- Jan 1 Coal miners in the Transvaal, South Africa, embark on a strike in response to a wage cut, which quickly escalated into a large-scale revolt against the government, known as the Rand Rebellion.
- Jan 1 Vancouver, British Columbia starts driving on the right side of road
- Jan 3 1st living person identified on a US coin (Thomas E Kirby) on the Alabama Centennial half-dollar
- Jan 6 -13] Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments
Anglo-Irish Treaty Ratified
Jan 7 The Anglo-Irish Treaty is ratified by Dail Eireann by a 64-57 vote
- Jan 9 KQV-AM in Pittsburgh PA begins radio transmissions
- Jan 9 Rotterdam metalworkers strike ends
1st Insulin Injection
Jan 11 Insulin is first used on humans when Frederick Banting injects 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson to treat his diabetes
- Jan 13 Buck Weaver, a Black Sox, applies unsuccessfully for reinstatement
- Jan 13 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments ended
- Jan 13 WHA-AM in Madison WI begins radio transmissions
Arthur Griffith Elected
Jan 15 Arthur Griffith is elected president of the Irish Free State after Eamon de Valera resigns in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty (De Valera will lead a military opposition seeking a unified and independent Ireland)
Skating Rink
Jan 20 Arthur Honegger's ballet "Skating Rink" premieres at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, France
- Jan 21 1st slalom ski race run at Murren, Switzerland
- Jan 24 -54°F (-48°C), Danbury, Wisconsin (state record)
- Jan 24 Eskimo Pie patented by Christian Kent Nelson of Iowa (not an Eskimo)
- Jan 24 Lehman Caves National Monument established
- Jan 28 J E Clair turns Green Bay franchise back to NFL
- Jan 28 Knickerbocker Storm, Washington, D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses, killing 98 patrons
- Jan 29 Union of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador dissolved
- Jan 30 World Law Day 1st celebrated
Ulysses
Feb 2 James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" is first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies)
- Feb 4 After boycotts and international pressure, Japan agrees to return Shantung Province to China
The Garden Party
Feb 4 First part of Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party" appears in the Saturday Westminster Gazette
- Feb 4 WGY-AM in Schenectady NY begins radio transmissions
- Feb 5 Reader's Digest magazine 1st published
- Feb 6 US, UK, France, Italy, and Japan sign the Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty
- Feb 7 John Willard's play "Cat & the Canary" premieres in NYC
- Feb 8 Radio arrives at the White House
- Feb 9 Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
- Feb 9 Italian government of Bonomi falls
- Feb 9 Snow on Mauna Loa, Hawaii
- Feb 9 World War Foreign Debt Commission is established by Congress to settle the problem of Allied war and postwar loans
- Feb 11 Influential arts festival Semana de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Week) opens in São Paulo - the beginning of Modernism in Brazil
- Feb 11 US intervention army leaves Honduras
Sports History
Feb 18 Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his federal judgeship to give full attention to job as Major League Baseball Commissioner
- Feb 18 The Capper-Volstead Act allows farmers to buy and sell cooperatively without the risk of prosecution under antitrust laws
- Feb 18 WOC-AM in Davenport IA begins radio transmissions
- Feb 19 Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer
To the Ladies
Feb 20 Marc Connelly and George Kaufman's play "To the Ladies" premieres in NYC
- Feb 20 Vilnius, Lithuania, agrees to separate from Poland
- Feb 20 WOR-AM in New York City begins radio transmissions
- Feb 21 Airship "Rome" explodes at Hampton Roads, Virginia; 34 die
Sinn Féin Convention
Feb 21 Irish Nationalist Eamon De Valera calls a convention of the Sinn Féin, declaring the Republican Government the only legitimate one in all Ireland
Back to Methusaleh
Feb 27 George Bernard Shaw's largest-scale play "Back to Methusaleh" premieres at Garrick Theatre in NYC
1st National Radio Conference
Feb 27 US Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover convenes 1st National Radio Conference
- Feb 27 US Supreme Court unanimously upholds 19th amendment to the US Constuituent - women's right to vote
- Feb 28 Great Britain issues the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, ending its protectorate over Egypt and granting the country nominal independence while reserving control over military and diplomatic matters
- Feb 28 KHQ-AM in Spokane WA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 2 WBAP-AM, Fort Worth Texas, begins broadcasting
- Mar 2 WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio, begins radio transmissions
- Mar 3 Italian fascists occupy Fiume & Rijeka
- Mar 3 WWJ-AM in Detroit MI begins radio transmissions
Nosferatu
Mar 4 First vampire film "Nosferatu," an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, premieres at the Berlin Zoological Garden in Germany
- Mar 6 GB Shaw's "Back to Methusaleh III/IV" premieres in NYC
Hairy Ape
Mar 9 Eugene O'Neill's "Hairy Ape" premieres in NYC
- Mar 9 KJR-AM in Seattle Washington begins radio transmissions
- Mar 10 KLZ-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions
- Mar 10 State of siege proclaimed during mine strike Johannesburg, South Africa
- Mar 11 Western Hockey Championship: Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) sweep Regina Capitals, in 2 games
- Mar 13 WRR-AM in Dallas TX begins radio transmissions
- Mar 14 KGU-AM in Honolulu HI begins radio transmissions
- Mar 14 KSD-AM in Saint Louis MO begins radio transmissions
- Mar 14 WGR-AM in Buffalo NY begins radio transmissions
- Mar 15 1st southern radio station begins (WSB, Atlanta Georgia)
- Mar 15 France, which up until now has insisted on currency for all WWI reparation payments from Germany, now accepts raw materials as payment
- Mar 15 Sultan Faud crowned King of Egypt, England recognizes Egypt
- Mar 16 Egypt achieves independence from Britain, but British troops remain
- Mar 16 WKY-AM in Oklahoma City OK begins radio transmissions
- Mar 18 1st intercollegiate indoor polo championship (Princeton vs Yale)
Gandhi Sentenced to Six Years
Mar 18 British magistrates in India sentence Mahatma Gandhi to six years imprisonment for disobedience
- Mar 18 The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
- Mar 18 WBT-AM in Charlotte NC begins radio transmissions
- Mar 20 USS Langley is commissioned, US Navy's 1st aircraft carrier
- Mar 20 WIP-AM in Philadelphia PA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 21 KGW-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
- Mar 22 The Rand Rebellion in Southern Africa, which started as a strike by white mineworkers and became an armed rebellion against the state, is brought to a brutal end by the police
- Mar 23 1st airplane lands at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C.
- Mar 23 KMJ-AM in Fresno CA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 23 WEW-AM in Saint Louis MO begins radio transmissions
- Mar 28 1st microfilm device introduced
- Mar 28 Stanley Cup Final, Mutual Street Arena, Toronto, ON: Toronto St Patricks (NHL) beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA), 5-1 for a 3-2 series win
- Mar 30 KGY-AM in Olympia WA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 30 WWL-AM in New Orleans LA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 31 KFI-AM in Los Angeles CA begins radio transmissions
- Mar 31 Prince Hendrik opens trade fair building in Amsterdam
Rise of Joseph Stalin
Apr 3 Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an ailing Vladimir Lenin
Teapot Dome Scandal
Apr 7 Warren G. Harding's Interior Secretary, Albert B. Fall, leases the Teapot Dome oil reserves to Harry Sinclair, setting in motion the Teapot Dome scandals
Oakley's Shooting Record
Apr 16 Annie Oakley sets women's record by breaking 100 clay targets in a row
- Apr 16 Treaty of Rapallo between the German Republic and Soviet Union a is signed in Italy, normalizing diplomatic relations with each side renouncing their territorial and financial claims against the other
- Apr 18 Netherlands soccer team defeats Denmark 2-0
- Apr 21 The first Aggie Muster is held as a remembrance for fellow Aggies who had died in the previous year
- Apr 22 South Ossetian Autonomous Region forms in Georgian SSR
- Apr 27 Fritz Lang's "Dr Mabuse, der Spieler" premieres in Berlin
- Apr 27 Yakut ASSR formed in Russian SFSR
- Apr 28 WOI (Ames, Iowa) country's 1st licensed educational radio station
- Apr 29 First official International Weightlifting Federation Championship is held in Tallinn, Estonia
- Apr 30 Chicago pitcher Charlie Robertson throws a perfect game as the White Sox beat Detroit Tigers, 2-0 at Navin Field
- May 1 Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitches a perfect game against the Detroit Tigers
- May 2 WBAP-AM begins broadcasting from Fort Worth, Texas
- May 3 Mayor Hylan closes 2 streets for building of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC
- May 3 Salt layer find at Winterswijk
- May 4 KNX-AM in Los Angeles CA begins radio transmissions
- May 5 After sharing the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants for 10 years construction begins on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC
- May 7 Belgian soccer team defeats Netherlands: 1-2
- May 7 NY Giant Jesse Barnes no-hits Phillies, 2-0
Stellar Classification
May 9 International Astronomical Union formally adopts Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system, which, with only minor changes, is still used today
- May 10 Dr Ivy Williams is 1st woman to be called to the English Bar
- May 10 The United States annexes the Kingman Reef in n the North Pacific Ocean
- May 10 WHB-AM in Kansas City MO begins radio transmissions
- May 15 Germany turns over the Upper Silesia region to Poland under Allied pressure and despite a plebiscite in favor of merging with Germany
- May 16 White Star Liner Majestic completes 5½ day maiden voyage, from Southampton, England to New York City
- May 18 Dutch 2nd Chamber agrees to 48 hour work week (was 45 hrs)
- May 20 "Egypt" sinks off Ushant after colliding with "Seine" killing 90
- May 20 Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel, previously suspended by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, return to the NY Yankees lineup and go hitless
- May 21 Colonel Jacob Ruppert buys out Colonel Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston's interest in NY Yankees for $1,500,000 to become sole owner
- May 21 Pulitzer prize awarded to Eugene O'Neill for his play "Anna Christie"
- May 21 Rollin Kirby's "On the Road to Moscow" is the 1st cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize
- May 23 Comedic play "Abie's Irish Rose" premieres at Fulton Theatre, NYC; runs for 2,327 performances (longest run at the time)
- May 23 Future World Heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney suffers his only professional defeat in 15-round unanimous points decision against Harry Greb at Madison Square Garden, NY
Laugh-O-Gram Films
May 23 Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films
Lenin's Stroke
May 26 Vladimir Lenin suffers a stroke
- May 29 US Supreme Court rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business, thus not subject to antitrust laws
Lincoln Memorial Dedicated
May 30 Completed Lincoln Memorial dedicated by US Chief Justice William Howard Taft in front of 50,000
- May 30 Cubs and Cardinals trade outfielders between morning and afternoon games of doubleheader; Max Flack goes to St. Louis, Cliff Heathcote heads to Chicago; both get hits for new clubs in the nightcap
- May 30 Latvia & Vatican sign accord
- Jun 1 Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded
- Jun 2 MLB first baseman Stuffy McInnis ends an errorless string of 1,700 chances, while playing for the Boston red Sox (1921) and Cleveland Indians (1922)
- Jun 5 The Banker's committee of the Reparations Commission refuses an international loan to Germany
- Jun 9 First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University
- Jun 12 Browns pitcher Hub Pruett strikes out future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth 3 consecutive times as St. Louis beats New York Yankees, 7 - 1 at Sportsman's Park, St. Louis
Event of Interest
Jun 12 German Reich president Friedrich Ebert visits Munich
- Jun 12 St Louis Cardinals make MLB record 10 straight hits in 6th inning of a 14-8 win over the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia
- Jun 13 Longest recorded attack of hiccups begins: Charlie Osborne gets the hiccups and continues for 68 years, dies 11 months after it stops
- Jun 14 Charles Hoffner wins PGA golf tournament
1st US President on the Radio
Jun 14 US President Warren G. Harding is 1st US President to use radio, dedicates the Francis Scott Key memorial in Baltimore
- Jun 16 Henry Berliner demonstrates his helicopter to US Bureau of Aeronautics
- Jun 16 Irish republicans are beaten in a national election; the vote is in favor of the Treaty of London, which leaves the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Commonwealth
- Jun 17 First flight across the South Atlantic Ocean arrives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, piloted by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral. First use of the sextant in air navigation.
