1919

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century 20th century 21st century
Decades:	1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Years:	1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922

1919 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	1919 MCMXIX
Ab urbe condita	2672
Armenian calendar	1368 ԹՎ ՌՅԿԸ
Assyrian calendar	6669
Bahá'í calendar	75–76
Balinese saka calendar	1840–1841
Bengali calendar	1326
Berber calendar	2869
British Regnal year	9 Geo. 5 – 10 Geo. 5
Buddhist calendar	2463
Burmese calendar	1281
Byzantine calendar	7427–7428
Chinese calendar	戊午年 (Earth Horse) 4615 or 4555     — to — 己未年 (Earth Goat) 4616 or 4556
Coptic calendar	1635–1636
Discordian calendar	3085
Ethiopian calendar	1911–1912
Hebrew calendar	5679–5680
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1975–1976
- Shaka Samvat	1840–1841
- Kali Yuga	5019–5020
Holocene calendar	11919
Igbo calendar	919–920
Iranian calendar	1297–1298
Islamic calendar	1337–1338
Japanese calendar	Taishō 8 (大正８年)
Javanese calendar	1849–1850
Juche calendar	8
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4252
Minguo calendar	ROC 8 民國8年
Nanakshahi calendar	451
Thai solar calendar	2461–2462
Tibetan calendar	阳土马年 (male Earth-Horse) 2045 or 1664 or 892     — to — 阴土羊年 (female Earth-Goat) 2046 or 1665 or 893

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1919.

1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter F) of the Julian calendar, the 1919th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 919th year of the 2nd millennium, the 19th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1910s decade. As of the start of 1919, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Events

January

• January 1
  • The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.^[1]
  • HMY Iolaire sinks off the coast of Scotland; 206 die.
  • Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company.
• January 3 – The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement is signed by Emir Faisal (representing the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz) and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann for Arab–Jewish cooperation in the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
• January 5
  • Spartacist uprising: Socialist demonstrations in Berlin, Germany turn into an attempted communist revolution.
  • In Germany, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, DAP), predecessor of the Nazi Party, is formed by merger of Anton Drexler's Committee of Independent Workmen with journalist Karl Harrer's Political Worker's Circle.
• January 7
  • The beginning of the Tragic Week in Argentina, an anarchist uprising in Buenos Aires, which is suppressed by official forces.
  • Estonian War of Independence: With Soviet Russian forces just 40 km of the capital Tallinn, Estonian forces start a general and successful counter-offensive against the Red Army.
• January 8 – The funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, is held at Christ Church Oyster Bay, Long Island; Roosevelt had died in his sleep at the age of 60, two days earlier.^[2]
• January 9 – Friedrich Ebert orders the Freikorps into action in Berlin.
• January 10–12 – The Freikorps attacks Spartacist supporters around Berlin.
• January 11
  • Romania annexes Transylvania.
  • Georgians genocide in Alagir.
• January 13 – Worker's councils in Berlin end the general strike; the Spartacist uprising is over.
• January 14 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Tartu from the Red Army.
• January 15
  • Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered following the Spartacist uprising.
  • Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
• January 16
  • The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition, is ratified.
  • Pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes the second Prime Minister of Poland.
• January 18
  • World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens at the Palace of Versailles, France.^[3]
  • Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Narva, expelling the Red Army from Northern Estonia.
  • Bentley Motors Limited is founded in England.
• January 19
  • The Monarchy of the North is established in Northern Portugal.
• January 21
  • Dáil Éireann meets for the first time in the Mansion House, Dublin. It comprises Sinn Féin members elected in the 1918 general election who, in accordance with their manifesto, have not taken their seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom but chosen to declare an independent Irish Republic. In the first shots of the Anglo-Irish War, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men are killed in an ambush at Soloheadbeg in Tipperary.
  • Gojong, the first emperor of the Korean Empire, dies.
• January 23 – The Khotin Uprising breaks out in Khotyn, Ukraine.
• January 25 – The League of Nations is founded in Paris, France.
• January 31 – Battle of George Square: The British Army is called in to deal with riots during negotiations over working hours in Glasgow, Scotland.

