The following events occurred in September 1926:
September 1, 1926 (Wednesday) In Spain, 100 people were killed in flooding from storms that followed a 55-day drought. Northwest Airlines, which would merge with Delta Air Lines in 2010, was founded as Northwest Airways by Colonel Lewis Brittin in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, to begin operations on October 1 as a mail carrier."Significant events in Northwest's history", Associated Press at NBC News, September 14, 2005 The standoff continued in Wanhsien as the gunboat Widgeon arrived carrying the British Consul from Chongqing in response to 's call of the previous day.
September 2, 1926 (Thursday) Representatives of the Kingdom of Italy and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (led by the Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din) signed the Treaty of San'a, with Italy becoming the first nation to grant recognition to Yahya ed-Din's government. In the Sichuan province of China, 20,000 troops under the command of General Yang Sen assembled with artillery along the shoreline of Wanzhou. The funeral train of Rudolph Valentino left New York on a cross-country journey to his final resting place in California. Born: Ibrahim Nasir, Prime Minister of the Maldives from 1957 to 1968, and President from 1968 to 1978; in Fuvahmulah (d. 2008)
September 3, 1926 (Friday) Brazil's President Artur Bernardes obtained a revision of the nation's constitution in order to prohibit judicial review of the ongoing state of emergency in most of Brazil's states. The tall Funkturm Berlin radio tower was inaugurated at the 3rd Große Deutsche Funkausstellung (3rd Great German Radio Exhibition).Karl Vetter, Der Berliner Funkturm. Worte und Bilder zum Werden und Wirken. Anlässlich seiner Weihe am 3. Sept. 1926 (The Berlin Radio Tower: Words and pictures on its development and impact. On the occasion of its inauguration on September 3, 1926). (Messe-Amt, Berlin 1926) Rudolph Valentino's funeral train pulled into LaSalle Street Station in Chicago. A heavy police presence was on hand to keep order, but some grieving fans got past the police cordon and ran out onto the tracks. Only a few invitees were allowed into the train. The first issue of The Canberra Times newspaper was published in Australia, as launched by publishers Thomas Shakespeare and Arthur Shakespeare. The British Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Cecil Clementi, on instructions from Leo Amery, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, changed the official spelling of the name of the colony from "Hongkong" to "Hong Kong". Born: Uttam Kumar, Indian Bengali film actor, filmmaker and musician; as Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay in Calcutta, Bengal Province, British India (d. 1980) Alison Lurie, American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner for the novel Foreign Affairs; in Chicago (d. 2020)
September 4, 1926 (Saturday) The 15 members of the League of Nations Council unanimously accepted a resolution to admit Germany to the League with a permanent seat alongside the other four permanent members (the UK, France, Italy and Japan). Spain turned down a semi-permanent council seat at the League of Nations, because it had not been granted a permanent seat. In the Northern Expedition in the Republic of China (1912–1949), General Chiang Kai-shek led his National Revolutionary Army in an invasion of the Jiangxi province, controlled by warlord Sun Chuanfang, crossing the border from the Hunan province. By September 19, his troops controlled Jiangxi's cities Jiujiang and Nanchang. In a referendum in the Commonwealth of Australia, voters rejected two proposals to alter the nation's constitution. The "Industry and Commerce" amendment would have extended the power of Australia's parliament in order to enact national anti-trust laws applying to domestic corporations, a power already held over foreign companies. The "Essential Services" amendment would give the parliament the power of "protecting the interests of the public in case of actual or probable interruption of any deemed essential services," including prohibiting strikes and lockouts from interrupting hospital, police, firefighting, and supply of food, electricity or water. Defeat was overwhelming, with 57.2% opposing the Essential Services amendment, and 56.5% rejecting the Industry and Commerce amendment. Born: Elias Hrawi, President of Lebanon from 1989 to 1998 (d. 2006) Yevgeni Nikolayevich Andreyev, Soviet Air Force colonel and balloonist who set the record for longest free-fall parachute jump (; in Novosibirsk, Russia SFSR (d. 2000) Dennis Murphy, American sports entrepreneur known for co-founding the original World TeamTennis (1973–1978)the American Basketball Association (1967–1976), the World Hockey Association (1972–1979)"Meet the American Sports Legend and Pioneer You've Probably Never Heard Of", The Reno (NV) Dispatch, May 15, 2013 and Roller Hockey International (1992–1999); to American parents in Shanghai in China (d. 2021) Ivan Illich, Austrian priest, social critic and author known for the books Deschooling Society (1971) and Limits to Medicine (1975, subtitled "Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health"); in Vienna (d. 2002) Donald Petersen, Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company from 1985 to 1990; in Pipestone, Minnesota (d. 2024) Jorge Salvador Lara, Foreign Minister of Ecuador 1966, and 1976 to 1977; in Quito(d.2012) Bert Olmstead, Canadian NHL ice hockey left wing nicknamed "Dirty Bertie" for his physical playing style, inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame; in Sceptre, Saskatchewan (d. 2015) Died: Mercedes Valdés Cuevas, 83, Chilean philanthropist and First Lady of Chile, as wife of President Ramón Barros Luco from 1910 to 1915
September 5, 1926 (Sunday) A camouflaged and armored merchant ship, SS Kiawo, sailed into the port city of Wanxian in Sichuan province, carrying a large group of Royal Navy sailors and Marines, and, with the gunboats HMS Widgeon and , opened fire on Chinese troops. In the battle that followed, hostages from the ships Wahnsien and Wantung escaped and the Royal Navy ships began bombardment of Wanxian, destroying more than 1,000 buildings, and killing 250 Chinese soldiers and 100 civilians. The British sustained the loss of seven sailors and a merchant sailor. A fire killed 48 people in the Irish town of Dromcolliher when a candle ignited a reel of nitrate film stock while a crowd was watching a movie. In addition to people who were killed while running for an exit, others were killed when the timber barn housing the cinema quickly burned. A train wreck killed 28 people in the U.S. near the town of Granite, Colorado when the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad passenger train No. 2 derailed while taking a sharp curve at high speed."28 Dead, 1 Missing in Wreck Near Granite", The Salida (CO) Mail, September 7, 1926, p.1 In Spain, the officers of the Artillery Corps staged a collective protest by shutting themselves within their barracks. They were angry about the system that promoted officers by election rather than seniority. King Alfonso XIII declared martial law throughout the country and the officers were swiftly arrested.
Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik went into general release throughout the United States. It had premiered in Los Angeles on July 9 and been shown in L.A. for four weeks, and was followed by releases to first run cinemas in other major U.S. cities in conjunction with a tour by Valentino, his death on August 23 prompted a high demand for the United Artists film. Born: Prince Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 13th son of Saudi Arabian King Ibn Saud and government official who was chairman of the Allegiance Council (2007 to 2017) to determine the heir to the Saudi throne and the Saudi Minister of Defense from 1951 to 1953; in Riyadh (d. 2017) Carmen Petra Basacopol, Romanian composer; in Sibiu (d. 2023) Died: George W. Lewis, 87, English entomologist specializing in classifying species of beetles (Coleoptera), including more than 750 which he discovered. Six species are named in his honor, including Heteraspis levisii. Martin van Maële, 62, French illustrator
September 6, 1926 (Monday) In China's Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army of Chiang Kai-shek captured the port of Hankou in the Hubei province. Rudolph Valentino's funeral train arrived in Los Angeles. More than 3,000 onlookers filled the streets to watch the procession of the hearse to the Guardian Angel mortuary chapel. Born: Claus van Amsberg, German-born Prince consort of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2002 as the husband of Queen Beatrix, as well as having been a diplomat for West Germany; at Hitzacker, Province of Hanover, Weimar Republic of Germany (d. 2002) Alan L. Mackay, British structural chemist in the field of crystallography; in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England (d.2025)Hargittai, I. Remembering Alan L. Mackay (1926–2025)—a scientists' scientist in the footsteps of Lucretius, Journal of Structural Chemistry (2025) Prabodh Kumar Bhowmick, Indian anthropologist; in Ahmedabad, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Gujarat state) (d.2003) Maurice Cowling, British historian; in London (d. 2005)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005–2008, ed. Lawrence Goldman, Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 257 William J. Flynn, American businessman who served as CEO of the Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, as well as an activist for peace in Northern Ireland; in Manhattan, New York City (d. 2018) "William J. Flynn dies at 91; was involved in Ireland peace talks", Newsday, June 9, 2018
September 7, 1926 (Tuesday) In Raymondville, Texas, five prisoners were shot and killed after being taken by a group of five county Willacy County officers who said that the prisoners had "proffered to lead them to an arms cache" used in the shooting."5 PRISONERS SLAIN IN AMBUSH— Brush Battle Is Staged Near Raymondvill", The Abilene (TX) Morning News, September 8, 1926, p.1 The five persons killed had been held on suspicion of the September 5 murder of Willacy County peace officers Lee Shaw and Ernest May. Dead in the shooting were the "Nunez boys" (Tomas Nunez and his sons Jose and Delancio) were, and Chico Gonzalez, all Hispanic Americans, died along with Matt Zailer, an Austrian immigrant, died together, while the five law enforcement officers were uninjured. Each of the officers gave sworn statements that the group of prisoners and officers "were fired upon by a party in ambush" and all the prisoners "were killed in the battle that ensued". There were no other witnesses. A grand jury investigated the incident and returned no charges against the accused officers"Party Ambushed", LynchinginTexas.org Mercyhurst University, a private Roman Catholic university, opened in Erie, Pennsylvania for its first classes, operating under the name Mercyhurst Seminary."Mercyhurst University Timeline" A second funeral Mass for Rudolph Valentino was held at the Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, and then he was interred at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery (now the Hollywood Forever cemetery) in Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin, George Fitzmaurice and Samuel Goldwyn (whose son was born the same day) were among the pallbearers.Ellenburger, p. 95–96 Born: Dr. Donald Pinkel, pioneering American oncologist and the first CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, from 1962 to 1974, and head of a team of physicians who focused on total therapy and increasing the cure rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children; in Buffalo, New York (d. 2022) Don Messick, American voice actor for Hanna-Barbera, best known for being the voice of "Scooby-Doo" for 27 years, as "Dr. Benton Quest" on the Jonny Quest (TV series); in Buffalo, New York (d. 1997)"Obituary: Donald E. 'Don' Messick", The Daily Times (Salisbury MD), October 26, 1997, p.8 Samuel Goldwyn Jr., American film producer; in Los Angeles (d.2015)
September 8, 1926 (Wednesday)