The following events occurred in March 1924:
March 1, 1924 (Saturday) The Nixon Nitration Works disaster, an explosion of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 18 people, destroyed several miles of New Jersey factories, and demolished the "tiny industrial town of Nixon, New Jersey." Public vehicles such as taxicabs were allowed into London's Hyde Park for the first time since 1636, after the House of Commons had repealed the ban on motion by M.P. Ben Smith. The 1636 law had made Hyde Park "reserved for people who kept their own carriages." Smith himself had been a taxicab driver prior to becoming an official in the Transport and General Workers' Union. The Communist Party of Germany was legally reinstated. It had been banned in November 1923 after it tried to launch a general strike. Alice's Day at Sea, the first of 57 films in Walt Disney's Alice Comedies series, was introduced to American cinemas as a short (11-minute) movie to be shown prior to a feature film. The silent film featured 5-year-old Virginia Davis in a combination of live action and animation. An earlier Alice comedy, Alice's Wonderland, had been shown to theater owners but never released to the public. Born: Deke Slayton, American astronaut who was one of the original Mercury 7 and who later served on the Apollo–Soyuz mission in 1975; as Donald Kent Slayton, in Sparta, Wisconsin, United States (d. 1993) Died: Billy Armstrong, 33, British-born American comedian and silent film actor, known for starring in 1919's Hop, the Bellhop with Oliver Hardy; died from tuberculosis (b. 1891) Gopinath Saha, 18, Bengali activist for independence in British India; hanged at the Alipore Central Jail in Calcutta for the murder of a bystander during his attempt to assassinate Calcutta Police Commissioner Charles Tegart (b. 1905)
March 2, 1924 (Sunday) Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier of Belgium issued a pastoral letter calling on Belgians to help their government restore the country's finances. Born: Michael Sela, Israeli immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, co-developer of the drug copaxone used as a treatment for multiple sclerosis; as Mieczysław Salomonowicz, in Tomaszów, Poland (d. 2022) June Norma Olley, English-born Australian microbiologist; in Croydon, London, England (d. 2019) Marty Baum, American talent agent; as Marin Baum, in New York City, United States (d. 2010)
March 3, 1924 (Monday) Shefqet Vërlaci became the new Prime Minister of Albania after Ahmet Zogu's serious injury in the assassination attempt of February 23. The Turkish National Assembly formally ended the Ottoman Caliphate, a remnant of the Ottoman monarchy, voting "almost unanimously" to abolish the office, and ordered that Abdulmejid II and his harem were to be deported by March 15. Abdulmejid, first cousin of the last Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI, who had become caliph on November 19, 1922 was formally deposed at 2:00 the next morning. Seán O'Casey's drama Juno and the Paycock opened at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Born: Tomiichi Murayama, Japanese politician, served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996; in Ōita, Empire of Japan (present-day Japan) (d. 2025) Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerian military officer who served as the first military dictator and head of state of Nigeria; in Umuahia, British Nigeria (present-day Nigeria) (d. 1966, assassinated) Lys Assia, Swiss singer and first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest; as Rosa Mina Schärer, in Aargau, Switzerland (d. 2018) Lilian Velez, Philippine film actress; in Cebu City, Philippine Islands (present-day Philippines) (d. 1948, murdered) John Woodnutt, British actor; in London, England) (d. 2006) Hadi Rohani, Iranian ayatollah of the Shi'ite Muslim faith; in Kalehbast, Sublime State of Iran (present-day Hadishahr, Iran) (d. 1999) Died: Pell Trenton, 40, American film actor, star of The Blue Moon and other silent movies; died of pulmonary tuberculosis (b. 1883)
March 4, 1924 (Tuesday) A 7.1 magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter at Orotina in Costa Rica, struck at 5:23 in the morning local time and killed 70 people. Damage was caused in the capital at San Jose, away. Aidan de Brune became the first person to walk all the way around Australia, returning to Sydney from whence he had departed on September 20, 1921. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team completed a perfect season of 26 wins and no losses, as one of the major unbeaten team in the nation, by winning the 16-team Southern Intercollegiate Conference postseason tournament, defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide, 26 to 18, in Atlanta. The University of Texas Longhorns also went unbeaten, finishing the Southwest Conference regular season with a 23-0 record and being 20-0 in SWC games, but did not play against North Carolina. Born: Kenneth O'Donnell, American political consultant, aide to U.S. President John F. Kennedy; in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States (d. 1977) Donald R. Yennie, American theoretical physicist known for devising the Yennie gauge mathematical procedure; in Paterson, New Jersey, United States (d. 1993)
March 5, 1924 (Wednesday)
Just two days after Turkey abolished the caliphate, Hussein bin Ali, King of the Hejaz (now Saudi Arabia) and Sharif of Mecca, was proclaimed the Caliph of all Muslims by Muslim leaders in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Transjordania (now Jordan). The response throughout the Muslim world was mostly negative. Born: Harvey Bernhard, American film producer, known for horror films The Omen (1976) and The Lost Boys (1987); in Seattle, United States (d. 2014) Died: Viktor von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen, 76, Austrian ornithologist (b. 1847). Among the birds named in his honor are the European goldfinch Carduelis tschusii common reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus tschusii and the Eurasian wryneck Jynx torquilla tschusii.
March 6, 1924 (Thursday) In an elaborate nighttime ceremony at Luxor under floodlights, Egypt's Prime Minister Saad Zaghloul formally opened the site of Tutankamun's tomb to the Egyptian public, which reportedly attracted the largest crowd seen in Luxor. The reopening turned into an anti-British demonstration when the British High Commissioner, Field Marshal Allenby, arrived when the crowd was demanding immediate British withdrawal from Egypt. Turkey's second government was organized as Prime Minister Ismet Pasha formed a new council of ministers at the request of President Mustapha Kemal Pasha. Ismet replaced four members of his Cabinet and eliminated the Ministry of Sharia and Foundations, and the Ministry of the General Staff while splitting the Ministry of the Economy into the new Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture. Born: William H. Webster, American federal judge, served as the Director of the FBI from 1978 to 1987 and Director of the CIA from 1987 to 1991; in St. Louis (d. 2025) Obi James Anyasi II, African tribal monarch who ruled the Esan people of Idumuje-Unor in southeast Nigeria from 1946 to 2013 (d. 2013)
March 7, 1924 (Friday) The Delahueristas, rebel supporters of former Mexican President Adolfo de la Huerta, surrendered across Mexico as President Álvaro Obregón offered an amnesty, bringing an end to the De la Huerta rebellion after three months. A representative of the Irish Republican Army Organisation (IRAO) handed an ultimatum to Ireland's President W. T. Cosgrave, from Major-General Liam Tobin and Colonel Charles Dalton, demanding an end to Defence Minister Richard Mulcahy's demobilization of Irish Army troops. Mulcahy ordered the arrest of both officers on charges of mutiny. Born: Kōbō Abe, Japanese novelist; in Kita, Tokyo, Empire of Japan (present-day Japan) (d. 1993) Died: Pat Moran, 48, American professional baseball player and manager; died of kidney disease (b. 1876)
March 8, 1924 (Saturday) All 171 miners were killed in two explosions at the Castle Gate mine at Castle Gate, Utah, near the town of Helper. The Governor-General of British India, Lord Reading transferred full power of administration of the princely state of Bahawalpur (now part of the Punjab province of Pakistan) to the 19-year-old Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sadeq Mohammad Khan V who had been the nominal ruler since ascending the throne at the age of two on February 15, 1907. Inventor Nikola Tesla spoke out for the first time in years, announcing he had perfected a system of transmitting power without wires. Georgios Kafantaris was forced by the Greek Army to resign as Prime Minister of Greece, along with his cabinet, less than a month after succeeding Eleftherios Venizelos, after refusing to endorse the Army's call for the abolition of the monarchy in favor of a republic. Kafantaris had proposed a referendum on the future of the monarchy while the Army requested an immediate change. The Kingdom of Greece established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, a policy that continued even after the kingdom was abolished less than one month later. Born: Walter Chiari, Italian stage and film actor; as Walter Annicchiarico, in Verona, Kingdom of Italy (present-day Italy) (d. 1991) Louie Nunn, American politician, 52nd governor of Kentucky; in Park, Kentucky, United States (d. 2004) Sean McClory, Irish actor; in Dublin, Irish Free State (present-day Ireland) (d. 2003) Died: Alfred Holland Smith, 60, President of the New York Central Railroad; killed after he fell from a horse while riding through New York City's Central Park (b. 1863)
March 9, 1924 (Sunday) The French Cabinet held an emergency meeting to consider extraordinary measures to stabilize the collapsing franc, which dropped to 117.60 francs against the British pound sterling. Died: General Panagiotis Danglis, 70, Greek Army leader and Minister for Military Affairs during World War I, co-inventor of the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun (b. 1853)
March 10, 1924 (Monday) U.S. Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby resigned over the Teapot Dome scandal. He said that by quitting before he could be asked to resign, he was "dying with my face toward the enemy." France obtained a $50 million credit from American banks and a £5 million credit from London to stabilize the franc. In the case of Radice v. New York, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York state statute banning late-night working for women on grounds of health. Born: Angela Morley, British composer and conductor who won three Emmy Awards after her gender transition in 1972; as Walter Stott, in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2009) Horace Busby, American speechwriter and political consultant, presidential adviser and speechwriter for U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson; in Fort Worth, Texas, United States (d. 2000) Died: Rafael López Gutiérrez, 68, President of Honduras from 1920 until his death (b. 1854)
March 11, 1924 (Tuesday) The worst Atlantic gale in twenty years hit the east coast of the United States, downing telephone and telegraph lines and killing nine people. Belva Gaertner, a cabaret singer, was arrested for the murder of her abusive lover, Walter Law, who was found dead from a bullet wound in her car in Chicago. She would be acquitted based on reasonable doubt over whether Law's death was a murder or a suicide. The story would be the inspiration of the Maurine Dallas Watkins Broadway play, Chicago in 1926, and for the successful John Kander and Fred Ebb musical Chicago in 1975. Born: Franco Basaglia, Italian psychiatrist and reformer in mental health care, founder of Psichiatria Democratica; in San Polo, Venice, Kingdom of Italy (present-day Italy) (d. 1980) Bill Ezinicki, Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played in the NHL 1944 to 1955; in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (d. 2012) Eva Von Gencsy, Hungarian-born Canadian jazz dancer and choreographer, creator of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; in Csongrád, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Hungary) (d. 2013) Died: Chichester Bell, 75-76, Irish audio engineer and inventor, developed the Graphophone recorded music player (b. 1848)