in Scotland, including eight in Glasgow, and another person was killed in Ireland. The storm moved on a line from Land's End in England, to John O'Groats in Scotland.[61]
- Born: Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director; in Chiyoda (d. 2001)
January 29, 1927 (Saturday)
January 30, 1927 (Sunday)
January 31, 1927 (Monday)
- After seven years, the Inter-Allied Military Commission, which had overseen the occupation of Germany since the end of World War I, closed its headquarters in Berlin after France's Marshal Ferdinand Foch declared that Germany's obligations under the Treaty of Versailles had been completed.[64] [65]
- Mae West's play The Drag, the first theatrical production to address homosexuality, had its world premiere in Bridgeport, Connecticut. West hired 40 gay men for the cast. Although profitable, the play was banned by police in Bayonne, New Jersey, and was unable to find a theatre in New York City.[66]
- Died: Sybil Bauer, 23, American swimmer who broke 23 women's world records and (in 1922) the men's world record for the 440 backstroke, died of cancer. Bauer, who did not learn to swim until she was 15, had been engaged to marry Ed Sullivan.
Notes and References
- Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: The golden age of wireless (Oxford University Press, 1995) pp3, 6, 143
- "Stanford and Alabama Play Tie," Oakland Tribune, January 2, 1927, p D-1
- "Massachusetts Puts Into Effect New Compulsory Auto Insurance Law, Premium $16 to $150 Year", San Antonio Express, January 2, 1927, p1
- T.G.H. James, Howard Carter: The Path to Tutankhamun (Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2006), p416
- J. F. Wilson, British Business History, 1720–1994 (Manchester University Press, 1995) p173
- Luis González (John Upton translator), San Jose de Gracia: Mexican Village in Transition (University of Texas Press, 1982), p154
- Ke-wen Wang, Modern China: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism (Taylor and Francis, 1998), p138
- "South Americans See Sun's Eclipse", Victoria (BC) Times Colonist, January 4, 1927, p1
- Book: Aaker, Everett. August 30, 2006. Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters. McFarland & Company. 978-0-7864-6409-8. 63. October 2, 2017.
- News: W. Boyett, 77; Veteran Stage, Television Actor . Dennis. McLellan . . January 1, 2005. October 2, 2017.
- George Shiers and May Shiers, Early Television: A Bibliographic Guide to 1940 (Taylor and Francis, 1997) p69
- "Marines Sent to Nicaragua", Salt Lake Tribune, January 5, 1927, p1
- Craig Brandon, The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History (McFarland, 1999) p222; "Six Executed in Electric Chair During One Day", Los Angeles Times, January 8, 1927, p4
- "Hello Crosses Atlantic With Speed of Light", Salt Lake Tribune, January 8, 1927, p1
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1773980 U.S. Patent 1,773,980
- http://harlemglobetrotters.com.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/Timeline/1927.html Harlem Globetrotters website
- "'Shadow Lawn' Is Destroyed by Fire", Salt Lake Tribune, January 8, 1927, p1
- "Last Side-Wheeler from Lower Mississippi River Traffic Disappears as Vessel Burns", The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg FL), January 8, 1927, p1
- News: Holy See Bans French Paper . Salt Lake Tribune . January 10, 1927 . 1.
- News: Seventy-Six Children Killed in Panic on Stairway at Fire in East St. Catherine Street Movie Theatre Sunday Afternoon . . January 10, 1927 . 1 . Google News.
- News: Montreal Playhouse Scene of Fire Where Seventy-five Perish . Salt Lake Tribune . January 10, 1927 . 1.
- Book: Kreimeier, Klaus . The Ufa story: a history of Germany's greatest film company, 1918–1945 . . 1999 . 156.
- News: President Tells Congress Marines Stay in Nicaragua . Salt Lake Tribune . January 11, 1927 . 1.
- News: U.S. Marines Go to China . Salt Lake Tribune . January 11, 1927 . 1.
- News: Wreckage Gives Tragedy Story . Salt Lake Tribune . January 22, 1927 . 1.
- Book: Laufenberg, Norbert B. . Entertainment Celebrities . . 2005 . 868.
