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1921

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2011}}

{{Events by month|1921}}

{{About year|1921}}

{{Year nav|1921}}

{{C20 year in topic}}

{{Year article header|1921}}

{{TOC limit|2}}

Events

= January =

{{Main|January 1921}}

  • January 2
  • The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil.{{cite book|first=Alex |last=Bellos|title=Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life - Updated Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dE9xAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA408|date=2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4088-5416-7|pages=408–}}
  • The Spanish liner Santa Isabel breaks in two and sinks off Villa Garcia, Mexico, with the loss of 244 of the 300 people on board.{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |title=Santa Isabel disaster |date=5 January 1921 |page=9 |issue=42610}}
  • January 16 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.{{cite book|author1=Yeshayahu A. Jelinek|author2=Yešaʻyāhû Yelîneq|author3=Yeshayahu Jelinek|title=The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8dnAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=978-0-88033-019-0|page=7}}
  • January 17 – The first recorded public performance of the illusion of "sawing a woman in half" is given by English stage magician P. T. Selbit at the Finsbury Park Empire variety theatre in London.{{cite book|first=Jim|last=Steinmeyer|authorlink=Jim Steinmeyer|title=Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible|publisher=Random House|year=2003|pages=277–295}}
  • January 20 – British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 57 on board are lost.{{cite book|first1=Stephen |last1=Courtney|first2=Brian |last2=Patterson|title=Home of the Fleet: A Century of Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in Photographs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RM7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT56|date=2009|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-5653-6|pages=56}}
  • January 21 – The full-length silent comedy drama film The Kid, written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin (in his Tramp character), with Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • January 25 – Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci is righted in Taranto Harbour.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

= February =

{{Main|February 1921}}

  • February 12 – Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Democratic Republic of Georgia is invaded by forces of Bolshevist Russia.{{cite book|editor-first=John |editor-last=Paxton|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1974-75: The Encyclopaedia for the Businessman-of-the-World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vI3JDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1428|date=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-27103-6|pages=1428}}
  • February 19 – The French Third Republic and Second Polish Republic form a defensive alliance.{{cite web |url=http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/20/24/00039182.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111180924/http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/20/24/00039182.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012 |publisher=Société des Nations.|title=Recueil des traités|volume=449 |url-status=dead}}
  • February 20 – The Young Communist League of Czechoslovakia is founded.{{cite book|title=Czechoslovak Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amsOAQAAMAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Orbis|page=14}}
  • February 21
  • 1921 Persian coup d'état: Rezā Khan and Zia'eddin Tabatabaee stage a coup d'état in Qajar dynasty Iran.{{cite book|first=Cosroe |last=Chaquèri |author-link=Khosrow Shakeri Zand |title=The Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran, 1920-1921: Birth of the Trauma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NltAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-3792-0|page=307}}
  • Conference of London of 1921–1922 convenes in an attempt to resolve problems arising from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • February 23 – The moderately conservative public official Oscar von Sydow takes over the Swedish premiership from Baron Louis De Geer the Younger.{{cite book|title=The New International Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyZNAQAAMAAJ|year=1922 |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|page=685}}
  • February 25 – Red Army invasion of Georgia: The Red Army enters the Georgian capital Tbilisi and occupies the country, installing a new government and proclaiming the Georgian Soviet Republic.{{cite book|editor-first1=F. J. Ferdinand Joseph Maria |editor-last1=Feldbrugge|editor-first2=Gerard Pieter |editor-last2=Van den Berg|editor-first3=William Bradford |editor-last3=Simons|title=Encyclopedia of Soviet Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7gBESqTciYC&pg=PA464|date=1985|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-247-3075-9|pages=464}}
  • February 27 – A Socialist congress at Vienna ends with the International Working Union of Socialist Parties founded.{{cite book|title=To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921 |editor-first=John |editor-last=Riddell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFLoBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|date=2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28803-4|pages=59}}
  • February 28 – The Kronstadt rebellion is initiated by sailors of the Soviet Navy's Baltic Fleet.{{cite book|title=Soviet Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7UaAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA13|year=1970|publisher=Embassy of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics in the USA|pages=5}}

