November 1928

November 1, 1928 (Thursday)

Turkey passed a law switching the country from the Arabic to the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet.

Cuba held a presidential election; incumbent President Gerardo Machado was re-elected.

The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin landed back in Friedrichshafen only 71 hours and 12 minutes after leaving the United States, a new Atlantic crossing speed record for dirigibles.

The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company was launched.

November 2, 1928 (Friday)

The trial of José de León Toral, the assassin of Mexican president-elect Álvaro Obregón, opened in San Ángel. Toral, a Roman Catholic, testified that he felt he could "save the church from its enemies and herself, by ridding the country of the intellectual head of this terrible state of affairs."

November 3, 1928 (Saturday)

Al Smith wrapped up his presidential campaign with a speech before 23,000 in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Smith pledged to clean up political corruption and modify the Eighteenth Amendment to make it a states' rights issue.

Born: Osamu Tezuka, manga artist, in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan (d. 1989)

November 4, 1928 (Sunday)

The Nicaraguan general election was held; José María Moncada was elected president.

New York underworld figure Arnold Rothstein was shot in the stomach by unknown assailants at the Park Central Hotel. He was rushed to hospital clinging to life.

The comedy-drama film The Haunted House was released. The film had no dialogue, but did feature a synchronized Vitaphone soundtrack with music and sound effects.

Born: George Yardley, basketball player, in Hollywood, California (d. 2004)

November 5, 1928 (Monday)

Herbert Hoover and Al Smith made their final appeals to American voters with national radio addresses.

November 6, 1928 (Tuesday)

Herbert Hoover of the Republican Party was elected President of the United States with a decisive victory, winning 444 electoral votes to Al Smith's 87. Hoover even carried Smith's home state of New York.

Arnold Rothstein died of his wounds in hospital at 10:20 a.m.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York.

Born: Peter Matz, musician, composer, arranger and conductor, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2002)

Died: Arnold Rothstein, 46, Jewish-American racketeer, businessman and gambler (shot)

November 7, 1928 (Wednesday)

The Sicilian town of Mascali was almost completely destroyed by lava from Mount Etna.

Lord Cushendun told the House of Lords that the Anglo-French naval reduction pact had been abandoned.

The Boston Braves and Chicago Cubs turned a major deal. The Cubs received Rogers Hornsby in exchange for Bruce Cunningham, Percy Jones, Lou Legett, Freddie Maguire, Socks Seibold and $200,000.

November 8, 1928 (Thursday)

José de León Toral was sentenced to death by firing squad. A nun was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for being the "intellectual author" of the assassination.

November 9, 1928 (Friday)

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge announced that president-elect Herbert Hoover would undertake a goodwill tour of South America before entering office.

Born: Anne Sexton, poet, in Newton, Massachusetts (d. 1974)

November 10, 1928 (Saturday)

The enthronement ceremony of Emperor of Japan Hirohito was held in Kyoto, almost two years after he actually took the throne upon the death of Emperor Taishō.

Iuliu Maniu became Prime Minister of Romania.

The adventure romance film White Shadows in the South Seas was released. The film had no dialogue (other than a single instance of the word "hello") but it had a pre-recorded soundtrack with music and sound effects. The MGM lion roar was first heard at the beginning of this film.

Born: Ennio Morricone, Italian composer, in Rome, Italy

November 11, 1928 (Sunday)

A massive "moving day" of radio station frequencies took place in the United States due to General Order 40. Listeners around the country had to readjust their dials to find their favorite stations, but they also found programming they had never before been able to receive.

Born: Carlos Fuentes, writer, in Panama City, Panama (d. 2012)

Died: Oyster Burns, 64, American baseball player

November 12, 1928 (Monday)

The British steamship SS Vestris sent out an SOS when it began to sink off the coast of Virginia after listing in a storm. Passengers and crew took to the lifeboats for fear that the ship would sink entirely and carry them to the bottom.

Died: Oskar Victorovich Stark, 82, Russian admiral and explorer

November 13, 1928 (Tuesday)

215 passengers of the SS Vestris were rescued and 1 found dead, leaving 123 as yet unaccounted for.

Died: Enrico Cecchetti, 78, Italian ballet dancer and mime

November 14, 1928 (Wednesday)

With the death toll in the SS Vestris disaster fixed at between 108 and 115, the ship's staff was widely criticized by survivors. They accused the captain of sending the SOS message too late and claimed that many of the lifeboats were in bad condition and lacked sufficient flares to signal rescue ships. Many women and children perished when the first lifeboat foundered.

The New Zealand general election was held; the incumbent New Zealand Reform Party of Prime Minister Gordon Coates lost its majority.

November 15, 1928 (Thursday)

Rudyard Kipling declared a copyright on his speeches, handing out advance copies of a speech he was about to make to the Royal Society of Medicine with a notice stating that all rights to the speech would revert to him on Sunday. "I have never heard of it being done before", said newspaper proprietor Lord Riddell. "What Mr. Kipling apparently is trying to do is to give a license to newspapers for the reproduction of his speech for forty-eight hours after it is delivered. What legal force the condition has I do not know. I do not believe such a demand ever has been tested."

The British lifeboat RNLB Mary Stanford capsized and sank in Rye Harbour, drowning the entire 17-man crew.

Born: Gus Bell, baseball player, in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1995)

November 16, 1928 (Friday)

6.6 million shares were bought and sold in a record day of trading on Wall Street.

Born: Dick Gamble, ice hockey player, in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

November 17, 1928 (Saturday)

Federal elections were held in Australia. The Australian Labor Party won the House of Representatives but the Nationalist Party maintained control of the Senate. Australian voters also carried a referendum amending the constitution concerning financial relations between the federal and state governments.

Boston Madison Square Garden, later shortened to Boston Garden, officially opened with a boxing card. Featherweight champion André Routis lost a non-title match to Dick Finnegan.

Notre Dame lost a football game on home field for the first time in 23 years when Carnegie beat them 27-7.

Born: Arman, French-born American artist, in Nice (d. 2005); Rance Howard, actor, in Duncan, Oklahoma; Anna Meyer, baseball player, in Aurora, Indiana

Died: Lala Lajpat Rai, 63, Indian Punjabi author and politician

November 18, 1928 (Sunday)

The Walt Disney short animated film Steamboat Willie, introducing the character of Mickey Mouse, premiered at Universal's Colony Theatre in New York City.

President-elect Herbert Hoover boarded the battleship USS Maryland at Palo Alto, California with his wife Lou and youngest son Allan to begin a two-month goodwill tour of Latin America.

Born: Otar Gordeli, composer, in Tbilisi, Georgia (d. 1994); Rudy Migay, ice hockey player and coach, in Fort William, Ontario, Canada (d. 2016)

Died: Mauritz Stiller, 45, Finnish-Swedish film director

November 19, 1928 (Monday)

The United States Supreme Court upheld the validity of a law in New York State directed against the Ku Klux Klan, which required organizations other than labor unions or benevolent orders to file paperwork that included a roster of its members.

Born: Ina van Faassen, actress and comedian, in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2011)

November 20, 1928 (Tuesday)

An ammunition factory exploded outside Paris, killing 12.

Born: Franklin Cover, actor, in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2006)

November 21, 1928 (Wednesday)

King George V became seriously ill with septicemia.

The secret engagement of John Barrymore and Dolores Costello was publicized.

November 22, 1928 (Thursday)

The orchestral piece Boléro by Maurice Ravel was first publicly performed at the Paris Opéra.

Queen Mary performed an official function for the first time without her husband, inaugurating the restored Hall of London's Inn.

Born: Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley, in England (d. 2008); Pat Smythe, showjumper and author, in Britain (d. 1996)

November 23, 1928 (Friday)

The New York Stock Exchange had to shut down for a day to process a backlog of 6.9 million transactions.

The Colombia Stock Exchange was founded.

Born: Gene Kiniski, professional wrestler, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (d. 2010)

November 24, 1928 (Saturday)

John Barrymore and Dolores Costello were married at Costello's home in Beverly Hills, California.

China announced a joint Chinese–German operation to develop air service between Nanjing and Berlin.

November 25, 1928 (Sunday)

20 were reported dead in storms that sank shipping in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The French vessel Le Cesare went down off the coast of Algiers.

Leon Trotsky's secretary died on hunger strike in protest at the alleged torture of Trotskyists.

November 26, 1928 (Monday)

President-elect Herbert Hoover visited Honduras and El Salvador in the first stops of his Latin American goodwill tour.

The Philip Barry play Holiday opened at the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway.

Died: Reinhard Scheer, 65, German admiral

November 27, 1928 (Tuesday)

Edward, Prince of Wales cut short his African trip to head home to the King's bedside.

100 were reported dead in the western European storms of the past four days.

Herbert Hoover visited Nicaragua.

November 28, 1928 (Wednesday)

Herbert Hoover visited Costa Rica.

Born: Piet Steenbergen, footballer, in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2010)

November 29, 1928 (Thursday)

The Italian government announced changes to the country's labour system, practically dissolving the syndicalist hierarchy and giving more self-autonomy to each of the six federations organized by the categories of workers.

Born: Paul Simon, U.S. Senator, in Eugene, Oregon (d. 2003)

November 30, 1928 (Friday)

Emilio Portes Gil was sworn in as 41st President of Mexico.

The French Chamber of Deputies passed a military budget bill for the largest army in the world.

Born: Takako Doi, politician, in Kobe, Japan (d. 2014); Joe B. Hall, basketball coach, in Cynthiana, Kentucky; Peter Hans Kolvenbach, Dutch Superior General of the Society of Jesus