1920 in the United States
Encyclopedia
January
- January 2 – The second of the Palmer RaidsPalmer RaidsThe Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
takes place with another 4,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities. - January 6 – Babe RuthBabe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
's December 26 trade to the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
is made public. (See 1919 in the United States1919 in the United States-January: * January 1 – Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company.*January 6 – Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, dies in his sleep at the age of 60....
.) - January 9 - Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George PolleyGeorge PolleyGeorge Gibson Polley was an American pioneer of buildering, or climbing the walls of tall buildings, earning him the nickname "the human fly"....
, climbs the New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Woolworth BuildingWoolworth BuildingThe Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York City. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 57 stories, one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City...
. He reached the 30th floor when a policeman arrested him for climbing without a permit - January 13 – The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
ridicules the American rocket scientist Robert H. GoddardRobert H. GoddardRobert Hutchings Goddard was an American professor, physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which he successfully launched on March 16, 1926...
. The newspaper printed a correction to this editorial on 17 July 1969 while the Apollo crew rocketed to the MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. - January 16 – Zeta Phi BetaZeta Phi BetaZeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean...
Sorority, Incorporated, is founded on the campus of Howard UniversityHoward UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... - January 16 - Prohibition in the United StatesProhibition in the United StatesProhibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
begins with the Eighteenth Amendment to the ConstitutionEighteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
coming into effect. - January 19 - The United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
votes against joining the League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. - January 30 – The oldest surviving pro wrestling match on film happens, with Joe StecherJoe StecherJoe Stecher , sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was a professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Champion. Stecher is the first wrestler to regain the original version of the World Heavyweight Championship....
defeating Earl CaddockEarl CaddockEarl Caddock was a professional wrestler who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. As the first man to bill himself as "The Man of 1,000 Holds" , Caddock was one of professional wrestling's biggest stars between the years of 1915 and 1922.-Early life:Earl Caddock was born...
.
February
- February 14 - The League of Women VotersLeague of Women VotersThe League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...
is founded in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. - February 22 – In Emeryville, CaliforniaEmeryville, CaliforniaEmeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
, the first dog racingGreyhound racingGreyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
track to employ an imitation rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
opens.
March
- March 1 - The United States Railroad AdministrationUnited States Railroad AdministrationThe United States Railroad Administration was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.- Background :On April 6, 1917, the...
returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies. - March 10 – The BaylorBaylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
Business Men's Club changes its name to the Baylor University Chamber of CommerceBaylor University Chamber of CommerceThe Baylor University Chamber of Commerce is the oldest student organization at Baylor University, founded in 1919, .-Purpose:...
. It has operated under this name since the change. - March 19 - United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
refuses to ratify Treaty of VersaillesTreaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. - March 28 – The 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak hits the Great Lakes region and Deep SouthDeep SouthThe Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
states.
April–May
- May 2 - The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
.
June–July
- June 13 - The United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
rules that children may not be sent via parcel post. - July 29 - The United States Bureau of ReclamationUnited States Bureau of ReclamationThe United States Bureau of Reclamation , and formerly the United States Reclamation Service , is an agency under the U.S...
begins construction of the Link River DamLink River DamThe Link River Dam is a concrete dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Co. The dam was built to control the water level of Klamath Lake in order to maximize power production...
as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
August–September
- August 20 - The first commercial radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station in the United States, 8MK (WWJWWJ (AM)WWJ is Detroit, Michigan's only 24-hour all-news radio station. Broadcasting at 950 kHz, the station is owned and operated by CBS Corporation subsidiary CBS Radio. The station first went on the air on August 20, 1920 with the call sign 8MK...
), begins operations in Detroit, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. - August 26 - 19th Amendment to US constitutionNineteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrageSuffrageSuffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
. - September 16 - The Wall Street bombingWall Street bombingThe Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and seriously injured 143...
: a bomb in a horse wagonCarriageA carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
explodes in front of the J. P. MorganJ. P. MorganJohn Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
building in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- 38 dead, 400 injured - September 17 – The National Football LeagueNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
is founded. - September 29 - First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – WestinghouseWestinghouse Electric (1886)Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
radio costs $10.