= March =

{{Main|March 1921}}

  • March – The Group Settlement Scheme in Western Australia begins.{{cite book|first=Graeme Donald |last=Snooks |author-link=Graeme Snooks|title=Depression and Recovery in Western Australia, 1928/29-1938/39: A Study in Cyclical and Structural Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SbUAAAAMAAJ|year=1974|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|isbn=978-0-85564-076-7|page=54}}
  • March 1
  • The city of Kiryū, located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, is founded.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • The Australia national cricket team, led by Warwick Armstrong, becomes the first to complete a whitewash of the touring England team in The Ashes, something that will not be repeated for 86 years.{{Cite web |title=Warwick Armstrong {{!}} cricket.com.au |url=https://www.cricket.com.au/players/CA:1388/warwick-armstrong#:~:text=The%201920/21%20side%20became,supreme%20talent%20on%20the%20field. |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=www.cricket.com.au |language=en}}
  • March 5 – Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin ambush: A force of about 100 Irish Republican Army members attacks a British Army convoy of 40 soldiers, killing several, including Brigadier General Cumming.{{cite book|author-link=Padraic O'Farrell |first=Padraic |last=O'Farrell|title=Who's Who in the Irish War of Independence, 1916-1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YtnAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Mercier Press|page=40}}
  • March 6 – The Allied Powers force Germany to pay war reparations.{{Cite news |date=March 7, 1921 |title=PENALTIES TO BE PUT INTO EFFECT |url=https://archive.org/details/cgl_001450/mode/1up |work=Glendale Daily Press |pages=1}}
  • March 8
  • Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato e Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.{{Cite news |date=1921-03-09 |title=SPANISH PREMIER IS ASSASSINATED, LEAVING CONGRESS; Eduardo Dato, Attacked by Several Persons, Is Slain by Revolver Shots. CAUGHT IN A MOTOR CAR Actual Assassin Used Motorcycle and Fled--ChauffeurIs Also Killed.FRIENDLY TO ALLIES IN WARDato Was Leader of Conservativesand Had Little Sympathyfor Americans. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/03/09/archives/spanish-premier-is-assassinated-leaving-congress-eduardo-dato.html |access-date=2025-05-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
  • Allied forces occupy Düsseldorf, Ruhrort and Duisburg.
  • March 9 – Cilicia Peace Treaty is signed between the French Third Republic and the Turkish National Movement in an attempt to end the Franco-Turkish War.{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1921.htm|title=League of Nations - Chronology 1921 |website=League of Nations Photo Archive |access-date=December 31, 2020|archive-date=December 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213062958/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1921.htm|url-status=dead}}
  • March 12 – The İstiklâl Marşı (Independence March), the Turkish national anthem, is officially adopted.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 13 – Occupation of Mongolia: The Russian White Army captures Mongolia from China; Roman von Ungern-Sternberg declares himself ruler.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 14 – Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian assassinates Mehmed Talaat, former Interior Minister of the Ottoman Empire, in Charlottenburg, Berlin.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 16
  • Treaty of Moscow establishes friendly relations between the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • Six Irish Republican Army men of the Forgotten Ten are hanged in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin.{{cite book|first=May |last=Moran|title=Executed for Ireland: The Patrick Moran Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDzBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT289|date=2010|publisher=Mercier Press Ltd|isbn=978-1-78117-117-2|pages=289}}
  • March 17
  • The Red Army crushes the Kronstadt rebellion, and a number of sailors flee to Finland.{{cite book|first=Paul F. |last=Robinson|title=The White Russian Army in Exile, 1920-1941|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbhpAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-925021-9|page=60}}
  • Marie Stopes opens the first birth control clinic in the British Empire in London, UK.{{cite book|first=Audrey |last=Leathard|title=The Fight for Family Planning: The Development of Family Planning Services in Britain, 1921-74|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SreRAAAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-25954-2|page=1}}
  • The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 18 – The second Peace of Riga ends the Polish–Soviet War. A permanent border is established between the Polish and Soviet states.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 20 – Upper Silesia votes for re-annexation to Germany.{{cite news |title=Army Ready For Silesian Plebiscite Today |work=The New York Times |date=March 20, 1921 |p=1}}
  • March 21
  • The New Economic Policy starts in Soviet Russia.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • Irish War of Independence: Headford Ambush – The Irish Republican Army kills at least 9 British Army troops.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 24 – The 1921 Women's Olympiad (the first international women's sports event) begins in Monte Carlo.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • March 31
  • Abkhazia becomes the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • The British government formally returns the coal mines from wartime control to their private owners, who demand wage cuts; in response, the Miners' Federation of Great Britain calls on its partner trade unions in the Triple Alliance to join it in strike action,{{cite web|title=Build-up to the General Strike|url=https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/digital/gs/timeline/before/|publisher=Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick|location=Coventry|date=2019-08-13|access-date=2020-08-22}} leading in turn to the government declaring a state of emergency for the first time under the Emergency Powers Act 1920. On April 1, a lockout of striking coal miners begins.{{cite book|title=Century of Struggle|page=39|url=http://num.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Century-of-Struggle-Mini.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://num.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Century-of-Struggle-Mini.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2020-08-22}}

