1924
1924 (
MCMXXIV) was a
leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).
January
*
January 7 - Great fire in London harbour
*
January 10 - British submarine L-34 sinks in the
English Channel - forty three dead.
*
January 12 -
Gopinath Saha shoots a man he erroneously thinks is a Police commissioner of Calcutta, Charles Augustus Tegart - he is arrested soon after
*
January 21 -
Vladimir Lenin dies and
Joseph Stalin begins to purge his rivals to clear way for his leadership.
*
January 22 -
Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first
Labour Prime Minister.
*
January 23 -
Soviet Union officially declares that
Lenin died
January 21.
*
January 24 - Author
Lloyd Alexander is born.
*
January 25 - The
1924 Winter Olympics open in
Chamonix, France (in the
French Alps), inaugurating the
Winter Olympic Games.
*
January 26 - Petrograd (
St. Petersburg) is renamed Leningrad.
*
January 27 -
Lenin is buried in a mausoleum in the
Red Square.
February
*
February 1 - The
United Kingdom recognizes
Soviet Union.
*
February 1 -
Australian Loans Council meets for the first time
*
February 4 -
Mohandas Gandhi is released prematurely on medical grounds.
*
February 5 -
GMT: Hourly time signals from
Royal Greenwich Observatory are broadcasted for the first time.
*
February 8 -
Death penalty: The first state execution using
gas in the
United States takes place in
Nevada.
*
February 12 -
Rhapsody in Blue, by George
Gershwin, first performed in
New York City at
Aeolian Hall.
*
February 14 -
IBM corporation founded.
*
February 16-
February 26 - Dock strike in US harbors.
*
February 22 -
Calvin Coolidge becomes the first
President of the United States to deliver a
radio broadcast from the
White House.
March
*
March 1 -
Diana Vreeland, fashion editor and columnist, marries Thomas Reed Vreeland at St. Thomas's church in New York.
*
March 3 - The 1400-year-old Islamic
caliphate is abolished when
Caliph Abdul Mejid II of the
Ottoman Empire is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed
Turkey of President
Kemal Atatürk.
*
March 9 -
Italy annexes
Fiume*
March 25 -
Greece proclaims it is a
republic.
*
March 29 - Government of
Raymond Poincaré starts in France.
April
*
April 1 -
Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in
jail for his participation in the
Beer Hall Putsch. However he was only in jail for nine months.
*
April 1 - First revenue flight for
Belgium's
SABENA Airlines.
*
April 6 -
Fascists win elections in
Italy with 2/3 majority.
*
April 13 -
Referendum in
Greece favors the formation of
Hellenic Republic.
*
April 26 -
Harry Grindell Matthews demonstrates his "
death ray" in London but fails to convince British
War Office*
April 27 - Group of
Alawites kill some Christian nuns in
Syria – French troops march against them.
May
*
May 3 - The
Aleph Zadik Aleph, the oldest
Jewish youth fraternity, founded.
*
May 4 - The
1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies held in
Paris, France.
*
May 10 -
J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head the
Bureau of Investigation.
*
May 21 -
University of Chicago students
Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old
Bobby Franks in a
thrill killing.
June
*
June 1 -
Harry Grindell Matthews returns from Paris to London - he tries to use a
Pathe film to demonstrate that his
death ray works
*
June 2 - U.S. President
Calvin Coolidge signs the
Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting
citizenship to all
Native Americans born within the
territorial limits of the
United States.
*
June 5 -
Ernst Alexanderson sends the first
facsimile across the
Atlantic Ocean (to his father in
Sweden).
*
June 8 -
George Mallory and
Andrew Irvine are last seen "going strong for the top" of
Mount Everest by teammate
Noel Odell at 12:50 PM. The two
mountaineers were never seen alive again.
*
June 10 -
Fascists kidnap and kill
Italian socialist leader
Giacomo Matteotti in
Rome.
*
June 12 - the
Roundout Heist - Six men of
Egan's Rats gang rob a mail train in
Roundout, Illinois. Robbery is later found to have been an
inside job*
June 16 -
Whampoa Military Academy is founded.
*
June 23 - American airman Russell L. Maughan flew from New York to San Francisco in 21 hours and 48 minutes on a dawn-to-dusk flight in a Curtiss pursuit plane.
July
*
July 20 - A
Soviet sports newspaper
Sovetskiy Sport is founded.
August-October
*
August 18 - France begins to withdraw its troops from Germany.
*
September 9 -
Hanapepe Massacre occurs on
Kauai,
Hawaii*
September 9 - 8-hour work day in
Belgium*
October 2 - The
Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the
League of Nations.
*
October 10 -
Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity is founded at the Lake Shore Campus of Loyola University, Chicago.
*
October 19 -
Abdul Azis declares himself protector of holy places in
Mecca.
*
October 22 -
Toastmasters is founded.
*
October 24 - British Foreign Office publishes
Zinoviev Letter.
*
October 25 - British authorities in
India arrest
Subhas Chandra Bose and jail him for the next two and half years
*
October 27 - The
Uzbek SSR joins the Soviet Union.
November
*
November 4 -
Nellie Tayloe Ross of
Wyoming elected as the first woman governor in the
United States.
*
November 4 -
Calvin Coolidge defeats
John W. Davis in the
U.S. presidential election*
November 19 - In
Los Angeles, California, famous
silent film director
Thomas Ince ("The Father of the Western") dies, reportedly of a
heart attack, in his bed (rumors soon surface that he was shot dead by publishing tycoon
William Randolph Hearst).
*
November 27 - In the
New York City the first
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
December
*
December 12 - Failed communist takeover attempt in
Estonia*
December 24 - Air crash in
Croydon air field - 8 dead.
*
December 24 -
Albania becomes a
republic.
*
Andre Breton founds
surrealism, defining it as "pure psychic
automatism".
* Voting in federal elections becomes compulsory in
Australia.
* US bootleggers begin to use
Thompson SMGs.
*
Fritz Haarmann sentenced to death for a series of murders.
January
*
January 3 -
Hank Stram, American football coach and broadcaster
*
January 6 -
Earl Scruggs, American musician
*
January 11 -
Roger Guillemin, French neuroendocrinologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
January 11 -
Sam B. Hall, American politician (d.
1994)
*
January 11 -
Slim Harpo, American musician (d.
1970)
*
January 12 -
Olivier Gendebien, Belgian race car driver (d.
1998)
*
January 16 -
Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d.
2002)
*
January 19 -
Jean-Francois Revel, French author
*
January 26 -
Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, Texas (d.
1998)
*
January 27 -
Sabu, Indian actor (d.
1963)
*
January 29 -
Luigi Nono, Italian composer (d.
1990)
*
January 30 -
Lloyd Alexander, American writer
February
*
February 2 -
Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-born producer and musician
*
February 17 -
Margaret Truman, American novelist
*
February 19 -
Lee Marvin, American actor (d.
1987)
*
February 20 -
Gloria Vanderbilt, American cosmetics entrepreneur
*
February 21 -
Robert Mugabe, first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
*
February 23 -
Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1998)
*
February 29 -
Al Rosen, baseball player
March
*
March 1 -
Deke Slayton, astronaut (d.
1993)
*
March 3 -
John Woodnutt, British actor (d.
2006)
*
March 7 -
Kobo Abe, Japanese novelist (d.
1993)
*
March 15 -
Walter Gotell, German actor (d.
1997)
*
March 27 -
Sarah Vaughan, American jaz singer (d.
1990)
*
March 28 -
Freddie Bartholomew, British actor (d.
1992)
*
March 30 -
Alan Davidson, British author (d.
2003)
April
*
April 1 -
Brendan Byrne, Governor of New Jersey
*
April 3 -
Marlon Brando, American actor (d.
2004)
*
April 3 -
Doris Day, American actress
*
April 4 -
Gil Hodges, American baseball player (d.
1972)
*
April 6 -
Jimmy Roberts, American singer,
The Lawrence Welk Show (d.
1999)
*
April 7 -
Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
*
April 15 - Sir
Neville Marriner, English conductor and violinist
*
April 16 -
Henry Mancini, American composer and arranger (d.
1994)
*
April 18 -
Clarence Gatemouth Brown, American blues musician (d.
2005)
*
April 24 -
Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician
May
*
May 11 -
Antony Hewish, English radio astronomer, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physics*
May 12 -
Tony Hancock, English comedian (d.
1968)
*
May 18 -
Priscilla Pointer, American actress
*
May 19 -
Sandy Wilson, British composer
*
May 22 -
Charles Aznavour, French singer, actor, and songwriter
*
May 24 -
Vincent Cronin, British historical writer and biographer
June
*
June 1 - Dr.
William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman
*
June 3 -
Torsten Wiesel, Swedish scientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
June 4 -
Dennis Weaver, American actor (d.
2006)
*
June 12 -
George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st
United States President*
June 18 -
George Mikan, basketball player (d.
2005)
*
June 20 -
Chet Atkins, American country guitar player (d.
2001)
*
June 20 -
Audie Murphy, American World War II hero and actor (d.
1971)
*
June 24 -
Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council
*
June 27 -
Bob Appleyard, English cricketer
*
June 29 -
Flo Sandon's, Italian singer
*
June 29 -
Ezra Laderman, American composer
July
*
July 4 -
Eva Marie Saint, American actress
*
July 5 -
János Starker, Hungarian cellist
*
July 11 -
Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer (d.
1971)
*
July 13 -
Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor
*
July 14 -
James W. Black, Scottish pharmacologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
July 19 -
Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician
*
July 21 -
Don Knotts, American actor (d.
2006)
August
*
August 1 -
Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-born physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
August 2 -
John Carroll O'Connor, American actor (d.
2001)
*
August 3 -
Leon Uris, American writer (d.
2003)
*
August 12 -
Derek Shackleton, English cricketer
*
August 12 -
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, leader of Pakistan (d.
1988)
*
August 15 -
Robert Bolt, English writer (d.
1995)
*
August 23 -
Robert Solow, American economist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
August 28 -
Peggy Ryan, American actress (d.
2004)
*
August 29 -
Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican songwriter (d.
2005)
*
August 31 -
Buddy Hackett, American comedian and actor (d.
2003)
September
*
September 2 -
Daniel arap Moi,
President of Kenya*
September 4 -
Joan Aiken, English writer (d.
2004)
*
September 8 -
Mimi Parent, Canadian painter (d.
2005)
*
September 9 -
Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist (d.
2003)
*
September 11 -
Tom Landry, American football player and coach (d.
2000)
*
September 19 -
Don Harron, Canadian entertainer
*
September 21 -
Hermann Buhl,Austrian mountaineer (d.
1957)
*
September 22 -
Charles Keeping, English illustrator (d.
1988)
*
September 22 -
Rosamunde Pilcher, English novelist
*
September 24 -
Nina Bocharova, Soviet gymnast
*
September 27 -
Bernard Waber, American children's author
October
*
October 1 -
Jimmy Carter,
President of the United States, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize*
October 1 -
William Rehnquist,
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
2005)
*
October 8 -
Alphons Egli, member of the Swiss Federal Council
*
October 10 -
Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d.
1978)
*
October 11 -
Mal Whitfield, American athlete
*
October 12 -
Doris Grau, American actress (d.
1995)
*
October 15 -
Mark Lenard, American actor (d.
1996)
*
October 21 -
Celia Cruz, Cuban singer (d.
2003)
November
*
November 6 -
Jeanette Schmid, Famous whistler (d.
2005)
*
November 10 -
Russell Johnson, American actor
*
November 13 -
Motoo Kimura, Japanese population geneticist (d.
1994)
*
November 19 -
William Russell, British actor
*
November 20 -
Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-born mathematician
*
November 24 -
Mel Patton, American athlete
*
November 25 -
Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, critic, and philosopher.
December
*
December 2 -
Alexander M. Haig, Jr., American politician
*
December 25 -
Rod Serling, American television screenwriter (d.
1975)
*
December 25 -
Atal Behari Vajpayee, tenth
Prime Minister of India*
December 25 -
Moktar Ould Daddah, first
President of Mauritania (d.
2003)
*
December 28 -
Milton Obote,
President of Uganda (d.
2005)
*
Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, King of Malaysia
*King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia*
January 2 -
Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b.
1834)
*
January 21 -
Vladimir Lenin, first leader of the USSR (b.
1870)
*
January 24 -
Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b.
1894)
*
February 3 -
Woodrow Wilson, 28th
President of the United States, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1856)
*
April 21 -
Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b.
1858)
*
May 4 -
E. Nesbit, English author (b.
1858)
*
May 15 -
Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1852)
*
May 24 -
Victor Herbert, Irish dramatist (b.
1859)
*
June 3 -
Franz Kafka, Austrian author (b.
1883)
*
June 10 -
George Mallory, English mountain climber (lost on Mount Everest) (b.
1886)
*
June 11 -
Théodore Dubois, French composer and teacher (b.
1837)
*
July 23 -
Frank Frost Abbott, American classical scholar (b.
1860)
*
July 27 -
Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (b.
1866)
*
August 3 -
Joseph Conrad, Polish-born author (b.
1857)
*
August 17 -
Pavel Urysohn, Russian mathematician (b.
1898)
*
September 15 -
Frank Chance, baseball player and manager (b.
1877)
*
October 12 -
Anatole France, French writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1844)
*
November 4 -
Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b.
1845)
*
November 29 -
Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (b.
1858)
*
December 7 -
Gene Stratton Porter, American author (b.
1863)
*
December 29 -
Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1845)
*
December 31 -
Sir Samuel William Knaggs, British civil servant (b.
1856)
*
Physics -
Manne Siegbahn*
Chemistry - Bryan Hymer
*
Physiology or Medicine -
Willem Einthoven*
Literature -
Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont*
Peace - Fermin Romo
