1920 in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday.
| Centuries: |
19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: |
1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s |
| Years: |
1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 |
Contents |
[edit] Events
[edit] January
- January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time.
- January 9 - Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George Polley, climbs the New York Woolworth Building. He has reached the 30th floor when a policeman arrests him for climbing without a permit
- January 16 - Prohibition begins in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect.
- January 19 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
[edit] February
- February 14 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
[edit] March
- March 1 - The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
- March 19 - United States Congress refuses to ratify Versailles Treaty.
[edit] April-May
- May 2 - The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
[edit] June-July
- June 13 - The United States Postal Service rules that children may not be sent via parcel post
- July 29 - The United States Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of the Link River Dam as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
[edit] August-September
- August 20 - The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
- August 26 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 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 - 38 dead, 400 injured
- September 29 - First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – Westinghouse radio costs $10.
[edit] October-November
- 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.
[edit] December
- December 25 - Foundation of The Rosicrucian Fellowship's Spiritual Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California (United States).
[edit] Births
[edit] January
- January 6 - Early Wynn, baseball player (d. 1999)
- January 20 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- January 20 - John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal
- January 30 - Delbert Mann, American television and film director
[edit] February
- February 11 - Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
- February 12 - William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (d. 2000)
- 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 (d. 1991)
[edit] March
- March 14 - Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- March 15 - Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
- March 15 - E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- March 20 - Pamela Harriman, English-born U.S. Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
[edit] April
- April 2 - Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
- April 5 - Arthur Hailey, American writer (d. 2004)
- April 6 - Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- April 29 - Harold Shapero, American composer
[edit] May
- May 8 - Saul Bass, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
- May 11 - Denver Pyle, American actor (d. 1997)
- May 23 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
- May 26 - Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)
- May 28 - Gene Levitt, American television writer, producer, and director (d. 1999)
- May 30 - Franklin Schaffner, American film and television director (d. 1989)
[edit] June
- June 2 - Tex Schramm, American football executive (d. 2003)
- June 12 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
- June 12 - Jim Siedow, American actor (d. 2003)
- June 25 - Ozan Marsh, American pianist
- June 29 - Ray Harryhausen, American animator
[edit] July
- July 10 - Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 24 - Bella Abzug, American politician (d. 1998)
[edit] August
- August 3 - Hayden Carruth, American poet and literary critic
- August 8 - Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)
- August 16 - Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
- August 18 - Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- August 18 - Shelley Winters, American actress (d. 2006)
- August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American writer
- August 29 - Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
[edit] September
- September 14 - Lawrence Klein, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 18 - Jack Warden, American actor (d. 2006)
- September 22 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (d. 1993)
- September 23 - Mickey Rooney, American film actor
- September 27 - Jayne Meadows, American actress
[edit] October
- October 1 - Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
- October 8 - Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
- October 15 - Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999)
- October 22 - Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (d. 1996)
[edit] November
- November 30 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (d. 2005)
[edit] December
- December 6 - Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer
- December 21 - J. Roderick MacArthur American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1984
- December 30 - Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)
[edit] Deaths
- February 2 - Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
- February 3 - Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
- 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 4 - Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)
- March 26 - William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)
- 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 21 - Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)
- May 11 - William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
- May 16 - Levi P. Morton, Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)
- May 21 - Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)
- June 5 - Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)
- June 18 - Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)
- July 2 - William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (b. 1846)
- July 22 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)
- August 1 - Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)
- August 2 - Ormer Locklear, American pilot (b. 1891)
- August 17 - Ray Chapman, baseball player (b. 1891)
- August 26 - James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)
- September 10 - Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)
- October 2 - Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator (b. 1853)
- October 19 - John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
- November 30 - Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)
- December 14 - George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