October–November
- November 2 - Warren G. HardingWarren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
defeats James M. CoxJames M. CoxJames Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920....
in the U.S. presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1920The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and a hostile response to certain policies of Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime economic boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's...
, the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote. - November 2 - In the United States, KDKA (AM)KDKA (AM)KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
of Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(owned by WestinghouseWestinghouse Electric (1886)Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1920The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and a hostile response to certain policies of Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime economic boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's...
.
December
- December 25 - Foundation of the Rosicrucian FellowshipRosicrucian FellowshipThe Rosicrucian Fellowship – "An International Association of Christian Mystics" – was founded in 1909 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of publicly promulgating "the true Philosophy" of the Rosicrucians....
's Spiritual Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" at Mount EcclesiaMount EcclesiaMount Ecclesia is the location of the international headquarters of the fraternal and service organization The Rosicrucian Fellowship, located on grounds in Oceanside, California...
, Oceanside, CaliforniaOceanside, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
.
Undated
- Because there are so many mixed-race persons and because so many Americans with some black ancestry appear white, the United States CensusUnited States CensusThe United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
stops counting mixed-race peoples and the one-drop ruleOne-drop ruleThe one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
becomes the national legal standard.
January
- January 6 - Early WynnEarly WynnEarly Wynn Jr. , nicknamed "Gus", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 25-year baseball career, he pitched for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox...
, baseball player (d. 1999) - January 15 - John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal
- January 20 - DeForest KelleyDeForest KelleyJackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
, American actor (d. 1999) - January 30 - Delbert MannDelbert MannDelbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
, American television and film director
February
- February 11 - Billy HalopBilly HalopWilliam "Billy" Halop was an American actor born in New York City.He came from a Jewish theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a child actress, who later worked on radio and in television...
, American actor (d. 1976) - February 12 - William Roscoe EstepWilliam Roscoe EstepWilliam Roscoe Estep was an American Baptist historian and professor. He was considered an authority on the Anabaptist movement.-Career and life:...
, American Baptist historian (d. 2000) - February 18 - Bill CullenBill CullenWilliam Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, American game show host (d. 1990) - February 18 - Eddie SlovikEddie SlovikEdward Donald Slovik was a private in the United States Army during World War II and the only American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War....
, U.S. Army private (d. 1945) - February 26 - Tony RandallTony RandallTony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
, American actor (d. 2004) - February 29 - Howard NemerovHoward NemerovHoward Nemerov was an American poet. He was twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1964, and again from 1988 to 1990. He received the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize for The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov...
, American poet (d. 1991)
March
- March 14 - Hank KetchamHank KetchamHenry King "Hank" Ketcham was an American cartoonist who created the Dennis the Menace comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily page and took up painting full time in his studio at his home. He received the Reuben Award for the strip in 1953...
, American cartoonist (d. 2001) - March 15 - Lawrence SandersLawrence SandersLawrence Sanders was an American novelist and short story writer.Lawrence Sanders was born in Brooklyn in New York City. After public school he attended Wabash College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then returned to New York and worked at Macy's Department Store...
, American novelist (d. 1998) - March 15 - E. Donnall ThomasE. Donnall ThomasDr. Edward Donnall Thomas is an American physician, professor emeritus at the University of Washington, and director emeritus of the clinical research division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 1990 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph E. Murray for the...
, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will... - March 20 - Pamela HarrimanPamela HarrimanPamela Beryl Harriman , also known as Pamela Churchill Harriman, was an English-born socialite who was married and linked to important and powerful men. In later life, she became a political activist for the United States Democratic Party and a diplomat...
, English-born U.S. Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
April
- April 2 - Jack WebbJack WebbJohn Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982) - April 5 - Arthur HaileyArthur HaileyArthur Hailey was a British/Canadian novelist.- Biography :Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, Hailey served in the Royal Air Force from the start of World War II during 1939 until 1947, when he went to live in Canada. Hailey's last novel, Detective , is a mystery told from the perspective of a...
, American writer (d. 2004) - April 6 - Edmond H. FischerEdmond H. FischerEdmond H. Fischer is a Swiss American biochemist. He and his collaborator Edwin G. Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins and regulate various cellular processes.-Early life:Fischer...
, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will... - April 29 - Harold ShaperoHarold ShaperoHarold Samuel Shapero is an American composer.-Early years:Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Shapero and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a child, and for some years was a pianist in dance orchestras. With a friend, he founded the Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing-era...
, American composer
May
- May 8 - Saul BassSaul BassSaul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
, American graphic designer (d. 1996) - May 11 - Denver PyleDenver PyleDenver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard .-Early life:...
, American actor (d. 1997) - May 23 - Helen O'ConnellHelen O'ConnellHelen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...
, American singer (d. 1993) - May 26 - Peggy LeePeggy LeePeggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, American singer (d. 2002) - May 28 - Gene LevittGene LevittEugene Levitt was an American television writer, producer and director....
, American television writer, producer, and director (d. 1999) - May 30 - Franklin SchaffnerFranklin SchaffnerFranklin James Schaffner was an American film director best known for such films as Planet of the Apes , Patton , Papillon , and The Boys from Brazil .-Early life:...
, American film and television director (d. 1989)
June
- June 2 - Tex SchrammTex SchrammTexas Earnest "Tex" Schramm, Jr. was the original president and general manager of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys franchise. Schramm became the head of the Cowboys when the former expansion team started operations in 1960.-Early life and career:Despite his name, Schramm was not born...
, American football executive (d. 2003) - June 12 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
- June 12 - Jim SiedowJim SiedowJim Nash Siedow was an American actor, best known for his role of Drayton "The Cook" Sawyer in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.-Life and career:Siedow was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming...
, American actor (d. 2003) - June 25 - Ozan MarshOzan MarshOzan Marsh was a pianist active in concert performances throughout the world as well as across the United States....
, American pianist - June 29 - Ray HarryhausenRay HarryhausenRay Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
, American animator
July
- July 10 - Owen ChamberlainOwen ChamberlainOwen Chamberlain was an American physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery, with collaborator Emilio Segrè, of antiprotons, a sub-atomic antiparticle.-Biography:...
, American physicist, Nobel PrizeNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
laureate - July 11 - Yul BrynnerYul BrynnerYul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
, Russian-born actor (d. 19851985 in the United States-January:* January 20 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term in office .* January 20 – Super Bowl XIX: The San Francisco 49ers defeat the Miami Dolphins 38–16 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California.* January 28 – In Hollywood, California, the...
) - July 24 - Bella AbzugBella AbzugBella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
, American politician (d. 1998)
August
- August 8 - Jimmy WitherspoonJimmy WitherspoonJimmy Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.-Early life and career:James Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. He first attracted attention singing with Teddy Weatherford's band in Calcutta, India, which made regular radio broadcasts over the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service during...
, American singer (d. 1997) - August 16 - Charles BukowskiCharles BukowskiHenry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
, American writer (d. 1994) - August 18 - Bob KennedyBob KennedyRobert Daniel Kennedy was a right fielder/third baseman, manager and executive in Major League Baseball.From 1939-1957, Kennedy played for the Chicago White Sox , Cleveland Indians , Baltimore Orioles , Detroit Tigers and Brooklyn Dodgers . He batted and threw right-handed...
, baseball player and manager (d. 2005) - August 18 - Shelley WintersShelley WintersShelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
, American actress (d. 2006) - August 22 - Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, American writer - August 29 - Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
September
- September 14 - Lawrence KleinLawrence KleinLawrence Robert Klein is an American economist. For his work in creating computer models to forecast economic trends in the field of econometrics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1980...
, American economist, Nobel PrizeNobel Memorial Prize in Economic SciencesThe Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, but officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel , is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, generally regarded as one of the...
laureate - September 18 - Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
, American actor (d. 2006) - September 22 - William H. RikerWilliam H. RikerWilliam Harrison Riker was an American political scientist who applied game theory and mathematics to political science....
, American political scientist (d. 1993) - September 23 - Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, American film actor - September 27 - Jayne MeadowsJayne Meadows-Early life:Jayne Meadows was born as Jayne Cotter in Wu-ch'ang, in Heilongjiang, China, to Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, who had married in 1915. Meadows is the older sister of the late actress Audrey Meadows. She...
, American actress
October
- October 1 - Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, American actor (d. 2000) - October 8 - Frank HerbertFrank HerbertFranklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
, American author (d. 19861986 in the United States-January:* January 12 – STS-61-C: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched with the first Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz.* January 20 – The first federal Martin Luther King, Jr...
) - October 15 - Mario PuzoMario PuzoMario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
, American author of Science fiction (d. 1999) - Octpber 20 - Janet JaganJanet JaganJanet Jagan was an American-born socialist politician who was President of Guyana from December 19, 1997, to August 11, 1999. She previously served as Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17, 1997, to December 19, 1997....
, President of Guyana (1997–1999), abdominal aortic aneurysmAbdominal aortic aneurysmAbdominal aortic aneurysm is a localized dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent, and is the most common form of aortic aneurysm...
(d. 20092009 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: George W. Bush , Barack Obama * Vice President: Dick Cheney , Joe Biden * Chief Justice: John Roberts...
) - October 22 - Timothy LearyTimothy LearyTimothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, American psychologist and author (d. 1996) - October 25 - Guy M. TownsendGuy M. TownsendGuy Mannering Townsend III was a retired United States Air Force Brigadier General, test pilot, and combat veteran...
, American Air Force brigadier general and test pilot (d. 20112011 in the United States- Incumbents :* President: Barack Obama * Vice President: Joe Biden * Chief Justice: John Roberts* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nancy Pelosi until January 3, John Boehner since January 5...
)
December
- December 6 - Dave BrubeckDave BrubeckDavid Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, American jazz pianist and composer - December 21 - J. Roderick MacArthurJ. Roderick MacArthurJohn Roderick MacArthur was a U.S. businessman and philanthropist. The J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, a philanthropic organization interested in Civil Liberties in the United States, and the MacArthur Justice Center at the Northwestern University School of Law are named after him. He is the...
, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 19841984 in the United States-January:*January 1 – US Bell System is broken up.*January 3 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan meets with Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman and the Reverend Jesse Jackson at the White House, following Lieutenant Goodman's release from Syrian captivity....
) - December 30 - Jack LordJack LordJohn Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
, American actor (d. 1998)
Deaths
- February 2 - Field Eugene Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
- February 3 - Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
- February 15 - Joseph Burton SumnerJoseph Burton SumnerJoseph Burton Sumner was a figure in the founding of Sumner, Mississippi.Sumner and his family moved to Tallahatchie County, Mississippi from Alabama around January, 1872. J. B. Sumner built the first general store and post office in the town that was later named for him in 1885, where he became...
, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837) - February 20 - Joseph J. FernJoseph J. FernJoseph “Joe” James Fern was the first Mayor of Honolulu from 1909 to 1915 and again from 1917 to 1920. During and after his tenure, Fern became one of the most beloved political figures in the Territory of Hawaii...
, Mayor of Honolulu (b. 1872) - February 20 - Robert PearyRobert PearyRobert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856) - February 27 - William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)
- March 1 - John H. BankheadJohn H. BankheadJohn Hollis Bankhead was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama.-Biography:He was born on September 13, 1842. He was appointed, then elected, to serve out the remainder of the term left by the death of John Tyler Morgan, and was later re-elected twice. He served in the Senate from June 18, 1907...
, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842) - March 1 - William A. StoneWilliam A. StoneWilliam Alexis Stone was the 22nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1899 to 1903.-Early life:Stone was born in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In 1864, Stone enlisted in the Union Army as a private during the American Civil War, and became a second lieutenant in 1865. He continued his military service after...
, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846) - March 4 - Roswell P. BishopRoswell P. BishopRoswell Peter Bishop was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.-Biography:Bishop was born in Sidney, New York, and attended Unadilla Academy, Cooperstown Seminary and Walton Academy, all in Upstate New York, after which he taught school for several years.During the American Civil War, he...
, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843) - March 26 - William Chester MinorWilliam Chester MinorWilliam Chester Minor, also known as W. C. Minor was an American army surgeon who, later, was one of the largest contributors of quotations to the Oxford English Dictionary...
, American surgeon (b. 1834) - March 31 - Edwin WarfieldEdwin WarfieldEdwin Warfield , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 45th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1904 to 1908.-Early life:...
, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848) - April 8 - John BrashearJohn BrashearDr. John Alfred Brashear was an American astronomer and instrument builder.- Life and work :Brashear was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. His father, Basil Brown Brashear, was a saddler, and his mother, Julia Smith Brashear, was a...
, American astronomer (b. 1840) - April 8 - Charles GriffesCharles GriffesCharles Tomlinson Griffes was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and for voice.-Musical career:...
, American composer (b. 1884) - April 21 - Maria L. SanfordMaria L. SanfordMaria Louise Sanford was an American educator.Maria Sanford was born in Saybrook, Connecticut. Her love for education began early; at the age of 16 she was already teaching in county day schools. She graduated from Connecticut Normal School , using her dowry funds for tuition...
, American educator (b. 1836) - May 11 - William Dean HowellsWilliam Dean HowellsWilliam Dean Howells was an American realist author and literary critic. Nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters", he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novel The Rise of...
, American writer (b. 1837) - May 16 - Levi P. MortonLevi P. MortonLevi Parsons Morton was a Representative from New York and the 22nd Vice President of the United States . He also later served as the 31st Governor of New York.-Biography:...
, Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
(b. 1824) - May 21 - Eleanor H. PorterEleanor H. Porter-Biography:She was born as Eleanor Hodgman in Littleton, New Hampshire on December 19, 1868, the daughter of Francis Fletcher Hodgman and Llewella Woolson. She was trained as a singer, attending New England Conservatory for several years, but later turned to writing. In 1892, she married John Lyman...
, American novelist (b. 1868) - June 5 - Julia A. MooreJulia A. MooreJulia Ann Moore, the "Sweet Singer of Michigan", born Julia Ann Davis in Plainfield Township, Kent County, Michigan , was an American poet, or more precisely, poetaster...
, American poet (b. 1847) - June 18 - Jewett W. AdamsJewett W. AdamsJewett William Adams was an American politician. He was the 4th Governor of Nevada. He was a member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:Adams was born in South Hero, Vermont. He came west with the California Gold Rush...
, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835) - July 2 - William Louis MarshallWilliam Louis MarshallWilliam Louis Marshall was born June 11, 1846, in Washington, Kentucky, a scion of the family of Chief Justice John Marshall. At age 16 he enlisted in the 10th Kentucky Cavalry, Union Army. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1868 and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers...
, American general and engineer (b. 1846) - July 22 - William Kissam VanderbiltWilliam Kissam VanderbiltWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
, American heir (b. 1849) - August 1 - Frank HanlyFrank HanlyJames Franklin Hanly was a United States politician who served as a congressman from Indiana from 1895 until 1897, and was the 26th Governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909...
, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863) - August 2 - Ormer LocklearOrmer LocklearOrmer Leslie "Lock" Locklear was an American daredevil stunt pilot and film actor during and immediately after World War I.-Early life and career:...
, American pilot (b. 1891) - August 17 - Ray ChapmanRay ChapmanRaymond Johnson Chapman was an American baseball player, spending his entire career as a shortstop for Cleveland....
, baseball player (b. 1891) - August 26 - James WilsonJames Wilson (U.S. politician)James "Tama Jim" Wilson was a Scotland-born United States politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture for sixteen years during three presidencies, from 1897 to 1913. He holds the record as the longest-serving United States Cabinet member.-Personal background:Wilson was born in...
, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835) - September 10 - Olive ThomasOlive ThomasOlive Thomas was an American silent film actress and model. She is best remembered for her marriage to Jack Pickford and her death.-Early life:...
, American actress (b. 1894) - October 2 - Winthrop M. CraneWinthrop M. CraneWinthrop Murray Crane was a U.S. political figure. He served as the 40th Governor of Massachusetts between 1900 and 1903. He also served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1904 until 1913...
, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator (b. 1853) - October 17 - John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
- November 30 - Eugene W. ChafinEugene W. ChafinEugene Wilder Chafin was an United States politician from the Prohibition Party. Chafin was born in East Troy, Wisconsin and worked as a lawyer at Waukesha, Wisconsin from 1876 to 1900...
, American politician (b. 1852) - December 14 - George GippGeorge GippGeorge "The Gipper" Gipp was a college football player who played for the University of Notre Dame. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first All-American and is Notre Dame's second consensus All-American , after Gus Dorais. Gipp played multiple positions, most notably halfback, quarterback, and...
, American football player (b. 1895)