February

• February 1 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Valga and Võru, expelling the Red Army from the entire territory of Estonia.
• February 3 – Soviet troops occupy Ukraine.
• February 4-5 – Pressburg (Bratislava) becomes capital of Slovakia.^[4]
• February 6 – The Seattle General Strike begins in the United States, affecting over 65,000 workers.
• February 11
  • Friedrich Ebert is elected first President of Germany (Reichspräsident) by the Weimar National Assembly.
  • The Seattle General Strike ends when Federal troops are summoned by the State of Washington's Attorney General.
• February 12 – Ethnic Germans and Hungarian inhabitants of Pressburg start a protest against its incorporation into Czechoslovakia but the Czechoslovak Legions open fire on the unarmed demonstrators.^[5]
• February 14 – The Polish–Soviet War begins with the Battle of Bereza Kartuska.
• February 16-21 – Estonian War of Independence: Uninformed peasants in Saaremaa rebel against the war in Estonia. The rebellion is crushed by government forces, leaving more than 200 dead.
• February 25 – Oregon places a one cent per US gallon (0.26¢/liter) tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
• February 26 – Grand Canyon National Park: An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park.
• February 28
  • Amānullāh Khān becomes King of Afghanistan.
  • An independence mission to the U.S., funded by the Philippine legislature, sets out from Manila to present its case to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker.^[6]

March

• March 1 – The March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea is formed.
• March 2 – Founding Congress of the Comintern opens in Moscow.
• March 3 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the conviction of Charles Schenck.
• March 4 – The Communist International (Comintern) is founded.
• March 4–5 – Kinmel Park Riots by troops of the Canadian Expeditionary Force awaiting repatriation at Kinmel Camp, Bodelwyddan, in North Wales. Five men are killed, 28 injured, and 25 convicted of mutiny.^[7]
• March 5 – A. Mitchell Palmer becomes United States Attorney General through recess appointment.
• March 8 – The Rowlatt Act is passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in London, indefinitely extending the emergency provisions of the Defence of India Act 1915.
• March 9 – The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 breaks out.
• March 15–17 – Members of the American Expeditionary Forces convene in Paris for the first American Legion caucus.
• March 21 – The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established by Béla Kun.
• March 23 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
• March 23–24 – Charles I, last Emperor of Austria, leaves Austria for exile in Switzerland.
• March 27 – The name Bratislava is officially adopted for the city of Pressburg.^[8]
• March 31 – A general strike begins in the Ruhr.

April

• April 5 – Pinsk massacre, 35 Jews are killed without trial after being accused of Bolshevism.
• April 6–7 – The Bavarian Soviet Republic is founded.
• April 10 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead in Morelos.
• April 12 – French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru is arrested.
• April 13
  • Amritsar Massacre: British and Gurkha troops massacre 379 Sikhs at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in the Punjab Province (British India).
  • Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for speaking out against the draft during World War I.
• April 15 – Save the Children Fund is created in the UK to raise money for the relief of German and Austrian children.
• April 20 – The French Army blows up the bridge over the Dniester at Bender, Moldova, to protect the city from the Bolsheviks.^[9]
• April 23 – The Estonian Constituent Assembly convenes its first session.
• April 25
  • The Bauhaus architectural and design movement is founded in Weimar, Germany.
  • Anzac Day is observed for the first time in Australia.
  • Pancho Villa takes Parral, Chihuahua, in Mexico, and executes the mayor and his two sons by hanging.
• April 30 – Several bombs are intercepted in the first wave of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings.

May

• May 1
  • A large left-wing demonstration in France leads to a violent confrontation with the police.
  • Riots break out in Cleveland, Ohio; 2 people are killed, 40 injured, and 116 arrested.
• May 2 – Weimar Republic troops and the Freikorps occupy Munich and crush the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
• May 3 – Amānullāh Khān attacks British government in India.
• May 4
  • The May Fourth Movement opposes foreign colonizers in China erupts.
  • The League of Red Cross Societies is founded in Paris.
• May 6 – Beginning of the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
• May 8 – Edward George Honey proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of World War I.
• May 8–27 – United States Navy Curtiss flying boat NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read makes the first transatlantic flight, from Naval Air Station Rockaway to Lisbon via Trepassey, Newfoundland (departs May 16) and the Azores (arrives May 17). (On May 30–31 it flies on to Plymouth in England.)
• May 9 – In Belgium, a new electoral law introduces universal manhood suffrage and gives the franchise to certain classes of women.
• May 14 – The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, establishes probably the world's first Chair in International Politics, endowed by David Davies and his sisters in honour of Woodrow Wilson, with Alfred Eckhard Zimmern as first professor.^[10]
• May 15
  • The Hellenic Army lands at Smyrna on ships of the British Royal Navy.
  • Law providing for full women's suffrage in the Netherlands is introduced.
  • Winnipeg general strike: workers in Winnipeg launch a strike for better wages and working conditions.
• May 17 – The Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose the Winnipeg general strike.
• May 19
  • Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, marking the start of the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is also an official day of Turkish Youth.
  • Volcano Kelud erupts in Java, killing about 5,000.
• May 23 – The University of California opens its second campus in Los Angeles. Initially called Southern Branch of the University of California (SBUC), it is eventually renamed the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
• May 25 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces capture Pskov from the Red Army and soon hand it over to the White forces.
• May 27
  • Fyodor Raskolnikov is exchanged for fourteen British prisoners of war.
  • Siege of Spin Boldak (Third Anglo-Afghan War): last time the British Army uses an escalade.^[11]
• May 29
  • Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested by Arthur Eddington's observation of the "bending of light" during a total solar eclipse in Príncipe, and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil (confirmed November 19).^[12]
  • The Republic of Prekmurje formally declares independence from Hungary.
• May 30 – By agreement with the United Kingdom, later confirmed by the League of Nations, Belgium is given the mandate over part of German East Africa (Ruanda-Urundi).

