January 1919

[January 1], 1919 (Wednesday)

• The Bolsheviks declared a Belarusian soviet republic in Smolensk, Belarus after the Red Army overthrew the Belarusian Democratic Republic the day before.
• Women were granted the right to be candidates in federal elections in Canada.
• Men and women in the Czech area of Czechoslovakia were granted equal voting rights in municipal elections.
• British ocean liner HMY Iolaire sank off the coast of Stornoway, Scotland, killing over 200 passengers and crew.
• Czechoslovak Legions occupied much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg, enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
• U.S. Navy troopship USAT Northern Pacific ran aground off Fire Island, New York, with about 2,500 soldiers on board. Men were transferred to other ships or onshore over the next three to four days.
• The Royal Yugoslav Army was established as the main land force for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
• Thomas Langton Church was elected for the fifth time as Mayor of Toronto in municipal elections.
• Edsel Ford succeeded his father Henry as head of the Ford Motor Company.
• An assembly of Andalusian nationalists in Córdoba, Spain advocated for the end of centralized power in the country and the creation of a Spanish federation in its place.
• The Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team of North Chicago, Illinois overthrew defending Rose Bowl champions Mare Island Marines of California 17–0 in the fifth Rose Bowl football game.
• American judge J. Harry Covington and attorney Edward B. Burling founded Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
• Bruce Fairchild Barton opened the Barton & Durstine Co. advertising agency in New York City. It would merge with the agency Batten Co. in 1928 to become BBDO.
• In the United Kingdom, the Postmen's Federation, Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association and Fawcett Association merged to form the Union of Post Office Workers.
• The Franklin Springs Institute was established in Franklin Springs, Georgia as a secondary religious school. In 1939, it received a charter to provide post-secondary education and was remained Emmanuel College.
• Several rail stations were reopened in the United Kingdom after being closed down during World War I, including stations Bridgend County Borough in Wales, and the Dorking, Reedham, St Leonards stations in England.
• The weekly news magazines Argia was first published, and remains the oldest publication in the Basque language.
• The short-lived Romanian literary magazine Florile Dalbe was published by the cultural society Academia Bârlădeană in Bârlad, Romania.
• The Buckingham Curling Club was established in Buckingham, Quebec.
• Born:
• * Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa, Sudanese state leader, 5th Prime Minister of Sudan; in Ed Dueim, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
• * J. D. Salinger, American writer, author of The Catcher in the Rye and Nine Stories; as Jerome David Salinger, in New York City, United States
• * Carole Landis, American actress, known for film roles in One Million B.C. and Moon Over Miami; as Frances Lillian Mary Ridste, in Fairchild, Wisconsin, United States
• * Rocky Graziano, American boxer, World Middleweight Champion in 1947; as Thomas Rocco Barbella, in New York City, United States

  [January 2], 1919 (Thursday)

• Russian Civil War - The Red Army's Caspian-Caucasian Front attacked the White Army under command of Anton Denikin in the North Caucasus but failed to meet their initial objectives on the first day of battle.
• Estonian War of Independence - Finland sent 2,000 volunteer soldiers to assist Estonia against the Red Army.
• The 18th Army of the Imperial German Army was disbanded.
• The Third and Fourth Aero Squadrons of the United States Army Air Service were disbanded, only to be reformed months later to serve American territories in the Pacific Ocean.
• Born:
• * Charles Willeford, American writer, known for his crime novels Cockfighter, Miami Blues, and The Woman Chaser; in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
• * Beatrice Hicks, American engineer, first female engineer to work for Western Electric, co-founder and first president of the Society of Women Engineers; in Orange, New Jersey, United States
• Died: Arthur Gould, 54, Welsh rugby player, fullback for Newport from 1882 to 1898, and the Wales national rugby union team from 1885 to 1897

  [January 3], 1919 (Friday)

• An agreement was signed by Emir Faisal and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann for Arab–Jewish cooperation in the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
• Soldiers threw up a blockade at Folkestone harbour in a successful protest against being returned to France. This leads to the start of mutiny that totaled 5,000 soldiers in Southampton, England. Eventually, it was put down after General Hugh Trenchard threatened lethal force against the mutineers.
• During a strike a metal works plant in Buenos Aires, armed workers fired on police conducting a metal shipment to the plant and fatally wounded one officer.
• Born: Robin Boyd, Australian architect, promoter of modernism in Australia, author of ''The Australian Ugliness''

  [January 4], 1919 (Saturday)

• Russian Civil War - The Ukrainian Front army group was formed to fight the Ukrainian People's Republic and supporting White Russian and Allied troops in the region.
• The right-wing National Democracy of Poland allied with disaffected officers of the Polish Army to attempt a coup against the government of Prime Minister Jędrzej Moraczewski and President Józef Piłsudski.
• Wojciech Trąmpczyński became the new president of Province of Poznań in Greater Poland as the uprising against Germany spread.
• The German interim government called for the dismissal of Emil Eichhorn, Police Chief of Berlin and a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, for refusing to act against demonstrating workers during the Christmas Crisis ten days earlier, sparking the Spartacist uprising the following day.
• Born: Lester L. Wolff, American politician U.S. Representative from New York from 1965 to 1981; in New York City, United States
• Died: Georg von Hertling, 75, German state leader, 7th Chancellor of Germany

  [January 5], 1919 (Sunday)

• Estonian War of Independence - Estonia increased its fighting force to 13,000 men, allowing it to halt the Red Army advance just 40 km from the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
• Spartacist uprising - The Communist Party of Germany and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany called for a demonstration supporting Emil Eichhorn to remain as head of the Berlin police force, but it swelled unexpectedly into a mass demonstration of 200,000 people. Eichhorn proclaimed before the massive crowd: "I got my job from the Revolution, and I shall give it up only to the Revolution." Many demonstrators occupied rail stations and newspapers while party members took control of the main Berlin police station.
• An attempt to overthrow Polish President Józef Piłsudski ended in failure, with most of the participants arrested in Warsaw. Piłsudski forwent any trials against the conspirators in the interest of national unity, and proposed instead to dissolve the current administration under Prime Minister Jędrzej Moraczewski.
• Battle of Ławica - Polish forces in Greater Poland descended on the German-held airport near Ławica and demanded the German garrison stationed at the airfield to surrender.
• The German Workers' Party, predecessor of the Nazi Party, was formed by merging the Committee of Independent Workmen headed by Anton Drexler with the Political Worker's Circle headed by journalist Karl Harrer.
• Football clubs were formed in the following cities:
• * Eyüpspor in Istanbul
• * Quissamã in Quissamã, Brazil
• Born:
• * Frederick Hammersley, American painter, member of the abstract art movement in the United States; in Salt Lake City, United States
• * Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan politician, founding member of the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma; in Kandy, British Ceylon
• * Herb Peterson, American food scientist, inventor of the Egg McMuffin for McDonald's; as Herbert Ralph Peterson, in Chicago, United States

  [January 6], 1919 (Monday)

• Christmas Uprising - Montenegrin nationalists known as the Greens launched a major assault on Cetinje, Montenegro where the governing Podgorica Assembly was based, resulting in the deaths of some of its members.
• Russian Civil War - Faced with casualties climbing towards 18,000 men lost, White Russian general Alexander Kolchak ordered the Siberian Army to hold their advance and defend the Perm region in Russia they now controlled.
• The Supreme People's Council of Greater Poland was formed to lead an uprising against Germany that still held territory in the western Polish states following World War I.
• Battle of Ławica - Polish forces attacked German troops at the airport near Ławica, Greater Poland after they refused to surrender, and captured the airfield within 20 minutes along with 300 planes and 20 machine guns.
• Spartacist uprising - The German interim government formally removed Emil Eichhorn from public office and ordered defense minister Gustav Noske to mobilize volunteer mercenary units known as Freikorps to curb the demonstrations. As a result, the Communist Party of Germany and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany formed an interim revolutionary committee in an attempt to topple the German government.
• The 10th Army of the Imperial German Army was disbanded.
• The world-famous dairy brand Danone was founded in Barcelona, Spain.
• Born: Roy Cochran, American athlete, two-time gold medalist at the 1948 Summer Olympics; as LeRoy Braxton Cochran, in Richton, Mississippi, United States
• Died:
• * Theodore Roosevelt, 60, 26th President of the United States and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient; died of a pulmonary embolism
• * Max Heindel, 53, American occultist, founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, author of ''The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception''