1920

This article is about the year 1920. For the number (and other uses), see 1920 (number). For the film, see 1920 (film).

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1890s  1900s  1910s  – 1920s –  1930s  1940s  1950s
Years:	1917 1918 1919 – 1920 – 1921 1922 1923

1920 by topic:

Subject

Archaeology – Architecture – Art – Aviation – Awards – Comics – Film – Literature (Poetry) – Meteorology – Music (Country) – Rail transport – Radio – Science – Sports – Television

By country

Australia – Canada – China – Ecuador – France – Germany – Greece – India – Ireland – Italy – Japan – Malaya – Mexico – New Zealand – Norway – Palestine (British administered) – Philippines – Russia – Singapore – South Africa – UK – USA

Leaders

Sovereign states – State leaders – Religious leaders – Law

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

Works and introductions categories

Works – Introductions

1920 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	1920 MCMXX
Ab urbe condita	2673
Armenian calendar	1369 ԹՎ ՌՅԿԹ
Assyrian calendar	6670
Bahá'í calendar	76–77
Bengali calendar	1327
Berber calendar	2870
British Regnal year	9 Geo. 5 – 10 Geo. 5
Buddhist calendar	2464
Burmese calendar	1282
Byzantine calendar	7428–7429
Chinese calendar	己未年十一月十一日 (4556/4616-11-11) — to — 庚申年十一月廿二日 (4557/4617-11-22)
Coptic calendar	1636–1637
Ethiopian calendar	1912–1913
Hebrew calendar	5680–5681
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1976–1977
- Shaka Samvat	1842–1843
- Kali Yuga	5021–5022
Holocene calendar	11920
Iranian calendar	1298–1299
Islamic calendar	1338–1339
Japanese calendar	Taishō 9 (大正9年)
Korean calendar	4253
Minguo calendar	ROC 9 民國9年
Thai solar calendar	2463

Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar.

Events

January

• January 1 – Babe Ruth is traded by the Red Sox for $100,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time.
• January 2 – The second of the Palmer Raids takes place with another 4,025 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities.
• January 7
  • The forces of Russian White Admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. The Great Siberian Ice March ensues.
  • The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
• January 9 – Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George Polley climbs the New York Woolworth Building. He reaches the 30th floor before being arrested.
• January 10 – League of Nations Covenant enters into force.
• January 11 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was recognised de facto by European powers in Versailles.
• January 13 – The New York Times ridicules the American rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard. The newspaper has to publicly take it all back later on July 17 1969 when the Apollo crew is on its trek to the Moon.
• January 16
  • Prohibition begins in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect.
  • The World War I Allies demand that the Netherlands extradite the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who has fled there.
  • Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
• January 19 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
• January 22 – The Australian Country Party is officially formed, led by Nelson Pollard.
• January 23 – The Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser.
• January 28
  • The Spanish Legion is founded and stationed in North Africa to fight lions in Morocco.
  • Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire and most of the non-Turkish areas.
• January 30 – The oldest surviving pro wrestling match on film happens, with Joe Stecher defeating Earl Caddock.

February

February 2: Tartu Peace Treaty

• February 2
  • Estonian War of Independence: The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed, ending the war and recognizing Estonian independence.
  • France occupies Memel.
  • Sayyid Muhammad, Khan of Khiva abdicates.
• February 7 – Admiral Kolchak and Viktor Pepelyayev are executed by firing squad near Irkutsk.
• February 9 – The League of Nations gives Spitzbergen to Norway.
• February 10 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs the symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating the restitution of Polish access to the open sea.
• February 14 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
• February 17 – A woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to a mental hospital, where she claims she is Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.
• February 20 – An earthquake hits Gori Georgia, killing 114.
• February 21 – The island province of Marinduque in the Philippines archipelago is founded.
• February 22 – In Emeryville, California, the first dog racing track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
• February 24 – Adolf Hitler presents his National Socialist program in Munich.

March

• March
  • Syrian National Congress proclaim Syria independent with Faisal I of Iraq as king.
  • The world's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden. Hjalmar Branting takes over when Nils Edén resigns.
• March 1
  • Hungarian Admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary.
  • The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
• March 10 – The Baylor Business Men's Club changes its name to the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce. It has operated under this name since the change.
• March 13–March 17 – Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike.
• March 15 – The Ruhr Red Army, a communist army 60,000 men strong, is formed in Germany.
• March 19 – The United States Congress refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
• March 23 – Admiral Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy without anyone on the throne.
• March 26
  • The German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against the rebellious Ruhr Red Army in the French-occupied area.
  • Irish War of Independence: The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland.
• March 28 – The 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak hits the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.
• March 29 – Sir William Robertson, who enlisted in 1877, becomes a field marshal in the British Army, the first man to rise to this rank from private.
• March 31 – The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in the British Parliament.

April

• April 2 – The German army marches to the Ruhr to fight the Ruhr Red Army.
• April 4 – 1920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 killed, 216 injured.
• April 6 – The short-lived Far Eastern Republic is declared in eastern Siberia.
• April 11 – Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón flees from Mexico City during a trial intended to ruin his reputation; he flees to Guerrero where he joins Fortunato Maycotte.
• April 19 – Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war.
• April 20
  • Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón announces in Chilpancingo that he intends to fight against the rule of Venustiano Carranza.
  • The 1920 Summer Olympics opens in Antwerp, Belgium
• April 23 The Turkish Council is founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
• April 24 – Polish–Soviet War: Polish and anti-Soviet Ukrainian troops attack the Red Army in Soviet Ukraine.
• April 26 – The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic is officially created by Bolshevist Russia as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva.

May

• May 2 – The first game of Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• May 3 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia .
• May 7
  • Polish–Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kiev. The government of the Ukrainian People's Republic returns to the city.
  • Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza leaves Mexico City in a large train.
  • Treaty of Moscow (1920): Soviet Russia recognizes independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
• May 19 – Mexican Revolution: Álvaro Obregón's troops enter Mexico City.
• May 15 – Russian Revolution: Russian White soldier Maria Bochkareva is executed in Soviet Russia.
• May 16
  • Joan of Arc is canonised. Over 30,000 people attend the ceremony in Rome, including 140 descendants of Joan of Arc's family. Pope Benedict XV presides over the rite, for which the interior of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is richly decorated.
  • A referendum in Switzerland is favorable to joining the League of Nations.
• May 17
  • French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
  • The first flight of Dutch air company KLM, from Amsterdam to London, takes place.
• May 20 – Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza arrives in San Antonio Tlaxcalantongo. Troops of Rodolfo Herrero attack him at night and shoot him.
• May 24 – Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City; all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president.
• May 26 – Anti-Soviet opposition in the Azerbaijan SSR launches an abortive revolt in Ganja.
• May 27 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
• May 29 – The Great Louth Flood kills 23.

June

• June 4 – Treaty of Trianon: Peace is restored between the Allied Powers and Hungary. Hungary lost 72% of its territory.
• June 12 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army retakes Kiev.
• June 13
  • Essad Pasha Toptani, nominal ruler of Albania, is assassinated by Avni Rustemi in Paris.
  • The United States Post Office Department rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.
• June 15 – A new border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
• June 22 – Greece attacks Turkish troops.

July

• July 1 – Germany declares its neutrality in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia.
• July 2 – Polish–Soviet War: Red Army continues offensive into Poland.
• July 23 – Arthur Meighen becomes Canada's ninth prime minister.
• July 12 – Bolshevist Russia recognizes independent Lithuania.
• July 13 – London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs.^{[citation needed]}
• July 19 – August 7 – The Second Congress of the Communist International takes place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. The notorious Twenty-one Conditions are adopted.
• July 20 – The United Kingdom cedes its brief control of the key Black Sea port of Batum to the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
• July 22 – Polish–Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia (refused).
• July 23 – Battle of Maysalun: The French defeat the Syrian army.
• July 24 – French troops occupy Damascus and depose Faisal I of Syria as king.
• July 26 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes over Sabina and contacts de la Huerta to offer his conditional surrender. He signs his surrender on July 28.
• July 29 – The United States Bureau of Reclamation begins construction of the Link River Dam as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
• July 30–August 8 – 1st World Scout Jamboree held at Olympia, London.
• July 31
  • Irish-born Australian Catholic Bishop Daniel Mannix is detained onboard ship off Queenstown and prevented from landing in Ireland or from speaking in the main Irish Catholic communities elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
  • France prohibits the sale or prescription of contraceptives.

August

• August 2 – Irish War of Independence: The British Parliament passes a bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials.
• August 3 – Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast.
• August 10 – Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres.
• August 11 – Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Estonia and Latvia.
• August 13 – August 25 – Polish–Soviet War: The Red Army is defeated in the Battle of Warsaw.
• August 15 – Irish War of Independence: The town hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots.
• August 19–August 25 – Second Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise up against the Germans.
• August 20 – The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by the Detroit News, the first U.S. radio station owned by a newspaper.
• August 26 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.

September

• September 4 – El Tercio de Extranjeros, the "Regiment of Foreigners" (modern-day Spanish Legion) is inaugurated in Spain.
• September 5 – Presidential elections begin in Mexico.
• September 8 – Gabriele d'Annunzio proclaims the Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city of Fiume.
• 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, killing 38 and injuring 400.
• September 17 – The National Football League was founded.
• September 20 – The first soldier joins the Spanish Legion.
• September 22 – The Flying Squad is formed in the London Metropolitan Police.
• September 27 – Polish–Soviet War: Bolshevist Russia sues for peace with Poland.
• September 29
  • The first domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States; a Westinghouse radio costs $10.
  • Adolf Hitler makes his first public political speech, in Austria.

October

• October 9 – Polish troops take Vilnius.
• October 10 – Carinthian Plebiscite: A large part of Carinthia Province votes to become part of Austria rather than Yugoslavia.
• October 12 – Polish–Soviet War: After the Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
• October 14 – A peace treaty between the Soviet and the Finnish governments is concluded at Tartu.
• October 18 – Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London; 50 are injured.
• October 26 – Álvaro Obregón is announced the elected president of Mexico.
• October 27 – The League of Nations moves its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland.

November

• November 2
  • United States presidential election, 1920: Republican Warren G. Harding defeats Democrat James M. Cox and Socialist Eugene V. Debs, in the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
  • In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the results of the presidential election.
• November 11 – The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey.
• November 15 – In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held.
• November 16 – Queensland and Northern Territory Aviation Services (Qantas) is founded by Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinniss.
• November 17 – The council of the League of Nations accepts the constitution for the Free City of Danzig.
• November 21 – Bloody Sunday: British forces open fire on spectators and players during a football match in Dublin's Croke Park, killing 14 Irish civilians. This follows the assassinations of 12 British agents by the IRA in an earlier attack elsewhere.
• November 28 – Kilmichael Ambush: The Third Cork Brigade Flying Column under Tom Barry successfully ambushes 2 lorries of British soldiers at Kilmichael, County Cork,
• The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra holds its first concert in the world, along with Martha Washington.

December

• December 5 – A referendum in Greece is favorable to the reinstatement of the monarchy.
• December 11 – Martial law is declared in Ireland.
• December 16
  • Finland joins the League of Nations.
  • An 8.6 Richter scale Haiyuan earthquake causes a landslide in Gansu Province, China, killing 180,000.
• December 15 – December 22 – The Brussels Conference establishes a timetable for German war reparations intended to extend for over 42 years.
• December 22 – The 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR adopts the GOELRO plan, the major plan of the economical development of the country.
• December 23 – The United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.
• December 25 – The Rosicrucian Fellowship's spiritual healing temple The Ecclesia is founded at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California.

