Abolition of the Caliphate, The Last Caliph, Le Petit Journal illustré, 16 March 1924

The following events occurred in March 1924:

March 1, 1924 (Saturday)

*The Nixon Nitration Works disaster, an explosion of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 18 people, destroyed several miles of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

factories, and demolished the "tiny industrial town of

Nixon, New Jersey Nixon is an unincorporated community located within Edison Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Lewis Nixon, a manufacturer and community leader. Soon after the outbreak of World War I, Nixon established a ...

." *Public vehicles such as

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

s were allowed into London's

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

for the first time since 1636, after the House of Commons had repealed the ban on motion by M.P. Ben Smith. The 1636 law had made Hyde Park "reserved for people who kept their own carriages." Smith himself had been a taxicab driver prior to becoming an official in the Transport and General Workers' Union. *The

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

was legally reinstated. It had been banned in November 1923 after it tried to launch a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

. *'' Alice's Day at Sea'', the first of 57 films in

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's Alice Comedies series, was introduced to American cinemas as a short (11-minute) movie to be shown prior to a feature film. The silent film featured 5-year-old

Virginia Davis Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was an American child actress in films. She is best known for working with Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks on the animated short series Alice Comedies, in which she portrayed the protagonist Alic ...

in a combination of live action and animation. An earlier Alice comedy, '' Alice's Wonderland'', had been shown to theater owners but never released to the public. *Born: Deke Slayton, U.S. astronaut who was one of the original

Mercury 7 The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these seve ...

and who later served on the Apollo–Soyuz mission in 1975; in Sparta, Wisconsin (d. 1993) *Died: ** Billy Armstrong, 33, British-born American comedian and silent film actor, known for starring in 1919's '' Hop, the Bellhop'' with Oliver Hardy, died from tuberculosis. **

Gopinath Saha Gopinath Saha or Gopi Mohan Saha (16 December 1905 — 1 March 1924) was a Bengali activist for Indian independence (from British rule) and member of the Indian independence movementKalikatha, Via Bypass - Page 30 On 12 January 1924, he attempted ...

, 18, Bengali activist for independence in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, was hanged at the Alipore Central Jail in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

for the murder of a bystander during his attempt to assassinate Calcutta Police Commissioner

Charles Tegart Sir Charles Augustus Tegart (5 October 1881 – 6 April 1946) was an Irish-born police officer who served in British India and Palestine. Tegart was the mastermind behind the creation of the Arab Investigation Centres in Palestine during the ...

March 2, 1924 (Sunday)

*Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier of Belgium issued a pastoral letter calling on Belgians to help their government restore the country's finances. *Born: **

Michael Sela Michael Sela ( he, מיכאל סלע; Mieczysław Salomonowicz; 2 March 1924 – 27 May 2022) was an Israeli immunologist of Polish Jewish origin. He was the W. Garfield Weston Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Re ...

, Israeli immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, co-developer of the drug copaxone for the treatment of

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

; as Mieczysław Salomonowicz in Tomaszów in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

(d. 2022) **

June Norma Olley June Norma Olley (2 March 1924 – 29 July 2019) was a world-renowned seafood technologist and advocate for women's education. She was among the first to devise a scientific methodology for predictive microbiology. Early life Olley was born o ...

, English-born Australian microbiologist; in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(d. 2019) ** Marty Baum, American talent agent for multiple film stars; in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(d. 2010)

March 3, 1924 (Monday)

Shefqet Vërlaci Shefqet bey Vërlaci (; 15 December 1877, Elbasan, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 21 July 1946, Zürich, Switzerland), also known as Shevket Verlaci, was an Albanian politician and wealthy landowner. Biography In 1922, Vërlaci was the b ...

became the new Prime Minister of Albania after

Ahmet Zogu Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's y ...

's serious injury in the assassination attempt of February 23. *The

Turkish National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

formally ended the

Ottoman Caliphate The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. D ...

that had operated for 407 years, voting "almost unanimously" to abolish the office, and ordered that Abdulmejid II and his harem were to be deported by March 15. Abdulmejid, first cousin of the last Ottoman Sultan

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ota, محمد سادس ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; tr, VI. Mehmed or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the 36th and last Sultan of the O ...

, who had become religious leader of Islam upon being elected Caliph on November 19, was formally deposed at 2:00 the next morning. * Seán O'Casey's drama ''

Juno and the Paycock ''Juno and the Paycock'' is a play by Seán O'Casey. Highly regarded and often performed in Ireland, it was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924. It is set in the working-class tenements of Dublin in the early 1920s, during the Ir ...

'' opened at the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. *Born: **

Tomiichi Murayama is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He led the Japanese Socialist Party, and was responsible for changing its name to the Social Democratic Party (Japan), Social Democratic Party of Japan in 1996. Up ...