5000m World Record
Jun 19 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 5000m (14:28.2)
- Jun 22 Herrin massacre, 19 strikebreakers and 2 union miners are killed in Herrin, Illinois.
Hitler Starts Prison Sentence
Jun 24 Adolf Hitler begins a month long prison sentence for paramilitary operations; he rails against the 'Jewish sell-out' of Germany to the Bolsheviks
- Jun 24 American Professional Football Association renamed the National Football League
Chicago Bears Renamed
Jun 24 Charter NFL club Chicago Staleys renamed Chicago Bears by team founder, owner and head coach George Halas
- Jun 26 The emergency decrees under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution are invoked by the government to deal with deteriorating economic conditions
- Jun 27 Newberry Medal 1st presented for kids literature (Hendrik Van Loon)
- Jun 28 The Irish Civil War starts when Irish Free State forces attack anti-treaty republicans in Dublin
- Jun 29 France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes."
Nansen Passports Created
Jul 3 Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees, convened by Fridtjof Nansen in Geneva, creates the Nansen passports (for stateless persons)
- Jul 5 1st general election in Netherlands
- Jul 5 Uprising of social righteousness in Rio de Janeiro
- Jul 5 Women 1st vote in Dutch elections, Christian parties win
- Jul 6 Dutch auto/airplane manufacturer Trompenburg declares bankruptcy
- Jul 11 The Hollywood Bowl opens in Los Angeles
- Jul 15 1st duck-billed platypus publicly exhibited in US, at Bronx Zoological Park, New York City
- Jul 17 Curacao harbor workers begin strike under Felix Chacuto
Weissmuller Breaks 1 Minute Barrier
Jul 19 American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller first to break 1 minute barrier for 100m freestyle; swims 58.6s at Alameda, CA
- Jul 20 French and British Togoland make separate mandates within the League of Nations
- Jul 22 Cards enter 1st place, marks 1st time both St Louis teams are on top
- Jul 25 AT&T begins broadcasting on WBAY (NYC-later WEAF, WNBC, WRCA & WFAN)
- Jul 27 International Geographical Union forms in Brussels
- Jul 29 Greek troops defeat Turkish forces and are on their way to Constantinople, but the Allies forbid them taking the city
- Jul 31 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's 1st water skis (Minnesota)
- Jul 31 General strike in Italy against fascist violence
- Aug 1 Dutch editor and politician Hendrikus Colijn becomes political editor-in-chief of The Standard
- Aug 1 In Italy, the socialist 'Alianza del Lavoro' declare a national strike which collapses immediately and fascist forces destroy union and socialist headquarters
- Aug 2 China is hit by a typhoon; about 60,000 die
- Aug 4 Lizzie Murphy becomes the first female to play against MLB players in a charity exhibition; all-stars from New England and AL v Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park
- Aug 8 Pirates set record of 46 hits in a doubleheader (against Phillies)
Douglass' Home Made National Shrine
Aug 12 Dedication of Frederick Douglass' home in Washington, D.C. as national shrine
Cosgrave Replaces Collins
Aug 22 William T. Cosgrave replaces Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State after the later was ambushed and killed in a shoot out with anti-Treaty forces
- Aug 24 1st Phillie to hit for cycle (Cy Williams)
- Aug 25 Cubs beat Phillies 26-23 in highest scoring major-league game
- Aug 26 Japanese cruiser Niitaka driven onto rocks in storm at Kamchatka, 284 killed
- Aug 27 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 3000m (8:28.6)
- Aug 28 Albert von Tilzer & Neville Fleesons musical "The Gingham Girl" premieres in NYC
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists