The following events occurred in January 1924:
January 1, 1924 (Tuesday) The Rose Bowl football game, at the time the only postseason bowl game in the U.S., was played before 40,000 spectators between the Washington Huskies (who had an 8-1-0 record and were selected by the Rose Bowl Committee despite having lost to the unbeaten California Golden Bears) and the Navy Midshipmen (a 5-1-2 team whom the Huskies had been allowed to pick as their opponent). The teams played to a 14–14 tie after Washington tied the game with a fourth quarter touchdown. During a New Year's Day party at the home of millionaire oil broker Courtland S. Dines, the chauffeur of actress Mabel Normand shot and wounded Dines in the abdomen with a pistol belonging to Normand. When police arrived they found Normand and fellow actress Edna Purviance in the kitchen frantically insisting they didn't know how Dines came to be shot. Alcohol was found on the premises (illegal at the time under Prohibition), and the whole episode caused a scandal which caused some exhibitors to pull Purviance's film A Woman of Paris from theaters. Born: Earl Torgeson, American professional baseball player, 1950 NL runs scored leader and 1957 AL fielding average leader; as Clifford Earl Torgeson, in Snohomish, Washington, United States (d. 1990) Died: Billy Miske, 29, American professional boxer; died of Bright's disease (b. 1894)
January 2, 1924 (Wednesday) The Simon & Schuster publishing company was founded in the United States by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. The Mexican government reported that federal troops loyal to President Álvaro Obregón had achieved a victory over the rebels of Adolfo de la Huerta in the vicinity of Zacualpan, State of Mexico. Primary railway stations in Paris closed as the water level of the Seine rose due to flooding. The Bulgarian government gave former King Ferdinand, who had been living in exile since 1918, permission to return to Sofia. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia immediately sent an ultimatum objecting to the move. Died: Sabine Baring-Gould, 89, English novelist, song and hymn composer known for writing "Onward, Christian Soldiers" (b. 1834) Clara Abbott, 66, American business executive and the first woman to serve on the board of directors of a major U.S. corporation. She was on the board of Abbott Laboratories from 1900 to 1908 and again from 1911 until her death (b. 1857)
January 3, 1924 (Thursday) British archaeologist Howard Carter and his work team discovered the stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in his tomb near Luxor in Egypt. Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the 49-year-old Governor of the Mexican state of Yucatán since 1922, was executed by rebel followers of General Adolfo de la Huerta, who had started a revolution to overthrow the government of President Alvaro Obregón. Carrillo was killed along with 11 other people, including three of his brothers. The boxing-themed comedy film The Great White Way premiered at the Cosmopolitan Theatre in New York City. The German film New Year's Eve premiered. Born: Otto Beisheim, German businessman and founder of Metro AG membership discount retailer; in Vossnacken, near Velbert, Germany (d. 2013)
January 4, 1924 (Friday) Germany issued an emergency decree known as the Emminger Reform, best known for abolishing the jury system in court proceedings and replacing it with a mixed system of judges. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia sent another sharp note to Bulgaria saying it would not accept the return of Ferdinand from exile or any further provocations. Newspapers in Belgrade clamored for war. Born: Wally Ris, American competitive swimmer, 1948 Olympic gold medalist in the 100m freestyle; as Walter Ris, in Chicago, United States (d. 1989)
January 5, 1924 (Saturday) Greek national hero Eleftherios Venizelos was elected as the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament by his colleagues. Hours later, he had a minor heart attack and had to leave the session over which he was presiding.
Automobile manufacturer Walter P. Chrysler introduced his first car, the Chrysler Six Model B-70 sedan, at the 24th Annual New York Automobile Show, held at the 256th Field Artillery Armory in the Bronx. The ambitious worldwide service of Dollar Steamship Company was inaugurated in a ceremony that included transmission by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge of a wireless radio signal, giving the liner SS President Harrison permission to depart from San Francisco on a 79-day voyage to Boston. Factories and mines in the Ruhr region shut down as laborers refused to work ten hours a day. In the U.S., 19-year-old Celia Cooney began a string of armed robberies, starting with the Thomas Ralston Grocery in Brooklyn, where she walked out with $680 and left in a car driven by her husband Ed Cooney. Dubbed "The Bobbed Hair Bandit" by the New York press, Celia continued working with Ed until both were arrested on April 20.
January 6, 1924 (Sunday) Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk survived a bomb attack, but his wife Latife Uşşaki was injured. The assailant visited Atatürk's home and asked to see him, then threw a bomb when he appeared. The French government gave the Catholic Church the right to reoccupy its former property under the "diocesan associations" system. Born: Earl Scruggs, American musician and songwriter; near Boiling Springs, North Carolina, United States (d. 2012)
January 7, 1924 (Monday) The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) was founded in Paris by representatives of field hockey of Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland, with Paul Léautey as its first president. A century later, the FIH would govern the rules of field hockey and oversee 140 national associations. Mexican rebels captured the oil port city of Tampico. Kiyoura Keigo became Prime Minister of Japan. Born: Geoffrey Bayldon, English actor; as Albert Geoffrey Bayldon, in Leeds, England (d. 2017) Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and television producer, known for developing the Star Trek TV series with Gene Roddenberry; as Eugene Lee Coon, in Beatrice, Nebraska, United States (d. 1973)
January 8, 1924 (Tuesday) The Soviet newspaper Pravda reported that Leon Trotsky was ill, a statement which the rank and file took to mean as a sign of his imminent removal. United Kingdom Labour Party leader Ramsay MacDonald gave a speech at a packed Royal Albert Hall where he announced that Labour would accept office as soon as it was invited to do so, though it would be taking over a "bankrupt estate". MacDonald pledged to run the country along sound economic lines, make efforts through the League of Nations to retain peace in Europe, and end the "pompous folly" of refusing to recognize the Soviet Union. Born: Kim Dae-jung, South Korean politician, activist and statesman, served as President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2000; Hauido, Chōsen, Japanese Empire (present-day South Korea) (d. 2009) Ron Moody, English actor known for his portrayal of Fagin in the 1968 film musical Oliver! and its 1983 Broadway revival; as Ronald Moodnick, in Tottenham, Middlesex, England (d. 2015)
January 9, 1924 (Wednesday) Ramsay MacDonald was re-elected leader of Britain's Labour Party at a full party meeting. Born: Kip Siegel, American physicist and entrepreneur, founder of KMS Fusion to develop the first laser-controlled thermonuclear fusion; as Keeve Milton Siegel, in New York City, United States (d. 1975)Keeve Milton Siegel papers, 1953-1983 Mary Kaye, American guitarist and performer; as Malia Ka'aihue, in Detroit, United States (d. 2007) Died: Franz Josef Heinz, 39, German separatist former leader of the "Autonomous Palatinate" in association with the Rhenish Republic; assassinated in Speyer by 20 members of the German nationalist paramilitary group, the Viking League (b. 1884). The attack on the dining room of the Wittelsbacher Hof also killed a hotel guest and an employee, while two of the assassins died in a shootout.
January 10, 1924 (Thursday) All 43 crew of the British submarine were killed when the sub sank after a collision with the battleship in a training exercise in the English Channel. The Cohn-Brandt-Cohn film company (CBC), founded in 1918 by Joe Brandt and brothers Harry Cohn and Jack Cohn, rebranded itself, changing its name to Columbia Pictures. In the occupied Rhineland, France imposed a curfew and closed the borders between the occupied section and the rest of Germany, permitting no traffic in or out except for railroad business and food supplies and a curfew was imposed. The move came amid fears of a new separatist coup attempt after the murder of Franz Josef Heinz the previous day. Relations between Britain and France became strained when French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré refused to allow British officials into the occupied Rhineland to conduct their own investigation of the separatist movement there. Born: Earl Bakken, American inventor who created the first wearable artificial pacemaker, developed by his company Medtronic; in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, United States (d. 2018) Max Roach, American jazz drummer; as Maxwell Roach, in Newland, North Carolina, United States (d. 2007) Marilyn Cotlow, American opera singer, known for starring in the original Broadway production of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone (1947); in Minneapolis, United States (d. 2024) Died: Peter MacQueen, 60, American war correspondent, church pastor and adventurer; died of a heart attack (b. 1863)
January 11, 1924 (Friday) Mexican government troops recaptured Pachuca from the rebels, and began a battle to retake Tuxpan. Born: Roger Guillemin, French neuroendocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; in Dijon, France (d. 2024) Slim Harpo, American blues musician; as Isiah Moore or James Isaac Moore, in Lobdell, Louisiana, United States (d. 1970)
January 12, 1924 (Saturday) Mexican mountaineer irregulars loyal to President Obregón recaptured Oaxaca City from the rebels. France rejected a British-backed proposal to arrange a League of Nations committee to investigate separatism in the Rhineland Palatinate. Prime Minister Poincaré insisted it was strictly the business of the countries directly involved in administrating the region. Bengali activist Gopinath Saha shot a man he thought was Calcutta police commissioner Charles Tegart, but learned that he had killed a different Englishman, Ernest Day, instead. Saha was sentenced to death for the crime and hanged on March 1. Born: Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver, four-time winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans race (1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962); in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1998) Chris Chase, American journalist, model and actress; as Irene Greengard, in New York City, United States (d. 2013) Died: Alexis Lapointe, 63, eccentric French Canadian endurance runner; killed after he was struck by a train (b. 1860)
January 13, 1924 (Sunday) The second stage of Egypt's first election for parliament took place as 38,000 electors (who had been selected in September 27) cast their votes for candidates for the 215 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 147 members of the Egyptian Senate. The Wafd Party, led by exiled nationalist Saad Zaghloul, won 188 of the 215 seats available in the Chamber, with only 27 seats for the independent candidates, prompting the resignation of Prime Minister Ibrahim Pasha. A long meeting between British ambassador Crewe and Prime Minister Poincaré over the Rhineland separatism issue was said to be unproductive. The American Communist newspaper The Worker changed its name to Daily Worker. The Chicago Daily Tribune announced a nationwide contest to name the new general interest magazine the paper's owners were planning to launch in the spring. The winner would receive a $20,000 cash prize. The entry eventually chosen would be Liberty. The crime drama film The Humming Bird, starring Gloria Swanson was released. Born: