June 1923

June 1, 1923 (Friday)

The Albert Roussel opera Padmâvatî was first performed at the Paris Opéra.

Hilton Philipson became Britain's third woman MP.

Ukrainian airline Ukrvozdukhput was founded.

June 2, 1923 (Saturday)

French boxer Eugène Criqui knocked out Johnny Kilbane in the sixth round at the Polo Grounds in New York City to win the World Featherweight Title. Babe Ruth hurried over from Yankee Stadium to attend the bout.

The Kaufman Act was signed, mandating the electrification of all railroads in New York City by January 1, 1926.

June 3, 1923 (Sunday)

A commission in New York City released the findings of its investigation into charges that some American history textbooks included anti-American propaganda. The report found eight such textbooks that were seen as pro-British. "Any history which, after 150 years, attempts to teach our children that the War of Independence was an unnecessary war and that it is still a problem as to who was right and who was wrong, should be fed to the furnace and those responsible for those books branded as un-American", commissioner David Hirschfeld said.

June 4, 1923 (Monday)

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Meyer v. Nebraska.

The Unitarian Universalist ritual known as the Flower Communion was performed for the first time in Prague.

Born: Elizabeth Jolley, writer, in Birmingham, England (d. 2007)

June 5, 1923 (Tuesday)

Germany asked for a new reparations conference.

Italy established the Order of Saint Agatha for charitable work in the service of the republic.

The Atlético Santa Rosa football club, based in Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina was founded.

June 6, 1923 (Wednesday)

France and Belgium released a joint statement saying that Germany's request would not be considered until passive resistance in the Ruhr ended.

Papyrus won the Epsom Derby. Edgar Wallace became the first British radio sports reporter when he reported on the Derby for the British Broadcasting Company.

Women over 25 with a grammar school-level education were granted the right to vote in local elections in Italy.

Louletano D.C. football club was founded in Portugal.

June 7, 1923 (Thursday)

King George V granted a charter of incorporation to the Federation of British Industries.

June 8, 1923 (Friday)

The British House of Commons passed a bill giving women the right to divorce their husbands on the grounds of infidelity, without having to prove cruelty or desertion.

June 9, 1923 (Saturday)

Bulgarian Prime Minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski was toppled in a bloodless coup led by Aleksandar Tsankov and aided by the military.

The Belmont amusement park opened in Montreal, Canada.

Brink's unveiled its first armored security vans.

Died: Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, 77

June 10, 1923 (Sunday)

Fisherman at Long Key, Florida reported harpooning a 20,000 pound sea monster. They said it continued to fight even after fifty rounds of ammunition had been fired into it.

The film The Shock, starring Lon Chaney, was released.

Born: Robert Maxwell, media proprietor and Member of British Parliament, in Slatinské Doly, Czecheslovakia (d. 1991)

Died: Pierre Loti, 73, French writer and naval officer

June 11, 1923 (Monday)

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Rindge Co. v. County of Los Angeles.

June 12, 1923 (Tuesday)

The last of the hostages of the Chinese train bandits were freed.

General Feng Yuxiang issued an ultimatum to Chinese President Li Yuanhong stating that his troops would enter Beijing if Li did not resign.

Died: Cliff Carroll, 63, American baseball player

June 13, 1923 (Wednesday)

Chinese President Li Yuanhong was captured at the railway station in Tientsin when troops surrounded the train he was fleeing from Beijing in.

June 14, 1923 (Thursday)

Gao Lingwei became acting President of the Republic of China.

A tug towed the remains of the Florida "sea monster" to Key West. It was identified as a whale shark.

June 15, 1923 (Friday)

Arthur Havers won the British Open golf tournament.

Lou Gehrig made his major league baseball debut, entering a game for the New York Yankees against the St. Louis Browns as a ninth-inning defensive substitute at first base.

Born: Johnny Most, sports announcer, in New York City (d. 1993)

June 16, 1923 (Saturday)

The French occupied Dortmund railway station, leaving only one line leading from the Ruhr into unoccupied Germany.

Rioting broke out in Brandenburg over the rapidly increasing prices of goods due to hyperinflation.

The Yakut Revolt ended.

June 17, 1923 (Sunday)

Northern Ireland had its first "dry Sunday", prohibiting alcohol sales on that day. Towns just across the border in the Irish Free State were swamped with visitors who crossed over to drink.

Mount Etna erupted in Sicily with several loud explosions.

The Stan Laurel comedy film Pick and Shovel was released.

Born: Enrique Angelelli, Catholic bishop, in Córdoba, Argentina (d. 1976)

June 18, 1923 (Monday)

Pancho Villa won the World Flyweight Title of boxing when he knocked out Jimmy Wilde in the seventh round at the Polo Grounds in New York City.

Several small towns around Mount Etna were destroyed by lava, but no casualties were reported as residents had time to evacuate.

Speculation about Henry Ford running for president ended when he was quoted as saying, "I am much too occupied with my own affairs to become the next president and I do not intend to run.".

Political leader Marcus Garvey was found guilty of mail fraud for using the U.S. mail to sell stock in the bankrupt Black Star Line.

June 19, 1923 (Tuesday)

Britain and the United States signed an agreement on Britain's war debt obligations.

Lava from Mount Etna reached the outskirts of Linguaglossa and Castiglione.

June 20, 1923 (Wednesday)

U.S. President Warren G. Harding left Washington on a cross-country speaking tour which he called the "Voyage of Understanding", set to take him to Alaska.

President Harding relinquished control of his newspaper, The Marion Star.

Born: Bjørn Watt-Boolsen, film actor, in Rudkøbing, Denmark (d. 1998)

June 21, 1923 (Thursday)

President Harding gave a speech in St. Louis reiterating his advocacy for American participation in the World Court but not the League of Nations. The speech was carried live by three radio stations, making Harding the first president to be heard by a million people simultaneously.

The flow of lava from Mount Etna almost stopped.

Marcus Garvey was sentenced to five years in prison for mail fraud.

June 22, 1923 (Friday)

Britain passed the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Bill, granting them £100,000 annually.

June 23, 1923 (Saturday)

Ronald McNeill, spokesperson for the British Foreign Secretary, told an audience in Sturry that the occupation of the Ruhr threatened to bring about the complete collapse of Germany, which would end all hope of ever recovering reparations payments.

Panamá Sporting Club, a football club based in Guayaquil, Ecuador, was founded.

Born: Giuseppina Tuissi, World War II resistance fighter, in Abbiategrasso, Italy (d. 1945)

June 24, 1923 (Sunday)

The French Chamber of Deputies debated whether to give the colony of the French West Indies to the United States as payment of war debt. Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré said, "I never would permit such a proposal to be officially made to the French government."

Top hats, which had been out of fashion in Paris since the beginning of the war in 1914, made a sudden comeback among French men.

Born: Jack Carter, actor, in New York City

Died: Edith Södergran, 31, Swedish-language Finnish poet

June 25, 1923 (Monday)

The Canadian province of Ontario held a general election in which the Progressive Conservative Party led by Howard Ferguson was re-elected.

Born: Sam Francis, painter and printmaker, in San Mateo, California (d. 1994)

June 26, 1923 (Tuesday)

Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced that Britain would add 34 squadrons to its air force to give the country a total of 52. This was still smaller than France's air force.

Okmulgee County, Oklahoma was put under martial law by Governor Jack C. Walton to investigate Ku Klux Klan activity.

A large fire broke out at night in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City.

June 27, 1923 (Wednesday)

Pope Pius XI condemned the occupation of the Ruhr. A letter was publicized in which he warned that it could lead to the "final ruin of Europe" and recommended that the reparations issue be determined by a panel of impartial judges.

The fire in the Forbidden City destroyed the treasure hall and the imperial gardens.

Four Scottish members of the Labour Party were suspended from the House of Commons when a debate over funding cuts at the Scottish Health Board became unruly. The fighting started when James Maxton said that the cuts directly caused the death of hundreds of children and called Sir Frederick Banbury a murderer.

Over Rockwell Field in San Diego, the United States Army Air Service accomplished the first mid-air refueling between two planes.

The House of Commons of Canada voted unanimously to grant Dr. Frederick Banting a lifetime annuity of $7,500 to continue his medical research.

Born: Gus Zernial, baseball player, in Beaumont, Texas (d. 2011)

June 28, 1923 (Thursday)

Turkey held a general election. The result was a foregone conclusion as the Republican People's Party was the only party in Turkey at the time.

Born: Daniil Khrabrovitsky, film director, in Rostov-on-Don, USSR (d. 1980); Gaye Stewart, ice hockey player, in Fort William, Ontario, Canada (d. 2010)

June 29, 1923 (Friday)

French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré made a speech in the senate indirectly responding to the pope's letter by explaining that "the only screw that we have on Germany is her desire to recover the Ruhr. We have no thought of annexation, and we energetically refute all accusations of imperialism. France does not wish to confiscate the Ruhr. We will keep it, however, until Germany has paid her debt." Poincaré also called the resistance movement in the Ruhr "active, insidious and criminal."

Died: Gustave Kerker, 66, German composer

June 30, 1923 (Saturday)

A bomb exploded as a train crossed the Duisburg-Hochfeld railway bridge, killing ten Belgian soldiers. Two Germans were also killed.