1920 - Definition

1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar)

Events

January

• January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk.
• January 9 - Britain announces it will build 100,000 homes for war veterans.
• January 10 - League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.
• January 15 - Prohibition goes into effect.
• January 16 - Allies demand that Netherlands extradite German Kaiser who has fled there.
• January 19 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
• January 23 - Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser.
• January 28 - The Spanish legion is founded and stationed in North Africa to fight rebels in Morocco.
• January 28 - Turkey gives up Ottoman empire and non-Turkish areas.

February

• February 1 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
• February 2 - Estonia's independence is recognised.
• February 2 - France occupies Memel.
• February 9 - League of Nations gives Spitzbergen to Norway.
• February 10 - Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
• February 17 - Woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to mental hospital, where she claims she is Anastasia.
• February 14 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
• February 22 - In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
• February 24 - Adolf Hitler presents his national socialist program in Munich.

March

• March - 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
• March 1 - The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
• March 13-March 17 - Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike.
• March 15 ? Red Army of Ruhr, communist army 60.000 men strong, formed
• March 19 - US Congress refuses to ratify Versailles Treaty.
• March 23 - Admiral Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy without anyone on the throne.
• March 26 - German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against rebellious Ruhr Red Army in the French-occupied area.
• March 26 - The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland
• 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 - Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in British parliament.

April-May

• April 2 - German army marches to Ruhr to fight Red Ruhr Army.
• April 4 - Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 ? Violence between Arabic and Jewish resident in Jerusalem ? governor declares the state of siege
• April 6 - French troops occupy Frankfurt.
• April 19 - Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war.
• April 23 - National council in Turkey denounces the government of sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
• April 24 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish and Ukrainian troops attack Soviet army occupying Ukraine.
• May 7 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. Ukrainian government returns to the city.
• May 16 - Referendum in Switzerland is favorable to joining League of Nations.
• May 16 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
• May 17 - French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
• May 17 - First flight of KLM, Dutch air company, from Amsterdam to London.
• May 27 - Thomas Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
• May 29 - Great Horncastle flood. 20 people killed.

June-July

• June 4 - Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Peace between The Allied and Hungary.
• June 12 - Polish-Soviet War: Red Army retakes Kyiv.
• June 15 - New border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
• June 22 - Greece attacks Turkish troops.
• 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 10 - 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.
• July 14 ? France declares that Faisal I of Syria is deposed and occupies Damascus and Aleppo
• July 22 - Polish-Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia.
• July 25 - First transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.

August-September

• August 2 - British parliament passes bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials.
• August 3 - Catholics riot in Belfast.
• August 10 - Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives signs the Treaty of Sevres.
• 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 - Town Hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots.
• August 18 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
• 19 August-25 August - Second Silesian Uprising, the Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans
• August 20 - The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
• September 8 - Gabriele D'Annunzio declares Fiume a free state.
• September 16 - The Wall Street Explosion: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City - 39 dead, 400 injured
• September 22 - Flying Squad formed in London Metropolitan Police.
• September 29 - First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – Westinghouse radio costs $10.
• September 29 - Adolf Hitler's makes first public political speech, in Austria.

October-November

• October 9 ? Polish troops take Vilnius
• October 10 - The outwitted Carinthian Plebiscite, where Slovenia loses a larger part of Carinthia Province.
• October 12 - Polish-Soviet War After Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
• October 18 ? Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London ? 50 injured
• November 2 - Warren G. Harding defeats James M. Cox in the U.S. presidential election, the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
• November 2 - In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
• November 11 - Unknown Soldier buried in Westminster Abbey.
• November 15 - In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held.
• November 17 - Council of League of Nations accepts the constitution of Danzig free state.
• November 21 - Bloody Sunday - British forces open fire on spectators and players during a Football match in Dublin's Croke Park, following the assassinations of 12 British agents.

December

• December 1 ? Alvaro Obregon becomes a president of Mexico
• December 5 - Referendum in Greece is favorable to reinstatement of monarchy.
• December 11 - Martial law in Ireland.
• December 16 - Finland joins the League of Nations.
• December 16 - 8.6 Richter scale Earthquake causes landslide in Gansu Province, China - 180.000 dead.
• December 23 - United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.

Undated

• Number of US Americans move to Paris to escape the Prohibition
• France prohibits selling of contraceptives.
• Roman Ungern von Sternberg conquers Urga and declares himself as a ruler of Mongolia.
• Kurd rebellion in Turkey begins.
• Johnny Torrio invites Al Capone to Chicago from New York.

Births

January

• January 1 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
• January 2 - Isaac Asimov, author (d. 1992)
• January 3 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
• January 5 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
• January 6 - Early Wynn, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1999)
• January 6 - Sun Myung Moon, evangelist
• January 19 - Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, United Nations Secretary General
• January 20 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
• January 20 - DeForest Kelley, actor (d. 1999)
• January 20 - John O'Connor, Cardinal of New York City (d. 2000)
• January 23 - Ray Abrams, tenor saxophonist
• January 23 - Gottfried Böhm, architect
• January 27 - Frankie Albert, US football star (d. 2002)
• January 30 - Delbert Mann, director
• January 31 - Paul Warnke, diplomat (d. 2001)

February-March

• February 7 - An Wang, computer pioneer (d. 1990)
• February 8 - Lana Turner, actress (d. 1995)
• February 11 - Billy Halop, actor.
• February 11 - Daniel Francis Galouye, US science fiction author
• February 11 - Farouk I, last King of Egypt (1936-1952) (d. 1965)
• February 11 - Paul Peter Piech, artist (d. 1996)
• February 12 - William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor of Church history emeritus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (d. 2000)
• February 17 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director (d. 2001)
• February 18 - Bill Cullen, game show host (d. 1990)
• February 18 - Jack Palance, actor
• February 18 – Eddie Slovik, private, U.S. Army (d. 1945)
• February 26 - Tony Randall, actor (The Odd Couple) (d. 2004)
• February 29 - Howard Nemerov, winner of the Pulitzer Prize (d. 1991)
• March 3 - Ronald Searle, illustrator
• March 3 - James Doohan, actor
• March 14 - Hank Ketcham, cartoonist (Dennis the Menace) (d. 2001)
• March 15 - Lawrence Sanders, novelist (d. 1998)
• March 16 - Leo McKern, actor (d. 2002)
• March 17 - Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
• March 19 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (d. 2002)
• March 25 - Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)

April-July

• April 1 - Toshirô Mifune, actor (d. 1997)
• April 2 - Jack Webb, actor, director, producer (d. 1982)
• April 5 - Arthur Hailey, writer (d. 2004)
• April 7 - Ravi Shankar, musician
• April 11 - Peter O'Donnell, creator of Modesty Blaise
• April 15 - Thomas Stephen Szasz, A professor of psychiatry, Writer of the book "The Myth of Mental Illness"
• April 13 - Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of Ireland
• April 27 - Guido Cantelli, conductor (d. 1956)
• April 29 - Harold Shapero, composer
• May 2 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
• May 6 - Ross Hunter, producer (d. 1996)
• May 6 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister and later President of Fiji (d. 2004)
• May 9 - Richard Adams, author
• May 18 - Karol Wojtyla, future pope John Paul II
• May 18 - Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• May 23 - Helen O'Connell, singer (d. 1993)
• May 26 - Peggy Lee, singer (d. 2002)
• May 30 - Franklin Schaffner, film director (d. 1989)
• June 12 - Dave Berg, cartoonist for Mad Magazine (d. 2002)
• July 17 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish sports official and IOC president
• July 21 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian violinist (d. 2001)

August-December

• August 8 - Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist
• August 16 - Charles Bukowski, US writer (d. 1994)
• August 21 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne, basis for the Winnie the Pooh character Christopher Robin
• August 22 - Ray Bradbury, US science fiction writer
• August 29 - Charlie Parker, jazz musician (d. 1955)
• September 10 - Fabio Taglioni, automotive engineer (d. 2001)
• September 14 - Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer
• September 22 - William H. Riker, political scientist (d. 1993)
• October 1 - Walter Matthau, US actor (d. 2000)
• October 1 - Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001)
• October 8 - Frank Herbert, author (d. 1986)
• October 9 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
• October 15 - Mario Puzo, author (The Godfather) (d. 1999)
• October 31 - Fritz Walter, football player (d. 2002)
• November 21 - Stan Musial, Baseball Hall of Famer
• November 23 - Paul Celan, Romanian born German language poet
• November 25 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, later Raja of Perlis and 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2000)
• December 6 - Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
• December 24 - Evgeniya Rudneva, World War II heroine (d. 1944).

Deaths

• January 7 - Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia
• January 7 - Kolcak, Russian White general (executed)
• January 24 - Amedeo Modigliani, painter, sculptor
• January 26 – Jeanne Hébuterne, painter, partner of Modigliani
• February 15 - Joseph Burton Sumner, founder and first mayor of Sumner, Mississippi, USA
• February 20 - Robert Peary, explorer
• March 1 - John H. Bankhead, United States Senator (b. 1842)
• March 1 - Joseph Trumpeldor, early Zionist activist (b. 1880)
• March 11 - Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
• March 20 - Paul Bachmann, mathematician
• April 20 - Tony Jackson, jazz musician (b. 1876)
• April 26 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
• May 9 - Susan Agnes Bernard-Macdonald, First Lady of Canada
• May 11 - William Dean Howells, writer (b. 1837)
• May 30 - George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer, journalist
• June 14 - Max Weber father of the science of sociology
• July 10 - Jackie Fisher, First Sea Lord (b. 1841)
• July 22 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, railway magnate
• August 1 - Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian political activist
• October 20 - Max Bruch, composer
• October 24 - Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, (The Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), only daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia

Nobel Prizes

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