Date unknown

• Hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic closely related to codeine is first synthesized in Germany.

Births

January–February

• January 1
  • Heinz Zemanek, Austrian computer pioneer
  • Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (d. 2009)
• January 2
  • Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
  • George Herbig, American astronomer
  • Anne-Sofie Østvedt, Norwegian resistance leader (d. 2009)
• January 3 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
• January 5 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
• January 6
  • Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist, founder of the Unification Church
  • John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
  • Early Wynn, American baseball player (d. 1999)
• January 9
  • Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and philanthropist (d. 1998)
  • Clive Dunn, British actor
• January 12 – Bill Reid, Canadian artist (d. 1998)
• January 15 – John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
• January 16 – Elliott Reid, American actor
• January 19 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian Secretary-General of the United Nations
• January 20
  • Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
  • DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
• January 23 – Gottfried Böhm, German architect
• January 24 – Jerry Maren, American actor
• January 27 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (d. 2002)
• January 30
  • Delbert Mann, American television and film director (d. 2007)
  • Michael Anderson, English film director
• February 2 – Heikki Suolahti, Finnish composer (d. 1936)
• February 3 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and medical researcher
• February 7 – An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)
• February 11
  • Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
  • Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
• February 12 – William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (d. 2000)
• February 13 – Seneka Bibile, Sri Lankan pharmacologist (d. 1977)
• February 17 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian film director (d. 2001)
• February 18
  • Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
  • Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (executed) (d. 1945)
• February 22 – Burt L. Talcott, American politician
• February 26
  • Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
  • Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer, and traveler (d. 2006)
• February 29 – Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)

March–April

• March 3
  • James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (d. 2005)
  • Ronald Searle, British cartoonist
• March 4
  • Jean Lecanuet, French politician (d. 1993)
  • Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish actor (d. 2002)
• March 5
  • Rachel Gurney, British actress,(Upstairs Downstairs) (d. 2001)
  • Del Latta, American politician
• March 6 – Lewis Gilbert, British film director, producer and screenwriter
• March 10
  • Alfred Peet, Dutch American entrepreneur, founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea (d. 2007)
  • Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician (d. 1959)
• March 11 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• March 14 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
• March 15
  • Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
  • E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• March 17 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founder of Bangladesh, first President & Prime minister of Bangladesh. (d. 1975)
• March 16 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• March 19
  • Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian poet and artist (d. 2002)
  • Paul Hagen, Danish actor (d. 2003)
• March 20
  • Pamela Harriman, English-born U.S. ambassador to France (d. 1997)
  • Vickie Panos, Greek-Canadian female professional baseball player
• March 22 – Werner Klemperer, German actor (d. 2000)
• March 23 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
• March 24 – Corbin Harney, elder and spiritual leader of the Newe (Western Shoshone) people (d. 2007)
• March 25
  • Patrick Troughton, British actor (d. 1987)
  • Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)
• March 27 – Robin Jacques, English illustrator (d. 1995)
• March 31 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, English Dowager Duchess
• April 1 – Toshirō Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
• April 2 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
• April 4 – Éric Rohmer, French film director (d. 2010)
• April 5
  • Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1971 until 1973 (d. 2001)
  • Arthur Hailey, American writer (d. 2004)
• April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• April 7 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player
• April 8 – Carmen McRae, American jazz singer (d. 1994)
• April 11 – Peter O'Donnell, British author and writer of comic strips (d. 2010)
• April 12 – Buck Young, American actor (d. 2000)
• April 13
  • Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
  • Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of Ireland
  • Jack Lambert, American actor (d. 2002)
• April 15
  • Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-born psychiatrist and writer
  • Richard von Weizsäcker, German politician, President of Germany from 1984 until 1994
• April 19 – Gene Leis, American jazz guitarist and eductor (d. 1993)
• April 21 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
• April 27 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
• April 29 – Harold Shapero, American composer

May–June

• May 2
  • Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
  • Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-born writer and ecological activist (d. 2000)
  • Preben Neergaard, Danish actor (d. 1990)
• May 6 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
• May 8 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
• May 9 – Richard Adams, English author
• May 11 – Denver Pyle, American actor (d. 1997)
• May 13 – Gareth Morris, British flautist (d. 2007)
• May 18
  • Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
  • Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• May 19 – Renée Asherson, English actress
• May 20 – Domenico Leccisi, Italian politician (d. 2008)
• May 23
  • Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
  • Sid Melton, American actor (d. 2011)
• May 26 – Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)
• May 28 – Gene Levitt, American television writer, producer, and director (d. 1999)
• May 29 – John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
• May 30 – Franklin Schaffner, American film and television director (d. 1989)
• June 2 – Tex Schramm, American football executive (d. 2003)
• June 11 King Mahendra,king of Nepal (d. 1972)
• June 12
  • Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
  • Jim Siedow, American actor (d. 2003)
• June 16 – José López Portillo, President of Mexico (d. 2004)
• June 17
  • Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (d. 1981)
  • François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• June 25 – Ozan Marsh, American pianist (d. 1992)
• June 29 – Ray Harryhausen, American animator

July–August

• July 4 – Leona Helmsley, hotel operator, real estate investor (d. 2007)
• July 10 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• July 11 – Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (d. 1985)
• July 13
  • Bill Towers, English footballer (d. 2000)
  • Don Ralke, American music arranger (d. 2000)
• July 15 – Theresa Kobuszewski, American professional baseball pllayer and World War II veteran (d. 2005)
• July 17
  • Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president (d. 2010)
  • June Vincent, American actress (d. 2008)
• July 18 – Dolph Sweet, American actor (d. 1985)
• July 21
  • Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 2005)
  • Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
• July 24 – Bella Abzug, American feminist politician (d. 1998)
• July 25 – Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (d. 1958)
• August 1 – Sammy Lee, Korean-American diver
• August 2 – Reginald Hugh Hickling, British lawyer, colonial civil servant, law academic and author (d. 2007)
• August 4 – Helen Thomas, American author and former news service reporter, member of the White House press corps and columnist
• August 8
  • Leo Chiosso, Italian poet (d. 2006)
  • Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)
• August 9 – Milton G. Henschel, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and 5th President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (d. 2003)
• August 16 – Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
• August 17 – Maureen O'Hara, Irish actress
• August 18
  • Bob Kennedy, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
  • Shelley Winters, American actress (d. 2006)
• August 20
  • Ann Harnett, American female baseball player
  • Red Holzman, American basketball coach (d. 1998)
• August 21 – Christopher Robin Milne, English author and bookseller (d. 1996)
• August 22 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer
• August 26
  • Mauri Favén, Finnish painter (d. 2006)
  • Prem Tinsulanonda, Thai prime minister
• August 29 – Charlie Parker, African-American saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)

September–October

• September 3 – Les Medley, English footballer (d. 2001)
• September 4 – Catherine Bennett, Canadian female professional baseball player
• September 10 – Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (d. 2001)
• September 14
  • Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (d. 2009)
  • Cascarita [a.k.a. Orlando Guerra], Cuban music singer (d. 1975)
  • 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 and first husband of Ava Gardner
• September 24 – Dick Bong, American fighter ace (d. 1945)
• September 27 – Jayne Meadows, American actress
• September 29 – Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• October 1
  • Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001)
  • Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
• October 6
  • Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (d. 2005)
  • Helen Andelin, American author (d. 2009)
• October 8 – Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
• October 9 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
• October 13 – Laraine Day, American actress (d. 2007)
• October 15 – Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999)
• October 17 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (d. 2010)
• October 19 – Pandurang Shastri Athavale, founder of the Swadhyay Movement (d. 2003)
• October 22
  • Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author, proponent of LSD (d. 1996)
  • Pope John Paul II, 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
• October 29 – Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)
• October 30 – Norman Bird, British character actor (d. 2005)
• October 31
  • Dick Francis, British jockey-turned-novelist (d. 2010)
  • Joseph Gelineau, French composer (d. 2008)
  • Fritz Walter, German footballer (d. 2002)

November–December

• November 2 – Ann Rutherford, Canadian actress
• November 17 – George Dunning, cartoon director and animator (d. 1979)
• November 21 – Stan Musial, Baseball legend
• November 22 – Anne Crawford, British actress (d. 1956)
• November 25 – Ricardo Montalban, Mexican actor (d. 2009)
• November 27 – Buster Merryfield, British actor (d. 1999)
• November 28 – Patrick Campbell Rodger, Scottish Anglican bishop (d. 2002)
• November 29 – Yegor Ligachev, Soviet politician
• November 30 – Virginia Mayo, American actress (d. 2005)
• December 6
  • Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer
  • George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• December 9 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic
• December 10 – Stanko Todorov, Bulgarian communist politician (d. 1996)
• December 13 – Sally Mansfield, American actress (d. 2001)
• December 21 – J. Roderick MacArthur, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1984)
• December 24 – Evgeniya Rudneva, Soviet World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• December 29
  • Josefa Iloilo, 3rd President of Fiji (d. 2011)
  • Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
• December 30 – Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)
• December 31 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer, songwriter (d. 1999)

Date unknown

• Tommy J. Smith, Australian trainer (d. 1998)
• Amos Yarkoni, Israeli soldier (d. 1991)

Deaths

January–March

• January 2 – Paul Adam, French writer (b. 1862)
• January 3 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1888)
• January 4 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
• January 6 – Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathematician (b. 1839)
• January 7 – Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
• January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet (b. 1825)
• January 22 – Georg Lurich, Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
• January 24
  • William Percy French, Irish songwriter and entertainer (b. 1854)
  • Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (tuberculosis) (b. 1884)
  • William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, British diplomat and administrator (b. 1864)
• January 26 – Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist, model, and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani (suicide) (b. 1898)
• February 2 – Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
• February 3 – Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
• February 6 – Augustus F. Goodridge, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1839)
• February 7 – Aleksandr Kolchak, Russian naval commander (b. 1874)
• February 11 – Gaby Deslys, French dancer, actress & spy (b. 1881)
• February 15 – Aleksander Aberg, Estonian professional wrestler and strongman (b. 1881)
• February 15 – Joseph Burton Sumner, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837)
• February 20
  • Joseph J. Fern, Mayor of Honolulu (b. 1872)
  • Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856)
  • Jacinta Marto, Beatified,witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 at Fátima, Portugal (b. 1910)
• February 27 – William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)
• March 1
  • John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842)
  • William A. Stone, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846)
  • Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (b. 1880)
• March 3 – Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (b. 1840)
• March 4 – Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)
• March 7 – Jaan Poska, Estonian barrister and politician (b. 1866)
• March 11 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
• March 13 – Charles Lapworth, English geologist (b. 1842)
• March 21 – Evelina Haverfield British suffragette (b. 1867)
• March 26
  • William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)
  • Mary Augusta Ward, Tasmanian novelist (b. 1851)
• March 31
  • Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (b. 1837)
  • Lothar von Trotha, German military commander (b. 1848)
  • Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)

