What Happened in January 1921

Historical Events

Diff'rent

Jan 4 Eugene O'Neill's play "Diff'rent" premieres in NYC

Jan 6 The Iraqi Army is formed

Venizelos' Fourth Term

Jan 16 Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister of Greece (4th time)

Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos

Jan 18 William Archer's play "Green Goddess" premieres in NYC
Jan 19 Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras & El Salvador sign Pact of Union
Jan 20 British submarine HMS K5 (which was unusually equipped with steam turbines) sinks with 57 crew during exercises in the Bay of Biscay
Jan 20 Dagestan ASSR forms in RSFSR
Jan 20 Mountain Autonomous Republic established in RSFSR
Jan 20 Republic of Turkey declared out of remnants of the Ottoman Empire

Agatha Christie's First Novel

Jan 21 British crime writer Agatha Christie publishes her first novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" introducing the character Hercule Poirot

Italian Communist Party

Jan 21 Italian Communist Party founded at Livorno by Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci

Marxist Theorist and Politician Antonio Gramsci

Jan 24 Paris Conference on reparations is held
Jan 25 Karel Čapek's play "R.U.R." premieres in Prague, introduces the word "robot"
Jan 26 Toronto NHL center Corb Denneny scores 6 goals to lead St. Patricks to a 10-3 win over Hamilton Tigers in Toronto
Jan 29 Great Olympic Blowdown: Hurricane force winds hit US Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon [1]
Jan 30 French rapist-murderer Henri-Desire Landru sentenced to death

Events in 1921

Famous Birthdays

Jan 1 Alain Mimoun, Algerian-French distance runner (Olympic marathon gold 1956; 3 x silver 1948, 52), born in Telagh, Algeria (d. 2013)
Jan 1 César Baldaccini, French sculptor, born in Marseille, France (d. 1998)
Jan 1 Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian philosopher, born in Jaffa, British-mandate Palestine (d. 1986)
Jan 2 Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (Stanley Cup 1944, 46: NHL All Star 1949, 50; Montreal Canadiens), born in Holland, Manitoba (d. 2007)
Jan 3 John Russell, American actor (Pale Rider, Rio Bravo), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1991)
Jan 3 Musa Kaleem [Orlando Wright], American jazz saxophonist, born in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 1988)
Jan 5 Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss playwright and novelist (The Physicists, The Visit), born in Konolfingen, Switzerland (d. 1990)
Jan 5 Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1964-2000), born in Berg Castle, Luxembourg (d. 2019)

Cary Middlecoff (1921-1998)

Jan 6 American golfer (US Open 1949, 56; US Masters 1955), born in Halls, Tennessee

Jan 6 Lou Harris, American pollster (Lou Harris Poll), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2016)
Jan 7 John Lanigan, Australian operatic tenor (Covent Garden), born in Seddon, Victoria (d. 1996)
Jan 8 Herta Bothe, Nazi concentration camp guard, born in Teterow, Germany (d. 2000)
Jan 9 Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster and playwright, born in Mumbai, India (d. 2006)
Jan 9 Seymour Barab, American cellist (Philip Glass Ensemble), and composer of fairy tale operas (Little Red Riding Hood), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2014)
Jan 10 Rodger Ward, American aviator & race car driver, born in Beloit, Kansas (d. 2004)
Jan 11 Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
Jan 11 Kathleen Byron, British actress (Abdication, Profile, Saving Private Ryan), born in London, England (d. 2009)
Jan 12 John Davis, American weightlifter (Olympic gold bantamweight 1948, heavyweight 1952), born in Smithtown, New York (d. 1984)
Jan 12 Leo Smit, American classical pianist, composer (The Alchemy of Love), teacher and photographer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)
Jan 13 Dachine Rainer, British writer (d. 2000)
Jan 14 Charles Gaupp, German-Dutch painter, born in Germany (d. 1943)
Jan 14 Ken Sailors, American professional basketball player (popularized and may have invented the jump shot), born in Bushnell, Nebraska (d. 2016)
Jan 14 Lucy Reed [Dollinger], American jazz vocalist (Woody Herman; Charlie Ventura), born in Marshfield, Wisconsin (d. 1998)
Jan 14 Mark Lawrence, American pianist (Alice Pearce), and songwriter, and theatrical producer, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1991)
Jan 14 Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist, born in New York City (d. 2006)
Jan 15 Frank Thornton, British actor (Are You Being Served?, Last of the Summer Wine), born in Dulwich, London (d. 2013)
Jan 16 Francesco Scavullo, American celebrity photographer, born in Staten Island, New York (d. 2004)
Jan 17 Antonio Prohias, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
Jan 17 Dehl Berti, Chiricahua Apache actor (Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Guns of Paradise), born in Pueblo, Colorado (d. 1991)
Jan 18 Bruce Woodcock, English boxer (European Heavyweight Champion), born in Doncaster (d. 1997)
Jan 18 Ray Sims, American jazz trombonist (Benny Goodman; Les Brown; Harry James; Red Norvo; Zoot Sims), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 2000)
Jan 18 Robert Glaser, American educational psychologist (National Assessment of Educational Progress), born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 2012)
Jan 18 Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-born American Physicist (Nobel Prize 2008), born in Tokyo (d. 2015)
Jan 19 "Billy Batts" Devino, American gangster (d. 1970)
Jan 19 Patricia Highsmith [Plangman], American novel writer (Strangers On A Train; The Talented Mr. Ripley; The Price of Salt), born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 1995)
Jan 20 Bernt Engelmann, German writer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1994)
Jan 20 Connie Haines [Yvonne Jasme], American pop and big-band singer (Harry James; Abbott and Costello Show; Tommy Dorsey), born in Savannah, Georgia (d. 2008) [1]
Jan 20 Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer, born in Erandio, Spain (d. 2006)
Jan 21 Barney Clark, American heart patient, 1st to receive a permanent artificial heart (d. 1983)
Jan 21 Howard Unruh, American mass murderer - shot 13 people in country's 1st mass shooting, born in Camden, New Jersey (d. 2009) [1]
Jan 21 John Doucette, American actor (The Lone Ranger, Lock Up, Big Town), born in Brockton, Plymouth County Massachusetts (d. 1994)
Jan 21 Todor Popov, Bulgarian composer, born in Dryanovo, Bulgaria (d. 2000)
Jan 22 André Hodeir, French classical and jazz violinist, and composer, born in Paris (d. 2011)
Jan 22 Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer and West Indian batsman who scored 112 in his only Test innings in 1948, born in Port of Spain, Trinidad (d. 2016)
Jan 24 Bernard J. Dwyer, American politician (Rep-D-NJ, 1981- 93), born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (d. 1998)
Jan 25 Alfred Reed, American composer, born in New York City (d. 2005)
Jan 25 Russell Reading Braddon, Australian author, born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1995)

Akio Morita (1921-1999)

Jan 26 Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony, born in Nagoya, Japan

Jan 26 Eddie Barclay, French producer (Barclay Records), born in Paris, France (d. 2005)
Jan 26 Frantisek Chaun, Czech composer, born in Kaplice, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Czechia) (d. 1981)
Jan 26 Johannes Driessler, German organist and composer, born in Friedrichsthal, Germany (d. 1988)
Jan 27 Donna Reed, American actress (From Here to Eternity; It's a Wonderful Life; The Donna Reed Show), born in Denison, Iowa (d. 1986)
Jan 28 Alfred Marks, British actor and comedian (Desert Mice, Scream & Scream Again), born in Holborn, London (d. 1996)
Jan 29 Anthony George, American actor (Checkmate; Dark Shadows), born in Endicott, New York (d. 2005)
Jan 30 Bernie Leighton, American orchestra leader (Chance of a Lifetime), born in West Haven, Connecticut (d. 1994)
Jan 31 Carol Channing, American actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Hello Dolly), singer and comedian, born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2019)
Jan 31 E. Fay Jones, American architect (Thorncrown Chapel), born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (d. 2004)
Jan 31 John Agar, American actor (Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2002)
Jan 31 Mario Lanza [Alfredo Arnold Cocozza], Italian-American actor and singer (Great Caruso; Toast of New Orleans), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1959)

Born in 1921

Famous Weddings

Elpidio Quirino

Jan 16 Politician Elpidio Quirino (30) weds girlfriend Alicia Syquia

Famous Deaths

Jan 2 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancellor of the German Empire (1909-17), dies at 64
Jan 7 Benno Erdmann, German philosopher (Logik I), dies at 69
Jan 8 Luis Villalba Munoz, composer, dies at 48
Jan 12 Gervase Elwes, English tenor (b. 1866)
Jan 18 Adolf von Hildebrand, German sculptor, dies at 73
Jan 19 William Gunn, English cricket batsman (11 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 102no; Nottinghamshire CCC) and soccer winger (2 caps; Notts County FC), dies at 62
Jan 22 Captain George Streeter, American riverboat captain and circus owner (b. 1837)
Jan 23 Wlasyslaw Zelenski, Polish composer, dies at 83
Jan 25 Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer, dies at 43
Jan 27 Maurice Buckley, Australian soldier and winner of the Victoria Cross, dies at 29

What Happened in 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty
December 6, 1921

On This Day