The following events occurred in December 1927:
December 1, 1927 (Thursday)
Chinese actress Soong Mei-ling married General Chiang Kai-shek, and became known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek. After General Chiang became China's leader the following year, she was the First Lady for the next 48 years, until her husband's death in 1975.Jonathan Fenby, Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (Da Capo Press, 2005) An Episcopal Christian wedding was conducted, in English, at Miss Soong's home, followed by a Chinese civil ceremony at the Majestic Hotel in Shanghai. Miss Soong's sister was the widow of China's first President, Sun Yat-sen."Miss Soong Wed To Gen. Chiang In Double Rite", Miami Daily News, December 1, 1927, p1
December 2, 1927 (Friday) Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model A as its new automobile.Peter Winnewisser, The Legendary Model A Ford: The Ultimate History of One of America's Great Automobiles (Krause Publications, 2006) p277; Jim Schild, Original Ford Model A (MotorBooks International, 2003) p10 France's Chamber of Deputies rejected a proposal to abolish the death penalty, by a margin of 376–145."Attempt to Abolish French Executioner Balked by Chamber", Miami Daily News, December 2, 1927, p2 France would finally abolish the death penalty on October 9, 1981. Marcus Garvey was deported from the United States, placed on the SS Saramacca at New Orleans and returned to his native Jamaica.Cary D. Wintz, African American Political Thought, 1890-1930: Washington, Du Bois, Garvey, and Randolph (M.E. Sharpe, 1996) p13
December 3, 1927 (Saturday) The first film of the Laurel and Hardy series of Hal Roach comedies was released. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had appeared in the same films as early as 1918, but had not become a star team until October. The first "official" Laurel & Hardy film was a two-reel silent, Putting Pants on Philip.Wes D. Gehring, Laurel & Hardy: A Bio-bibliography (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990) p263 The mystery film London After Midnight starring Lon Chaney was released. Today it is one of the most famous lost films. Born: Andy Williams, American singer, as Howard Andrew Williams in Wall Lake, Iowa (d. 2012)
December 4, 1927 (Sunday) Duke Ellington and his orchestra opened at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Ellington proved so popular that he was featured at the Cotton Club for five years. In 1929, the CBS Radio Network began broadcasting a live show from the club, taking the 28-year-old jazz musician on his way to worldwide fame.Chip Deffaa, Voices of the Jazz Age: Profiles of Eight Vintage Jazzmen (University of Illinois Press, 1992) p22
December 5, 1927 (Monday) The Illini of the University of Illinois were awarded the Rissler Cup after finishing first in the Dickinson System ratings for college football teams, under a formula devised by a University of Illinois economics professor, Frank G. Dickenson. The Illini had a 7–0–1 record; second place was held by the University of Pittsburgh Panthers (8–0–1). For the nation's only bowl game, the Rose Bowl, Pitt was selected to play (7–2–1) Stanford University, whose teams were known at that time as the "Indians"."Illinois Is Rated Over Pitt— According to Dickinson System, Zuppke's Men Are Grid Champions" Pittsburgh Press, December 5, 1927 Born: Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned as Rama IX, King of Thailand from 1946 to 2016, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 2016) W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan singer and composer, in Moratuwa (d. 2016) Oscar Miguez, Uruguayan footballer who helped that nation win the 1950 World Cup (d. 2006)
December 6, 1927 (Tuesday) On the day that they were scheduled to testify at a murder trial in Williamson, West Virginia, six witnesses were killed when the lodging they were staying in caught fire. Flames blocked both stairways leading from the upper floor, and all of the victims were found in a room where they had fled to escape the smoke."Eight Persons Perish When Rooming House Burns— Six of Victims Are Witnesses In Murder Case", Miami Daily News, December 6, 1927, p1 Colonel Juan Aberle and Major Alfaro Noguera attempted to stage a coup in El Salvador. They took control of the central police barracks in San Salvador, but the badly planned putsch was quickly suppressed.Brian Loveman, Thomas M. Davies, The Politics of Antipolitics: The Military in Latin America (Rowman & Littlefield, 199) p103 Born: Patsy Takemoto Mink, who in 1964 became the first female Asian-American to be elected to Congress; in Paia, Hawaii (d. 2002)
December 7, 1927 (Wednesday) The 250 foot long Canadian freighter SS Kamloops, with a crew of 22, sank in Lake Superior during a winter storm. Bodies of some victims were recovered in the spring, but the ship would remain missing for almost 50 years until August 21, 1977, its discovery by two scuba divers near Isle Royale.Michael Schumacher, Mighty Fitz: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2006) p.62Submerged Cultural Resources Study: Isle Royale National Park (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1987) p206 Born: Helen Watts, Welsh contralto, in Milford Haven (d. 2009)
December 8, 1927 (Thursday) The Brookings Institution, one of the earliest political and economic research institutes, was created by the merger of three organizations that had been created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings: the Institute for Government Research, the Institute of Economics, and the Robert Brookings Graduate School.David H. Romer and Justin Wolfers, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Spring 2009 (Brookings Institution Press, 2009) p335 Born: Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet cosmonaut on Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8 and Soyuz 10; in Petropavlosk, Kazakh SSR (d. 2021) Niklas Luhmann, German social theorist, in Lüneburg (d. 1998) Parkash Singh Badal, Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab on four occasions between 1970 and 2017; in Abul Khurana, Punjab Province, British India(d. 2023)