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

, 1994 to 1996; in Ōita (alive in 2024) **General

Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup, which decapitated the country's leadersh ...

, Nigerian Army general who ruled Nigeria for six months until his assassination in 1966; in Umuahia,

British Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain a ...

(d. 1966) ** Lys Assia, Swiss singer and first winner of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

; in

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

(d. 2018) ** Lilian Velez, Philippine film actress; in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

(murdered 1948) **

John Woodnutt John Edward Arthur Woodnutt (3 March 1924 – 2 January 2006) was an English character actor, often cast in villainous roles. Early life and education The younger son of Harold Frederick Woodnutt and brother of the Conservative MP Mark Woodnutt ...

, British TV actor; in

(d. 2006) **

Hadi Rohani Sheikh Hadi Rohani (; 3 March 1924 – 13 October 1999) was an Iranian ayatollah. He represented the Supreme Leader of Iran for Mazandaran Province, as well as being the Imam of Friday Prayer, Friday Prayer Leader for Mazandaran. He also represe ...

, Iranian

ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

of the

Shi'ite Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

faith; in Kalehbast (now Hadishahr)(d. 1999) *Died: Pell Trenton (stage name for William T. Baker), 40, American film actor, star of '' The Blue Moon'' and other silent movies, died of pulmonary tuberculosis

March 4, 1924 (Tuesday)

*A 7.1 magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter at

Orotina Orotina is a district of the Orotina canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Geography Orotina has an area of km2 and an elevation of metres. It is in a relatively flat section on the west side of the coastal mountain range of Costa ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, struck at 5:23 in the morning local time and killed 70 people. Damage was caused in the capital at San Jose, away. * Aidan de Brune became the first person to walk all the way around

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, returning to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

from whence he had departed on September 20, 1921. *The

University of North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

men's basketball team completed a perfect season of 26 wins and no losses, as one of the major unbeaten team in the nation, by winning the 16-team Southern Intercollegiate Conference postseason tournament, defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide, 26 to 18, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The University of Texas Longhorns also went unbeaten, finishing the Southwest Conference regular season with a 23-0 record and being 20-0 in SWC games, but did not play against North Carolina. *Born: **

Kenneth O'Donnell Kenneth Patrick O'Donnell (March 4, 1924 – September 9, 1977) was an American political consultant and the special assistant and appointments secretary to President John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. O'Do ...

, aide to U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

; in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

(d. 1977) ** Donald R. Yennie, American theoretical physicist known for devising the Yennie gauge mathematical procedure; in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. *Just two days after Turkey abolished the caliphate,

Hussein bin Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

King of the Hejaz The Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz ( ar, المملكة الحجازية الهاشمية, ''Al-Mamlakah al-Ḥijāziyyah Al-Hāshimiyyah'') was a state in the Hejaz region in the Middle East that included the western portion of the Arabian Penins ...

(now Saudi Arabia) and Sharif of Mecca, was proclaimed the

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of all Muslims by Muslim leaders in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Transjordania (now Jordan). The response throughout the Muslim world was mostly negative. *Born: Harvey Bernhard, American film producer known for horror films ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...

'' and '' The Lost Boys''; in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

(d. 2014) *Died: Viktor von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen, Austrian

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, 76. Among the birds named in his honor are the European goldfinch ''Carduelis tschusii''

common reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

''Emberiza schoeniclus tschusii'' and the

Eurasian wryneck The Eurasian wryneck or northern wryneck (''Jynx torquilla'') is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. This species mainly breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and ...

''Jynx torquilla tschusii''

March 6, 1924 (Thursday)

*In an elaborate nighttime ceremony at

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

under

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

's Prime Minister Saad Zaghloul formally opened the site of Tutankamun's tomb to the Egyptian public, which reportedly attracted the largest crowd seen in Luxor. The reopening turned into an anti-British demonstration when the British High Commissioner, Field Marshal Allenby, arrived when the crowd was demanding immediate British withdrawal from Egypt. * Turkey's first government was reorganized as Prime Minister Ismet Pasha formed a new council of ministers at the request of President Mustapha Kemal Ataturk. Ismet replaced four members of his Cabinet and eliminated the Ministry of Sharia and Foundations, and the Ministry of the General Staff while splitting the Ministry of the Economy into the new Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture. *Born: Obi James Anyasi II, African tribal monarch who ruled the Esan people of

Idumuje-Unor Idumuje Unor is a town situated in the Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria, lying between 6020’ 01.4’’ N and 60 22’ 06.5’’ N and between 60 25’ 01.4’’ E and 60 27’ 06.6’’ E. It is located 5 kilomete ...

in southeast

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

from 1946 to 2013 (d. 2013)

March 7, 1924 (Friday)

*The ''Delahueristas'', rebel supporters of former Mexican President Adolfo de la Huerta, surrendered across Mexico as President Álvaro Obregón offered an amnesty, bringing an end to the De la Huerta rebellion after three months. *A representative of the Irish Republican Army Organisation (IRAO) handed an ultimatum to Ireland's President W. T. Cosgrave, from Major-General

Liam Tobin Liam Tobin (born ''William Joseph Tobin''; 15 November 1895 – 30 April 1963) was an officer in the Irish Army and the instigator of an Irish Army Mutiny in March 1924. During the Irish War of Independence, he served as an IRA intelligenc ...

and Colonel Charles Dalton, demanding an end to Defence Minister Richard Mulcahy's demobilization of Irish Army troops. Mulcahy ordered the arrest of both officers on charges of mutiny. *Born:

Kōbō Abe , pen name of , was a Japanese writer, playwright, musician, photographer, and inventor. He is best known for his 1962 novel '' The Woman in the Dunes'' that was made into an award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964. Abe has often bee ...

, Japanese novelist; in

Kita, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is City of Kita. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 340,287, and a p ...

(d. 1993) *Died:

Pat Moran Patrick Joseph Moran (February 7, 1876 – March 7, 1924) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He was a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1901 to 1914. The year after his retirement, he became a manager, and he led two t ...

, 48, American baseball player from 1901 to 1914, manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1922 and 1923, died of kidney disease during spring training in Florida while preparing for the 1924 National League season.

March 8, 1924 (Saturday)

*All 171 miners were killed in two explosions at the Castle Gate mine at Castle Gate, Utah, near the town of Helper. *The Governor-General of British India,

Lord Reading Marquess of Reading is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1926 for Rufus Isaacs, who had been Member of Parliament for Reading between 1904 and 1913, before serving as Viceroy of India and Lord Chief Justice of Eng ...

transferred full power of administration of the princely state of Bahawalpur (princely state), Bahawalpur (now part of the Punjab province of Pakistan) to the 19-year-old Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sadeq Mohammad Khan V who had been the nominal ruler since ascending the throne at the age of two on February 15, 1907. *Inventor Nikola Tesla spoke out for the first time in years, announcing he had perfected a system of transmitting power without wires. *Georgios Kafantaris was forced by the Greek Army to resign as List of prime ministers of Greece, Prime Minister of Greece, along with his cabinet, less than a month after succeeding Eleftherios Venizelos, after refusing to endorse the Army's call for the abolition of the monarchy in favor of a republic. Kafantaris had proposed a referendum on the future of the monarchy while the Army requested an immediate change. *The Kingdom of Greece established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, a policy that continued even after the kingdom was abolished less than one month later. *Born: **Walter Chiari (stage name for Walter Annicchiarico), Italian stage and film actor; in Verona (d. 1991) **Louie Nunn, American politician and the only Republican governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky during the second half of the 20th century; in Park, Kentucky (d. 2004) **Sean McClory, Irish-born U.S. television and film actor; in

(d. 2003) *Died: Alfred Holland Smith, 60, President of the New York Central Railroad, was killed when he fell from a horse while riding through New York City's Central Park.

March 9, 1924 (Sunday)

*The French Cabinet held an emergency meeting to consider extraordinary measures to stabilize the collapsing French franc, franc, which dropped to 117.60 francs against the British pound sterling. *Died: General Panagiotis Danglis, 70, former Greek Army leader and Minister of Military Affairs during World War One, co-inventor of the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun

March 10, 1924 (Monday)

*United States Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby (politician), Edwin Denby resigned over the Teapot Dome scandal. He said that by quitting before he could be asked to resign, he was "dying with my face toward the enemy." *France obtained a $50 million credit from American banks and a £5 million credit from London to stabilize the franc. *In the case of ''Radice v. New York'', the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York (state), New York state statute banning late-night working for women on grounds of health. *Born: **Angela Morley, British transsexual composer and conductor who won three Emmy Awards after her gender transition, transition in 1972; as Walter Stott, in Leeds, Yorkshire (d. 2009) **Horace Busby, U.S. presidential adviser and speechwriter for president Lyndon Johnson; in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2000) *Died: Rafael López Gutiérrez, 68, President of Honduras since 1920

March 11, 1924 (Tuesday)

*The worst Atlantic gale in twenty years hit the East Coast of the United States, east coast of the United States, downing telephone and telegraph lines and killing nine people. *Belva Gaertner, a cabaret singer, was arrested for the murder of her abusive lover, Walter Law, who was found dead from a bullet wound in her car in Chicago. She would be acquitted based on reasonable doubt over whether Law's death was a murder or a suicide. The story would be the inspiration of the Maurine Dallas Watkins Broadway play, ''Chicago (play), Chicago'' in 1926, and for the successful John Kander and Fred Ebb musical theatre, musical ''Chicago (musical), Chicago'' in 1975. *Born: **Franco Basaglia, Italian psychiatrist and reformer in mental health care, founder of Democratic Psychiatry, Psichiatria Democratica; in San Polo, Venice (died of a brain tumor, 1980) **Bill Ezinicki, Canadian ice hockey forward who played in the NHL 1944 to 1955; in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2012) **Eva Von Gencsy, Hungarian-born Canadian jazz dancer and choreographer, creator of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; in Csongrád (d. 2013) *Died: **Chichester Bell, 76, Irish-English inventor who developed the Graphophone recorded music player **Helene von Mülinen, 73, Swiss feminist and founder of the Bund Schweizerischer Frauenvereine, the first women's suffrage organization in Switzerland

March 12, 1924 (Wednesday)

* Adolfo de la Huerta, leader of the failed Mexican rebellion against President Álvaro Obregón, went into exile to Florida. *Commonwealth Oil Refineries, a joint venture of the Australian government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the first oil refinery in

, began its refining operations as it received its first shipment of crude oil at Laverton, Victoria, north of Melbourne. *The World Court of the League of Nations issued its decision to end the Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts, border dispute between Poland and Czechoslovakia within the Árva County, Orava Territory in a reworking of the original Spa Conference of 1920 decision. Czechoslovakia was allowed to retain Javorina (formerly Javorzyna) and Ždiar in return for ceding Nižná Lipnica (now Lipnica Wielka, Nowy Targ County) to Poland, while Polish territory around Sucha Góra and Glodōvka became Suchá Hora and Hladovka in what is now Slovakia. *Born: **Mary Lee Woods, British computer scientist; in Hall Green, Birmingham (d. 2017) **Utpala Sen, Indian Bengali singer, in Dhaka, Dacca, Bengal Presidency, Bengal province,

(now Dhaka in Bangladesh) (d. 2005) **Roy Haynes (designer), Roy Haynes, British automobile designer who oversaw the creation of the Ford Cortina Mk II and the Ford Zephyr Zodiac Mk4 (d. 2020)

March 13, 1924 (Thursday)

*German Chancellor Wilhelm Marx dissolved the Reichstag (Weimar Republic), Reichstag ahead of a general election to be held on May 4. *Born: **Meinhard Michael Moser, Austrian mycology, mycologist studying Agaricales fungi, author in 1953 of ''Die Blätter und Bauchpilze (Agaricales und Gastromycetes)'' which cataloged 3,150 species; in Innsbruck. The genus Moserella is named in his honor, as well as multiple species, including the halluciogenic mushroom ''Psilocybe moseri'' (d. 2002) **Arthur Holch, American TV documentary filmmaker; in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 2010) **James Orthwein, U.S. advertising executive, one-time owner of the New England Patriots of the NFL; in St. Louis (d. 2008) *Died: **Samri Baldwin (stage name for Samuel Spencer Baldwin), 76, American magician and debunker of fraudulent mentalists **Helene Marie Stromeyer, 89, German floral and landscape painter

March 14, 1924 (Friday)

*A League of Nations committee spearheaded by American diplomat Norman Davis (diplomat), Norman Davis reached a settlement on the question of the administration of the Klaipėda Region (''Memelland'' in German), leading to the signing of the Klaipėda Convention two months later. *Fighting broke out in Honduras in the wake of the death of President Rafael López Gutiérrez, initiated by rebels who opposed the new President, Francisco Bueso. *Died: **Nellie Kershaw, 33, English textile worker who was the first known person to die of asbestosis. Miss Kershaw at worked for Turner & Newall, Turner Brothers Asbestos for 18 years, starting at age 13 and continuing until 1922. **Cyril Harcourt (pen name for Cyril Worsley Perkins), 51, British playwright and novelist whose 1914 Broadway play ''A Pair of Silk Stockings'' was later adapted to the 1932 film comedy ''They Just Had to Get Married''

March 15, 1924 (Saturday)

*1924 Dominican Republic general election, Voting was held in the Dominican Republic for the next president and for the bicameral Congress of the Dominican Republic, Congress. Horacio Vásquez defeated Jacinto Peynado by more than 2 to 1 margin, and his Progressive National Alliance party won 24 of the 31 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 10 of the 12 seats in the Dominican Senate. *

's Fuad I of Egypt, King Fuad I opened the initial session of the first-ever Egyptian constitutional parliament. *King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy gave the warrior-poet Gabriele D'Annunzio the title of Prince of Snežnik (mountain), Montenevoso. *England national rugby union team, England beat Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, 19 to 0, to clinch a perfect 4–0 record in the 1924 Five Nations Championship, Five Nations Championship rugby tournament and complete a Grand Slam (rugby union), Grand Slam. *Kenya held a 1924 Kenyan legislative election, legislative election, the first under its new Constitution. *Born: **Walter Gotell, German actor; in Bonn (d. 1997) **Concordia Scott, Scottish nun and sculptor; in Glasgow (d. 2014) *Died: **Ludwig Durlacher, Louis Atilla (stage name for Ludwig Durlacher), 79, German strongman and personal trainer to members of royalty and high society. **Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt, 83, controversial U.S. educator and superintendent of the Carlisle Indian School known for his policy of cultural assimilation of Native Americans into Anglo-Saxon culture. General Pratt is credited with coining, in 1902, the word racism but also his summary of erasing the native culture with the phrase "Kill the Indian...save the man." **Major General DeRosey Caroll Cabell, DeRosey Cabell, 62, chief of staff for General John J. Pershing of the Pancho Villa Expedition, U.S. Expedition into Mexico in 1916 to 1917 after Villa's attack on Columbus, New Mexico. **Daniel Ridgway Knight, 84, American artist

March 16, 1924 (Sunday)

*Italy formally annexed Fiume in a colorful ceremony. Crowds cheered as King Victor Emmanuel III read the annexation decree. *Born: **Otto Hittmair, Austrian theoretical physicist who worked with Erwin Schrödinger on trying to find a unified field theory; in Innsbruck (killed in mountain climbing accident, 2003) **Liu Ling Tong (stage name for Zhang Zongyi), Chinese opera actor for the Zhejiang Shao opera, Shao Opera Theatre; in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province (d. 2014) **Wolfgang Kieling, German film actor known for his brief move from West Germany to Communist East Germany from 1968 to 1971; in Berlin (d. 1985) *Died: **Robert Lincoln Poston, 33, African-American newspaper editor and journalist, died of lobar pneumonia **Annie Matheson, 70, British writer known for ''Florence Nightingale: A biography'' and for her "Rose and Dragon" children's book series.Alt URL
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March 17, 1924 (Monday)

*Eligio Ayala resigned as List of heads of state of Paraguay, President of Paraguay 13 months after he had been appointed by the Paraguayan Congress on April 12, 1923. He was replaced by Luis Alberto Riart, who was selected by the Congress. *The First aerial circumnavigation, first attempt to fly around the world began as four Douglas World Cruiser airplanes, piloted by members of the United States Army Air Service, departed from Santa Monica, California, for

, the starting point of the global circumnavigation. *Athlone Town A.F.C., Athlone Town defeated Fordsons F.C., Fordsons 1-0 to win the 1923–24 FAI Cup, Football Association of Ireland Cup. *France men's national ice hockey team, France defeated Sweden men's national ice hockey team, Sweden 2-1 to win the Ice Hockey European Championship 1924, Ice Hockey European Championship.

March 18, 1924 (Tuesday)

*The Irish Army Mutiny came to a crisis as 40 armed soldiers assembled at a hotel in Dublin to plan the next move, including Irish Army Mutiny, a possible coup d'etat against the Irish government. Two truckloads of Irish Army troops surrounded the building and a standoff ensued. The Irish government responded by getting the resignation of the Irish Army Council members, along with that of Defence Minister Richard Mulcahy. *The swashbuckling film ''The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film), The Thief of Bagdad'', starring Douglas Fairbanks, was released. *Born: Johnny Papalia, crime boss in the Canadian mob; in Hamilton, Ontario (d.1997)

March 19, 1924 (Wednesday)

*Winston Churchill of the Constitutionalist (UK), Constitutionalists lost the 1924 Westminster Abbey by-election, Westminster Abbey by-election by 43 votes to Conservative Party (UK), Unionist candidate Otho Nicholson, who had 8,187 votes to Churchill's 8,144. Churchill had originally lost by 33 votes and requested a recount, which showed a larger winning majority. *Bertolt Brecht's play ''The Life of Edward II of England'' (''Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England'') was given its first performance, premiering at the Munich Kammerspiele. *Born: **F. C. Kohli (Faqir Chand Kohli), Indian software producer, information technology entrepreneur, and founder of Tata Consultancy Services, in Peshawar, Punjab Province (British India), Punjab Province,

(now Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province in Pakistan (d. 2020) **Mary Wimbush, British film, television, radio and stage actress; in Kenton, London, Kenton, Middlesex (now in Greater London) (d. 2005) **Keith Brueckner, American theoretical physicist; in Minneapolis (d. 2014) **Lev Kulidzhanov, Soviet Armenian film director; in Tiflis, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union (d. 2002) *Died: **Nathan Clifford Ricker, 80, American professor and architect **Prince Kachō Hirotada of Japan, 22, died of encephalomyelitis that he had contracted while serving on the ship ''Isuzu''.

March 20, 1924 (Thursday)

*What is now the national airline of Finland, Finnair, began operations as Aero O/Y, with a flight from Helsinki to Tallinn in Estonia in a Junkers F.13 seaplane. *The "Eugenical Sterilization Act" went into effect in the U.S. state of Virginia upon being signed into law by Governor E. Lee Trinkle, providing for the sterilization of persons in mental institutions. *Nadir of American race relations: In the U.S., the Virginia General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, Racial Integrity Act, amending the state's racial classification law which had provided that a person was considered to be "colored" if they had a great-grandparent who was African-American. The amendment enacted the "one-drop rule", which provided that a person was considered non-white if it was shown that they had ''any'' ancestor who was African-American. The 1924 Act had what was called the "Pocahontas Clause" providing that a person with an American Indian ancestor would be considered white if they were 15/16ths European. *Born: James Barr (biblical scholar), James Barr, Scottish Biblical scholar; in Glasgow (d. 2006) *Died: **Carl Hertz, 64, American magician known for creating the "vanishing bird cage" act **Sophia Goudstikker, 59, Dutch-born German women's rights activist and photographer

March 21, 1924 (Friday)

*The first modern mutual fund, the MFS Investment Management, Massachusetts Investors Trust, was introduced by Edward G. Leffler with an Open-end fund, open-ended policy that allowed investors to withdraw their account money at any time from the collective investment. *A British soldier was killed, and 21 others wounded, in a drive-by shooting at Cobh, Queenstown in Ireland's County Cork. Four IRA members dressed as National Army (Ireland), Irish Free State Army officers drove into town in a converted 1919 Rolls-Royce, dubbed the "Moon Car". As the Moon Car drove past the destroyer at the port of Spike Island, County Cork, Spike Island, the men opened fire with a machine gun. *London drivers of trams and public buses went on strike. *Boxer Abe Goldstein won the world bantamweight championship in a 15-round bout against Joe Lynch (boxer), Joe Lynch before 14,900 people at Madison Square Garden (1890), Madison Square Garden in New York City. *Born: Harry Lehmann, German physicist; in Güstrow (d. 1998) *Died: T. E. Dunville (stage name for Thomas Edward Wallen), 56, English comedian, committed suicide one day after his final stage performance. He left a suicide note for his wife, and his body was found in the River Thames the next day.

March 22, 1924 (Saturday)

*The ocean liner collided with the smaller liner ''HMAT Wandilla, Fort St George'' in New York City. The damage required repairs to the extent of which had never been attempted on a ship the size of ''Olympic'' before. *Born: **Ivan Minatti, Slovenian poet; in Slovenske Konjice, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (d. 2012) **Yevgeny Ostashev, Soviet Russian test pilot of rocket and space complexes; in Elektrougli, Maly Vasilyev, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (d. 1960) **Alvin V. Tollestrup, U.S. physicist known for the development of the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab; in Los Angeles (d. 2020) *Died: **Louis Delluc, 33, French filmmaker, died of pneumonia after becoming ill during the filming of his final film, ''L'Inondation''. The Prix Louis-Delluc for Best Film is named in his honor. **Siegmund Gabriel, 72, German chemist and discoverer of the Gabriel synthesis, the chemical reaction that transforms primary alkyl halides into primary amines, using potassium phthalimide **Walter Humphreys Sr., 74, English cricketer and umpire **Sir William Macewen, 75, pioneering Scottish surgeon who developed the Macewen's operation for an inguinal hernia; and discovered the Macewen's sign for diagnosing hydrocephalus. **General Robert Nivelle, 67, French Chief of the Army Staff, known for the Nivelle offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War One.

March 23, 1924 (Sunday)

*Benito Mussolini presided over a Fascist parade in Rome commemorating the fifth anniversary of the founding of the ''Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, Fasci Italiani da Combattimento''. Mussolini's commemorative speech doubled as a campaign speech for the upcoming 1924 Italian general election, general election as he listed his government's accomplishments. *Born: **Kenneth N. Stevens, Canadian computer scientist and engineer, developer of acoustic phonetics; in Toronto (d. 2013) **Olga Kennard, Hungarian-born British scientist and researcher of crystallography for the structure of organic molecules; in Budapest (d. 2023) **Vasubahen, Vasubahen Ramprasad Bhatt, Indian radio director, social activist and Gujarati language novelist; in Baroda, Baroda State (now Vadodara, Gujarat state) (d. 2020)

March 24, 1924 (Monday)

*The United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives voted to appropriate $10 million for the purchase of food supplies for impoverished women and children in Germany. *Symphony No. 7 (Sibelius), Symphony No. 7 in C major, written by composer Jean Sibelius, was performed for the first time, as part of a concert in Stockholm. *The films ''Secrets (1924 film), Secrets'', starring Norma Talmadge, and ''The Enchanted Cottage (1924 film), The Enchanted Cottage'', starring Richard Barthelmess and May McAvoy, were released. *The Portuguese football club Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco was founded. *Born: **Norman Fell (stage name for Norman Noah Feld), American film and TV actor known for the series ''Three's Company''; in Philadelphia (d. 1998) **Abbas Abbasi, Pakistani politician, army officer and former member of royalty who served as Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province 1975-1977, Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, Minister for Religious Affairs 1981-1984, and former heir to the throne of the Bahawalpur (princely state), Bahawalpur princely states of Pakistan, princely state; in Bahawalpur (d. 1988)

March 25, 1924 (Tuesday)

State Flag of Greece (1863-1924 and 1935-1973)

*The Greek Parliament voted to depose King George II of Greece, George II and declare the Second Hellenic Republic. A public referendum on the issue was set for April 13. *The 1923–24 Montreal Canadiens season, Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) defeated the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), 3 to 0, to win the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup, two games to none in a best-of-three series. The game was played in Ottawa because the natural ice at the March 22 first game at Montreal's Mount Royal Arena had turned to slush in warmer than normal temperatures, on a day with a high of . *A three-man team of British fliers, led by navigator Archibald Stuart-MacLaren, accompanied by pilot William Noble Plenderleith and flight engineer Sergeant W. H. Andrews, became the first of six different groups to attempt the First aerial circumnavigation, first trip around the world by airplane. The British team departed from Calshot Aerodrome, near Southampton, in a Vickers Viking, Vickers Vulture II Mark VI amphibious biplane. Other teams from the U.S., Portugal, France, Italy and Argentina, would depart between April and June on different routes to cover a global trip of at least with plans to return the site of their takeoff. The British attempt would eventually end on August 4 when Plenderleith was forced to make a forced sea landing in which the aircraft was badly damaged. *Born: Roberts Blossom, American film actor and poet; in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2011)

March 26, 1924 (Wednesday)

*French Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré resigned after his government was defeated in the Chamber of Deputies (France), Chamber of Deputies by a vote of 271 to 264. The confidence vote was a complete surprise and Poincaré was not even present, as he was in a committee meeting when it was announced and voted on. *Friedrich Akel became the new State Elder of Estonia, ''Rigivanem'' (literally the "State Elder"), the head of state and head of government for Estonia, after Konstantin Päts had announced his resignation on March 11. *Over 100 people died in landslides around Amalfi in Italy.

March 27, 1924 (Thursday)

*The first elected parliament in the Kingdom of Iraq, the 100-member Constituent Assembly, was opened in Baghdad by Faisal I of Iraq, King Faisal I and directed to draw up the Middle Eastern nation's Constitution of Iraq#History, first constitution, which would be ratified in 1925. *Raymond Poincaré accepted President Alexandre Millerand's request to form a new government. *Erich Ludendorff and Adolf Hitler made their final addresses as their trial for treason wound down in Munich. *The New York Philharmonic orchestra began its tradition of the Young People's Concerts, with guest conductor Ernest Schelling providing a description of aspects to be listened for in the music that would be heard, or about the parts of the orchestra itself. From 1926 onward, a concert would be performed every month. *''Irrelohe'', a three-act opera by German composer Franz Schreker premiered at the Cologne Opera, Stadttheater Köln in Cologne, Köln, with Otto Klemperer as conductor. ''Irrelohe'', German language, German for a crazy fire, was named by Schreker for the Irrenlohe station, a railway stop in Bavaria. *Born: **Margaret K. Butler, American computer scientist, creator and director of the National Energy Software Center; in Evansville, Indiana (d. 2013) **Sarah Vaughan, American jazz singer; in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1990) **Herbert Zangs, German artist; in Krefeld (d. 2003) **William G. Bowdler, Argentine-born U.S. diplomat who served as Ambassador to El Salvador 1968—1971; Guatemala 1971—1973; and South Africa, 1975—1978; in Buenos Aires to British parents (d. 2016) **Rachel Cameron, Australian ballet dancer and teacher; in Brisbane (d. 2011) *Died: John George Alexander Leishman, 66, U.S. diplomat and former steel company executive who had served as the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1901—1909; Italy, 1909—1911; and Germany 1911—1913

March 28, 1924 (Friday)

*United States Attorney General, U.S. Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty resigned over the Teapot Dome scandal. *Total S.A., one of the major energy product and sales companies worldwide, was founded in France, under the name Campagnie Francaise des Petroles. *The 1924 Grand National, Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse in England was won by Master Robert, a 25 to 1 long shot, ridden by Bob Trudgill and trained by Aubrey Hastings. *Born: **Freddie Bartholomew, British child actor; in

(d. 1992) **Hans Joachim Berker, German-born jurist and the first Chief Justice of Namibia; in Hamburg (d. 1992) **Claire Gagnier, Canadian soprano opera singer; in Montreal (d. 2022) *Died: **Józef Sebastian Pelczar, 82, Polish Roman Catholic cleric, Bishop of Przemysl and co-founder of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; Pelczar would be elevated to sainthood in 2003. **Zoel García de Galdeano, 77, Spanish mathematician

March 29, 1924 (Saturday)

*The first known Motocross in the United Kingdom took place at Camberley, Surrey, with a "hare scramble, scramble race" of 89 riders, rather than the individual time trials that had been staged by clubs. Rather than everyone starting at once, however, riders started once per minute, riding two laps on a challenging course long. *The popular musical theatre, musical ''Wildflower (musical), Wildflower'', with music by Herbert Stothart and Vincent Youmans, and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, closed at the Casino Theatre (New York City), Casino Theatre on Broadway theatre, Broadway after 477 performances, following its premiere on February 7, 1923. *Jews in Bucharest in Romania were targeted by rioters in nighttime attacks that continued into the next morning. *Born: **Andrew Frierson, African-American opera baritone singer, in Columbia, Tennessee (d. 2018) **Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Malaysian hereditary ruler and governor of Sarawak; in Subang Jaya (d. 2000) **Jules de Corte, popular blind singer-songwriter in the Netherlands; in Deurne, Netherlands, Deurne (d. 1996) **Plácido Fernández Viagas, Spanish politician and the first chairman of the government of regional government of Andalusia; in Tangier, Spanish Morocco (d. 1979) **Jackie Vernon (comedian), Jackie Vernon (stage name for Ralph Verrone, American stand-up comedian and actor; in Manhattan (d. 1987) *Died: **Charles Villiers Stanford, 71, Irish composer, conductor and teacher **Georgiana Hill, 65, British social historian, journalist and women's rights activist

March 30, 1924 (Sunday)

*The first radio broadcaster in the German state of Bavaria, Bayerischer Rundfunk, began broadcasting from Munich at 5:00 in the afternoon under the name "Deutsche Stunde in Bayern". *In the U.S., the drinking of denatured alcohol at a party in Toledo, Ohio killed at least 12 people. *The German People's Party announced in its party platform, election platform that it stood for a "new democratic monarchy". One of their election slogans was, "We are fighting under the colours of the Flag of Germany#North German Confederation and the German Empire .281866.E2.80.931918.29, black, white and red". *The historical drama film ''Beau Brummel (1924 film), Beau Brummel'', starring John Barrymore, was released. *Born: **Arthur Henry White, American advertising executive, philanthropist and social activist known for co-founding the Reading Is Fundamental literacy organization; in Boston (d. 2014) **Alan Davidson (food writer), Alan Davidson, Irish-born New Zealand food critic; in Derry, Northern Ireland (d. 2003) *Died: Glen MacDonough, 57, American opera libretto, librettist best known for 1903's ''Babes in Toyland (operetta), Babes in Toyland''

March 31, 1924 (Monday)

*The air transport company Imperial Airways was founded in the United Kingdom by the merger of the UK's four existing airlines, Handley Page Transport, Instone Air Line, Daimler Airway and British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd. The four combined their aircraft for a fleet of 13 planes operating out of Croydon Airport to serve international flights to and from

. In 1939, Imperial would merge with British Airways Ltd to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), which would merge in 1974, fifty years from the day of Imperial's founding, with British European Airways to create British Airways. *The London tram and bus drivers' strike ended after a vote on a new wage package from the transport companies. *Born: **B. S. Perera (Balasuriyage Steven Perera), popular Sri Lankan stage and film actor who appeared in over 180 movies in a 22-year career; in Colombo, Ceylon (d. 1982) **Leo Buscaglia (pen name for Felice Leonardo Buscaglia), American professor, author and motivational speaker who popularized hugging in the U.S. in the 1970s and wrote multiple books, starting with ''Love'' in 1972; in Los Angeles (d. 1998)

References

{{Events by month links March, 1924 1924, *1924-03 Months in the 1920s, *1924-03