= April =

{{Main|April 1921}}

  • April 11 – The Emirate of Transjordan is created under British Mandate, with Abdullah I as emir.{{cite book|author1=ʻAbd al-Salām Majālī|author2=Jawad Ahmed Anani|author3=Munther J. Haddadin|title=Peacemaking: The Inside Story of the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli Treaty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywdIszN8AEQC&pg=PA1|year=2006|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3765-0|pages=1}}
  • April 15 – "Black Friday" in Britain: transport union members of the 'Triple Alliance' refuse to support national strike action by coal miners.{{cite book|first=Gerald |last=Gould|title=The Lesson of Black Friday (ie April 15 1921)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VA8vwEACAAJ|year=1921|publisher=World Microfilms}}{{page needed|date=May 2025}}
  • April 20 – Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom is first produced in English on Broadway.{{cite book|first=Lee |last=Kovacs|title=The Haunted Screen: Ghosts in Literature and Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79HGk2CPAPgC&pg=PA107|date=7 November 2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2605-8|pages=107}} The play would later be adapted as the musical Carousel.

= May =

{{Main|May 1921}}

= June =

{{Main|June 1921}}

  • June 3 – The death penalty is abolished in Sweden.{{cite book|author=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Capital Punishment|title=Report from the Select Committee on Capital Punishment Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, and the Minutes of Evidence: Taken Before the Select Committee on Capital Punishment in 1929-1930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKJCAAAAIAAJ|year=1931|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|page=604}}
  • June 10 – Paris declaration: Representatives of the three states of Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus (the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian Socialist Soviet Republics) proclaim their independence, establishing a customs union and military alliance, not internationally recognized.{{cite book|first=Georges|last=Mamoulia|title=Les combats indépendantistes des Caucasiens, entre URSS et puissances occidentales: le cas de la Géorgie, 1921-1945|publisher=Harmattan|year=2009|isbn=9782296094765|page=46}}
  • June 15
  • Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's liner {{SS|Paris|1916}} makes her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York.{{cite book|first=Patrick|last=Beauchet|title=Ma vie à bord des cargos et cargos mixtes de la Compagnie Générale Transatlantique|publisher=Société des Ecrivains|year=2015|isbn=9782342038651|page=209}}
  • 29-year-old African American Bessie Coleman obtains her pilot's licence in France and becomes the first black woman to have a pilot's licence.{{cite web|url=https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/nv/about/?cid=nrcs144p2_037528|title=Women in History: Bessie Coleman|last=Onkst|first=David H.|year=2016|website=Natural Resources Conservation Service Nevada|access-date=November 20, 2020|archive-date=February 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216203428/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/nv/about/?cid=nrcs144p2_037528|url-status=dead}}
  • June 21 – The International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) is established as an agency of the League of Nations; it continues in this form until April 19, 1946.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • June 22–July 12 – The Third Congress of the Communist International takes place.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • June 27 – The first signings of Treaty 11, an agreement between George V, King of Canada, and various Canadian First Nations, are conducted at Fort Providence.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • June 28
  • The Constitutional Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes passes the Vidovdan Constitution, despite a boycott of the vote by the communists, and Croat and Slovene parties.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • The coal strike in the United Kingdom ends with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain obliged to accept pay cuts.