- "Landis Clears Baseball Men of Wrongdoing", Salt Lake Tribune, January 13, 1927, p1
- "37 Longshoremen Killed in Blast", Salt Lake Tribune, January 14, 1927, p1
- Shizhang Hu, Stanley K. Hornbeck and the Open Door Policy, 1919–1937 (Greenwood Publishing, 1995) p77
- "Texas Pardon Mill Grinds Final Grist" Salt Lake Tribune, January 15, 1927, p 1; "Texas Prison Has 3053 Left-Overs", Salt Lake Tribune, January 20, 1927, p 1
- News: Scopes Loses and Wins in Court Ruling . Salt Lake Tribune . January 16, 1927 . 1.
- News: GREAT BRIDGE OVER OUR BAY IS OPENED TODAY . The Hayward Review . January 15, 1927 . 1.
- News: Ya'acov Heruti, member of the Stern Gang who was sent to Britain to assassinate Ernest Bevin – obituary. Telegraph. Obituaries. The Telegraph . 20 September 2022. 8 May 2023. www.telegraph.co.uk.
- News: Lad, Flatbroke, Beats Channel to Win $25,000 . Salt Lake Tribune . January 17, 1927 . 1.
- "Chaplin Gets Double Jolt", Salt Lake Tribune, January 18, 1927, p1
- "Senate Votes Down Turkish Treaty, 50–34", Salt Lake Tribune, January 19, 1927, p1
- Thomas L. Purvis, A Dictionary of American History (Wiley-Blackwell, 1997) p138
- http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/jpi/September2000/CHAP-4.htm "The Parliament Estate"
- "Smith Halted at Door of U.S. Senate", Salt Lake Tribune, January 21, 1927, p1
- Edwin M. Bradley, The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932 (McFarland, 2004) p6
- News: Radio football down the years . Audrey . Adams . BBCSport.co.uk.
- Web site: The Veiled Lodger . Sherlockian.net . October 3, 2021.
- News: Ten Students Killed; Train Crushes Bus . Salt Lake Tribune . January 23, 1927 . 1.
- News: 10 Killed, 5 Hurt as Train Hits Bus of College Team— Noted Athletes of Baylor University Wiped Out in Texas Crossing Crash . . January 23, 1927 . 1.
- Book: Stan . Beck . Jack . Wilkinson . College Sports Traditions: Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others . . 2013 . 110–112.
- News: Indians Revive Famous Dance . Salt Lake Tribune . January 23, 1927 . 1.
- News: Ban Johnson Removed From League office . Salt Lake Tribune . January 24, 1927 . 1.
- Book: Menchaca, Martha . Martha Menchaca . The Mexican Outsiders: A Community History of Marginalization and Discrimination in California . . 1995 . 73.
- "Britain Sends Army to China", Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1927, p1
- News: Disarmament Move Is Voted Down . Salt Lake Tribune . January 26, 1927 . 1.
- Book: Brune, Lester H. . Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1607–1932 . Routledge . 2003 . 462.
- Web site: Company History . Unisys.com . . https://web.archive.org/web/20121002204452/http://www.unisys.com/unisys/about/company/history.jsp?id=209&pid=201 . 2 October 2012 . 1 January 2023.
- Book: Cortada, James W. . Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry they Created, 1865–1956 . . 2000 . 155.
- News: Jury Acquits Texas Pastor . Salt Lake Tribune . January 26, 1927 . 1.
- Web site: ACOS History.
- News: 7 Die in Blast Which Topples Walls at Game . Miami Daily News . January 27, 1927 . 1.
- "'Always in Friendly Competition: NBC and CBS in the First Decade of National Broadcasting", by Michael J. Socolow, in NBC: America's Network (University of California Press, 2007) p28
- Joseph Kostiner, The Making of Saudi Arabia, 1916–1936: From Chieftaincy to Monarchical State (Oxford University Press US, 1993) p104
- "Cobb and Speaker Cleared by Landis", New York Times, January 28, 1927, p11
- Leonard Koppett and David Koppett, Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball (Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2004) p164
- https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pJ4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1UwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4970,4436624&dq=storm+scotland&hl=en "British Isles Storm Deaths Mount To 20"
- "Talking Movies Move Up Peg", Salt Lake Tribune, January 30, 1927, p1
- David Clay Large, Between Two fires: Europe's Path in the 1930s (W. W. Norton & Company, 1991) pp65–72
- News: Commission of Allies Leaves German Soil . . . January 31, 1927 . 1.
- Momentous Transition . https://web.archive.org/web/20101125013910/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,729993,00.html . 25 November 2010 . . February 14, 1927.
- Book: Yeatts, Tabatha . The Legendary Mae West . . 2000 . 26.