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February 3, 1924: Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson dies at age 67February 2, 1924: Alexei Rikov emerges as the new Premier of the Soviet UnionFebruary 15, 1924: U.S. Senator Frank Greene seriously wounded in crossfire between bootleggers and Prohibition agents
The following events occurred in February 1924:
February 1, 1924 (Friday)
The British government formally recognized the Soviet Union and began diplomatic relations with Robert M. Hodgson as the first chargé d'affaires.
Honduran President Rafael López Gutiérrez, who had been elected in 1919 for a 4-year term that started on February 1, 1920, refused to leave office after his term expired, citing the failure of the Honduran Congress to elect a president following the lack of any candidate to receive a majority in the 1923 presidential election.
Born:
Richard Hooker (pen name for Dr. Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr.), American surgeon and author who wrote a novel based on his experiences at a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (published 1968), later adapted into a successful film in 1970 and an even more successful TV series in 1972, M*A*S*H; in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 1997)
Ruth Teitelbaum, American computer programmer who was one of six women assigned to enter data into the U.S. Army's Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC); as Ruth Lichterman in the Bronx (d.1986)
The International Ski Federation (FIS) was founded in Chamonix in France, site of France's International Ski Week, later recognized as the 1924 Winter Olympics, during a meeting of leaders of the skiing organizations of various nations.
Woodrow Wilson fell into a coma shortly before 10:30 p.m.
Woodrow Wilson, who had served as President of the United States from 1913 to 1921, died at the age of 67 in his home at 2340 S Street NW in Washington, D.C., at 11:15 in the morning.
The Soviet Union welcomed Britain's diplomatic recognition of the USSR as an "historic step" and pledged to "make every effort to settle all misunderstandings and develop and consolidate economic relations."
Indian freedom fighter Mohandas K. Gandhi, known for his campaign of passive resistance in pursuing the independence of India from the British Empire, was released from incarceration in Ahmedabad after serving less than two years of his six-year prison sentence for sedition. The release came on the recommendation of British physicians that Gandhi should be allowed six months convalescence to recover from a serious illness.
At 17:30:00 UTC, the Greenwich Observatory in England, near London, began its service of broadcasting regular of broadcasting a time signal for the standard of the exact time of day by hour, minute and second as measured at Greenwich. According to a press release from Greenwich, "the last four seconds of the preceding minute will be heard as 'clicks' when the signal is about to be given, representing the 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th second, and the final click, which will be a little louder than the others" every minute on shortwave radio to be heard worldwide, with an announcement of the exact time.
The funeral of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was conducted. He was buried in a vault beneath the center aisle of the chapel of the Washington National Cathedral, becoming the first, and only, U.S. president to be buried in the District of Columbia.
Demonstrators raised disturbances outside the German embassy in Washington. About 200 taxi drivers walked onto the embassy lawn, and after planting the American flag, saluted it amid cheers and pistol shots. The controversy arose after the German Embassy had refused to offer condolences or to lower flags in honor of the late President Wilson, who had led the U.S. against the German Empire during World War One from 1917 to 1918.
Queenie Scott-Hopper, 42, English children's author, committed suicide at her home in Whitley Bay, by slitting her own throat. Her suicide noted stated that she took her life because she was unable "to think up any new ideas for stories."
On the same day, the U.S. state of Texas executed five prisoners— all African-American inmates who had been convicted of murder— at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, in the state's first use of the electric chair. Starting at 12:09 a.m., Charles Reynolds was the first to die "as Warden Walter Monroe Miller threw the switch which sent 2,500 volts and 11 amperes of electricity into Reynolds's body. Over the next hour, E. L. Morris, George Washington and Mack Matthews were put to death. The fifth inmate, Melvin Johnson, was electrocuted after a one-hour stay of execution.
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created by the Soviet Union within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. On January 20, 1990, it would become the first part of the Soviet Union to secede.
Lady Wonder, American horse exhibited for her abilities to perform arithmetic and spelling while being accompanied by her owner and trainer, Claudia E. Fonda (d. 1957)
Annie Arniel, 50, American suffragist and women's rights activist died by suicide from natural gas in a rooming house where she was living in Wilmington, Delaware.
David Dunnels White, 79, Union Army veteran of the American Civil War who would be nominated (and declined) for the Medal of Honor in 2016.
Madame Sorgue (Antoinette Cauvin), 59, French anarchist, feminist and labor activist referred to as "the most dangerous woman in Europe", died of a heart attack.
