January 5
January 5
New York Yankees announce purchase of Babe Ruth
On January 5, 1920, the New York Yankees major league baseball club announces its purchase of the heavy‑hitting outfielder George Herman “Babe” Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for the…
A Year In History: 1920
Also Within This Year in History:
1920
The first year of Roaring Twenties in the U.S. brought votes for women and an official start to the nationwide ban on alcohol. The League of Nations met for the first time in Geneva, and the Mexican Revolution ended after 10 years. The Band-Aid debuted, the first commercial radio broadcast hit the airwaves, transmitting the Harding-Cox presidential race results, and Jazz Age author F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, “This Side of Paradise.”
January 10
January 10
League of Nations instituted
On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations formally comes into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations, ratified by 42 nations in 1919, takes effect. In 1914,…
January 14
January 14
Dodge co‑founder dies
John Dodge, who with his brother Horace co‑founded the Dodge Brothers Company, which was once America’s third‑largest automaker and later became part of Chrysler, dies at the age of 55.…
January 22
January 22
Netherlands refuses to extradite Kaiser Wilhelm to the Allies
On January 22, 1920, the Dutch government refuses demands by the Allies for the extradition of Wilhelm II, the former kaiser of Germany, who had been living in exile in…
January 30
January 30
Mazda car company founded
On January 30, 1920, Jujiro Matsuda (1875‑1952) forms Toyo Cork Kogyo, a business that makes cork, in Hiroshima, Japan; just over a decade later the company produces its first automobile…
February 13
February 13
League of Nations recognizes perpetual Swiss neutrality
The League of Nations, the international organization formed at the peace conference at Versailles in the wake of World War I, recognizes the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland on February 13,…
March 26
March 26
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel published
This Side of Paradise is published, immediately launching 23‑year‑old F. Scott Fitzgerald to fame and fortune. Fitzgerald, named for his ancestor Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star Spangled Banner,”…
March 28
March 28
Hollywood stars Fairbanks and Pickford marry
Hollywood stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford marry on this day in 1920, just three and a half weeks after Pickford’s divorce from her first husband, actor Owen Moore. Pickford…
April 7
April 7
Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar is born
“East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” goes the famous Rudyard Kipling quotation. It’s a statement that certainly applied in the world of pop…
May 13
May 13
Socialist party nominates “Convict 2253” for president
On May 13, 1920, the Socialist Party nominates Eugene V. Debs as its candidate for president in the upcoming November election. There’s a slight complication, though: Debs is serving a…
May 18
May 18
Pope John Paul II born
On May 18, 1920, Karol Jozef Wojtyla is born in the Polish town of Wadowice, 35 miles southwest of Krakow. Wojtyla went on to become Pope John Paul II, history’s…
June 12
June 12
Big Red sets record at Belmont Stakes
On June 12, 1920, Man O’ War wins the 52nd Belmont Stakes, and sets the record for the fastest mile ever run by a horse to that time. Man O’…
June 21
June 21
Hollywood stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks mobbed by crowds
Swarms of admirers mob the Hollywood film actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who arrive in London on their honeymoon on June 21, 1920. Two of film’s earliest stars, Pickford…
July 17
July 17
Three‑point seatbelt inventor Nils Bohlin born
Nils Bohlin, the Swedish engineer and inventor responsible for the three‑point lap and shoulder seatbelt—considered one of the most important innovations in automobile safety—is born on July 17, 1920 in…
July 23
July 23
Montana rancher Conrad Kohrs dies
Conrad Kohrs, one of Montana’s first cattle barons, dies in Helena. A native of Denmark, Kohrs immigrated to the United States in 1850 at the age of 15. Seeking his…
August 16
August 16
Poet Charles Bukowski is born
Charles Bukowski, leader of the “Meat School” of tough, masculine poetry, is born on this day in Andernach, Germany. Bukowski’s writing is filled with images of sex, violence, and heavy…
August 16
August 16
MLB player hit in head by pitch, dies next day
On August 16, 1920, a gloomy day at the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray “Chappie” Chapman steps into the batter’s box to lead…
August 16
August 16
Batter sustains fatal injury at plate
On August 16, 1920, Cleveland Guardians (then known as Cleveland Indians) shortstop Ray Chapman is struck in the temple by a ball pitched by Carl Mays of the New York…
August 18
August 18
19th Amendment ratified thanks to one vote
A dramatic battle in the Tennessee House of Representatives ends with the state ratifying the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution on August 18, 1920. After decades of struggle…
August 18
August 18
Women’s suffrage amendment ratified
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two‑thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law…