April–June

• April 8
  • John Brashear, American astronomer (b. 1840)
  • Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
• April 9 – Moritz Cantor, German historian of mathematics (b. 1829)
• April 21 – Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)
• April 26 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
• May 1 – Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (b. 1882)
• May 11
  • James Colosimo, Italian-born gangster (b. 1877)
  • William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
• May 16 – Levi P. Morton, Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)
• May 21
  • Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)
  • Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)
• May 23 – Svetozar Borojevic, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b. 1856)
• May 28 – Hardwicke Rawnsley, English clergyman, poet, writer of hymns and conservationist (b. 1851)
• May 30 – George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer (b. 1862)
• June 5
  • Rhoda Broughton, Welsh writer (b. 1840)
  • Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)
• June 6 – James Dunsmuir, Canadian politician (b. 1851)
• June 13 – Essad Pasha, Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1863)
• June 14
  • Gabrielle Réjane, French actress (b. 1856)
  • Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864)
• June 18
  • Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)
  • John Macoun, Irish born naturalist (b. 1831)
• June 20
  • Marie Adolphe Carnot, French chemist, mining engineer, and politician (b. 1839)
  • John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1838)
• June 27 – Adolphe Basile Routhier, Canadian poet (b. 1839)

July–September

• July 1 – Delfim Moreira, President of Brazil (b. 1868)
• July 2 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (b. 1846)
• July 5 – Max Klinger, German painter and sculptor (b. 1857)
• July 10 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
• July 11 – Empress Eugénie of France (b. 1826)
• July 14 – Albert Keller, German painter (b. 1844)
• July 17 – Sir Edmund Elton, 8th Baronet (b. 1846)
• July 22 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)
• August 1
  • Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)
  • Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist (b. 1856)
• August 2 – Ormer Locklear, American pilot (b. 1891)
• August 9 – Samuel Griffith, Australian politician and judge (b. 1845)
• August 10
  • James O'Neill, American actor (b. 1847)
  • Adam Politzer, Austrian otologist (b. 1835)
• August 12 – Hermann Struve, Russian-born astronomer (b. 1854)
• August 16
  • Henry Daglish, Premier of Western Australia (b. 1866)
  • Joseph Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (b. 1836)
• August 17 – Ray Chapman, baseball player (b. 1891)
• August 22 – Anders Zorn, Swedish painter (b. 1860)
• August 26 – James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)
• August 31 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist and psychologist (b. 1832)
• September 5 – Robert Harron, American actor (b. 1893)
• September 7 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)
• September 10 – Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)
• September 18 – Robert Beaven, Canadian politician (b. 1836)
• September 24 – Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweler (b. 1846)
• September 25 – Jacob Schiff, German-born banker and philanthropist (b. 1847)
• September 30 – William Wilfred Sullivan, Canadian journalist, politician, and jurist (b. 1843)

October–December

• October 2 – Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator (b. 1853)
• October 10 – Hudson Stuck, English mountaineer (b. 1865)
• October 17 – Reginald John Farrer, English botanist (b. 1880)
• October 19 – John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
• October 20 – Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)
• October 24 – Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (b. 1853)
• October 25 – Alexander of Greece, Greek king (b. 1893)
• November 1 – Kevin Barry, Irish republican (hanged) (b. 1902)
• November 3 – Warren Terhune, United States Navy Commander, and the 13th Governor of American Samoa (b. 1869)
• November 4 – Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1858)
• November 13 – Luc-Olivier Merson, French painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
• November 21 – Michael Hogan, Irish activist shot during a Gaelic football match by the British army, who also killed 14 Irish supporters
• November 22 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet (b. 1884)
• November 23 – George Callaghan, British admiral (b. 1852)
• November 25
  • Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, leader of the women’s suffrage movement and one of Kentucky's leading progressive reformers (b. 1872)
  • Gaston Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and manufacturer (b. 1892)
• November 30 – Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)
• December 3 – William de Wiveleslie Abney, English astronomer and photographer (b. 1843)
• December 11 – Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
• December 12 – Edward Gawler Prior, Canadian mining engineer and politician (b. 1854)
• December 14 – George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
• December 24 – Stephen Mosher Wood, American Politician (b. 1832)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Charles Edouard Guillaume
• Chemistry – Walther Nernst
• Medicine – Schack August Steenberg Krogh
• Literature – Knut Hamsun
• Peace – Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois