April 1922

April 1, 1922 (Saturday)

The Arnon Street killings took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Over 500,000 UMW miners across 26 states went on strike in the United States.

Cambridge won the 74th Boat Race.

The adventure film Monte Cristo starring John Gilbert and Estelle Taylor was released.

Born: William Manchester, author, biographer and historian, in Attleboro, Massachusetts (d. 2004); Saad el-Shazly, military commander, in Basyoun, Egypt (d. 2011)

Died: Charles I of Austria, 34, last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (respiratory failure)

April 2, 1922 (Sunday)

The Argentine general election was held, won by the Radical Civic Union led by Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear.

The Charlie Chaplin comedy short film Pay Day was released.

Died: Hermann Rorschach, 37, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (peritonitis)

April 3, 1922 (Monday)

On Vladimir Lenin's suggestion, Joseph Stalin was made General Secretary of the Communist Party in Soviet Russia.

British Prime Minister David Lloyd George resoundingly won a motion of confidence in the House of Commons 372-94, strengthening his hand going into the Genoa Conference.

Born: Maurice Riel, lawyer and senator, in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada (d. 2007)

April 4, 1922 (Tuesday)

A bomb attack on a gentlemen's club in Budapest killed six. All the victims were Jewish, and it was suspected that the attack had a political motivation.

Born: Elmer Bernstein, composer and conductor, in New York City (d. 2004)

Died: Peter Waite, 87, Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, businessman and philanthropist

April 5, 1922 (Wednesday)

The American Birth Control League was inaugurated in New York.

KOB in Las Cruces, New Mexico went on the air, the first in that state.

Born: Tom Finney, footballer, in Preston, Lancashire, England (d. 2014); Gale Storm, actress and singer, in Bloomington, Texas (d. 2009)

April 6, 1922 (Thursday)

The Reichstag approved a bill allowing women to serve as lay judges or jurors.

April 7, 1922 (Friday)

The first midair collision between airliners occurred, over Picardie, France. A Grands Express Aériens Goliath collided with a Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.18 in a fog and all seven aboard the two planes were killed.

Born: Mongo Santamaría, Latin jazz percussionist, in Havana, Cuba (d. 2003)

Died: A. V. Dicey, 87, British jurist and constitutional theorist

April 8, 1922 (Saturday)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arrived in the United States to conduct a lecture tour on spiritualism.

During an exhibition game, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team first wore their now-iconic uniforms, with two cardinals perched on a baseball bat emblazoned across the front of the jersey.

Died: Erich von Falkenhayn, 60, German general

April 9, 1922 (Sunday)

Charles Lindbergh took his first airplane flight.

Died: Hans Fruhstorfer, 56, German explorer and entomologist; Patrick Manson, 77, Scottish physician

April 10, 1922 (Monday)

The Genoa Conference began. Representatives of 34 countries convened to discuss global economic problems in the aftermath of the war. The conference also marked the first appearance of Soviet Russia as a player on the international stage. It was widely speculated that Vladimir Lenin might personally attend, but he chose not to for security reasons.

The First Zhili–Fengtian War began in China.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Balzac v. Porto Rico.

The first licensed radio station in the U.S. state of North Carolina, WBT out of Charlotte, went on the air.

April 11, 1922 (Tuesday)

The New York Philharmonic made its first recording, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture for the Victor company.

April 12, 1922 (Wednesday)

Fatty Arbuckle was acquitted in his third trial.

Gabby Hartnett made his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs, going 0-for-2 with two sacrifices against the Cincinnati Reds.

April 13, 1922 (Thursday)

The U.S. state of Massachusetts opened all of its public offices to women.

The musical revue Make It Snappy starring Eddie Cantor and introducing the hit song "Yes! We Have No Bananas", premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

Born: Julius Nyerere, 1st President of Tanzania, in Butiama, Tanganyika (d. 1999)

Died: Ross Macpherson Smith, 29, Australian aviator (plane crash)

April 14, 1922 (Friday)

Members of the IRA occupied the Four Courts and other important buildings in Dublin.

The Teapot Dome scandal broke when The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall had secretly leased the government-owned Teapot Dome oil reserves in Wyoming to private business interests.

Born: Ali Akbar Khan, Hindustani classical musician, in Comilla, East Bengal (d. 2009)

Died: Cap Anson, 69, American baseball player

April 15, 1922 (Saturday)

The U.S. Senate passed Resolution 277, which asked Interior Secretary Fall and Navy Secretary Edwin Denby whether leases had been given on the government-owned oil reserves.

Died: John D'Auban, 79 or 80, English dancer, choreographer and actor

April 16, 1922 (Sunday)

The Treaty of Rapello was signed. Germany and Russia agreed to renounce all territorial and financial claims against each other and normalize diplomatic relations.

Michael Collins survived an assassination attempt when gunmen fired at him as he was passing through Dublin's Rutland Square.

Born: Kingsley Amis, novelist, poet, critic and teacher, in Clapham, England (d. 1995); Leo Tindemans, Prime Minister of Belgium, in Zwijndrecht, Belgium (d. 2014)

April 17, 1922 (Monday)

Tornadoes swept through the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, killing about 50 people.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Moreland.

April 18, 1922 (Tuesday)

A large stockpile of munitions near a railway station in Monastir exploded, killing hundreds of people.

The Republic of Central Lithuania was formally incorporated under the sovereignty of Poland despite Lithuania's objections.

Economist John Maynard Keynes wrote an editorial urging Britain to give Russia a loan of £150 million to be spent on British goods that either promoted agricultural production or improved communications. Doing so, Keynes wrote, would ameliorate Russia's famine and cut food prices worldwide by speeding up the time it would take to make Russia an exporter of food again.

Actor William Desmond was badly injured in a fall during the shooting of a scene for the film serial Perils of the Yukon. He and others were standing on a fifty-foot cliff when a ledge of melting ice and snow gave way, plunging Williams into the river below.

April 19, 1922 (Wednesday)

3 were killed in rioting in East Belfast in response to the fatal shooting of a youth.

Clarence DeMar won the Boston Marathon.

Born: Erich Hartmann, ace fighter pilot, in Weissach, Germany (d. 1993)

April 20, 1922 (Thursday)

The British freighter Zero collided with the USS Aeolus off the coast of Uruguay and sank, but all 18 of its crew were rescued.

Died: Christopher Augustine Buckley, 76, American saloonkeeper and political boss

April 21, 1922 (Friday)

France threatened to quit the Genoa Conference because it viewed the Treaty of Rapallo as a provocation and disapproved of David Lloyd George's inclination towards forgiving some of Russia's debt, since much of it was owed to France.

Six more were killed in disturbances in Belfast.

The tradition of Aggie Muster officially began at Texas A&M University.

Born: Alistair MacLean, novelist, in Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1987)

April 22, 1922 (Saturday)

The Ku Klux Klan raid occurred in Inglewood, California, when 37 Klansmen raided the home of a Spanish-American family suspected of bootlegging. The raid led to a much-publicized trial.

Born: Charles Mingus, jazz musician, in Nogales, Arizona (d. 1979)

April 23, 1922 (Sunday)

Ten powers at the Genoa Conference placated France by sending Germany a note stating that they reserved the right to nullify any clauses in the Treaty of Rapallo that they recognized as conflicting with the Treaty of Versailles.

Born: Marjorie Cameron, artist, poet, actress and occultist, in Belle Plaine, Iowa (d. 1995)

April 24, 1922 (Monday)

A twenty-four-hour general strike called by the Labour Party was held in Ireland to express opposition to the prospect of civil war.

French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré warned in a speech that France would, if necessary, act alone to enforce the Treaty of Versailles if the Germans defaulted in their reparations payments.

The first link in the Imperial Wireless Chain, connecting Leafield, England to Cairo, Egypt was opened.

Vladimir Lenin had the bullet removed from his shoulder that was lodged there in 1918 when Fanny Kaplan attempted to assassinate him. His health was officially pronounced as satisfactory.

Born: Susanna Agnelli, politician, businesswoman and writer, in Turin, Italy (d. 2009); Blue Demon, professional wrestler, in Rinconada, Mexico (d. 2000)

April 25, 1922 (Tuesday)

Russia responded to Sunday's note by sending a note of its own to Poland, saying that "in no case can it permit treaties concluded by Russia to depend for their legality on the action of powers not signatory."

April 26, 1922 (Wednesday)

The Dunmanway killings began in County Cork, Ireland.

Born: Sam Dente, baseball player, in Harrison, New Jersey (d. 2002)

April 27, 1922 (Thursday)

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birthday.

The Soviets declared the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

The Kingdom of Egypt unveiled a new national flag, consisting of a green background with a white crescent and three stars.

Born: Jack Klugman, actor, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)

Died: William Henry Harrison Stowell, American congressman, merchant and industrialist

April 28, 1922 (Friday)

12,000 were left homeless by flooding in Mississippi and Louisiana.

April 29, 1922 (Saturday)

Huddersfield Town defeated Preston North End 1-0 in the FA Cup Final at Stamford Bridge.

Rochdale Hornets beat Hull 10-9 to win the Challenge Cup of rugby.

The comedy film The Bachelor Daddy starring Thomas Meighan was released.

April 30, 1922 (Sunday)

Charlie Robertson pitched a 2-0 perfect game for the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field in Detroit.