December 9, 1927 (Friday) The Washington Herald, owned by William Randolph Hearst, published a front-page story alleging that Mexico's President Plutarco Calles had proposed bribing four United States Senators to advance Mexico's interests."SENATE PROBES $1,215,000 'BRIBE' IN MEXICAN EXPOSE", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 10, 1927, p1; "Calles Ordered 4 U.S. Senators Be Paid $1,315,000", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 11, 1927, p1 Days later, Hearst provided documentation revealing the names of the four Senators: William Borah (R-Idaho), J. Thomas Heflin (D-Alabama), Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (R-Wisconsin) and George W. Norris (R-Nebraska), who all denied any payment from Mexico, while the Mexican government questioned the authenticity of the documents possessed by the Herald."4 SENATORS DENY GETTING MONEY FROM MEXICO FUND", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 16, 1927, p1 Born: Pierre Henry, French electronic music composer, in Paris (d. 2017) Died: Dr. Paul Jeserich, 73, celebrated as "The German Sherlock Holmes" because of his skills as a forensic detective."Berlin Sherlock Holmes Is Dead- Dr. Paul Jeserich, Chemist, Had Uncanny Skill in Unraveling Criminal Mysteries", Miami Daily News, December 9, 1927, p1
December 10, 1927 (Saturday) The WSM Barn Dance, the popular NBC Radio Network show, announced its change of name and would create a brand that is now part of its show that is still running a century after its 1925 premiere. That weekend's broadcast happened minutes after the presentation of the Grand Opera on NBC's Music Appreciation Hour, and before introducing the first act (African-American singer DeFord Bailey) at the WSM studio in Nashville, WSM director George D. Hay told audiences that "For the past hour, we have been listening to music largely from grand opera, but from now on, we will present 'The Grand Ole Opry'."Tom Ogden, Haunted Theaters: Playhouse Phantoms, Opera House Horrors, and Backstage Banshees (Globe Pequot, 2009) p127 The U.S. House of Representatives voted to confer the Medal of Honor upon Colonel Charles Lindbergh."Lindbergh Gets Highest Award", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 11, 1927, p1
December 11, 1927 (Sunday) At 4:00 am, the Chinese city of Canton (now Guangzhou) was seized in an uprising of 20,000 Communists, who announced that the formation of the "Canton Soviet". The Red Guards and their sympathizers seized control of police stations and the city prison, murdering police and guards, seizing control of the arsenal, and releasing prisoners.Chi Ming Fung, Reluctant Heroes: Rickshaw Pullers in Hong Kong and Canton, 1874-1954 (Hong Kong University Press, 2005) pp90-91 The Nationalist Army retook the city two days later, and carried out an even bloodier retaliation. At least 2,000 members of the Red Guards, whose dyed scarves had left a red stain on their collars, were arrested and summarily executed, while another 4,000 civilians were murdered in the five-day-long "White Terror" carried out by the Nationalist Troops.Michael B. Share, Where Empires Collided: Russian and Soviet Relations with Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao (Chinese University Press, 2007) p74; Elizabeth J. Perry, Patrolling the Revolution: Worker Militias, Citizenship, and the Modern Chinese State (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007) p114-115; "Retake Canton; 3,000 Are Slain", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 14, 1927, p1
December 12, 1927 (Monday) Oklahoma's Governor Henry S. Johnston, threatened with impeachment by the state legislature, called out the Oklahoma National Guard to prevent members of the state House of Representatives from meeting at the capitol building."LEGISLATORS DEFY OKLA. TROOPS", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 13, 1927, p1 The next day, house members met at the Huckins Hotel in Oklahoma City hotel and voted to impeach Governor Johnston, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred P. Branson, and State Board of Agriculture chairman Henry B. Cordell."Oklahomans Dodge Guns, Impeach Chief", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 14, 1927, p1 An injunction was issued against the Senators to prevent them from attempting to conduct an impeachment trial. On December 28, the guardsmen barred members of the state Senate from meeting at the capitol building."Rifles Again Block 'Impeaching' Senate", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 29, 1927, p3 The National Builders Bank, located in Chicago, opened the first branch that would operate 24/7, with shifts to "render twenty-four hour service 365 days a year"."First All Night Bank Is Opened in Chicago", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 12, 1927, p1 Tommy Loughran defeated world light heavyweight boxing champion Jimmy Slattery in a 15-round decision at New York's Madison Square Garden."Loughran Victor, Wins World's Title", New York Times, December 13, 1927, p35 Born: Robert Noyce, co-inventor of the microchip and co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel; in Burlington, Iowa (d. 1990)
December 13, 1927 (Tuesday) Charles Lindbergh made a daring non-stop flight from Washington DC, bound for Mexico City. He landed more than 24 hours later after going through bad weather. Reputedly, after getting lost, he flew in low enough to spot the word "Caballeros" at one railroad station and could not find it on his map, before learning later that it was the word for "Gentlemen" on a men's bathroom.Heather Lehr Wagner, Charles Lindbergh(Infobase Publishing, 2002) pp52-54 Born: James Wright, American poet, in Martins Ferry, Ohio (d. 1980)
December 14, 1927 (Wednesday) The United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Iraq signed a Treaty of Alliance and Amity. The aircraft carrier USS Lexington, recently converted from a battle cruiser, was commissioned. The ship would be damaged beyond repair in 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.James Morris and Patricia M. Kearns, Historical Dictionary of the United States Navy (Scarecrow Press, 2011) p226