Major Events of 1919: Key Historical Moments You Need to Know
Every year brings its own set of pivotal moments that leave a lasting mark on history. From political shifts and technological advancements to cultural breakthroughs, these events shape the world and influence the future. In this comprehensive overview, we’ll explore the most significant occurrences from 1919, highlighting key moments that continue to impact our lives today.
Major Events of 1919 - Historical Moments That Defined the Year
- 01 Jan Belorussian SSR established.
- 02 Jan Anti-British uprising in Ireland.
- 05 Jan Spartacus uprising in Berlin: state of siege
- 06 Jan Tragic week (Argentina)
- 07 Jan Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail.
- 09 Jan Friedrich Ebert orders the Freikorps into action in Berlin.
- 10 Jan January 12 ampndash The Freikorps attacks Spartacist supporters around Berlin, Germany.
- 11 Jan Romania annexes Transylvania.
- 13 Jan Dutch Soccer team OSV forms.
- 14 Jan John McGraw, Charles A Stoneham, and Judge McQuade buy New York Giants.
- 15 Jan 2 million gallons of molasses flood Boston MA, drowning 21
- 16 Jan Prohibition ratified by 3 / 4 of states; Nebraska is 36th
- 18 Jan Bentley Motors Limited is founded.
- 21 Jan Sinn Fein proclaims parliament of Free Ireland.
- 22 Jan Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
- 23 Jan The Uprising of Khotin breaks out in Khotyn, Ukraine.
- 25 Jan Founding of League of Nations, first meeting one year later.
- 28 Jan The Order of the White Rose of Finland is established by Baron Gustaf Mannerheim, the regent of the Kingdom of Finland.[11]
- 29 Jan Secretary of state proclaims the 18th amendment (prohibition).
- 31 Jan The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.
- 02 Feb Monarchist riot in Portugal.
- 03 Feb Socialist conference convenes (Berne Switzerland).
- 04 Feb Congress authorizes the Navy Cross.
- 05 Feb Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists film studio in the USA.
- 06 Feb The Seattle General Strike begins. Over 65,000 workers strike.
- 11 Feb Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
- 12 Feb The Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.
- 14 Feb United Parcel Service forms.
- 15 Feb American Legion organizes in Paris.
- 17 Feb The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
- 18 Feb Cy Denneny of NHL Ottawa Senators scores record 52nd goals.
- 19 Feb Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris).
- 20 Feb French premier Clemenceau injured during assassination attempt.
- 21 Feb German National Meeting accepts Anschluss incorporation of Austria.
- 23 Feb Fascist Party forms in Italy by Benito Mussolini
- 25 Feb Oregon is first state to tax gasoline (1 cent per gallon).
- 26 Feb Acadia National Park established (as Lafayette National Park), Maine.
- 27 Feb American Association for the Hard of Hearing formed (New York City, New York).
- 28 Feb Amanullah Khan becomes King of Afghanistan.
- 01 Mar Demonstrations for Korean independence from Japan begin.
- 02 Mar The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
- 03 Mar 1st international air mail service from US, Seattle-Victoria, BC
- 04 Mar Communist International (“Comintern”) founded.
- 05 Mar A. Mitchell Palmer becomes Attorney General of the United States through recess appointment.
- 06 Mar NHL Championship: Montreal Canadiens beat Ottawa Senators, three games to one with one tie.
- 09 Mar The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 breaks out.
- 11 Mar General strike in Germany, crushed.
- 12 Mar Austrian National Meeting affirms Anschluss (incorporate into Germany).
- 15 Mar American Legion forms (Paris France).
- 17 Mar Dutch steel workers strike for 8 hour day and minimum wages.
- 18 Mar Order of DeMolay is established in Kansas City.
- 21 Mar The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.
- 23 Mar Bashkir ASSR, in RSFSR, constituted.
- 25 Mar The Tetiev pogrom occurs in Ukraine, becoming the prototype of mass murder during the Holocaust.
- 29 Mar Stanley Cup: MontrTal (NHL) and Seattle (PCHA) win two games each with one tie; 1919 Stanley Cup not awarded due to flu epidemic.
- 31 Mar Strike against Ruhrgebied government of Scheidemann.
- 03 Apr Austria expels all Habsburgers.
- 05 Apr Heavyweight Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in Havana.
- 06 Apr Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi orders a general strike.
- 10 Apr Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 11 Apr The International Labour Organization is founded.
- 12 Apr British Parliament passes a 48-hour work week with minimum wages.
- 13 Apr British forces kill 100s of Indian Nationalists
- 14 Apr The Emperor of Austria moves to exile in Switzerland.
- 15 Apr Save the Children Fund set up in the UK to raise money for the relief of German and Austrian children.
- 16 Apr Polish : Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
- 19 Apr Opera Monsieur Beaucaire is produced
- 20 Apr Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from Soviet Army.
- 21 Apr The US Victory Liberty Loan offers $4.5 billion in bonds.
- 23 Apr Major leagues open a reduced 140-game season.
- 30 Apr Several bombs are intercepted in the first wave of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings.
- 01 May Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages.
- 03 May Afghanistan Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain.
- 04 May Giants play their 1st legal Sunday home game, 35,000 see Phils win 4-3
- 05 May The League of Red Cross Societies is founded in Paris.
- 06 May Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain and France, German Southwest Africa to South Africa.
- 08 May Appingedam soccer team forms.
- 09 May In Belgium, a new electoral law introduces universal manhood suffrage and gives the franchise to certain classes of women.
- 10 May 45th Kentucky Derby: Johnny Loftus aboard Sir Barton wins in 2:09.8.
- 11 May Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 14 May Pope Benedictus XV publishes encyclical In hac tanta.
- 15 May Brooklyn Dodgers score ten runs in 13th to beat Cincinnati Reds 10-0.
- 17 May The British War Department orders use of National Star Insignia on all airplanes.
- 19 May Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
- 20 May Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550.
- 23 May The University of California opens its second campus in Los Angeles. Initially called Southern Branch of the University of California (SBUC), it is eventually renamed the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
- 25 May Casey Stengel releases a sparrow from under his baseball cap.
- 27 May 1st transatlantic flight ends; US Navy flying boat takes 11 days
- 29 May Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total solar eclipse in Principe and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceara, Brazil.
- 30 May By agreement with the United Kingdom, later confirmed by the League of Nations, Belgium is given the mandate over part of German East Africa (Ruanda-Urundi).
- 31 May NC-4 aircraft commanded by AC Read completes 1st crossing of Atlantic
- 01 Jun Rhineland Republic forms in Wiesbaden
- 02 Jun Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sandburg (Cornhuskers)
- 03 Jun Liberty Life Insurance Company (Chicago) organized by blacks.
- 04 Jun US marines invade Costa Rica.
- 06 Jun Assent is given to an Act to amend the Canadian Currency Act, 1910
- 07 Jun Sette Giugno: Nationalist riots break out in Valletta, the capital of Malta. British soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four people.
- 09 Jun General steel strike in France
- 11 Jun 23rd US Golf Open: Walter Hagen shoots a 301 at Brae Burn Country Club - Massachusetts
- 12 Jun Dutch 2nd Chamber accord for equal Christian-public education
- 14 Jun John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
- 15 Jun 1st nonstop Atlantic flight (Alcock & Brown) lands in Ireland
- 17 Jun British Police Sergeant Thomas Green killed during the Epsom Riot by Canadian troops
- 20 Jun German government of Scheideman resigns
- 21 Jun Bauer forms German government
- 23 Jun Nitti government forms in Italy
- 25 Jun Revolt of Spartacus in Hamburg
- 26 Jun New York Daily News begins publishing
- 28 Jun Carl Mazes pitches a complete double-header against New York Yankees.
- 01 Jul 1st class postage drops from 3 cents to 2 cents
- 02 Jul Syrian National Congress in Damascus. Arab nationalist announce independence.
- 04 Jul ADGB (Allgemeine Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund) party forms
- 05 Jul 32nd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: S Lenglen beats Chambers
- 06 Jul British R-34 lands in NY, 1st airship to cross Atlantic
- 07 Jul Phillies tie major league record of 8 steals in 9 inn game
- 08 Jul President Wilson returns to New York City from Versailles Peace Conference.
- 10 Jul Dutch 1st Chamber approves woman suffrage
- 11 Jul Dutch 2nd chamber approves 8-hour day / No Sunday work
- 13 Jul Chicago White Sox pitcher Carl Mays walks off mound blaming teammates for lack of support afield
- 17 Jul Finland adopts constitution
- 19 Jul Following Peace Day celebrations marking the end of World War I, ex-servicemen riot and burn down Luton Town Hall.
- 21 Jul Dirigible crashes through bank skylight killing 13 (Chicago, Ill).
- 23 Jul Prince Regent Aleksander Karađorđević signs the decree establishing the University of Ljubljana
- 24 Jul Race Riot in Washington DC (6 killed, 100 wounded).
- 27 Jul Chicago race riot (15 whites and 23 blacks killed, 500 injured).
- 28 Jul Vrije Vakbewegings Internationale (VVI) forms in Amsterdam
- 31 Jul Germany accepts Weimar Constitution
- 01 Aug Queen Wilhelmina opens 1st Air Fair in Amsterdam
- 03 Aug Romanian army liberates Timișoara from the Hungarian occupation.
- 04 Aug Romanian army occupies Budapest.
- 06 Aug Romanian forces destroys Bela Kun Republic in Budapest
- 08 Aug The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 is signed. It establishes peaceful relations between Afghanistan and the UK, and confirms the Durand line as the mutual border. In return, the UK is no longer obligated to subsidize the Afghan government.
- 10 Aug Ukrainian National Army massacres 25 Jews in Podolia Ukraine
- 11 Aug Weimar Republic begins in Germany
- 13 Aug British troops fire on Amritsar India demonstrators; killing 350
- 14 Aug White Sox Happy Felsch ties record of 4 outfield assists in a game
- 16 Aug August 26 ampndash First Silesian Uprising: The Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans.
- 18 Aug Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago Illinois
- 19 Aug Afghanistan gains full independence from the United Kingdom.
- 20 Aug Wichita outfielder Joe Wilhoit (Western League) fails to get a hit, ending a 69-game streak
- 24 Aug Cleveland pitcher Ray Caldwell is flattened by a bolt of lightning
- 26 Aug The first regular television broadcast is made in the United States by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
- 28 Aug General John Smuts becomes Premier of South Africa
- 31 Aug John Reed forms American Communist Labor Party in Chicago
- 02 Sep Italy agress to general voting right / proportional representation
- 04 Sep 39th US Mens Tennis: William M Johnston beats Wm T Tilden (64 64 63)
- 06 Sep The U.S. Army expedition across America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco.
- 10 Sep New York City welcomes home General John J Pershing and 25,000 WW I soldiers.
- 11 Sep U.S. Marines invade Honduras.
- 12 Sep Adolf Hitler joins the German Workers Party.
- 16 Sep Dutch Ruether beats Giants 4-3 to clinch Cincinnati 1st NL pennant
- 18 Sep Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts female suffrage
- 20 Sep 2nd PGA Championship: Jim Barnes at Engineers Country Club - Roslyn, New York
- 21 Sep 33rd US Womens Tennis: Hazel H Wightman beats M Zinderstein
- 22 Sep The steel strike of 1919, led by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, begins in Pennsylvania before spreading across the United States.
- 24 Sep Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at age 28 off of New York Yankees player Bob Shawkey.
- 25 Sep President Wilson becomes seriously ill and collapses after a speech.
- 26 Sep US President Wilson hit by a heart attack
- 27 Sep British troops withdraw from Archangelsk
- 28 Sep Fastest major league game (51 mins), New York Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies 6-1.
- 01 Oct World Series #16 begins as a best of 9 affair, Chicago White Sox intentionally throw this series to satisfy gamblers (The Black Sox Scandal).
- 02 Oct U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
- 03 Oct Reds Adolfo Luque is 1st Latin player to appear in a World Series
- 05 Oct Norwegian population agrees to prohibition
- 06 Oct Stambuliski becomes Premier of Bulgaria
- 07 Oct KLM, Netherlands Airlines, established (oldest existing airline)
- 09 Oct The Cincinnati Reds win the World Series, resulting in the Black Sox Scandal.
- 10 Oct Richard Strauss and Hugo van Hofmannsthals premieres in Vienna
- 13 Oct Race riot at Elaine Arkansas.
- 16 Oct Adolf Hitler delivers his first public address at a meeting of the German Workers' Party.
- 17 Oct Radio Corporation of America (RCA) created.
- 26 Oct B C Hilliams musical Buddies, premieres in New York City
- 27 Oct US Congress sign Volstead Act
- 28 Oct The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
- 30 Oct Baseball league presidents call for abolishment of the spitball.
- 01 Nov The Coal Strike of 1919 begins. The United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis announce a strike for November 1, 1919. Final agreement comes on December 10.
- 07 Nov US police raid offices of Union of Russian Workers
- 08 Nov Eichenfeld massacre: Members of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine murder 136 Mennonite colonists at Jaskyowo, initiating a series of massacres that resulted in the deaths of 827 Ukrainian Mennonites.
- 09 Nov Felix the Cat appears in Feline Follies, marking the first cartoon character to become popular.
- 11 Nov Pope Benedictus XV states Roman Catholics political / business views
- 12 Nov Ross and Keith Smith start a 1 month flight from London to Australia
- 14 Nov Red Army captures Omsk, Siberia
- 16 Nov After Entente pressure Romanian forces withdraw from Budapest and let Admiral Horthy to march in.
- 19 Nov US Senate rejects (55-39) Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations.
- 22 Nov 15,000 men are cremated at Domela Newenhouse, Amsterdam
- 27 Nov Peace of Neuilly-sur-Seine: Allies and Bulgaria
- 28 Nov US-born Lady Astor elected first female member of British Parliament.
- 30 Nov Health officials declare that the global Spanish Flu pandemic has ended.
- 01 Dec Lady Nancy Astor sworn-in as first female member of British Parliament.
- 03 Dec After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, including two collapses causing 89 deaths, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
- 04 Dec Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is initiated, with an attempt to assassinate the high command of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
- 05 Dec The Turkish Ministry of War releases Greeks, Armenians and Jews from military service.
- 10 Dec Nobel peace prize awarded to US President Wilson
- 11 Dec Boll weevil monument dedicated in Enterprise, Ala
- 13 Dec Ross and Smith land in Australia from a flight from London.
- 16 Dec The first meeting of the League of Nations is held in Paris.
- 17 Dec Austria parliament approves 8-hour day.
- 19 Dec American Meteorological Society found.
- 20 Dec US House of Representatives restricts immigration.
- 21 Dec J Edgar Hoover deports anarchists / feminist Emma Goldman to Russia
- 22 Dec Government of Ireland Act of Power (Home Rule for Ireland).
- 23 Dec Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace.
- 25 Dec Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge opens (the home of the Albion Rovers F.C.) They lose the match 2–0 to St. Mirren.
- 26 Dec Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.
- 30 Dec Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.
What happened in 1919?
Discover what the world looked like in 1919: