May 1919

[May 1], 1919 (Thursday)

• The German Freikorps broke through German Soviet defenses around Munich, then the capital of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, and began capturing the city street by street.
• Riots broke out in Cleveland during a parade in the Public Square that was organized by American socialist leader C. E. Ruthenberg to protest against the imprisonment of labor leader Eugene V. Debs. While exact causes of the initial violence were disputed, the riots spread and resulted in two people killed, 40 injured, and 116 arrested.
• The 45th Australian Battalion was disbanded.
• The New Order was established in Turin by politicians Antonio Gramsci, Angelo Tasca and Palmiro Togliatti as the inner circle of the Italian Socialist Party. The group were admirers of the Russian Revolution and strongly supported the immediate creation of soviet councils in Italy.
• The Janesville Assembly Plant began producing the Samson Tractor for General Motors in Janesville, Wisconsin.
• Several rail stations were reopened in England after being closed down during World War I, including stations in south London and Selsdon.
• Football and sports clubs were established in the following cities:
• * Bauru was established in Bauru, Brazil as Luzitana
• * Radium in Mococa, Brazil through the merger of two local clubs
• * Sports club Express in Fevik, Norway with programs in football, handball, basketball, floorball, track and field, and gymnastics
• Born:
• * Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Moroccan state leader, 7th Prime Minister of Morocco; in Fez, Protectorate of Morocco
• * Lance Barnard, Australian politician, cabinet minister for the Gough Whitlam administration; in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
• * Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor, best known for his film roles in Robinson Crusoe, Fail Safe and RoboCop; in Wexford, Ireland
• * Manna Dey, Indian singer, vocalist for many Bollywood films including Two bighas of land, recipient of the Padma Shri; as Prabodh Chandra Dey, in Calcutta, British India

  [May 2], 1919 (Friday)

• Weimar Republic troops and the Freikorps occupied Munich and crushed remaining German Soviet resistance after two days of intense street fighting. In total, 606 people were killed including 335 civilians. German forces also killed several Soviet leaders, including Gustav Landauer, and arrested Eugen Leviné, president of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.

  [May 3], 1919 (Saturday)

• Poland marked the first national holiday for the country, commemorating the day when the 1791 Constitution was signed, the second oldest constitution created in Europe.
• Third Anglo-Afghan War – Afghan forces marched through the Khyber Pass between Afghanistan and British India and captured Bagh, a border town that provided much of the water for the larger town of Landi Kotal where two companies of the British Indian Army were garrisoned, initiating a third war between the country and the British Empire.
• White women were granted the right to vote in municipal elections in Atlanta,Georgia, USA.
• The National Association of Negro Musicians was established in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of Nora Holt and Henry Grant.
• The British weekly film magazine Picture Show published its first issue. It was the longest-running British film magazine until its final publication in 1960.
• Born:
• * Pete Seeger, American folk singer, known for his folk hits "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!"; in New York City, United States
• * John Cullen Murphy, American comic book artist, best known for his work on the comic strip Prince Valiant; in New York City, United States

  [May 4], 1919 (Sunday)

• The May Fourth Movement began when 4,000 students from 13 local universities throughout Beijing gathered in Tiananmen to protest against the decision at the Paris Peace Conference to transfer former German concessions in Jiaozhou Bay to Japan rather than return sovereign authority to China.
• Russian Civil War – The Fifth Red Army captured Buguruslan, forcing White Russian forces to retreat to Bugulma, Russia.
• A riot broke out in Fremantle, Australia when strikers for the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia attempted to stop a rival union from crossing the picket line to unload a ship in port. During the violence, union worker Tom Edwards was struck in the head by a police baton and died from his injury days later.
• The League of Red Cross Societies was founded in Paris.
• Lucina C. Broadwell, a 29-year-old mother of three in Barre, Vermont, was found in the early morning, murdered in what was considered "one of the most horrendous crimes to take place in Vermont up to that time." Her body was naked except for shoes and stockings, and an autopsy found she had been strangled. Lucina was buried in Johnson, Vermont, on May 7, 1919.
• The comic strip Harold Teen, created by Carl Ed, was first published in the Chicago Tribune, becoming the first cartoon to feature an adolescent as the main character.
• Born: Dory Funk, American wrestler, father of Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, promoter for Western States Sports; as Dorrance Wilhelm Funk, in Hammond, Indiana, United States
• Died: Milan Rastislav Štefánik, 38, Slovak military officer, commander of the Czechoslovak Legion during World War I, recipient of the Legion of Honour; killed in a plane crash