June

• June – Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, along with his father John W. Bascom at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, designs and makes rodeo's first reverse-opening side-delivery bucking chute, now the world standard.
• June 2 – Eight mail bombs are sent to prominent figures as part of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings.
• June 4 – Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
• June 5 – Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The advancing pro-German Baltische Landeswehr initiates war against Estonia in Northern Latvia.
• June 6 – The Hungarian Red Army attacks the Republic of Prekmurje.
• June 7 – Sette Giugno on Malta: British troops fire on a mob protesting against the colonial government, killing four.
• June 14–15 – A Vickers Vimy piloted by John Alcock DSC with navigator Arthur Whitten Brown makes the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.
• June 15 – Pancho Villa attacks Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. When the bullets begin to fly to the American side of the border, two units of the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment cross the border to repulse Villa's forces away from American territory.
• June 17 – English Police Sergeant Thomas Green killed during the Epsom Riot by Canadian troops
• June 18 – The biggest football club in Central America, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, is founded in Costa Rica.
• June 21
  • Bloody Saturday of the Winnipeg general strike: Royal Northwest Mounted Police fire a volley of bullets into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two.
  • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow: Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet interned in Scapa Flow, Scotland; nine German sailors are killed.
• June 23 – Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The Estonian army defeats the pro-German Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis in northern Latvia, forcing the Landeswehr to retreat towards Riga. The event will be celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia ever since.
• June 26 – British Foreign Office official St John Philby and T. E. Lawrence arrive in Cairo for discussions about Arab unrest in Egypt having been flown by Canadian pilot Harry Yates in a Handley Page bomber which set off from England on June 21.
• June 28
  • The Treaty of Versailles is signed, formally ending World War I.^[3] John Maynard Keynes, who had been present at the conference and was unhappy with the terms of the treaty, brings out his own analysis later in the year, entitled The Economic Consequences of the Peace.
  • International Labour Organization (ILO) is established as an agency of the League of Nations.

July

• July 2 – The Syrian National Congress in Damascus: Arab nationalists announce independence.
• July 2–6 – British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible, and the first westbound flight, from RAF East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York.
• July 3 – Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence: The pro-German Baltische Landeswehr signs a peace treaty with Estonia and Latvia. The pro-German Prime Minister of Latvia Andrievs Niedra resigns and Latvian forces take over Riga on July 8.
• July 7 – The United States Army sends a convoy across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to assess the possibility of crossing North America by road. This crossing takes many months to complete, because the building of the U.S. Highway System has not commenced.
• July 11 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.
• July 19 – The Foreign Ministry of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic is established by decree of the chancellory for foreign affairs.^[13]
• July 21 – Wingfoot Air Express crash: The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago. Two passengers, one aircrewman and ten people on the ground are killed. However, two people parachute to the ground safely.^[14]
• July 27 – The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 begins when a white man throws stones at a group of four black teens on a raft.
• July 28 – The International Astronomical Union is founded in Paris, France.
• July 31 – British police strike in London and Liverpool for recognition of the National Union of Police and Prison Officers; over 2,000 strikers are dismissed.

August

• August 1 – Béla Kun's Hungarian Soviet Republic collapses.
• August 3 – Romanian army liberates Timișoara from the Hungarian occupation.
• August 4 – Romanian army occupies Budapest
• August 8 – Treaty of Rawalpindi ends the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
• August 11 – In Germany, the Weimar Constitution is proclaimed to be in effect (ratified).
• August 16–26 – First Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans.
• August 18 – The Bolshevik fleet at Kronstadt, near Petrograd, Russia, on the Baltic Sea, is mostly destroyed by German warplanes and torpedo boats in a combined operation.
• August 19 – Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.

• August 21 – Friedrich Ebert becomes first president in Germany.
• August 27 – South African Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office.
• August 29 – Russian Civil War: The Red Army captures Pskov from White forces.
• August 31 – The American Communist Party is established.

September

• September 3 – Jan Smuts becomes the second Prime Minister of South Africa.
• September 6 – The U.S. Army expedition across America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco.
• September 10 – The Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, ending World War I with Empire of Austria-Hungary.
• September 10–15: The Florida Keys hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.
• September 12– Gabriele D'Annunzio, with his entourage, marches into Fiume and convinces Italian troops to join him.
• September 17 – German South West Africa is placed under South African administration.
• September 21 – The Steel strike of 1919 begins across the United States.
• September 27 – The last British Army troops leave Archangel and leave fighting to the Russians.

October

• October 2 – President of the United States Woodrow Wilson suffers a serious stroke, rendering him an invalid for the remainder of his life (died 1924).
• October 7 – The Dutch airline KLM is formed. From 2007 it will be the world's oldest airline still flying under its original name.
• October 9 – In Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds win the World Series, five games to three, over the Chicago White Sox, whose players are later found to have lost intentionally.
• October 10 – Estonia adopts a radical land reform, nationalizing 97% of agrarian lands, mostly still belonging to Baltic Germans.
• October 13 – The Convention relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation is signed.
• October 16
  • In Germany, Adolf Hitler gives his first speech for the German Workers' Party (DAP).
  • The historic Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is inaugurated in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• October 28 – Prohibition in the United States is authorized: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Prohibition goes into effect on January 17, 1920, under the provisions of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

November

• November 1 – The Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis. Final agreement comes on December 10.
• November 7
  • The first Palmer Raid is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in twenty-three different U.S. cities.
  • Inspired by Cape Town's daily Noon Gun Three Minute Pause, King George V institutes the Two Minute Silence following a suggestion by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, to be observed annually at the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.^[15]
• November 9 – Felix the Cat appears in Feline Follies, marking the first cartoon character to become popular.
• November 10 – Supreme Court of the United States upholds conviction of Jacob Abrams for inciting resistance to the war effort against Soviet Russia.
• November 10–12 – The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis.
• November 11
  • Russian Civil War: The Northwestern Army of General Nikolai Yudenich retreats to Estonia and is disarmed.
  • The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington (United States), originating at an Armistice Day parade, results in the deaths of four members of the American Legion, and the lynching of a local leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
  • First Remembrance Day observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.^[15]
• November 16 – After Entente pressure, Romanian forces withdraw from Budapest and allow Admiral Horthy to march in.
• November 19 – The Treaty of Versailles fails a critical ratification vote in the United States Senate. It will never be ratified by the U.S.
• November 27 – The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine is signed between the Allies and Bulgaria.
• November 30 – Health officials declare the global "Spanish" flu pandemic has ceased.

December

• December 1
  • American-born Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, becomes the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having become the second to be elected on November 28.^[16]
  • XWA (now CINW), in Montreal, becomes the first public radio station in North America to go on the air.
• December 4 – The French Opera House in New Orleans, Louisiana went up in flames on that night.
• December 5 – The Turkish Ministry of War releases Greeks, Armenians and Jews from military service.
• December 19 – The fictional character Ham Gravy makes his début in Thimble Theatre Comics.
• December 21 – The United States deports 249 people, including Emma Goldman, to Russia on the USAT Buford.
• December 25 – Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge, Scotland, opens as the home of Albion Rovers F.C.. They lose the opening match 2–0 to St Mirren.

Date unknown

• Les Champs Magnétiques, the first book produced using the techniques of surrealist automatism, is written by André Breton and Philippe Soupault.
• Female suffrage is enacted in Germany and Luxembourg.
• The World League Against Alcoholism is established by the Anti-Saloon League.
• John Browning finalizes the design for the M1919 Browning machine gun (.30 caliber), the first widely distributed and practical air cooled medium machine gun introduced to the United States Military. It receives an official designation and production is started in the same year.
• John T. Thompson finalizes the design of the Thompson submachine gun in the United States.
• Severe inflation in Germany sees the Papiermark rise to 47 marks against the United States dollar by December, compared to 12 marks in April.^[17]

Births

January

• January 1
  • Carole Landis, American actress (d. 1948)
  • Daniil Granin, Soviet-Russian author (d. 2017)
  • J. D. Salinger, American novelist (The Catcher in the Rye) (d. 2010)
• January 2 – Charles Willeford, American writer (d. 1988)
• January 5 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan political theorist (d. 2012)
• January 7 – Elena Ceaușescu, wife of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and Deputy Prime Minister and First Lady of Romania (d. 1989)
• January 13 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
• January 14
  • Giulio Andreotti, Italian politician, 3-time Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
  • Andy Rooney, American television personality (d. 2011)
• January 15 – George Cadle Price, 2-Time Prime Minister of Belize (1981–84 and 1989–93) (d. 2011)
• January 19 – Antonio Pietrangeli, Italian film director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
• January 23
  • Frances Bay, Canadian actress (d. 2011)
  • Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist (d. 2013)
  • Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
  • Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
• January 24 – Leon Kirchner, American composer (d. 2009)
• January 26 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
• January 27 – Ross Bagdasarian, American musician and actor (Alvin and the Chipmunks) (d. 1972)
• January 28 – Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, American fighter ace (d. 2002)
• January 30 – John C. Elliott, American politician and 39th Governor of American Samoa (1952) (d. 2001)
• January 31 – Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player (d. 1972)

February

• February 1 – Artie Singer, American songwriter, music producer, and bandleader (d. 2008)
• February 4 – Peter Butterworth, English actor and comedian (d. 1979)
• February 5
  • Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
  • Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (1981–89 and 1993–96) (d. 1996)
• February 11 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress, better known for her role in Green Acres (d. 1995)
• February 12
  • Forrest Tucker, American actor, better known for his role in F Troop (d. 1986)
  • Ferruccio Valcareggi, Italian football player and manager (d. 2005)
• February 13
  • Tennessee Ernie Ford, American musician (d. 1991)
  • Eddie Robinson, American football coach (d. 2007)
• February 18 – Jack Palance, American actor (d. 2006)
• February 20
  • Joe Krol, Canadian football player (d. 2008)
  • James O'Meara, British Battle of Britain Spitfire flying ace (d. 1974)
• February 24 – Árpád Bogsch, Hungarian international civil servant (d. 2004)
• February 25
  • Karl H. Pribram, Austrian-American neuroscientist (d. 2015)
  • Monte Irvin, American baseball player (d. 2016)
• February 26 – Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)

March

• March 2 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
• March 3
  • Peter Abrahams, South African-born Jamaican novelist and journalist (d. 2017)
  • Tadahito Mochinaga, Japanese stop-motion animator (d. 1999)
• March 5 – Myron H. Bright, United States federal judge (d. 2016)
• March 7 – M. N. Nambiar, Indian film actor (d. 2008)
• March 14 – Dickey Chapelle, American photojournalist (d. 1965)
• March 17 – Nat King Cole, African-American singer ("Unforgettable") (d. 1965)
• March 18 – Santiago Álvarez, Cuban filmmaker (d. 1998)
• March 20 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German World War II fighter ace (d. 1983)
• March 25 – Jeanne Cagney, American actress (d. 1984)
• March 26 – Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)
• March 29 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)

April

• April 1
  • Asadollah Alam, Iranian politician (d. 1978)
  • Joseph Murray, American surgeon, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)
• April 3 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter (d. 2015)
• April 8 – Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1967–79) (d. 2007)
• April 9 – Iain Moncreiffe, Scottish genealogist and Officer of Arms (d. 1985)
• April 13
  • Howard Keel, American singer, dancer and actor (Dallas) (d. 2004)
  • Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American atheist activist (d. 1995)
• April 18 – Esther Afua Ocloo, née Nkulenu, Ghanaian entrepreneur and pioneer of microlending (d. 2002)
• April 21 – Licio Gelli, Italian financer (d. 2015)
• April 22 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
• April 24 – Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot president (1993–2003) (d. 2013)

May

• May 1
  • Manna Dey, Indian playback singer (d. 2013)
  • Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Prime Minister of Morocco
  • Dan O'Herlihy, Irish film actor (d. 2005)
• May 3 – Pete Seeger, American folk singer and musician (d. 2014)
• May 4 – Dory Funk, American professional wrestler (d. 1973)
• May 5 – Georgios Papadopoulos, President of Greece and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1999)
• May 7
  • La Esterella, Flemish singer (d. 2011)
  • Eva Perón, wife of Argentine President Juan Perón (d. 1952)
• May 8 – Lex Barker, American actor (d. 1973)
• May 10 – Atmasthananda, Indian Hindu leader (d. 2017)
• May 15 – Eugenia Charles, 3rd Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2005)
• May 16 – Liberace, American pianist (d. 1987)
• May 17 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer and actor (d. 2007)
• May 18 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (d. 1991)
• May 19
  • Arvid Andersson, Swedish weightlifter (d. 2011)
  • Mitja Ribičič, Slovene politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
• May 20 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
• May 22 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, 2-time Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
• May 23
  • Betty Garrett, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
  • Avraham Drori, Polish-born Israeli politician (d. 1964)
• May 27 – Emvin Cremona, Maltese artist (d. 1987)
• May 30 – René Barrientos, 2-time President of Bolivia (d. 1969)

June

• June 5 – Veikko Huhtanen, Finnish artistic gymnast (d. 1976)
• June 6 – Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, British politician
• June 11 – Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor (d. 2009)
• June 12 – Ahmed Abdallah, President of the Comoros (d. 1989)
• June 21
  • Tsilla Chelton, French actress (d. 2012)
  • Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist, politician and diplomat (d. 1997)
• June 23
  • Mohamed Boudiaf, 4th President of Algeria (d. 1992)
  • Hermann Gmeiner, Austrian educator (d. 1986)
• June 24
  • Jack Naylor, American inventor (d. 2007)
  • Al Molinaro, American actor (d. 2015)
• June 26
  • Jimmy Newberry, American pitcher
  • Donald M. Ashton, English art director (d. 2004)
• June 27 – Amala Shankar, Indian danseuse
• June 28
  • Fernando Morales Ortiz, Mexican writer
  • Joseph P. Lordi, American government official (d. 1983)
• June 29
  • Walter Babington Thomas, Commander of British Far East Land Forces
  • Slim Pickens, American film and television actor (d. 1983)
  • June 30 – Astrid Söderbaum, Swedish actress

July

• July 1
  • Malik Dohan al-Hassan, Iraqi politician
  • Arnold Meri, Estonian colonel (d. 2009)
  • Gerald E. Miller, American vice admiral (d. 2014)
• July 2 – Henri Génès, French actor and singer (d. 2005)
• July 3 – Mauro Cía, Argentine boxer
• July 4
  • Gerd Hagman, Swedish actress (d. 2011)
  • Douglas Birks, English cricketer (d. 2004)
• July 5 – Walter Obodzinsky, Polish-born member of the Wehrmacht (d. 2004)
• July 6
  • Edward Kenna, Australian Second World War recipient (d. 2009)
  • Ray Dowker, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2004)
• July 7
  • Earl Mazo, American journalist, author, and government official (d. 2007)
  • Hans Adolph Buchdahl, German-born Australian physicist (d. 2010)
  • Bill Stroud, English football player and coach (d. 2006)
• July 8
  • Helena Salles, Brazilian swimmer
  • Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor (d. 2007)
  • Walter Scheel, President of Germany (d. 2016)
• July 10
  • Harry Zeller, American professional basketball player (d. 2004)
  • Ian Wallace, British bass-baritone opera singer (d. 2009)
  • Carlos Silva Loaiza, Colombian professional footballer (d. 2009)
  • Pierre Gamarra, French poet, novelist and literary critic (d. 2009)
• July 11 – Donald Zilversmit, Dutch-born U.S. nutritional biochemist, researcher and educator (d. 2010)
• July 13
  • Hau Pei-tsun, Premier of the Republic of China
  • Joe Gill, American magazine writer and highly prolific comic book scripter (d. 2006)
  • Grisha Filipov, leading member of the Bulgarian communist party (d. 1994)
  • Jack Wheeler, American professional footballer (d. 2009)
  • William F. Quinn, American politician (d. 2006)
• July 14
  • Cleveland Clark, Negro league baseball player
  • Marion F. Kirby, ace in the United States Army Air Forces (d. 2011)
  • Hal Lahar, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
  • Eugene Allen, American waiter and butler (d. 2010)
  • John Pott, British Army officer (d. 2005)
• July 15
  • Fred Ohr, American World War II ace (d. 2015)
  • Harcourt Dowsley, Australian sportsman (d. 2014)
• July 16
  • Choi Kyu-hah, 19th Prime Minister of South Korea and 4th President of South Korea (d. 2006)
  • Mike Karmazin, American football guard (d. 2004)
  • Everett P. Pope, United States Marine (d. 2009)
• July 17 – Milt Smith, American football player and business operator (d. 2010)
• July 18 – Lilia Dale, Italian actress
• July 19
  • Nordine Ben Ali, Algerian-French former association football player and manager
  • Solange Troisier, French physician (d. 2008)
  • Patricia Medina, English-born actress (d. 2012)
• July 20 – Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, conqueror of Mount Everest (d. 2008)
• July 21 – Lady Rose McLaren, British aristocrat (d. 2005)
• July 22 – Allie Paine, American college basketball standout (d. 2008)
• July 24 – Ferdinand Kübler, Swiss racing cyclist (d. 2016)
• July 31
  • Maurice Boitel, French painter (d. 2007)
  • Primo Levi, Italian chemist and writer (d. 1987)

August

• August 2
  • Nehemiah Persoff, Israeli-American character actor
  • Carlo Savina, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2002)
• August 7 – Bertha Moss, Argentine-Mexican actress (d. 2008)
• August 8 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer (d. 2010)
• August 9 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973–77 (d. 1987)
• August 11 – Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
• August 13 – George Shearing, Anglo-American jazz pianist (d. 2011)
• August 14 – Isaac C. Kidd Jr., American admiral (d. 1999)
• August 15 – Benedict Kiely, Irish author and broadcaster (d. 2007)
• August 18 – Walter Joseph Hickel, 2nd and 8th Governor of Alaska (d. 2010)
• August 20 – Adamantios Androutsopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
• August 21 – Dalmiro Finol, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)
• August 25
  • George Wallace, 45th Governor of Alabama (d. 1998)
  • Jaap Rijks, Dutch equestrian (d. 2017)
• August 28 – Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
• August 30
  • Maurice Hilleman, American microbiologist and vaccinologist (d. 2005)
  • Wolfgang Wagner, German opera director (d. 2010)
• August 31 – Amrita Pritam, Indian poet and author (d. 2005)

September

• September 1 – Gladys Davis, Canadian professional baseball player
• September 2 – Marge Champion, American actress
• September 5 – Elisabeth Volkenrath, German Nazi concentration camp supervisor (d. 1945)
• September 6
  • Lee Archer, African-American U.S. fighter pilot (d. 2010)
  • John Mitchum, American actor (d. 2001)
• September 9 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter (d. 2014)
• September 11 – Ota Šik, Czech economist and politician (d. 2004)
• September 13 – Olle Anderberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2003)
• September 14 – Kay Medford, American character actress and comedian (d. 1980)
• September 18 – Pál Losonczi, Hungarian politician (d. 2005)
• September 21 – Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani Islamic scholar (d. 1988)
• September 24 – Rick Vallin, Russian-American actor (d. 1977)
• September 26 – Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and researcher (d. 2012)
• September 27
  • Jayne Meadows, American actress (d. 2015)
  • James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (d. 1986)

October

• October 3 – James M. Buchanan, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• October 5 – Donald Pleasence, English actor (d. 1995)
• October 6 – Mohamed Siad Barre, President of Somalia (d. 1995)
• October 7 – Zelman Cowen, Governor-General of Australia (d. 2011)
• October 11 – Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (d. 1990)
• October 16 – Kathleen Winsor, American writer (d. 2003)
• October 17 – Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 2005)
• October 18
  • Anita O'Day, American jazz singer (d. 2006)
  • Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
• October 22 – Doris Lessing, Persian-born English writer, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 2013)
• October 23 – Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist (d 1992)
• October 26
  • Edward Brooke, U. S. Senator from Massachusetts (d. 2015)
  • Princess Ashraf of Iran (d. 2016)
  • Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1980)
  • Jacob Pressman, American rabbi, co-founder of American Jewish University (d. 2015)
• October 30 – Stane Kavčič, Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1987)

November

• November 3
  • Jesús Blasco, Spanish comic book author (d. 1995)
  • Bert Freed, American character actor and voice-over actor (d. 1994)
  • Alina Jägerstedt, Swedish trade unionist and Social Democrat (b. 1858)
• November 4
  • Martin Balsam, American actor (d. 1996)
  • Shirley Mitchell, American actress (d. 2013)
• November 6 – Christoph Probst, German White Rose resistance member (d. 1943)
• November 9 – Eva Todor, Brazilian actress
• November 10 – Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian firearms inventor (d. 2013)
• November 14 – Lisa Otto, German soprano (d. 2013)
• November 15
  • Roy Burden, Canadian World War II pilot (d. 2005)
  • Joseph A. Wapner, American retired judge and television personality (d. 2017)
• November 18 – Andrée Borrel, French World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• November 19 – Alan Young, English-Canadian actor (d. 2016)
• November 20
  • Rugger Ardizoia, Italian-born American baseball player (d. 2015)
  • Raino Westerholm, Finnish politician (d. 2017)
• November 21 – Gert Fredriksson, Swedish canoer (d. 2006)
• November 26 – Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer (d. 2013)
• November 28 – Keith Miller, Australian sportsman (d. 2004)

December

• December 4 – I. K. Gujral, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (d. 2012)
• December 6 – Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (d. 1983)
• December 7 – Lis Løwert, Danish actress (d. 2009)
• December 8 – Mieczysław Weinberg, Polish composer (d. 1996)
• December 9 – William Lipscomb, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
• December 11 – Paavo Aaltonen, Finnish gymnast (d. 1962)
• December 13 – Hans-Joachim Marseille, German World War II fighter ace (d. 1942)
• December 21 – Ove Sprogøe, Danish actor (d. 2004)
• December 25 – Fikret Kırcan, Turkish footballer (d. 2014)
• December 30 – David Willcocks, British choral conductor, organist and composer (d. 2015)
• December 31 – Tommy Byrne, baseball player (d. 2007)

Possible

• Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (born between October 4, 1919, and January 2, 1920, inclusive;^[18] d. 1992)

Date unknown

• Tong Siv Eng, Cambodian politician (d. 2001)
• Balto, American sled dog (d. 1933)

Deaths

January–June

• January 4 – Georg von Hertling, 7th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
• January 6
  • Max Heindel, Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic (b. 1865)
  • Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
  • Jacques Vaché, French writer, associated with Surrealism (b. 1895)
• January 8 – J. Franklin Bell, Major General of the US Army (b. 1856)
• January 15
  • Karl Liebknecht, German communist politician (b. 1871; assassinated)
  • Rosa Luxemburg, German communist politician (b. 1870; assassinated)
• January 16 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• January 17 – Arichi Shinanojō, Japanese admiral (b. 1843)
• January 18
  • Prince John of the United Kingdom (b. 1905)
  • Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (b. 1842)
• January 21 – Gojong, first Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
• January 24 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Albania and 1st President of Albania (b. 1844)
• January 27 – Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (b. 1877)
• January 28 – Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich of Russia (b. 1860)
• February 2 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian military commander (b. 1894)
• February 4 – John C. Bates, American general (b. 1842)
• February 14 – Pál Luthár, Slovene teacher, cantor and writer (b. 1839)
• February 17 – Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
• February 20 – Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1872; assassinated)
• February 21
  • Kurt Eisner, German socialist revolutionary (b. 1867; assassinated)
  • Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern (b. 1868)
• March 2 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (b. 1812)
• March 5 – Ernest von Koerber, Austrian politician, former Prime Minister (b. 1850)
• March 26 – Ernest Henry, British explorer (b. 1869)
• April 4
  • Francisco Marto, Beatified, claimed to witness apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 at Fátima, Portugal (b. 1908)
  • William Crookes, British chemist and physicist (b. 1832)
• April 8 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman (b. 1852)
• April 10 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (b. 1879; assassinated)
• April 14 – Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1919)
• April 15 – Jane Delano, American nurse and founder or the American Red Cross Nursing Service (b. 1862)
• April 20 – Thomas Egan, American gangster (b. 1874)
• April 21 – Jules Védrines, French pre-war aviator and wartime (WW1) pilot (b. 1881)
• April 23 – Prince Tsunehisa Takeda (b. 1882)
• April 27 – Anton Irv, Estonian military officer (b. 1886)
• May 4 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general, politician, and astronomer (b. 1880)
• May 6 – L. Frank Baum, American author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker (The Wizard of Oz) (b. 1856)
• May 9 – Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, Dominican political figure, 2-time President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1846)
• May 12 – D. M. Canright, American Seventh-day Adventist minister and author, later one of the church's severest critics (b. 1840)
• May 28 – Hermann von Spaun, Austro-Hungarian admiral (b. 1833)
• June 15 – Prince Francis Joseph of Braganza (b. 1879)
• June 29 – José Gregorio Hernández, Venezuelan medician and saint (b. 1864)
• June 30 – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)

July–December

• July 2 – Friedrich Soennecken, German entrepreneur and inventor of hole punch and ringbinder (b. 1848)
• July 5 – Eugen Leviné, German revolutionary (b. 1883)
• July 10 – Jean Navarre, French World War I fighter ace (b. 1895)
• July 15 – Hermann Emil Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
• July 18 – Raymonde de Laroche, French aviator, the first woman to receive an aviator's license (b. 1882)
• July 26 – Edward Poynter, British painter (b. 1836)
• August 1 – Oscar Hammerstein I, Polish-born theater impresario and composer (b. 1847)
• August 9
  • Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, naturalist and philosopher (b. 1834)
  • Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b. 1857)
• August 11 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born businessman and philanthropist (b. 1835)
• August 27 – Louis Botha, Boer general, statesman, 1st Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1862)
• September 16 – Alfred Parland, Russian architect (b. 1842)
• September 22 – Alajos Gáspár, Slovene writer in Hungary (b. 1848)
• September 27 – Adelina Patti, Italian opera singer (b. 1843)
• September 29 – Masataka Kawase, a.k.a. Kogorō Ishikawa, Japanese political activist and diplomat (b. 1840)
• October 2 – Victorino de la Plaza, Argentinian politician, 18th President of Argentina (b. 1840)
• October 6 – Ricardo Palma, Peruvian writer (b. 1833)
• October 7 – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
• October 13 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
• October 18 – Viscount William Astor, American financier and statesman (b. 1848)
• October 22 – John Cyril Porte, Irish-born British flying boat pioneer (b. 1884)
• October 23 – Charles Judd, British missionary to China (b. 1842)
• November 3 – Terauchi Masatake, 9th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1852)
• November 9 – Eduard Müller, Swiss Federal Councillor (b. 1848)
• November 15 – Alfred Werner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
• December 2
  • Henry C. Frick, American industrialist (b. 1849)
  • Evelyn Wood, British field marshal and Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1838)
• December 3 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (b. 1841)
• December 18 – Sir John Alcock, British aviator; pilot of first nonstop transatlantic flight in airplane, June 1919 (b. 1892)
• December 19 – Martin Savage, IRA commander (b. 1898)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Johannes Stark
• Chemistry – not awarded
• Physiology or Medicine – Jules Bordet
• Literature – Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler
• Peace – Woodrow Wilson

References

Further reading

• Klingaman, William K. 1919, The Year Our World Began (1987) world perspective based on primary sources by a scholar.

Primary sources and year books

• New International Year Book 1919 (1920), Comprehensive coverage of world and national affairs, 744pp

Sources

• Phelan, Paula (2007), 1919: Misfortune's End, ZAPmedia