May 1929

May 1, 1929 (Wednesday)

The Koppeh Dagh earthquake caused 3,800 deaths in Iran and Turkmenistan.

32 were killed and 700 arrested in Berlin during clashes between 8,000 communists and police. The fighting broke out when communists held May Day demonstrations in defiance of a police order to refrain from doing so.

Born: Ralf Dahrendorf, sociologist, philosopher and politician, in Hamburg, Germany (d. 2009)

May 2, 1929 (Thursday)

The Rye Cove, Virginia tornado outbreak killed at least 42 in the states of Maryland and Virginia.

Born: Édouard Balladur, Prime Minister of France, in İzmir, Turkey; Link Wray, American rock musician, in Dunn, North Carolina, U.S. (d. 2005)

Died: Charalambos Tseroulis, 49, Greek general

May 3, 1929 (Friday)

Berlin Police stormed barricades erected by communists as rioting continued in the city for a third day.

The musical comedy film The Cocoanuts, starring the Marx Brothers in their first feature-length movie, was released.

May 4, 1929 (Saturday)

Ernst Streeruwitz became Chancellor of Austria.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the District of Columbia Supreme Court to enforce the jail sentence upon Harry F. Sinclair for contempt of the senate's investigation of the Teapot Dome scandal.

The comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy made the jump to talking films with the release of Unaccustomed As We Are. Stan Laurel's famous whimper of panic was heard for the first time, as was Oliver Hardy's catchphrase, "Why don't you do something to help me!"

Wigan beat Dewsbury 13-2 in the 1928–29 Northern Rugby Football League Challenge Cup Final. It was the first time the Final was held at Wembley Stadium.

Born: Ronald Golias, comedian and actor, in São Carlos, Brazil (d. 2005); Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born British actress, in Ixelles, Brussels (d. 1993)

May 5, 1929 (Sunday)

54 Berlin policemen were arrested for mutiny as fighting with communists finally ended after four days.

Born: Ilene Woods, voice actress and singer, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (d. 2010)

May 6, 1929 (Monday)

Harry F. Sinclair turned himself in to authorities to begin his 90-day prison term.

Born: Paul Lauterbur, chemist and Nobel laureate, in Sidney, Ohio (d. 2007)

May 7, 1929 (Tuesday)

Al Capone hosted a party to ostensibly honor gang members Albert Anselmi, John Scalise and Joseph Giunta. During the festivities Capone accused them of being traitors, then personally beat them with a club and shot them dead. Their bodies were dumped on a roadside near Hammond, Indiana where they were found the next day.

Born: Dick Williams, baseball player, manager and coach, in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2011)

Died: Albert Anselmi, 45, Chicago mobster; John Scalise, 28 or 29, Chicago mobster

May 8, 1929 (Wednesday)

Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants pitched an 11-0 no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Polo Grounds.

Born: Jane Roberts, author, in Saratoga Springs, New York (d. 1984); Miyoshi Umeki, actress and singer, in Otaru, Japan (d. 2007)

May 9, 1929 (Thursday)

The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 opened in Seville, Spain.

May 10, 1929 (Friday)

Dr. Freeland won the Preakness Stakes horse race.

American golfer Walter Hagen won the 64th Open Championship, successfully defending his 1928 title.

Born: Betty Foss, baseball player, in Metropolis, Illinois (d. 1998)

May 11, 1929 (Saturday)

Students rioted at Des Moines University when the Baptist institution fired its president and most of the faculty over accusations of modernism with regard to the question of evolution.

The silent romantic drama film Eternal Love, starring John Barrymore and Camilla Horn, was released.

Born: Margaret Kerry, actress and motivational speaker, in Los Angeles

Died: Jozef Murgaš, 65, Slovak inventor and priest

May 12, 1929 (Sunday)

In a referendum in Switzerland, nearly two-thirds of voters rejected prohibition by voting against a proposal to institute local option with regard to the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Born: Sam Nujoma, 1st President of Namibia, in Ongandjera; Dollard St. Laurent, ice hockey player, in Verdun, Quebec, Canada

May 13, 1929 (Monday)

Gangsters from eight U.S. states, including Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Johnny Torrio and Bugsy Siegel, met in Atlantic City, New Jersey to form a national crime syndicate. Over the next three days they settled disputes, agreed upon territorial boundaries and strolled along the boardwalk in full view of the media.