As the Drenica-Dukagjin Uprisings drew to a close in Kosovo, Yugoslavian troops carried out the massacre of 25 Albanian-minority civilians (including eight young children and ten women) in the Kosovan town of Dubnica, then set fire to the town.
Mexican federal troops won a decisive battle over the rebels at Ocotlán.
Randy Van Horne, American singer and bandleader known for organizing the Randy Van Horne singers heard singing the theme songs for The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and other Hanna-Barbera cartoons; in El Paso, Texas (d.2007)
The United States Senate voted, 47 to 34, to demand that President Coolidge remove Edwin Denby, who was under investigation for the Teapot Dome scandal, as Secretary of the Navy. Coolidge said in a statement that evening that, "As soon as special counsel can advise me as to the legality of these leases and assemble for me the pertinent facts in the various transactions, I shall take such action as seems essential for the full protection of the public interests".
The five-day Negro Sanhedrin opened in Chicago with 250 delegates from trade unions, civic groups and fraternal organizations in an attempt to create a program to protect the legal rights of African-American tenant farmers.
The Greek government deposited the instrument of ratification of the treaty of Lausanne, the peace treaty between Turkey and the Allied Powers, that was concluded on July 24, 1923.
Howard Carter and his archaeological team had the lid of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's stone sarcophagus raised, revealing his solid gold mummy case. The case itself would not be opened until October 28, 1925.
L'Unita began a 67-year run as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party, before becoming an independent leftist periodical after the dissolution of the PCI. The paper would cease publication entirely in 2017.
David Rowland, American industrial designer known for inventing the first compactly stackable chair, the 40/4 Chair, patented on March 5, 1963; in Los Angeles (d. 2010)
German nationalists attacked the headquarters of Rhineland separatists in Pirmasens, smashing their way into the building and setting it ablaze, while snipers outside shot at the separatists. The fighting and the blaze killed 36 people, most of them separatists, an elderly woman bystander was killed by a stray bullet.
The first fascist event ever held in public in the United Kingdom took place at the Hotel Cecil in London, as about 500 members of the British Fascisti and Italian expatriates attended.
The day after testifying in the trial of Shoeless Joe Jackson, former Chicago White Sox outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch was arrested for perjury in testimony given as a rebuttal witness for Jackson. The arrest came after lawyers for the Chicago White Sox produced letters that contradicted Felsch's statements. Felsch posted his own $2,000 bail and was released.
Howard Carter abruptly suspended work on Tutankhamun's tomb and had it resealed, "owing to the impossible restrictions and discourtesies on the part of the public works department and its antiquity section." The dispute was reportedly about media access rights.
Born:Juan Ponce Enrile, Philippine politician who served as Minister of National Defense for President Ferdinand Marcos from 1970 to 1986, President of the Philippine Senate from 2008 to 2013, and, at the age of 98, became the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel for President Bongbong Marcos in 2022; in Gonzaga, Cagayan (living in 2024)
February 15, 1924 (Friday)
U.S. troops began their intervention in the civil war in Honduras, with 167 U.S. Marines and nine officers landing at Ampala after being brought by the battle cruiser USS Milwaukee.
U.S. Senator Frank L. Greene of Vermont was seriously wounded when he was shot in the head by a stray bullet during a shootout between Prohibition enforcement agents and bootleggers. Senator Greene had been walking along Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue with his wife and was left partially paralyzed.
The jury in the Joe Jackson-White Sox case awarded Jackson over $16,000 in unpaid salary. However, Judge Gregory declared that the plaintiff's case was based on perjury and declared a mistrial. Jackson was triumphant at the verdict despite it being set aside.
In Germany, the enabling act of December 8 expired under its own terms, after having allowed Chancellor Wilhelm Marx and his cabinet to issue emergency decrees. In the first session of the Reichstag afterward, legislators began the process of attempting to repeal the Marx cabinet decrees.
Nearly 200,000 British dock workers went on strike.
German artist George Grosz was fined 500 gold marks (6,000 marks) when a collection of his drawings depicting the decadence of Berlin society was ruled obscene by the court.
Wilhelm Schmidt, 65, German engineer and inventor who developed the technology for superheated steam (Heissdampf) for steam engines and founded the company Schmidtsche Heissdampfgesellschaft
Tony Boeckel, 31, American major league baseball infielder since 1917, died before the 1924 National League season after being seriously injured in a car accident the day before."Tony Boeckel, third baseman for Braves, dies from injuries", Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun, February 18, 1924, p.7
February 17, 1924 (Sunday)
A referendum on employment protection was held in Switzerland. Voters rejected a proposed amendment to the federal employment protection law.
A series of explosions at the W. P. Gilbert trench warfarefilling factory killed 12 young women and a male foreman who were employees in south east London at the borough of Slade Green, near Dartford.
The popular U.S. comic strip Boots and Her Buddies, by Edgar Martin, was published for the first time and would run for 44 years until ending on October 6, 1968.
American jazz cornet player and composer Bix Beiderbecke (Leon Bismark Beiderbecke) made his recording debut as he and his band The Wolverines created the 78 rpm record "Fidgety Feet" for Gennett Studios, with "Jazz Me Blues" on the opposite side.
British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald warned against profiteers extracting "unjust prices" during the dock worker's strike.
The cost of a four-pound loaf of bread went up a halfpenny to eightpence-halfpenny as a result of the dock strike.
An initial outline of the Dawes committee's financial plan was presented to French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré in Paris.
Born:Lee Marvin (Lamont Walton Marvin Jr), American film and television actor, winner of the 1965 Academy Award for Best Actor for Cat Ballou; in New York City (d. 1987)
Gerson Goldhaber, German-born U.S. particle physicist, co-discoverer, in 1974, of the J/psi meson subatomic particle confirming the existence of the "charm quark"; in Chemnitz (d. 2010)
British dock workers rejected the terms offered to them for a settlement of the strike. Their employers had offered them an immediate 1 shilling-per-day raise with another shilling to be added June 1.
The Republic of Austria gave formal recognition to the Soviet Union and opened diplomatic relations.
Annie R. Tinker, 39, American suffragist and philanthropist who left as her legacy the funding for financial of assistance of elderly women, the Annie R. Tinker Memorial Fund, died of surgical complications after a tonsillectomy.
A bill to provide for automatic U.S. citizenship for Native American peoples was introduced by U.S. Representative Homer P. Snyder, a Republican for the state of New York. The text of the Indian Citizenship Act stated "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,, That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property."
Born:
Jack Pierce, Canadian oil executive and Chairman of Ranger Oil and a leader of the 1974 discovery of the 1.2 billion barrel Ninian Oil Field in the North Sea; in Westmount, Quebec (d.1991)
Vincent Marotta, American inventor who (with Samuel Glazer), invented the first automatic drip coffee maker, marketed as "Mr. Coffee"; in Cleveland (d.2015)
February 23, 1924 (Saturday)
Prime Minister Zogu
Albanian Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu was shot twice by anarchist Beqir Valteri after entering the Albanian Parliament building just before a parliamentary session. Zogu survived the assassination attempt, but was seriously wounded, and stepped down from his position for more than 10 months before returning the following January 6.
The Royal Navy intervened in the dock worker's strike to move 4,500 bags of American mail.
Designed by Henry Berliner and his father Emile Berliner, the Berliner gyrocopter Model No. 5, capable of flying at a speed of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), to hover at an altitude of 15 feet (4.6 m), and to turn within a radius of 15 feet (4.6 m), was given its first successful demonstration. U.S. Army Lieutenant Harold R. Harris flew the machine for 1 minute and 20 seconds at College Park Airport near the University of Maryland, in front of U.S. Navy officials and members of the press.
Mexican federal troops defeated rebels in a battle fought in an oil region in the state of Tamaulipas.
The Beverly Hills Speedway hosted its final race, attended by 85,000. The track was torn down afterward because the rapidly increasing real estate values had rendered the track an uneconomical use of property. Harlan Fengler broke the world record for a 250-mile race, averaging 116.6 miles per hour (187.6 km/h).
British dock workers voted to accept the offer of their employers to receive a rise of 1 shilling-per-day plus an additional shilling on June 1.
In the Soviet Union, the Politburo of the Soviet Communist Party began the task of National delimitation in Central Asia, setting specific boundaries for Soviet socialist republics for ethnic minorities. Among the changes was to partition the Turkestan ASSR into what are now the nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and later forming Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, while what is now Kazakhstan was set aside in 1936.
The trial of Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff, and eight other Nazis for charges of treason arising from the Beer Hall Putsch of November 9, 1923, began in Munich. Security was heavy and onlookers were thoroughly searched for weapons before being allowed in.
The Transport and General Workers Union dock workers ended their strike.
Died: George Randolph Chester, 55, American fiction author and film director, died of a heart attack. Chester was best known for his "Wallingford series" of books featuring J. Rufus "Get-Rich-Quick" Wallingford.
February 27, 1924 (Wednesday)
The government of Prime Minister Georges Theunis fell in Belgium over a vote on a Franco-Belgian import-export bill. The news caused the ailing French franc to immediately drop to a new low, 24.50 to the U.S. dollar.
Erich Ludendorff took the stand in his defense in the trial at Munich. He gave a long justification of the reasons for attempting the putsch, explaining, "We want a Germany free of Marxism, semitism, and papal influences."
Mercer, Derrik (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 315. ISBN978-0-582-03919-3.
"Honduras May be on Brink of Civil Warfare". Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1924. p. 5.
"War of Three Sides Begins in Honduras; Two Candidates for Presidency Take Up Arms While President Becomes Dictator". The New York Times. February 3, 1924. p. 19.
Duranty, Walter (February 3, 1924). "Rykoff Is Elected to Succeed Lenin; Announcement Made of His Appointment as Chairman of Federal Commissars". The New York Times. p. 3.
Allen, E. John B. (2012). "Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS)". Historical Dictionary of Skiing. Scarecrow Press. p. 69.
"Latest Bulletins on Mr. Wilson". The New York Times. February 3, 1924. p. 1.
"WILSON IN COMA; HEART FAILING HIM— 'He May Never Reawaken,' Says Grayson as Death Closes in on Ex-President". Pittsburgh Gazette-Times. February 3, 1924. p. 3.
"WOODROW WILSON PASSES AWAY IN SLEEP; END COMES AT 11:15 A. M.; NATION MOURNS AND TRIBUTES ARE VOICED IN ALL LANDS", The New York Times, February 4, 1924, p.1
Williams, Paul (February 4, 1924). "Russia Accepts Britain's Offer of Recognition". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 16.
"Cab Drivers and Students 'Flag' Embassy". Chicago Daily Tribune. February 7, 1924. p. 1.
"Flag at German Embassy Joins Mourning Group". Chicago Daily Tribune. February 6, 1924. p. 1.
"Obituary: Sir John H. Stewart". The Daily Telegraph. London. February 8, 1924. p. 13.
"Authoress's Tragic End; Whitley Bay Lady Found at Her Home with Her Throat Cut". Newcastle Daily Chronicle. February 7, 1924. p. 1. The deceased lady was 42 years of age.
"Writer Takes Life When Muse Is Silent— Queenie Scott-Hopper Commits Suicide Over Lack of 'New Ideas'". Baltimore Evening Sun. February 8, 1924. p. 1.
"Mexican Rebel Chief and Staff Reach Yucatán". Chicago Daily Tribune. February 8, 1924. p. 2.
"Italy Issues Formal Recognition of Soviet", Illustrated Daily News (Los Angeles), February 9, 1924, p.2
"Nevada's Lethal Gas Executes Tong Man", Miami Herald, February 9, 1924
"Five Negroes Die in Electric Chair in Texas Prison— Are First to Die Under Law Substituting Chair for Noose", Tuscaloosa (AL) News, February 8, 1924, p.1
"12 Victims of Explosion— Eleven Girls and One Man— Mystery Fire— Works' Disaster on Thames-Side", Daily Mirror, February 19, 1924, p.5 ("A terrible disaster occurred about 8:45 yesterday morning at the Slades Green factory..."
"Boots and Her Buddies— Introducing Our New Girl Comic", Tampa (FL) Daily Times, February 18, 1924, p.10
Williams, Paul (February 19, 1924). "Labor Cabinet Fights British Docker Strike". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
"Dearer Bread— Why Your Loaf Will Cost You More", Sunday Mercury and Sunday News (Birmingham, England), February 17, 1924, p.7 ("the price of the 4lb. loaf will be advanced by a halfpenny to-morrow..")
Wales, Henry (February 20, 1924). "France Bows to Dawes Experts on Ruhr Control". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 5.
^ J. Otto Pohl, Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937-1949 (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999) pp. 29–37
"Dawes Plan for Ruhr is Opposed by French Army". Chicago Daily Tribune. February 21, 1924. p. 6.
Williams, Paul (February 22, 1924). "Dockers' Strike Flames Anew on Radical Fuel". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 7.
"Austria Gives Recognition to Soviet Regime". Los Angeles Times. February 22, 1924. p. 10.
Holston, Kim R. (2013). Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911–1973. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 35. ISBN978-0-7864-6062-5.
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