Events from the year 1919 in the United States.
Incumbents Federal government President: Woodrow Wilson (D-New Jersey) Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall (D-Indiana) Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White (Louisiana) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Champ Clark (D-Missouri) (until March 4) Frederick H. Gillett (R-Massachusetts) (starting May 19) Congress: 65th (until March 4), 66th (starting March 4)
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events 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 15 – The Boston Molasses Disaster: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150. January 16 – The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition, goes into effect in the United States. January 20 – Thomas Kilby is sworn in as the 36th governor of Alabama replacing Charles Henderson. January 22 – The United States recognizes the independence of Poland. January 25 – The Hotel Pennsylvania opens in Manhattan.
February February 6 – The Seattle General Strike begins. Over 65,000 workers strike. February 11 – The Seattle General Strike ends when Federal troops are summoned by the state of Washington's Attorney General. February 25 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon (.26¢/L) tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. February 26 – An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
March March 3 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the conviction of Charles Schenck. March 5 – A. Mitchell Palmer becomes Attorney General of the United States through recess appointment. March 15 – The American Legion forms in Paris.
April April 13 – Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for speaking out against the draft during World War I. April 15 – Boston Telephone Strike of 1919 begins. Ends successfully for the telephone operators and supporters on April 20. April 30 – Several bombs are intercepted in the first wave of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings carried out by followers of Luigi Galleani.
May May 1 – Riots break out on International Labor Day in Cleveland, Ohio; 2 people are killed, 40 injured, and 116 arrested. May 9 – The United States recognizes the independence of Finland. May 10 – Charleston riot in Charleston, South Carolina killing three black men; beginning of Red Summer. May 16 – A U.S. Navy Curtiss aircraft (NC-4), commanded by Albert Cushing Read, departs Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight. May 23 – The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is established as the Southern Branch of the University of California, making it the second-oldest undergraduate campus of the ten-campus University of California system. The school's motto is Fiat lux, "Let there be light."
June June 2 – Eight mail bombs are sent to prominent figures as part of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings. June 4 – Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification. June 5 – Baltimore Mine Tunnel Disaster. June 15 – Pancho Villa attacks Ciudad Juárez. When the bullets begin to fly to the U.S. side of the border, two units of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment cross the border and repulse Villa's forces. June 28 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I. June – The Algonquin Round Table group of writers, critics, actors and wits led by Alexander Woollcott first meets at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
July
July 1 – "Thirsty First": The Wartime Prohibition Act comes into effect. July 6 – The British dirigible airship R34 lands at Mineola, New York, completing the first transatlantic flight by airship. July 7 – The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy: The U.S. Army sends an expedition across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to determine how well troops could be moved from one side of the country to the other by motor vehicles. July 18 – 1919 Kimball mining disaster. July 21 – Wingfoot Air Express crash: The Goodyear dirigible airship Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago and crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building; 2 passengers, 1 crew member, and 10 people on the ground are killed; 2 people parachute to the ground safely. July 27 – The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 begins when a white man throws rocks at a group of 4 black teens on a raft.
August August 1–6 – 1919 Streetcar Strike of Los Angeles occurs. August 11 – The first NFL team for Wisconsin (the Green Bay Packers) is founded by Curly Lambeau. August 30 – After a three-way splintering of the Socialist Party of America, the leadership of the remaining 30,000 members of the Right Wing of the Socialist party continue their national convention in Chicago on August 30, 1919. August 31 – In a three-way splintering of the Socialist Party of America, the leadership of the 10,000 native-born English speaking members of the Left Wing form the Communist Labor Party of America in Chicago on August 31, 1919.
September September 1 – In a three-way splintering of the Socialist Party of America, the leadership of the 60,000 alien members of the Left Wing form the Communist Party of America at a separate convention in Chicago on September 1, 1919. September 6 – The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy: The U.S. Army expedition across America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco. September 9 – The Boston Police Strike occurs. September 10 – September 15: The Florida Keys Hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas. September 15 – the International Conference of Women Physicians, the first international conference of women physicians in history, convened in New York City, and ended on October 25 September 22 – The Steel strike of 1919 begins across the United States. September 28 – Omaha Riot: A lynch mob besieges the police station and courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska, and lynches alleged rapist Will Brown.
October October 1 – The Elaine massacre breaks out in Arkansas. October 2 – President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. October 9 – Black Sox Scandal: The Chicago White Sox throw the World Series. October 16 – Ripley's Believe It or Not! first appears as a cartoon under this title in The New York Globe. October 28 – Prohibition begins: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
November November 1 – The UMW Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis. Final agreement comes on December 10. November 7 – The first of the Palmer Raids is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution: over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in 23 different U.S. cities by the end of January 1920. November 9 – Felix the Cat appears in Feline Follies, making him the first cartoon character. November 10 – The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota (until November 12). November 11 – The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington results in the deaths of four members of the American Legion, and the lynching of a local leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). November 14 – Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society (La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica), was established at the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, California. November 19 – The Treaty of Versailles fails a critical ratification vote in the United States Senate. It will never be ratified by the US. November 27 – Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, is established at Oklahoma A&M College (now named Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
December December 19 – The fictional character Ham Gravy makes his début in Thimble Theatre comics. December 21 – The United States deports 249 people, including Emma Goldman, to Russia during the Red Scare. December 26 – Babe Ruth is sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. The deal is announced on January 6, 1920 and begins the 86-year-long "Curse of the Bambino".
Undated Various strikes occur in the United States: Strike of US railroad workers; The Longshoreman's strike; The Great Steel Strike; and a general strike in Seattle, Washington. US President Wilson promises eventual independence for Philippines, though subsequent Republican administrations see it as a distant goal. The World League Against Alcoholism is established by the Anti-Saloon League. First Security Bank – Montana is founded (as Security Bank and Trust).
Ongoing Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937) U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934) U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924) First Red Scare (1917–1920)
Births
January
January 1 – J. D. Salinger, author notable for the novel Catcher in the Rye (died 2010) January 2 – Charles Willeford, writer (died 1988) January 3 Zara Cisco Brough, Nipmuc Chief (died 1988) Dorothy Morrison, actress (died 2017) January 4 – Lester L. Wolff, politician (died 2021) January 7 – Steve Belichick, American football player, coach and scout (died 2005) January 10 – Amzie Strickland, actress (died 2006) January 13 – Robert Stack, actor (The Untouchables) (died 2003) January 14 – Andy Rooney, journalist (60 Minutes) (died 2011) January 23 – Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (died 1962) January 24 – Leon Kirchner, American composer (d. 2009) January 25 Edwin Newman, journalist and writer (NBC Nightly News) (died 2010) Eula Beal, contralto (died 2008) January 27 – Ross Bagdasarian Sr., actor, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer and creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks (died 1972) January 28 – Gabby Gabreski, American fighter ace (d. 2002) January 30 John C. Elliott, politician and 39th Governor of American Samoa (1952) (died 2001) Fred Korematsu, Japanese-American civil rights activist (d. 2005) January 31 – Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player (d. 1972)
February February 7 – Desmond Doss, American combat medic (died 2006) February 9, Protestant ecumenical theologian (died 2004) Robert Martin, fighter pilot (died 2018) February 12 – Forrest Tucker, actor (F Troop) (died 1986) February 15 – Norman Garbo, author and lecturer (died 2017) February 13 Tennessee Ernie Ford, musician (died 1991) Eddie Robinson, football coach (died 2007) February 16 – Charlie Parlato, musician (died 2007) February 18 – Jack Palance, actor (died 2006) February 19 – William Gianelli, politician (died 2020) February 21 – Malcolm Beard, politician (died 2019) February 25 – Monte Irvin, African-American baseball player (died 2016) February 26 – Mason Adams, actor (died 2005)
March March 2 – Jennifer Jones, actress (died 2009) March 4 – Buck Baker, racecar driver (died 2002) March 5 – Myron H. Bright, U.S. federal judge (died 2016) March 7 – Mary Ann Hawkins, surfing pioneer, diver, swimmer and stunt double (died 1993) March 13 – Jack P. Lewis, Biblical scholar (died 2018) March 14 – Max Shulman, comedic writer (died 1988) March 15 – Lawrence Tierney, actor (died 2002) March 17 – Nat King Cole, African-American singer (died 1965) March 24 Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and publisher (died 2021) Robert Heilbroner, economist (died 2005) March 25 – Jeanne Cagney, actress (died 1984)