October 1919

[October 1], 1919 (Wednesday)

• Red Summer - A race riot broke out in Baltimore when soldiers from Fort Meade started harassing and then attacking blacks in their neighborhoods. Local police intervened and after considerable fights were able to arrest six soldiers.
• The World Series began with the Chicago White Sox competing against the Cincinnati Reds. Rumors were already circulating that the game was fixed, with the odds against the Reds falling rapidly. Over the next four games, eight White Sox players were alleged to have made intentional errors during the games to fall behind the Reds in the series.
• The 24th Fighter Squadron of the United States Army Air Service was disbanded, but would be mobilized again for World War II.
• The Women's Royal Naval Service was disbanded. It would be revived again in 1939 at the start of World War II.
• The experimental radio station WWV began broadcasting near Fort Collins, Colorado.
• Australian Aircraft & Engineering was established in Sydney to make domestic aircraft for Australia.
• The Religious of Jesus and Mary order established the all-girls school Convent of Jesus and Mary in Delhi.
• The International Bible Students Association began publishing the bi-monthly religious magazine The Golden Age.
• Army officer Wilford Fawcett was given permission from Stars and Stripes to publish a humor magazine called Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, leading to the establishment of Fawcett Publications and eventually Fawcett Comics, the first superhero comic books.
• Sports clubs were established in the following cities:
• * Klepp in Klepp, Norway with sections for football, handball, and gymnastics
• * Polonia in Środa Wielkopolska, Poland with sections for football, field hockey, handball and tennis.
• Born:
• * William E. DePuy, American army officer, first commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, two-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, five Distinguished Service Medals, three Silver Stars, and the Legion of Merit; in Jamestown, North Dakota, United States
• * Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian composer, known for film scores including Friendship and The One Who Wins is The King; as Asrar ul Hassan Khan, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, British India
• Died: Princess Charlotte of Prussia, 59, German noble, wife to Bernhard III, daughter to Frederick III; died of a heart attack

  [October 2], 1919 (Thursday)

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke at the age of 62, rendering him an invalid for the remainder of his life. However, his inner circle, led by the First Lady Edith Wilson and chief physician Cary T. Grayson, kept the general public in the dark about Wilson's health until February. Even then, Wilson's presidency continued for another year with Edith Wilson acting as a shadow steward of the executive branch.
• The North Shore Country Day School held its first day of classes in Winnetka, Illinois.
• English golfer Abe Mitchell won the 12th News of the World Match Play, defeating Scottish golfer George Duncan by one stroke at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England.
• The People's Paper, a Dutch morning edition, was first published and now has a nation-wide circulation of 250,000.
• Born: Shirley Clarke, American filmmaker, known for her independent short films and documentaries including The Connection, The Cool World and Portrait of Jason, recipient of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World, co-founder of The Film-Makers' Cooperative; as Shirley Brimberg, in New York City, United States
• Died: Victorino de la Plaza, 78, Argentinian state leader, 18th President of Argentina

  [October 3], 1919 (Friday)

• American diplomat Henry Morgenthau Sr. released a report concerning the treatment of Jewish people in the Second Polish Republic, including accounts of the Pinsk massacre committed by the Polish Army on April 5.
• The Department of Island Territories was established by the New Zealand Government to oversee the Pacific Islands of Samoa, Niue, Tokelau and the Cook Islands. James Allen was appointed as the first minister for the department.
• The UCLA Bruins football team played their first game with Fred Cozens as coach.
• The Bowling Green Falcons football team played their first game, beating the Toledo Rockets football team 6-0 and starting an ongoing rivalry between Bowling Green State University and University of Toledo.
• Born:
• * James M. Buchanan, American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on public choice theory, co-author of The Calculus of Consent; in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States
• * Jack Waring, English rugby player, wing and centre for St Helens, Featherstone Rovers, and Warrington Wolves from 1939 to 1949, and the England national rugby league team in 1940; in Prescot, England
• Died: Alfred Baumgarten, 76, German-Canadian business leader, president of the St. Lawrence Sugar Refinery in Montreal, governor of the Montreal General Hospital

  [October 4], 1919 (Saturday)

• American pilot Rudolph Schroeder, flying a Packard aircraft, achieved a new altitude world record of.
• Pope Benedict established the Territorial Prelate of Acre and Purus, named after the Acre River and Purus River of the Amazon. It eventually became the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio Branco in 1986.
• The Australian comedy The Sentimental Bloke premiered in Melbourne.
• The French communist newspaper The Worker of Lot-et-Garonne was first published in Agen, France.

  [October 5], 1919 (Sunday)

• A strike by railway workers in the United Kingdom ended with a new agreement signed between the rail companies and the National Union of Railwaymen.
• Born: Donald Pleasence, English actor, best known as Samuel Loomis in the Halloween horror film series, Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, and roles in The Great Escape, THX 1138, and Escape from New York; in Worksop, England
• Died:
• * Townsend F. Dodd, 33, American air force officer, first commissioned officer of the American Expeditionary Forces, recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal; killed in a plane crash
• * Wen Qimei, 52, Chinese matriarch, mother to Mao Zedong; died of lymphoma

  [October 6], 1919 (Monday)

• Some 200 to 300 rebels that were against the United States occupation of Haiti attacked American marines in Port-au-Prince, but were destroyed by gunfire from the marines and Haitian militia.
• Escalating disorder during the steel workers strike in Gary, Indiana led to the United States Army entering the city to restore order.
• About 62% of voters in Norway approved maintaining a partial prohibition on alcoholic spirits from 1917 during a referendum.
• French pianist Alfred Cortot co-founded the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
• The bedroom farce The Girl in the Limousine, written by Wilson Collison and Avery Hopwood, premiered at the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre in New York City with a successful run of 137 performances.
• Born:
• * Abe Saffron, Australian gangster, key figure in the Sydney underworld; in Annandale, New South Wales, Australia
• * Tommy Lawton, English football player, forward for various clubs including Notts County from 1936 to 1956, and the England national football team from 1938 to 1948; in Farnworth, England
• Died:
• * John Cameron, 73, Canadian politician, member of Edmonton Town Council from 1892 to 1896, developer of the Edmonton Public School Board; died of heart failure
• * Ricardo Palma, 86, Peruvian writer, author of ''Peruvian Traditions''

  [October 7], 1919 (Tuesday)

• A group of Dutch businessmen led by Frits Fentener van Vlissingen formed the airline KLM with aviator Albert Plesman as its director. It remains the oldest airline still flying under its original name.
• Field Marshal Edmund Allenby was awarded the noble title of Viscount for his service for the British Army in the Middle East during World War I.
• American playwright Alice Gerstenberg premiered her satirical play Fourteen in San Francisco.
• Born:
• *Henriette Avram, American computer programmer, developer of the MARC standards; as Henriette Regina Davidson, in New York City, United States
• *Erik Elmsäter, Swedish athlete, silver medalist in the 1948 Summer Olympics; as Fritz Erik Elmsäter, in Stockholm, Sweden
• *Zelman Cowen, Australian state leader, 19th Governor-General of Australia; in Melbourne, Australia
• *Annemarie Renger, German politician, 5th President of the Bundestag and first woman to hold that office; in Leipzig, Weimar Republic
• Died: Alfred Deakin, 63, Australian state leader, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia; died of meningoencephalitis

  [October 8], 1919 (Wednesday)

• A U.S. Marine unit attempted to capture Haitian rebel leader Charlemagne Péralte who organized the attack on Port-au-Prince at this camp. Around 30 rebels were killed but Péralte managed to escape. He was eventually caught and killed on November 1.
• The Essex Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army was disbanded in Cairo.
• Sturt defeated North Adelaide 3.5 to 2.6 in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide, Australia to win the South Australian Football League Grand Final.
• The Northern Ontario Hockey Association was established as the governing body of minor and junior league hockey in northern Ontario.
• The Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena was established in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
• Born:
• * Kiichi Miyazawa, Japanese state leader, 49th Prime Minister of Japan; in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Empire of Japan
• * Teruo Nakamura, Taiwanese-Japanese soldier, last known Japanese holdout after the surrender of Japan in 1945, arrested in Jakarta in 1974; as Attun Palalin, in Toran, Taitō Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan
• Died: Carlos Meléndez, 58, Salvadoran state leader, 24th President of El Salvador