March 1928

March 1, 1928 (Thursday)

The French Chamber of Deputies abolished the drumhead court-martial but approved a new article in the military code stating that "any soldier committing an outrage against the flag or army may be punished by six months to five years in prison, or may be punished by loss of his rank." Communist deputy Alexandre Piquemal nearly incited a riot protesting the death penalty for anyone calling on soldiers to desert to the enemy in time of war when he stated, "We would all come in that category, we Communist deputies. We declare for the proletariat. They have one enemy, capitalism, and one fatherland, Soviet Russia. If you declare war on Russia we will urge the soldiers of the proletariat to desert to the Russian army."

The Paramount Theatre opened in Seattle, Washington.

March 2, 1928 (Friday)

Benito Mussolini submitted a bill to the Chamber of Deputies that would remould Italian parliament into a strictly consultative body.

Born: Barbara Lang, actress and singer, in Hollywood, California (d. 1982)

Died: William Sloan, 60, Canadian businessman and politician

March 3, 1928 (Saturday)

France and Spain reached an agreement on the government of the Tangier International Zone giving Spain increased power.

Benito Mussolini made a speech to the Chamber of Deputies warning Austria that actions and not words would be his next reply to criticism of the Italianization of South Tyrol.

The circus comedy film Tillie's Punctured Romance starring W. C. Fields was released.

The organizers of the Miss America pageant voted 27-3 to discontinue the competition due to pressure from women's groups and church officials. It would not be held again until 1933.

Born: Gudrun Pausewang, writer, in Mladkov, Czecheslovakia

Died: Jan Toorop, 69, Dutch-Indonesian painter

March 4, 1928 (Sunday)

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland, the first since Józef Piłsudski's May Coup of 1926. The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government led by Walery Sławek won a plurality of seats in the Sejm.

The first "Bunion Derby", a coast-to-coast footrace from Los Angeles to New York City offering a $25,000 prize for the winner, began with 199 entrants.

Born: Samuel Adler, composer and conductor, in Mannheim, Germany; Patrick Moore, astronomer, in Pinner, England (d. 2012); Piero D'Inzeo, Olympic show jumping rider, in Rome (d. 2014); Alan Sillitoe, writer, in Nottingham, England (d. 2010)

March 5, 1928 (Monday)

A circuit court of appeals in New York reversed an earlier decision and ruled that Canadians may work in the United States without immigration visas.

The John Ford-directed silent film Mother Machree premiered at the Globe Theatre in New York City.

March 6, 1928 (Tuesday)

The Vatican announced that annulments of marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics would hereafter be considered by a committee of cardinals instead of the Rota Tribunal.

Sonja Henie of Norway won the ladies competition of the World Figure Skating Championships in London, England.

March 7, 1928 (Wednesday)

The Cross of Merit for Bravery was introduced in Poland.

Born: Bob Boyd, American football player, in Riverside, California (d. 2009)

Died: Robert Abbe, 76, American surgeon and radiologist; William Henry Crane, 82, American actor

March 8, 1928 (Thursday)

Vasil Zacharka became the second president of the Belarusian People's Republic in exile upon the death of Pyotra Krecheuski.

Rioting broke out in Tanta, Egypt when students assembled in the public square to protest against a proposed agreement to a treaty between Egypt and Great Britain. After stones were thrown at foreign shops, police tried to disperse the crowd, which the protestors resisted.

Died: Pyotra Krecheuski, 48, Belarusian statesman; Sachiko, Princess Hisa, 5 months, second daughter of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Kōjun

March 9, 1928 (Friday)

The steamboat Robert E. Lee ran aground on the Mary Ann Rocks off Manomet Point in Plymouth, Massachusetts during a storm.

The Norris resolution (named for Senator George W. Norris) proposing a constitutional amendment to end "lame duck" sessions of Congress fell 36 votes short of the two-thirds majority it required for its passage. The proposed amendment also would have moved presidential inauguration day up from March 4 to January 4.

Born: Gerald Bull, engineer, in North Bay, Ontario, Canada (d. 1990)

March 10, 1928 (Saturday)

A landslide at Santos, São Paulo, Brazil killed about 130.

The silent film The Legion of the Condemned, starring Fay Wray and Gary Cooper, was released.

Born: Kiyoshi Atsumi, film actor, in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1996); James Earl Ray, criminal convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Alton, Illinois (d. 1998)

March 11, 1928 (Sunday)

Benito Mussolini proposed a national bank for marriages. Young Italians wanting to get married could be paid before they got on their feet financially, and then they could reimburse the state in two or three years.

March 12, 1928 (Monday)

Shortly before midnight, the St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles collapsed and released 12 billion gallons of water.

A new one-day record was set on Wall Street when 3,909,100 shared changed hands.

Born: Edward Albee, playwright, in Virginia; Aldemaro Romero, pianist, in Valencia, Venezuela (d. 2007)

March 13, 1928 (Tuesday)

The water released from the St. Francis Dam destroyed a swath of land all the way to the Pacific Ocean and killed 500 people.

The Nicaraguan lower house defeated a bill that would have provided for American supervision of Nicaraguan elections.

March 14, 1928 (Wednesday)

The partly talking film Tenderloin, starring Dolores Costello, premiered at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

The Emir of Afghanistan Amānullāh Khān and his wife Soraya Tarzi rode in a royal procession through London.

Born: Frank Borman, pilot and astronaut, in Gary, Indiana

March 15, 1928 (Thursday)

The March 15 incident occurred in Japan when the government cracked down on socialists and communists, making about 500 arrests.

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge rejected a request from Puerto Rican legislators for autonomous rule. Coolidge wrote that it was not unreasonable "to suggest that the people of Porto Rico, who are part of the people of the United States, will progress with the people of the United States rather than become isolated from the source from which they have received practically their only hope of progress."

March 16, 1928 (Friday)

Mustafa el-Nahhas became the new Prime Minister of Egypt.

A controversy in the British Navy dubbed the "Royal Oak Mutiny" hit the media. An admiral and two officers were suspended over a quarrel that began the previous week when Rear-Admiral Bernard Collard objected to the presence of a jazz band at a party aboard the battleship HMS Royal Oak.

Born: Wakanohana Kanji I, sumo wrestler, in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan (d. 2010); Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano, in Berlin, Germany; Victor Maddern, actor, in Seven Kings, England (d. 1993)

Success: C.V.Raman discovered Raman Effect.

March 17, 1928 (Saturday)

The Brazilian football club Clube Ferroviário do Recife was founded.

Born: Eunice Gayson, actress, in Croydon, London, England

Died: Lorenzo Porciatti, 63, Italian architect

March 18, 1928 (Sunday)

60,000 Romanian peasants staged a protest in Bucharest calling on Vintilă Brătianu to resign.

American cardinal George Mundelein told journalists in Rome that the Vatican had no interest in the presidential campaign of Catholic candidate Al Smith. "The Catholic church in America contends with no oppressive legislation, has no political ax to grind and lives and thrives under the existing form of government", he said. "Therefore there is no reason whatever for it to take a partisan stand."

Born: Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines, in Lingayen

March 19, 1928 (Monday)

The radio comedy show Amos 'n' Andy first aired on WMAQ in Chicago.

"My Old Kentucky Home" became the official state song of Kentucky.

Born: Hans Küng, Catholic priest, theologian and author, in Sursee, Switzerland; Patrick McGoohan, American-born British actor, in Astoria, Queens, New York City (d. 2009)

Died: Nora Bayes, 47, American singer, comedian and actress

March 20, 1928 (Tuesday)

The silent drama film The Trail of '98, starring Harry Carey, premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York City.

Born: Fred Rogers, Presbyterian minister and television host (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood), in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (d. 2003)

March 21, 1928 (Wednesday)

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge awarded Charles Lindbergh the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Died: Joe Espositi,55, Chicago politician (assassinated); Zhang Shaozeng, 48 or 49, Chinese general (assassinated)

March 22, 1928 (Thursday)

The Noël Coward revue This Year of Grace premiered at the London Pavilion.

The Fritz Lang-directed film Spione (Spies) was released.

Born: Ed Macauley, basketball player, in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2011)

March 23, 1928 (Friday)

The silent exploitation film The Road to Ruin was released.

Born: Jim Lemon, baseball player and coach, in Covington, Virginia (d. 2006); Mark Rydell, actor and filmmaker, in New York City

March 24, 1928 (Saturday)

A band of Mexican bandits held up 15 automobiles and methodically robbed 200 people outside of Mexico City.

Born: Byron Janis, classical pianist, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania

March 25, 1928 (Sunday)

80,000 Italian youths in Rome were initiated into the National Fascist Party during commemorations of the ninth anniversary of the founding of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento.

Pope Pius XI made an address protesting "the constant monopoly of the education of youth, both moral and spiritual", by the state. "We have kept silent in order not to make the situation worse, but our silence has been misinterpreted", the pope said.

Born: Jim Lovell, astronaut, in Cleveland, Ohio

March 26, 1928 (Monday)

200 families in the vicinity of Alicia, California fled their homes as the Feather River overflowed.

Bombs thrown at the home of Illinois Senator Charles S. Deneen caused extensive damage, but Deneen was unhurt. It was one of several acts of violence leading up to the April 10 elections that led them to be dubbed the "Pineapple Primary", as "pineapple" was a popular nickname for a grenade-style bomb favored by gangsters of the time.

Born: Bobby Thomason, American football player, in Albertville, Alabama (d. 2013)

March 27, 1928 (Tuesday)

Liberty Bridge opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Born: Antonín Tučapský, composer, in Opatovice, Moravia (d. 2014)

Died: Leslie Stuart, 65, English composer

March 28, 1928 (Wednesday)

Former Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes made a speech at a conference of the Nationalist Party blaming Benito Mussolini for the immigration of large numbers of Italians. "To whom does Australia belong – ourselves or Premier Mussolini? Apparently all Premier Mussolini has to do is rattle his sword in the scabbard and we must allow unlimited numbers of Italians to enter the country", Hughes said.

Oxford won the 80th Boat Race.

Born: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American political scientist, geostrategist and statesman, in Warsaw; Alexander Grothendieck, German-born French mathematician, in Berlin (d. 2014)

March 29, 1928 (Thursday)

The so-called "Flapper Vote Bill" passed its second reading in the British House of Commons. The bill would create over 5 million new women voters as young as twenty-one.

Born: Vincent Gigante, mobster, in Manhattan, New York (d. 2005)

March 30, 1928 (Friday)

Italian pilot Mario de Bernardi set a new air speed record of 336.6 miles per hour, smashing his own record.

Italy passed a new decree suppressing all organizations promoting the spiritual, moral or physical education of children. The law was aimed squarely at Catholic children's organizations.

Tipperary Tim won the Grand National horse race.

Died: Frank B. Willis, 56, American senator and 47th Governor of Ohio

March 31, 1928 (Saturday)

An earthquake in Smyrna killed 60.

Born: Lefty Frizzell, country music singer, in Corsicana, Texas (d. 1975); Gordie Howe, hockey player, in Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada

Died: Gustave Ador, 82, Swiss politician