  [May 5], 1919 (Monday)

• The May Fourth Movement spread to other cities in China as student groups joined in solidarity with their Beijing counterparts who had been arrested and jailed for anti-imperialism protests the previous day in Tiananmen.
• The Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic was established in Simferopol, Crimea with Vladimir Lenin's brother Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov as chairman.
• The National Conference on Lynching was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City, with the goal of pressuring United States Congress to pass the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.
• The 51st Australian Battalion was disbanded.
• The 332nd Infantry Regiment of the United States Army was disbanded.
• The Ottoman Empire disbanded the Renewal Party following the dissolving of parliament.
• German sailing ship capsized in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. She was raised and scrapped in 1921.
• The Taiwan Governor-General Railway completed extended the Yilan line in Yilan County, Taiwan, adding Nuannuan, Sijiaoting and Ruifang stations to the rail line.
• Several rail stations were reopened in Great Britain after being closed down during World War I, including stations in Llong, Wales, and Cambridge Heath, Carpenders Park, Coborn, Garston, Kempston Hardwick, Kempston Elstow, Mochdre, Oxford Road, and Stewartby in England.
• The smelter stack for Anaconda Copper went into operation in Anaconda, Montana. After operations discontinued, the structure was preserved and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. At an overall height of about, it remains the tallest surviving masonry structure in the world.
• Born:
• * Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek state leader, second Prime Minister of Greece during the Greek junta, and 8th President of Greece; in Elaiochori, Achaea, Kingdom of Greece
• * Séamus Ennis, Irish folk singer, promoter of the traditional Irish uilleann pipes, co-founder of the Na Píobairí Uilleann; in Finglas, Dublin, Ireland
• * Tony Canadeo, American football player, halfback for the Green Bay Packers; in Chicago, United States
• * Bob Westfall, American football player, fullback for the Detroit Lions from 1944 to 1947; in Hamtramck, Michigan, United States
• Died: Charles W. Fisher, 52, Canadian politician, first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta; died of influenza

  [May 6], 1919 (Tuesday)

• Third Anglo-Afghan War – The United Kingdom formally declared war on Afghanistan.
• The Bavarian Soviet Republic was officially dissolved in Munich.
• Meredith P. Snyder defeated incumbent Frederic T. Woodman during city elections to become the 23rd mayor of Los Angeles.
• The Australian Flying Corps disbanded the squadron No. 2.
• L. Frank Baum, 62, the creator of The Wizard of Oz series, died in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke the previous day. It was reported his last words to his wife Maude were "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands," a reference to the impenetrable desert that surrounded the mythical Land of Oz he created through 12 novels.
• The borough of Plainsboro Township, New Jersey, was established.
• Born: John Edwin Ashley Williams, Australian air force officer, commander of No. 450 Squadron during World War II, member of the escape team from the German POW camp Stalag Luft III; in Wellington, New Zealand

  [May 7], 1919 (Wednesday)

• At the Paris Peace Conference, the United Kingdom was awarded most of German East Africa, over strenuous objections from Belgium.
• A bombing at the police station in Blankenberge, West Flanders, Belgium, killed 2 police officers. The bombing remains unsolved.
• The Victorias Milling Company, one of the largest sugar manufacturers in Asia, was established in Victorias, Philippines.
• The University in Poznań was established in Poznań, Greater Poland, although an academic history going as far back as 1611 is attributed to it. It has carried the name of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz since 1955.
• The Geological Museum of the State Geological Institute was opened in Warsaw.
• The St. Joseph Cathedral was dedicated in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was registered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
• Born: Eva Perón, Argentine philanthropist, First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952, wife of Argentine President Juan Perón, president of the Eva Perón Foundation; as María Eva Duarte, in Los Toldos, Argentina