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia; the Socialist Workers' Party remained the largest party in parliament.

Died: George Stallings, 61, American baseball player and manager

May 14, 1929 (Tuesday)

The U.S. Senate passed President Hoover's farm relief bill, 54 to 33.

Born: Gump Worsley, ice hockey player, in Montreal, Canada (d. 2007)

May 15, 1929 (Wednesday)

The Cleveland Clinic fire killed 123 after nitrocellulose x-ray film ignited in the basement of the hospital.

Germany submitted its reparations counterproposal to the Young Commission.

May 16, 1929 (Thursday)

The 1st Academy Awards were held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. All the winners had already been announced back in February and the ceremony lasted only 15 minutes. Wings won the first-ever Award for Outstanding Picture.

Near Cartagena, Spain, the Graf Zeppelin airship abandoned its second attempt to fly from Germany to the United States and turned back after losing power in two of its engines.

Born: Adrienne Rich, poet, essayist and feminist, in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2012)

Died: Mary Boyce Temple, 72, American philanthropist and socialite

May 17, 1929 (Friday)

Al Capone and a bodyguard were arrested in Philadelphia for carrying concealed weapons. They both pleaded guilty and each were sentenced to a year in prison.

Died: Lilli Lehmann, 80, German operatic soprano

May 18, 1929 (Saturday)

Clyde Van Dusen won the Kentucky Derby.

Al Capone was incarcerated in Holmesburg Prison.

Small Talk, the first Our Gang short comedy film to be made with sound, was released.

Born: Jack Sanford, baseball player, in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts

May 19, 1929 (Sunday)

2 people were killed at Yankee Stadium in a stampede in the right field bleachers for the stairs when a downpour of rain came on during a game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Born: Curt Simmons, baseball player, in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania

May 20, 1929 (Monday)

The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition opened in Spain.

U.S. President Herbert Hoover appointed the Wickersham Commission to study crime and policing.

Born: Ahmed Hamdi, Egyptian engineer (d. 1973)

May 21, 1929 (Tuesday)

The ballet The Prodigal Son, choreographed by George Balanchine with music by Sergei Prokofiev, premiered at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.

Fascist Italy banned beauty pageants as "grave inconveniences to the moral order".

Died: Elise, Countess of Edla, 92, American actress, singer and wife of King Ferdinand II of Portugal; Archibald Primrose, 82, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1894–1895

May 22, 1929 (Wednesday)

Croatian politician Vladko Maček was arrested by Yugoslavian authorities.

May 23, 1929 (Thursday)

Feng Yuxiang was expelled from the Kuomintang for life.

Mickey Mouse was heard speaking on screen for the first time with the release of the cartoon short The Karnival Kid.

Born: Vic Stasiuk, ice hockey player, in Lethbridge, Canada

May 24, 1929 (Friday)

The United Free Church of Scotland agreed to unite with the Church of Scotland.

May 25, 1929 (Saturday)

The Italian senate approved the Lateran Accords by a vote of 315 to 6.

Born: Beverly Sills, operaric soprano, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007)

May 26, 1929 (Sunday)

The monoplane Fort Worth set a new flight endurance record, completing 172 hours, 31 minutes and 1 second in the air over Fort Worth, Texas. The new record was almost a full day longer than the old mark set by Question Mark ("?") in January.

The Catholic Party won the Belgian general election.

May 27, 1929 (Monday)

The U.S. Supreme Court decided the Pocket Veto Case and United States v. Schwimmer.

Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow were married in a surprise ceremony outside Englewood, New Jersey.

May 28, 1929 (Tuesday)

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill by a vote of 264-147.

The all-color musical film On with the Show premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.

May 29, 1929 (Wednesday)

The Ottawa sewer explosion killed one person in Ottawa, Canada.

May 30, 1929 (Thursday)

The United Kingdom general election resulted in a hung parliament.

Ray Keech won the Indianapolis 500.

May 31, 1929 (Friday)

The Ford Motor Company signed a nine-year contract with the Soviet Union. The Soviets agreed to purchase $30 million worth of Ford products within four years while Ford agreed to provide technical advice and help build an automobile factory in Nizhny Novgorod.