1923

Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events of 1923

January-February

• January 1 - Grouping of all UK railway companies into four larger companies.
• January 10 - Lithuania seizes and annexes Memel.
• January 11 - Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to pay its reparation payments.
• January 17 - Juan de la Cierva invents the autogyro, a rotary-winged aircraft with an unpowered rotor.
• January 18 - Elon College's campus is destroyed by a fire.
• February 8 - Billy Hughes resigns as Prime Minister of Australia, after the Country Party refuses to govern in coalition with him as the leader of the Nationalist Party. Hughes is succeeded by his Treasurer, Stanley Bruce.
• February 23 - Barcelona (Spain): Albert Einstein visits the city, at the invitation of scientist Esteban Terradas i Illa.

March-April

• March - Antigone by Jean Cocteau appears on a Paris stage. Settings by Pablo Picasso, music by Arthur Honegger, and costumes by Gabrielle Chanel. Antonin Artaud played the part of Tiresias.
• March 1
  • USS Connecticut decommissioned.
  • Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar.
• March 2 - Time magazine hits newsstands for the first time.
• March 9 - Vladimir Lenin suffers a stroke, his third, which renders him bedridden and unable to speak; consequently he retires his position as Chairman of the Soviet government.
• March 28 - Regia Aeronautica, air force of Fascist Italy, is founded.
• April 6 - The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed in Victoria Institution, Malaysia.
• April 12 - Kandersteg International Scout Centre came into existence.
• April 23 - The Turkish Council is founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
• April 26 - Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in Westminster Abbey.
• April 29 - Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia seaport.

May-June

• May 3 - Creation of Aleph Zadik Aleph
• May 23 - Launch of Belgium's SABENA Airlines.
• May 24 - End of Irish Civil War.
• May 27 - Ku Klux Klan defies law requiring publication of its members.
• June 9 - Military coup in Bulgaria - prime minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski is ousted (he is killed June 14).
• June 13 - China President Li abandoned his residence because a warlord had commanded forces to surround the mansion and cut off water and electric supplies of the residence in order to force him to abandon his post.
• June 16 - Storming of Ayan in Siberia concludes the Yakut Revolt and the Russian Civil War
• June 18 - Etna volcano erupts - 60,000 made homeless.
• June 25 - Rapid Bucureşti is formed on the initiative of the Griviţa railroad workers. The name given at the time was CFR Bucureşti.

July-August

• July 1 - Alberta Hospital Edmonton was founded.
• July 10 - Large hailstones kill 23 in Rostow, Soviet Union.
• July 19 - July 20 - Assassination of Pancho Villa.
• July 24 - The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in the First World War.
• August 2 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States, (1921 - 1923) dies in office and is succeeded by Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929).
• August 13
  • First major seagoing ship arrives at Gdynia, newly constructed Polish seaport.
  • Gustav Stresemann is named chancellor and founds a coalition government in Weimar Republic Germany.

September-October

• September 1 - Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing an estimated 142,807 people, but according to Japanese construction reserch center report on 2005, 105,000 confirmed dead 1923 quake.
• September 4 - In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the first American airship, the USS Shenandoah, takes to the sky for the first time.
• September 6 - Italian navy occupies Corfu in retaliation of murder of an Italian officer. The League of Nations protests and they leave on September 29.
• September 8 - Honda Point Disaster: Seven US Navy destroyers ran aground off the California coast.
• September 9 - Atatürk founded the CHP.
• September 10 - Ireland joins League of Nations.
• September 13 - Military coup in Spain - Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship. Trade unions are banned for 10 years.
• September 17 - A major fire in Berkeley, California erupts, consumed some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely-built neighborhoods north of the campus of the University of California.
• September 18 - September 26 - Newspaper printers strike in New York.
• September 26 - In Bayern, Gustav Ritter von Kahr declares independence from Berlin.
• October 13 - Ankara replaces İstanbul as the capital of Turkey.
• October 26 - in Persia, Reza Khan became Ahmad Shah Qajar's prime minister.
• October 29 - Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

November-December

• November 1 - Finnish flag carrier Finnair airline is started in Aero Oy.
• November 8 - Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government; police and troops crush the attempt the next day.
• November 12 - Her Highness Princess Maud of Fife marries Captain Charles Alexander Carnegie in Wellington Barracks, London.
• November 15 - The hyperinflation in Germany reaches its height. One United States dollar is worth 4,200,000,000,000,000 Papiermark (4.2 quadrillion). Gustav Stresemann abolishes the old currency. See inflation in the Weimar Republic.
• November 23 - Gustav Stresemann's coalition government collapses.
• December 12 - In Italy, the Po river dam bursts - 600 dead.
• December 20 - First social fraternity at a Jesuit college in the United States is founded, BEGGARS Fraternity, by a group of 9 men who secured permission to do so from the Pope.
• December 27 - Assassination attempt against the crown prince of Japan in Tokyo.

Undated

• International Police Conference in Vienna. International Criminal Police (Interpol) is set up.
• Hoda Cha'arawi Association (formerly The Egyptian Feminist Union) is established in Egypt.
• Police strike in Australia.
• American Law Institute established.
• Moderation League of New York becomes part of the movement for repeal of prohibition in the United States.
• Rainbow Trout introduced into the upper Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park

Ongoing

• Pontic Greek Genocide (1916–1923).
• Third Rif War (1920-1926)
• United States occupation of Haiti (1915-1934)

Births

January - February

• January 1
  • Vulo Radev, Bulgarian film director (d. 2001)
  • Roméo Sabourin, Canadian World War II spy (d. 1944)
• January 5 - Sam Phillips, American record producer (d. 2003)
• January 6 - Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
• January 7 - Hugh Kenner,boom Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)
• January 8 - Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
• January 16 - Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• January 19 - Jean Stapleton, American actress
• January 23
  • Cot Deal, major league baseball player and coach
  • Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar fibers
• January 25 - Arvid Carlsson, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• January 26 - Anne Jeffreys, American actress
• January 29 - Paddy Chayefsky, American writer (d. 1981)
• January 31 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist (d. 2007)
• February 2
  • James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)
  • Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
• February 9 - Brendan Behan, Irish author (d. 1964)
• February 10 - Cesare Siepi, Italian opera singer
• February 12 - Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director
• February 13 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (d. 2003)
• February 13 - Chuck Yeager, American pilot and NASA official
• February 20 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
• February 24 - David Soyer, American cellist
• February 27 - Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophone player (d. 1990)

March - April

• March 4 - Sir Patrick Moore, British astronomer and broadcaster
• March 6 - Ed McMahon, American television personality
• March 7 - Mahlon Clark, American musician (d. 2007)
• March 9 - Walter Kohn, Austrian-born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• March 10 - Val Logsdon Fitch, American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• March 12 - Wally Schirra, astronaut (d. 2007)
• March 21 - Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava, Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
• March 22 - Marcel Marceau, world renown French Mime (d. 2007)
• March 25 - Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (d. 2003)
• March 26 - Bob Elliott, American comedian
• March 27 - Louis Simpson, Jamaican-born poet
• March 28 - Thad Jones, American jazz musician (d. 1986)
• March 30 - Milton Acorn, Canadian writer (d. 1986)
• April 2 - G. Spencer-Brown, British mathematician
• April 6 - Ramon Valdes, Mexican comedian (d. 1988)
• April 8
  • George Fisher, American political cartoonist (d. 2003)
  • Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (d. 1997)
• April 13 - Don Adams, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
• April 20 - Mother Angelica, American founder of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)
• April 22
  • Bettie Page, American model
  • Aaron Spelling, American television producer and writer (d. 2006)
• April 23 - Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas
• April 25 - Albert King, American musician (d. 1992)
• April 30
  • Al Lewis, American actor (d. 2006)
  • Francis Tucker, South African Rally Driver (d. 2008)

May - June

• May 1 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
• May 2 - Patrick Hillery, President of Ireland (d. 2008)
• May 3 - Ralph Hall, American politician
• May 4 - Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer, musician, conductor, poet and author (d. 1986)
• May 5 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (d. 2003)
• May 7 - Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
• May 10
  • Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan from June 1993 to October 2003 (d. 2003)
  • Verne Gagne, American professional wrestler
• May 15 - John Lanchbery, English composer (d. 2003)
• May 16 - Merton Miller, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
• May 18 - Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
• May 21
  • Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (d. 2003)
  • Dorothy Hewett, writer (d. 2002)
  • Ara Parseghian, American football coach
• May 23 - Kalidas Shrestha, Nepalese artist
• May 26 - James Arness, American actor
• May 27 - Henry Kissinger, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• May 28
  • György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (d. 2006)
  • NTR, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Indian (Telugu) film actor (d. 1996)
• May 31 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
• June 4 - Elizabeth Jolley, Australian writer (d. 2007)
• June 10 - Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born media entrepreneur (d. 1991)
• June 15 - Johnny Most, American basketball radio announcer (d. 1993)
• June 24 - Jack Carter, American comedian
• June 27 - Gus Zernial, American baseball player
• June 28 - Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Soviet film director (d. 1980)

July - August

• July 2 - Wislawa Szymborska, Polish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• July 4 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor
• July 8 - Harrison Dillard, American athlete
• July 18 - Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor (d. 1997)
• July 20 - Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
• July 21 - Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• July 22
  • Bob Dole, American politician and Presidential candidate
  • Mukesh, Indian singer (d. 1976)
  • The Fabulous Moolah, American Professional Wrestler (d. 2007)
• July 23
  • Witto Aloma, Cuban Major League Baseball player (d. 1997)
  • Norma Zimmer, American singer
  • Estelle Getty, American actress (d. 2008)
• July 28 - H.S.S. Lawrence, Indian educationist
• July 29 - Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amplification.
• August 3 - Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Christianity
• August 5 - Devan Nair, third President of Singapore (d. 2005)
• August 16 - Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian cartoonist and playwright
• August 20 - Jim Reeves, American singer (d. 1964)
• August 21
  • Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel, President of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Larry Grayson, British comedian and game show host (d. 1995)
• August 24 - Arthur Jensen, American educational psychologist
• August 26 - Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
• August 29 - Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley, Chairman of the BBC (d. 2006)

September - October

• September 1
  • Rocky Marciano, American boxer (d. 1969)
  • Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (d. 2006)
• September 3 - Mort Walker, American cartoonist
• September 6 - King Peter II of Yugoslavia (d. 1970)
• September 7 - Madeleine Dring, British composer and actress (d. 1977)
• September 9 - Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• September 16 - Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore
• September 17 - Hank Williams, American country musician (d. 1953)
• September 18 - Queen Anne of Romania
• September 20 - Geraldine Clinton Little, Irish-born poet (d. 1997)
• September 22 - Dannie Abse, Welsh poet
• September 26 - Dev Anand, Indian actor
• October 3 - Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician (d. 2004)
• October 4 - Charlton Heston, American actor (d. 2008)
• October 5 - Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic professional football player and politician (d. 1994)
• October 5 - Glynis Johns, British actress
• October 10 - Murray Walker, British motor racing commenator
• October 13 - Faas Wilkes, Dutch football (soccer) player (d. 2006)
• October 15 - Italo Calvino, Italian writer (d. 1985)
• October 17 - Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (d. 2001)
• October 23
  • Frank Sutton, American actor (d. 1974)
  • Sir Robin Day, British political broadcaster (d. 2000)
• October 24 - Denise Levertov, British-born American poet (d. 1997)

November - December

• November 1
  • Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (d. 2005)
  • Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian author (d. 2001)
• November 3 - Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich, Northern Irish clergyman (d. 1990)
• November 8 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 2005)
• November 18 - Alan Shepard, American astronaut (d. 1998)
• November 20 - Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• November 22 - Arthur Hiller, Canadian film director
• November 23 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (d. 1986)
• November 25 - Mauno Koivisto, President of Finland
• December 2 - Maria Callas, Greek soprano (d. 1977)
• December 12 - Bob Barker, American game show host
• December 13
  • Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • Larry Doby, baseball player (d. 2003)
  • Antoni Tàpies, Catalan painter
• December 14
  • Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (d. 2006)
  • Sully Boyar, American actor (d. 2001)
• December 15 - Freeman Dyson, English-born physicist
• December 17 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (d. 2006)
• December 23
  • Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
  • James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral (d. 2005)
• December 24 - George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
• December 25 - Sonia Olschanezky, World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• date unknown - Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith, English/Canadian geologist and glaciologist

Deaths

January - June

• January 9
  • Katherine Mansfield, British novelist (b. 1888)
  • Edith Thompson, hanged for murder (or adultery; b. 25 December 1893)
• January 23 - Max Nordau, Hungarian author, philosopher, and Zionist leader (b. 1849)
• January 31 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish artist, political activist and assassin (executed) (b. 1869)
• February 3 - Kuroki Tamemoto, Japanese military leader (b. 1844)
• February 10 - Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• February 23 - Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (b. 1852)
• March 8 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
• March 26 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
• March 27 - Sir James Dewar, Scottish chemist (b. 1842)
• March 28 - Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general (b. 1847)
• April 4 - John Venn, British mathematician (b. 1834)
• April 5 - George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier of Egyptian excavations (b. 1866)
• April 23 - Princess Louise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden (b. 1838)
• June 9 - Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, third daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1846)
• June 24 - Edith Södergran, Finnish author (b. 1892)

July - December

• July 10 - Albert Chevalier, music hall comedian (b. 1861)
• July 23 - Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (b. 1878)
• August 2 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (b. 1865)
• August 24 - Kato Tomosaburo, 21st Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1861)
• September 9 - Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca, 8th President of Brazil (b. 1855)
• October 30 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)
• November 9 (among those killed in Beer Hall Putsch):
  • Oskar Körner, businessman (b. 1875)
  • Karl Laforce, student (b. 1904)
  • Ludwig Maximilian Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, diplomat and revolutionary (b. 1884)
• November 14 - Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover (b. 1845)
• December 12 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
• December 13 - Théophile Steinlen, Swiss painter (b. 1859)
• date unknown - Carl L. Boeckmann, Norwegian-American artist (b. 1867)

Nobel prizes

• Physics - Robert Andrews Millikan
• Chemistry - Fritz Pregl
• Physiology or Medicine - Frederick Grant Banting, John James Richard Macleod
• Literature - William Butler Yeats
• Peace - Not awarded

Notes

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1923

External references

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