1920
1920 by topic |
Subject: Archaeology – Architecture – Art – Aviation – Comics – Film – Literature (Poetry) – Meteorology – Music (Country) – Rail transport – Radio – Science – Sports – Television |
Countries: Australia – Canada – China – Ecuador – France – Germany – Greece – India – Ireland – Italy – Japan – Malaysia – Mexico – New Zealand – Norway – Palestine (British administered) – Philippines - Russia – Singapore – South Africa – UK – USA |
Leaders: Sovereign states – State leaders – Religious leaders – Law |
Categories: Births – Deaths – Works – Introductions – Establishments – Disestablishments – Awards |
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1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920) of the Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1920
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Undated
- Hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic closely related to codeine is first synthesized in Germany.
- Because there are so many mixed-race persons and because so many Americans with some black ancestry appear white, the United States Census stops counting mixed-race peoples and the one drop rule becomes the national legal standard.
Births
January–February
- January 1
- Heinz Zemanek, Austrian computer pioneer
- Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)(d. 2009)
- January 2
- Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (I, Robot) (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
- 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
- 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 (The Price is Right & The $25,000 Pyramid) (d. 1990)
- February 18 – Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (executed) (d. 1945)
- February 22 – Burt L. Talcott, American politician
- February 26
- Tony Randall, American actor (The Odd Couple) (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 (Star Trek) (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 (Dennis the Menace) (d. 2001)
- March 15
- March 17
- 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 (Hogan's Heroes) (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
- 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 (Dragnet) (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 13
- April 15 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-born psychiatrist and writer
- 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
- May 19 – Renée Asherson, English actress
- May 20 – Domenico Leccisi, Italian politician (d. 2008)
- May 23 – Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
- 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 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
- 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 (The King and I) (d. 1985)
- July 13
- Bill Towers, English footballer (d. 2000)
- Don Ralke, American music arranger (d. 2000)
- July 17 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president (d. 2010)
- July 21 – 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 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
- 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 (The Martian Chronicles)
- 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 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
- 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:
- 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 (The Godfather) (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)
- October 29 – Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 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 22 – Anne Crawford, British actress (d. 1956)
- November 25 – Ricardo Montalban, Mexican actor (Fantasy Island) (d. 2009)
- November 27 – Buster Merryfield, British actor (Only Fools & Horses) (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
- December 9 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic
- December 21 – J. Roderick MacArthur, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1984)
- December 24 – Evgeniya Rudneva, Soviet World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- December 30 – Jack Lord, American actor (Hawaii Five-O) (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)
- Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)
April–June
- April 8
- John Brasheer, 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
- 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
- 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 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 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 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)
- November 25 – 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)
Nobel Prizes
Fiction
January
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Notes