January 1930

January 1, 1930 (Wednesday)

USC Trojans beat the Pittsburgh Panthers 47-14 in the 16th Rose Bowl Game.

Born: Gaafar Nimeiry, President of Sudan, in Wad Nubawi Omdurman (d. 2009)

January 2, 1930 (Thursday)

Movie director Kenneth Hawks and nine others were killed in an aerial collision over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California filming a movie scene.

King Victor Emmanuel III granted amnesty to over 400,000 Italians covering various minor offenses. The act of leniency was a gift ahead of the wedding of Crown Prince Umberto to Marie José of Belgium.

The Indian National Congress continued in Lahore as Mahatma Gandhi introduced a resolution condemning the assassination attempt of the previous month of Viceroy of India Lord Irwin. The motion carried on a show of hands despite cries of indignation.

Born: Julius La Rosa, singer, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2016)

Died: Kenneth Hawks, 31, American filmmaker (plane accident); Conrad Wells, 37 or 38, American cinematographer and editor (plane accident)

January 3, 1930 (Friday)

A fire broke out in the United States Capitol in a storage room, which firefighters extinguished in about 45 minutes. Some paintings and documents were damaged by smoke and water but there was no structural damage of consequence.

The second Hague conference for German reparations opened.

The musical comedy film No, No, Nanette premiered.

Born: Robert Loggia, actor and director, in Staten Island, New York; Barbara Stuart, actress, in St. George, Utah (d. 2011)

January 4, 1930 (Saturday)

The National Automobile Show opened at the Grand Central Palace in New York City. The Cadillac V-16 was introduced at this show.

The French cruiser Edgar Quinet ran aground off the coast of Algeria and proved to be a total loss.

Born: Sorrell Booke, actor, in Buffalo, New York (d. 1994); Don McMahon, baseball player, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1987)

January 5, 1930 (Sunday)

The Soviet Politburo adopted a resolution calling for the completion of collectivization that would ultimately dispossess the kulaks.

Born: Jesús Rosas Marcano, educator, journalist, poet and folk song composer, in La Asunción, Venezuela

January 6, 1930 (Monday)

The Robert E. Sherwood play Waterloo Bridge premiered at the Fulton Theatre on Broadway.

Australian cricketer Donald Bradman broke all first-class records by amassing 452 not out in a single innings batting for New South Wales against Queensland.

Born: Professor Tanaka, professional wrestler and actor, in Honolulu, Hawaii (d. 2000); Vic Tayback, actor, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1990)

January 7, 1930 (Tuesday)

Contract negotiations began between Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees. Owner Jacob Ruppert offered $75,000 per year for two years, a raise of $5,000 per year over the previous three seasons. Ruth rejected the offer and demanded $85,000 annually for three years, but Ruppert refused and negotiations broke off.

January 8, 1930 (Wednesday)

Crown Prince Umberto of Italy married Princess Marie José of Belgium in the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace in Rome.

Born: Larry Isbell, baseball and gridiron football player, in Houston, Texas (d. 1978)

January 9, 1930 (Thursday)

The Boston Bruins hockey team won their fourteenth straight game. This stood as the record for the longest winning streak in NHL history until 1982 when the New York Islanders won fifteen straight.

Utah Senator Reed Smoot first suggested that the Boulder Dam project be renamed to Hoover Dam.

Died: Edward Bok, 66, Dutch-born American editor and author

January 10, 1930 (Friday)

The Ikhwan Revolt in Arabia ended with the surrender of the rebels to the British.

The League of Nations observed its tenth anniversary. Officials at the organization marked the occasion by reviewing its year-by-year milestones.

Born: Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt Disney and senior executive of The Walt Disney Company, in Los Angeles (d. 2009)

January 11, 1930 (Saturday)

Pope Pius XI issued a decree saying that education belonged first to the church, second to the family and third to the state. The pope condemned coed schools, explaining that "Nature ordained the two sexes for different functions in society, and, therefore, they require different education", and also warned that sex education would expose youth, "before the proper time, to opportunities for sin on the pretext of accustoming and hardening them against danger."

Born: Rod Taylor, actor, in Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia (d. 2015)

January 12, 1930 (Sunday)

The British tug HMS St. Genny foundered in the English Channel off the coast of Ushant with the loss of 28 out of 33 crew.

Born: Tim Horton, ice hockey player and co-founder of Tim Hortons coffeeshop chain, in Cochrane, Ontario, Canada (d. 1974); Jennifer Johnston, novelist, in Dublin, Ireland

January 13, 1930 (Monday)

A newspaper comic strip adaptation of the Disney character Mickey Mouse first appeared.

Died: John Nathan Cobb, 61, American author, naturalist and educator

January 14, 1930 (Tuesday)

Amundsen Bay and the Tula Mountains in Antarctica were discovered by Sir Douglas Mawson.

Nazi Sturmführer Horst Wessel was shot by a communist in a raid on his apartment. He would die of his injuries on February 23 and become a martyr of the Nazi movement.

Full moon perigree comes within 356,397 km of Earth. The next time the moon comes this close to earth is January 1, 2257 (356,371 km).

January 15, 1930 (Wednesday)

Five communists died in clashes with police around Germany during demonstrations on the anniversary of the death of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

Born: Eddie Graham, professional wrestler, in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 1985); Joe Graboski, basketball player, in Columbus, Ohio (d. 1998)

January 16, 1930 (Thursday)

In Washington, work on legislation such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill wound up being suspended as lengthy speeches about the Volstead Act were made all day long in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on the tenth anniversary of its coming into force.

January 17, 1930 (Friday)

Europe's most powerful radio broadcasting station was inaugurated at Santa Palomba near Rome.

The Lionel Barrymore-directed musical film The Rogue Song premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

January 18, 1930 (Saturday)

The German city of Cologne signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company to build a large automobile factory in the area.

The Harvard Economic Society said, "There are indications that the severest phase of the recession is over."

January 19, 1930 (Sunday)

The Watsonville Riots began in California.

A Maddux Air Lines plane en route from Mexico to Los Angeles crashed in Oceanside, California when its left wing struck a hill while flying at low altitude due to bad weather conditions. All 16 aboard were killed.

Born: Tippi Hedren, actress, fashion model and animal rights activist, in New Ulm, Minnesota

January 20, 1930 (Monday)

The second reparations conference at The Hague ended as nineteen nations signed a revised Young Plan.

Born: Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey

January 21, 1930 (Tuesday)

The Five Power Naval Disarmament Conference opened in London. Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France and Italy sought to revise and extend the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

January 22, 1930 (Wednesday)

Old imperial fortifications near Kehl, Germany were blown up. Until recently they had been occupied by the French, but it was agreed at the second Hague conference that the French would evacuate the forts and the Germans would raze them afterward.

The drama film Anna Christie, starring Greta Garbo in the title role, premiered at the Criterion Theatre in Los Angeles. This film was Garbo's first speaking role and was marketed with the famous tagline, "Garbo Talks!"

Died: Stephen Mather, 62, American industrialist and conservationalist

January 23, 1930 (Thursday)

Mexico announced it was breaking off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. "The Mexican government has the full right to refuse to allow foreign elements to mix in its politics and to object to these foreigners making Mexico the theater of their machinations and intrigues against Mexicans, and we are determined to protect ourselves from them", Foreign Minister Genaro Estrada stated.

Wilhelm Frick became the first Nazi to hold a cabinet post in Germany when he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Education in Thuringia.

The George Washington Birthplace National Monument was established.

Born: Derek Wolcott, poet, in Castries, Saint Lucia

January 24, 1930 (Friday)

London financier Clarence Hatry was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to forgery and fraud.

British parliament passed the second reading of a bill sponsored by Ernest Thurtle decriminalizing blasphemy and atheism.

The U.S. Senate scrapped a proposed tariff on shoes which would have cost Americans $100 million a year.

Born: Rita Lakin, American writer

January 25, 1930 (Saturday)

In Pune, India, a bomb thrown from a bus into the street killed three people.

Thirteen young Bengals were arrested in Kolkata for possessing bombmaking materials, daggers and seditious literature.

The Luigi Pirandello tragicomedy play Tonight We Improvise premiered in Königsberg, Germany.

The Brazilian football club São Paulo FC was founded.

January 26, 1930 (Sunday)

A mock "Independence Day" was observed in India on the opening day of a civil disobedience campaign. British police were out in full force as rioting was expected, but apart from one incident in which communist mill workers disrupted a gathering in Mumbai the day was peaceful.

Direct wireless service was inaugurated between Great Britain and Japan.

January 27, 1930 (Monday)

Film actress María Corda filed for divorce from her producer-director husband Alexander Korda.

Born: Bobby Bland, blues singer, in Barretville, Tennessee (d. 2013); Usko Meriläinen, composer, in Tampere, Finland (d. 2004)

Died: Dewa Shigetō, 73, Japanese admiral

January 28, 1930 (Tuesday)

Miguel Primo de Rivera stepped down as dictator of Spain, handing in his resignation at 8:50 p.m. He claimed the move was for health reasons but he had in fact lost the support of the army and faced being overthrown in a coup.

January 29, 1930 (Wednesday)

Filipinos were banned from boxing in California as a precaution against race riots in the event of a controversial decision between a Filipino boxer and a white opponent.

Died: Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, 38

January 30, 1930 (Thursday)

Dámaso Berenguer took over as Prime Minister of Spain.

13 were killed and 6 wounded in a coal mine explosion in Turkey.

Born: Samuel Byck, hijacker and attempted assassin, in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1974); Gene Hackman, actor, in San Bernardino, California

January 31, 1930 (Friday)

Communists and police exchanged gunfire in Hamburg when 3,000 marched through the streets agitating for a general strike. 76 communists were arrested in Berlin for plotting to stage a riot.