The following events occurred in October 1925:
October 1, 1925 (Thursday) Chile's President Arturo Alessandri resigned, and Vice President Luis Barros Borgoño took over as the acting president. Thousands of people in the Mexican state of Guanajuato were left homeless after the Lerma River flooded. In Lubbock, Texas, Texas Technological College, later to be renamed Texas Tech University, opened for its first classes with 914 students. The Kraków University of Economics opened in Poland as Wyższe Studium Handlowe ("The College of Commerce") in the city of Kraków. Born: Christine Pullein-Thompson and Diana Pullein-Thompson, British horsewomen and writers known for their pony books; in London, England (Christine, d. 2005; Diana, d. 2015) Yang Hyong-sop, North Korean politician, served as the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea from 1983 to 1998; in Hamhung, Kankyōnan Province, Japanese Korea (present-day North Korea) (d. 2022)
October 2, 1925 (Friday) The first television transmission was made by Scottish inventor John Logie Baird at his laboratory at 22 Frith Street in London. Baird's camera captured the 32-line vertically greyscale scanned image of the head of a ventriloquist's dummy, which he had nicknamed "Stooky Bill". An office worker in the same building, 20-year-old William Edward Taynton, appeared before Baird's camera the same day and became the first person to have his image on television. Spanish troops entered the Rif Republic capital of Ajdir. The first branch of the Islamic Ahmadiyya sect in what is now Indonesia was established in the Dutch East Indies by Rahmat Ali, an Ahmadiyya missionary, along with 13 adherents in the town of Tapaktuan. The Pact of the Vidoni Palace was signed at the Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli in Rome between the Fascist-dominated General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell'Industria Italiana or CGI) and the Fascist-controlled National Confederation of Trade Union Corporations labor union. La Revue nègre, an all-Black cabaret production starring African-American dancer and actress Josephine Baker, premiered in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and made Baker popular worldwide. After two months in Paris, Baker and the troupe of dancers went on tour to Brussels and Berlin. In Richmond, Virginia, three workers of a 40-member crew were killed when they were buried alive by the collapse of the Church Hill Tunnel. The tragedy gave rise to an urban legend more than 80 years later, the "Richmond Vampire". Born: Paul Goldsmith American race car driver, winner of the U.S. Auto Club Stock Car championship in 1961 and 1962; in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States (d. 2024) Sadao Kondoh, Japanese professional baseball pitcher and manager, inductee of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame; in Okazaki, Aichi, Empire of Japan (present-day Japan) (d. 2006) Anne Ranasinghe, German-born Sri Lankan poet; as Anneliese Katz, in Essen, Germany (d. 2016)
October 3, 1925 (Saturday) The first conference of Western Hemisphere nations to discuss the building of a Pan-American Highway opened at Buenos Aires in Argentina. The American aircraft carrier was launched. Only two days after the inauguration of the first classes of Texas Technological College, the college's first sports event was played as the Texas Tech Matadors and the McMurry College Indians played to a 0 to 0 tie before about 8,000 spectators at the South Plains Fairgrounds in Lubbock, Texas. Born: Gore Vidal, American novelist known for the Narratives of Empire series and Myra Breckinridge; as Eugene Louis Vidal, in West Point, New York, United States (d. 2012) George Wein, American jazz pianist and promoter who founded the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954; in Lynn, Massachusetts, United States (d. 2021) Died: C. Web Gilbert, 58, Australian sculptor; died of cardiovascular disease (b. 1867)
October 4, 1925 (Sunday) All 53 crew of the Finland Navy's torpedo boat S2 were killed when the vessel sank during a fierce storm near the coast of Pori in the Gulf of Bothnia. After 11 years of limited prohibition of alcohol, the Soviet Union removed all restrictions on the alcohol content of beverages. The Hama uprising broke out in Syria as rebel assault led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji against French mandate security installations in the city of Hama. Heavy French bombardment of Hama led to negotiations between a delegation of Hama's leading families and the French authorities, and the rebels withdrew the next day. Baseball legend Ty Cobb, known for his abilities as a hitter and a center fielder, appeared as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers against St. Louis Browns first baseman George Sisler in a rare game where both teams allowed pitching to be handled by non-pitchers. Cobb pitched one inning and Sisler two as the Tigers beat the Browns, 11 to 6. The appearance of non-pitchers on the mound for both teams would not occur again until almost 92 years later, with a game on May 7, 2017, in the Baltimore Orioles' 9 to 6 win over the Boston Red Sox. Born: Richard Moore, American cinematographer and co-founder of Panavision; in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States (d. 2009) Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, German-born leader in Reform Judaism, served as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; in Munich, Germany (d. 2000) Died: Gevorg Bashinjaghian, 68, Armenian landscape painter (b. 1857)
October 5, 1925 (Monday) The Locarno Conference began in Locarno in Switzerland between several of the European adversaries of World War One to negotiate Germany's entry into the League of Nations. Born: Paul Wild, Swiss astronomer known for his discovery of the 81P/Wild periodic comet later explored by NASA's Stardust mission and six other comets, 94 asteroids, and 41 supernovas; in Wädenswil, Switzerland (d. 2014) Antoine Gizenga, Congolese politician, served as the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1960 to 1961 and 2006 to 2008; in Mbanze, Belgian Congo (present-day Kwilu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo) (d. 2019) Herbert Kretzmer, South African-born English lyricist known for his English-language adaptation of the musical Les Misérables in 1985; in Kroonstad, Union of South Africa (present-day South Africa) (d. 2020) Gail Davis, American actress and singer, best known for her role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s TV series Annie Oakley; as Betty Jeanne Grayson, in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States (d. 2005) Raisa Struchkova, Soviet ballet dancer; in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (present-day Russia) (d. 2005) Besedka Johnson, American actress who became a film star at the age of 85 in her first and only film, Starlet (2012); as Beatrice Devic, in Detroit, United States (d. 2013) Emiliano Aguirre, Spanish paleontologist; in Ferrol, Spain (d. 2021)
October 6, 1925 (Tuesday) A breakthrough in the reproduction of recorded music, the Victor Orthophonic Victrola, was demonstrated to the public for the first time, allowing others to hear the first phonograph specifically designed to play electrically recorded phonograph records. pp. 142-143. The Locarno Conference debated the matter of France wanting assurance of the right to cross through Germany to help Poland and Czechoslovakia in the event of war. Born: Manuel Ochoa, Cuban musician and orchestra conductor who co-founded the Miami Symphony Orchestra; in Holguín, Cuba (d. 2006) Shana Alexander, American journalist who was the first woman staff writer and columnist for Life magazine, and was well known for the liberal arguments in the "Point-Counterpoint" segment of 60 Minutes; as Shana Ager, in New York City, United States (d. 2005) Died: Israel Abrahams, 66, British Jewish scholar (b. 1858)
October 7, 1925 (Wednesday) Germany and France reached a deadlock in Locarno over the Poland and Czechoslovakia matter. Born: Mildred Earp, American professional baseball pitcher for the Grand Rapids Chicks in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, ERA leader in 1947 with a mark of 0.68; in West Fork, Arkansas, United States (d. 2017) Alex Duthart, Scottish drummer; in Cambusnethan, Scotland (d. 1986) Died: Christy Mathewson, 45, American professional baseball pitcher known for a record 373 wins over 17 seasons and being the National League's ERA leader for five seasons (1905, 1908–09, 1911 and 1913) and 5-time National League strikeout leader; died of tuberculosis that developed six years after exposure to chemical weapons during World War I (b. 1880)
October 8, 1925 (Thursday) At the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, the Hilldale Club, a Philadelphia team and pennant winner of the Eastern Colored League won the second annual Colored World Series, defeating the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League 2 to 1, winning the best 4-of-7 series, four games to one. The sixth and seventh scheduled games were played on October 10 and 11 for additional revenue. The city of Belgrade in Serbia was awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross 1918. Born: Andrei Sinyavsky, Soviet Russian literary critic for Novy Mir magazine and later dissident and co-defendant with Yuri Daniel in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial of 1966; in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (present-day Russia) (d. 1997) Died: Vincenzo Peruggia, 44, Italian art thief known for having stolen the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum on August 21, 1911, and having kept it until his arrest in 1913; died of a heart attack on his birthday (b. 1881)
October 9, 1925 (Friday) The Italian state prosecutor absolved 24 officials of any responsibility for the June 1924 murder of Giacomo Matteotti, ruling that they might have ordered the "sequestration" of Matteotti but not his death, and they would not have had any knowledge of the crime. Lithuania held the first day of a three-day mourning period for the loss of Vilnius to Poland in 1920. Many demonstrations were staged in which speakers declared that Lithuania would not have any relations with Poland until Vilnius was returned. Born: Richard Jenkin, Cornish politician and co-founder of the Cornish Nationalist political party Mebyon Kernow; in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England (d. 2002) David Macmillan, Scottish historian known for stealing thousands of historical documents over a 30-year period between 1949 and 1981; in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1987) John Crosthwaite, English race car designer; in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England (d. 2010) Died: George Obrenović, 35, Son of King Milan I of Serbia and pretender to the throne of Serbia after the 1903 assassination of his half-brother, King Alexander I (b. 1890) Hugo Preuss, 64, German lawyer and politician who had authored the 1919 Weimar Constitution of the first Republic of Germany (b. 1860)
October 10, 1925 (Saturday) The Palace Museum was opened to the public in Beijing by the Republic of China on "Double Ten Day" at the site of the former Forbidden City, the Qing dynasty Imperial Palace complex that had been formerly off limits to everyone except the royal family and their staff. According to an audit taken at the time, 1,170,000 pieces of artwork were housed at the Museum when it was first opened. After the Japanese occupation of Beijing in 1937, most of the artifacts would be moved to Nanjing, and during the Communist Revolution of 1949, many of the artifacts would be moved by the Nationalist government to Taiwan and housed in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The championship of Australian rules football, the Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, was played before 64,288 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Geelong Cats won their first VFL title, defeating the Collingwood Magpies, 79 to 69 (10.19 to 9.15). About 15 people were killed in Catanzaro, Italy, when a train plunged over a bridge after high floodwaters weakened the bridge's supports.