= July =

{{Main|July 1921}}

  • July 1
  • The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is founded.{{cite book|title=Summary of World Broadcasts: Asia, Pacific|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pv5WAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|page=D-2}}
  • The first BCG vaccination against tuberculosis is given, in Paris, France; the recipient is a newborn child.{{cite book|author=Unesco|title=The Unesco Courier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEFPAQAAIAAJ|year=1964|publisher=UNESCO|page=11}}
  • July 2 – U.S. President Warren Harding signs a joint congressional resolution, declaring an end to America's state of war with Germany, Austria and Hungary.{{cite news|title=Harding Ends War; Signs Peace Decree at Senator's Home. Thirty Persons Witness Momentous Act in Frelinghuysen Living Room at Raritan.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/07/03/archives/harding-ends-war-signs-peace-decree-at-senators-home-thirty-persons.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 July 1921}}
  • July 4 – A new conservative government is formed in Italy by Ivanoe Bonomi. {{cite book|author1=Victor Lincoln Albjerg|author2=Esther Marguerite Hall Albjerg|author3=Marguerite Hall Albjerg|title=Europe from 1914 to the Present|url=https://archive.org/details/europefrom1914to00albj|url-access=registration|year=1951|publisher=McGraw-Hill|page=[https://archive.org/details/europefrom1914to00albj/page/218 218]}}
  • July 11
  • The Irish War of Independence ends under the terms of the truce (signed on 9 July) which becomes effective at noon between the British Army and the Irish Republican Army.{{cite book|author=Professor Sean Mcconville|title=Irish Political Prisoners 1848-1922: Theatres of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycr0NN7F8hIC&pg=PA653|date=19 August 2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-60098-4|pages=653}}
  • The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • July 14 – A Massachusetts jury finds Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti guilty of first degree murder following a widely publicized trial whose verdict will spark protests around the world.[https://www.nytimes.com/1921/07/15/archives/find-italians-guilty-in-paymaster-murder-judge-in-dedham-trial.html "Find Italians Guilty in Paymaster Murder]; Judge in Dedham Trial Charges Jury to Deal With Them as if They Were Americans", The New York Times, July 15, 1921, p. 6
  • July 17 – The Republic of Mirdita is proclaimed near the Albanian-Serbian border, with Yugoslav support.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • July 21
  • Rif War: Battle of Annual – Spanish troops are dealt a crushing defeat at the hands of Abd el-Krim in Morocco.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • Edward Harper, the "father of broadcasting" in Ceylon, arrives in Colombo to take up his post as Chief Engineer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department.{{cite book|first=Nandana |last=Karuṇānāyaka|title=Radio Broadcasting in Sri Lanka: Significant Dates & Events, 1921-1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5MtkAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Centre for Media Policy Studies|isbn=978-955-95226-0-7|page=1928}}
  • July 23 – 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opens in Shanghai.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • July 26 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding receives Princess Fatima of Afghanistan who is escorted by imposter Stanley Clifford Weyman.{{cite web |last1=Chapple |first1=Amos |title=The U.S. President, An Afghan 'Princess,' And The Impostor |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-white-house-impersonator-princess-impostor/31252615.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |publisher=Radio Free Europe |access-date=21 May 2025}}
  • July 27 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, announce the discovery of the hormone insulin.{{cite book|author1=Contemporary Books|author2=Agnes Chase|title=Chase's: 2000 calendar of events|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHtV8BWnH9IC|date=October 1999|publisher=Contemporary Publishing Group, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-8092-2776-1|page=389}}
  • July 29 – Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of the Nazi Party in Germany.{{cite book

| last = Evans

| first = Richard J.

| author-link = Richard J. Evans

| title = The Coming of the Third Reich

| year = 2003

| publisher = Penguin Books

| location = New York

| isbn = 978-0-14-303469-8

| title-link = The Coming of the Third Reich

| page=180

}}

File:Harvard Square aerial 1921.jpg

= August =

{{Main|August 1921}}

  • August 5 – The first radio baseball game is broadcast: Harold Arlin announces the Pirates-Phillies game from Forbes Field over Westinghouse KDKA in Pittsburgh.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • August 11
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness strikes while he is vacationing; on August 25 he is diagnosed with polio and aged 39 becomes permanently disabled.{{cite book|last=Tobin|first=James|title=The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency|date=2013|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0743265164|pages=[https://archive.org/details/manhebecamehowfd0000tobi/page/50 50-51]|url=https://archive.org/details/manhebecamehowfd0000tobi/page/50}}
  • The temperature reaches 39 degrees Celsius in Breslau; the heat wave continues elsewhere in Europe as well.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • August 23 – King Faisal I of Iraq is crowned in Baghdad.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • August 24 – R38-class airship ZR-2 explodes on her fourth test flight near Kingston upon Hull, England, killing 44 of the 49 Anglo-American crew on board.{{cite journal|last=Driggs|first=Laurence La Tourette|date=September 7, 1921|title=The Fall of the Airship|journal=The Outlook|volume=129|pages=14–15|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVroBrOJL64C&pg=PA14|access-date=2009-07-30}}
  • August 25 – The Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history and the country's largest peacetime armed uprising, begins in Logan County, West Virginia as part of the Coal Wars, continuing until September 2.{{cite book |last=Kinder |first=Chuck |title=Last Mountain Dancer: Hard-Earned Lessons in Love, Loss, and Honky-Tonk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HtRV_OSK1oC |year=2005 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7867-1653-1 |page=149}}
  • August 26
  • Rising prices cause major riots in Munich.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • Following the assassination of former Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger by right-wing terrorists, the German government declares martial law.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

= September =

{{Main|September 1921}}

  • September 1 – Poplar Rates Rebellion: Nine members of the borough council of Poplar, London, are arrested.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • September 8 – Margaret Gorman, 16, wins the Golden Mermaid trophy at a beauty pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey; officials later dub her the first Miss America.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • September 13 – White Castle hamburger restaurant opens in Wichita, Kansas,{{cite news|url=http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/12/1845732/buy-sliders-here-for-a-day.html|title=White Castle marks 90th anniversary with one-day return to Wichita|newspaper=Wichita Eagle|access-date=2012-05-13|date=2011-05-12|first=Beccy|last=Tanner|archive-date=June 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627195442/http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/12/1845732/buy-sliders-here-for-a-day.html|url-status=dead}} foundation of the world's first fast food chain.
  • September 21 – The Oppau explosion occurs at BASF's nitrate factory in Oppau, Germany; 500–600 are killed.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • September 28 – Sauerländer Heimatbund is founded in Meschede, Germany.{{cite book|first=Peter |last=Bürger|title="Voll bereit für die Neue Zeit": Deutschnationale, militaristische und NS-freundliche Dichtungen Christine Kochs 1920-1944|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zt-LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|date=2019|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|isbn=978-3-7494-0910-5|pages=52|language=de}}

= October =

{{Main|October 1921}}

= November =

{{Main|November 1921}}

  • November 4 – After a speech by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich (Germany), members of the Sturmabteilung ("brownshirts") physically assault his opposition.{{cite book|first=Alan |last=Bullock|title=Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZIiAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Fontana Press|isbn=978-0-00-686374-8|page=84}}
  • November 9 – The National Fascist Party ({{lang|it|Partito Nazionale Fascista}} or PNF) is founded in Italy.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
  • November 11 – During an Armistice Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by Warren G. Harding, President of the United States.{{cite book|first=Julia |last=Hargrove|title=Tomb of the Unknowns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6d9fGqr98zsC&pg=PA5|date=2003|publisher=Lorenz Educational Press|isbn=978-1-57310-405-0|page=5}}
  • November 14 – The Spanish Communist Party is founded.{{cite book|author-link=Víctor Alba |first=Víctor |last=Alba |title=The Communist Party in Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0ydA3137WQC&pg=PA63|date=1983|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-1999-2|page=63}}
  • November 23 – In the United States, the Sheppard–Towner Act is signed by President Harding, providing federal funding for maternity and child care.{{cite book|first=Anna Elizabeth |last=Rude|title=The Sheppard-Towner Act in Relation to Public Health|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmvCZRhxXwEC&pg=PA1915|year=1923|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=1915}}
  • November – Hyperinflation is rampant in Germany, where 263 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar, more than 20 times greater than the 12 marks needed in April 1919.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/weimar.htm |title=Weimar Germany 1919-1933 |first=Stephen |last=Tonge|website=Historyhome.co.uk|date=2011-01-05|access-date=2013-03-19}}

= December =

{{Main|December 1921}}

{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}

= Date unknown =

  • Spring – Russian famine of 1921–22 begins; roughly 5,000,000 die.{{cite book|title=War, Revolution, and Peace in Russia: The Passages of Frank Golder, 1914–1927 |first1=Bertrand M. |last1=Patenaude |first2=Terrence |last2=Emmons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKEi2NypdYMC&pg=PA89|publisher=Hoover Press|isbn=978-0-8179-9193-7|pages=89}}
  • Luxury goods brand Gucci is founded in Florence, Italy.{{cite web|url=http://www.gucci.com/us/worldofgucci/articles/history-1920|title=Gucci – 1920s|website=gucci.com/us|access-date=2012-03-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413223114/http://www.gucci.com/us/worldofgucci/articles/history-1920|archive-date=2012-04-13}}

Births

{{BDToC|births}}

=January=

File:Ismail-al-faruqi.jpg]]

File:GD Jean 1967.jpg]]

File:%C3%81gnes_Keleti_1960.jpg]]

File:Air Marshal Asghar in Thailand (c. 1960).jpg]]

File:Donna Reed.jpg]]

File:Mustafa Ben Halim (cropped).jpg]]

File:Carol Channing colour Allan Warren.jpg]]

  • January 1
  • César Baldaccini, French sculptor (d. 1998){{cite book|first1=Alex |last1=Kayser|first2=Andy |last2=Warhol|title=Artists' portraits|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IC04AQAAIAAJ|date=August 1981|publisher=H.N. Abrams|isbn=9780810922228}}{{page needed|date=May 2025}}
  • Cliff Bourland, American athlete (d. 2018){{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/ct-cliff-bourland-oldest-living-gold-medalist-dies-20180202-story.html|title=Cliff Bourland, America's oldest living gold medalist, dies at 97|date=February 2, 2018 |work=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001215612/https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/ct-cliff-bourland-oldest-living-gold-medalist-dies-20180202-story.html |archive-date=1 October 2022 |url-status=dead}}
  • Hossein Wahid Khorasani, Iranian ayatollah
  • Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American Islamic scholar (d. 1986){{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095811314 |title=Faruqi, Ismail Raji al- (1986) |work=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford Reference |accessdate=2024-07-04}}
  • January 3
  • Bill Gold, American graphic designer (d. 2018)
  • Bob Dawson, Australian rules footballer (d. 2023)
  • Jean-Louis Koszul, French mathematician (d. 2018){{cite web|url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/en/Liste-des-membres-de-l-Academie-des-sciences-/-K/jean-louis-koszul.html|title=Jean-Louis Koszul|language=fr|website=Academie des sciences|access-date=20 November 2020|archive-date=April 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420203814/https://www.academie-sciences.fr/en/Liste-des-membres-de-l-Academie-des-sciences-/-K/jean-louis-koszul.html|url-status=dead}}
  • John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
  • Cecil Souders, American football player (d. 2021)
  • January 4 – Pedro Richter Prada, 115th Prime Minister of Peru (d. 2017)
  • January 5
  • Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (d. 1990){{cite book|author=E. J. Neather|title=Mastering German 2: German Language and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEVdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|date=18 August 1989|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-1-349-20133-4|pages=177}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  • Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 2019){{cite web |first1=Brittani |last1=Barger |title=BREAKING: Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg dies at the age of 98 |url=http://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/luxembourg/breaking-grand-duke-jean-of-luxembourg-dies-at-the-age-of-98-119830 |website=Royal Central |access-date=April 23, 2019 |date=April 23, 2019}}
  • January 9 – Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian artistic gymnast (d. 2025){{cite book|first=Robert |last=Slater|title=Great Jewish Women|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34NtAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers|isbn=978-0-8246-0370-0|page=129}}
  • January 10 – T. M. Kaliannan, Indian politician (d. 2021)
  • January 11 – Juanita M. Kreps, American government official and businesswoman (d. 2010){{cite book|author=United States. Department of Commerce|title=From Lighthouses to Laserbeams: A History of the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1913-1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_I6AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA75|year=1988|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary|pages=75}}
  • January 12 – Muriel Phillips, American nurse and author (d. 2022)
  • January 14
  • Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist (d. 2006){{cite news |last1=Small |first1=Mike |title=Murray Bookchin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/aug/08/guardianobituaries.usa |access-date=June 30, 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=August 8, 2006 |format=Obituary}}
  • Roger Carré, French footballer (d. 1996){{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Fédération Française de Football – Roger Carré |url=https://www.fff.fr/equipe-nationale/joueur/7856-carre-roger/fiche.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.fff.fr}}
  • January 16
  • Henry Sayler, American politician (d. 2021)
  • George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, British politician and journalist (d. 2008)
  • Shmuel Toledano, Israeli politician (d. 2022)
  • January 17
  • Asghar Khan, Pakistani politician, first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, the world's youngest Air Vice Marshal at 36 and Air Marshal at 37 years old (d. 2018){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73CciTImPh4C&q=%22asghar%20khan%22|title=Flight|volume=73|year=1958|publisher=IPC Transport Press Limited}}
  • Epaminondas Stassinopoulos, Greek astrophysicist (d. 2022)
  • Dan Tolkowsky, Israeli Air Force commander
  • January 18 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American Nobel physicist (d. 2015){{cite book|editor-first1=Lars |editor-last1=Brink|editor2=Lay Nam Chang |editor3=Moo-young Han |editor4=Kok Khoo Phua |display-editors=1 |chapter=Yoichiro Nambu |first1=Peter G. O. |last1=Freund |first2=Jeffrey |last2=Harvey |author3=Emil Matinec |author4=Pierre Ramond |display-authors=2|title=Memorial Volume For Y. Nambu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VW2DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|date=2016|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-310-834-9|pages=37}}
  • January 19
  • Rachel Dror, German teacher and Holocaust survivor (d. 2024)
  • Patricia Highsmith, American author (d. 1995){{cite book|editor-first1=Robin W. |editor-last1=Winks|editor-first2=Maureen |editor-last2=Corrigan|title=Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3SnIItDKh8C|year=1998|publisher=Scribner's Sons|isbn=978-0-684-80519-1|page=503}}
  • January 20 – John Bai Ningxian, Chinese Roman Catholic bishop (d. unknown)
  • January 21
  • Jaswant Singh Marwah, Indian soldier, journalist and author
  • Howard Unruh, American spree killer (d. 2009){{cite book|first=Jay Robert |last=Nash|title=Encyclopedia of World Crime: S-Z; Supplements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VzQRAQAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=CrimeBooks|isbn=978-0-923582-04-3|page=3016}}
  • January 22 – Eleanor Owen, American playwright, actress, professor and mental health advocate (d. 2022)
  • January 23
  • Hermann Baumann, Swiss Olympic freestyle wrestler (d. 1999)
  • Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian archaeologist (d. 1994){{cite book |last1=Ware|first1=Susan|last2=Braukman|first2=Stacy Lorraine|title=Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century|year=2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-01488-6|page=234}}
  • Justus Rosenberg, Polish academic (d. 2021)
  • January 24 – Beatrice Mintz, American biologist (d. 2022){{cite book |volume=11 |title=Encyclopedia of World Biography |publisher=Gale Research |year=1998 |p=49 |ISBN=0-7876-2221-4}}
  • January 25 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (d. 2005)
  • January 26
  • Elisabeth Kirkby, English-born Australian actress, politician and radio broadcaster
  • Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founder of Sony (d. 1999)
  • Veikko Uusimäki, Finnish actor and theater councilor (d. 2008){{cite web|url=https://www.hs.fi/muistot/art-2000002624545.html|title=Veikko Uusimäki - Muistot|work=Helsingin Sanomat|url-access=subscription|date=25 May 2008|access-date=9 July 2023|language=fi}}
  • January 27
  • Raymond E. Peet, American admiral (d. 2021)
  • Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986){{cite book|first=Brenda Scott |last=Royce|title=Donna Reed: A Bio-bibliography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVZ-1V0vLRUC&pg=PA1|year=1990|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-26806-9|pages=1}}
  • January 29 – Mustafa Ben Halim, Former Prime Minister of Libya (d. 2021){{cite web|url=http://www.libya-al-mostakbal.org/95/1063/كل-يوم-شخصية-ليبية-مشرقة-17-مصطفى-بن-حليم.html|title= Biography of Mustafa Ben Halim|website=Al Mostakbal|language=ar|access-date=7 December 2020}}
  • January 31
  • Carol Channing, American actress (d. 2019)
  • Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, 2nd President of Bangladesh (d. 1987)
  • Mario Lanza, American operatic tenor and actor (d. 1959){{cite book|first=Roland L. |last=Bessette|title=Mario Lanza: Tenor in Exile|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlUIAQAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Amadeus Press|isbn=978-1-57467-044-8|page=15}}

=February=

File:Betty Friedan 1960.jpg]]

File:Lana Turner still.JPG]]

File:Bokassa portrait (cropped).jpg]]

=March=

File:Gordon MacRae 1953.JPG]]

File:Dirk Bogarde Hallmark Hall of Fame.JPG]]

  • March 1
  • Jack Clayton, British film director (d. 1995){{cite book|author=Georg Gaston|title=Jack Clayton: A Guide to References and Resources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3W03AAAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8524-5|page=1}}
  • Terence Cardinal Cooke, American Roman Catholic prelate (d. 1983)
  • Richard Wilbur, American poet (d. 2017){{cite book|author=Gale, Cengage Learning|title=A Study Guide for Richard Wilbur's "Merlin Enthralled"|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xr8PDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT4|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-4103-5258-3|pages=4}}
  • March 2
  • Wilhelm Büsing, German equestrian (d. 2023)
  • Robert Simpson, English composer (d. 1997)
  • March 3 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (d. 1960){{cite book|author=John A. Willis|title=Theatre World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vA1lAAAAMAAJ|year=1957|publisher=Crown Publishing Company|page=210}}
  • March 4 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-born U.S. composer, performer, ethnomusicologist and educator (d. 2017)
  • March 5 – Elmer Valo, Czechoslovakia-born Major League Baseball player (d. 1998)
  • March 7 – Syed Nasir Ismail, Malaysian politician (d. 1982)
  • March 8 – Alan Hale Jr., American actor (Gilligan's Island) (d. 1990)
  • March 9 – Evelyn M. Witkin, American geneticist (d. 2023)
  • March 10
  • George Elder, American baseball player (d. 2022)
  • Cec Linder, Polish-born Canadian actor (d. 1992)
  • Charlotte Zucker, American actress (d. 2007)
  • March 11
  • Frank Harary, American mathematician (d. 2005){{cite book|title=Who's who in the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95lmAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Marquis-Who's Who.|isbn=978-0-8379-0933-2|page=261}}
  • Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player and arranger (d. 1992)
  • March 12
  • Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (d. 2003){{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jan/24/guardianobituaries.italy|title=Giovanni Agnelli|date=24 January 2003|author=Jon Glover|website=The Guardian|access-date=8 December 2020}}
  • Gordon MacRae, American singer, actor (d. 1986){{cite news |last=Folkart |first=Burt A. |date=January 24, 1986 |title=Gordon MacRae, Star of 'Oklahoma,' Dies at 64 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-24-mn-24015-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, CA |access-date=November 25, 2018 }}
  • March 13 – Al Jaffee, American cartoonist (d. 2023)
  • March 14
  • George Berci, Hungarian-American surgeon (d. 2024)
  • Lis Hartel, Danish equestrian (d. 2009){{Cite web |last=Wylie |first=Leslie |date=2014-11-17 |title=Olympic Girl Power: The Incredible Story of Lis Hartel |url=https://www.horsenation.com/2014/11/17/olympic-girl-power-the-incredible-story-of-lis-hartel/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=HORSE NATION |language=en-US}}
  • March 17 – Meir Amit, Israeli politician, general (d. 2009){{cite book|author=J. Ben Hirsh|title=Jewish General Officers: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihG7AAAAIAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Victorian Branch, Military Historical Society of Australia|page=16}}
  • March 18 – Betty Hall, American politician (d. 2018)
  • March 20
  • Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Senegalese educator (d. 2024)
  • Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1970)
  • March 21
  • Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (d. 1986)
  • Xu Zuyao, Chinese expert in materials science (d. 2017)
  • Vasily Stalin, Soviet general (d. 1962){{Cite book|last=Service|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Service (historian)|year=2010|title=Stalin: A Biography|publisher=Pan Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-330-51837-6|page=232}}
  • Abdul Salam Arif, President of Iraq (d. 1966)
  • March 22 – Jean Bruce, French writer (d. 1963)
  • March 24
  • Wilson Harris, Guyanese writer (d. 2018)
  • Vasily Smyslov, Soviet chess player (d. 2010)
  • Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish priest (d. 1987){{cite web |title=100. rocznica urodzin ks. Franciszka Blachnickiego |url=https://www.gov.pl/web/edukacja-i-nauka/100-rocznica-urodzin-ks-franciszka-blachnickiego |website=www.gov.pl/web/edukacja-i-nauka/ |publisher=Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki |access-date=22 June 2021 |language=pl |quote=Ks. Franciszek Blachnicki urodził się 24 marca 1921 r. w Rybniku.}}
  • March 25
  • Simone Signoret, French actress (d. 1985){{cite book|title=Current Biography Yearbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QZaAAAAYAAJ|year=1960|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|page=381}}
  • Alexandra of Yugoslavia (d. 1993){{cite news |last1=Tomlinson |first1=Richard |title=Obituary: Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-queen-alexandra-of-yugoslavia-1470477.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-queen-alexandra-of-yugoslavia-1470477.html |archive-date=May 1, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=9 February 2021 |work=The Independent |date=22 October 2011 |language=en}}{{cbignore}}
  • March 27 – Hélène Berr, French writer (d. 1945)
  • March 28 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor and writer (d. 1999){{cite book|author=Jay L. Halio|title=British Novelists Since 1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7dZAAAAYAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Gale Research|isbn=978-0-8103-0927-2|page=103}}
  • March 30 – Francesc Gras Salas, Catalan ophthalmologist (died 2022)
  • March 31
  • Kurt Bertsch, Swiss footballer
  • Eduardo Cerqueira, Portuguese footballer
  • Pierre Ranzoni, French footballer (d. 1999)
  • Roy Houghton, English footballer

=April=

File:Yitzhak Navon 1.jpg]]

File:Thomas Schelling.jpg]]

=May=

File:Satyajit Ray with Ravi Sankar recording for Pather Panchali cropped Ray.jpg]]

File:Sugar Ray Robinson 1947.jpg]]

File:RIAN archive 25981 Academician Sakharov.jpg]]

=June=

File:Eiganotomo-2-1951-page26.jpg]]

File:President Suharto, 1993.jpg]]

File:Gul Hassan Khan.png]]

File:Duke of Edinburgh 33 Allan Warren.jpg]]

File:Jane russell.jpg]]

=July=

File:Programa Radial Testimonio Político en la Radio de la Asamblea Nacional invitado el Arq. Sixto Durán Ballen ex Presidente de la República del Ecuador (5985373958).jpg]]

File:John Glenn Low Res.jpg]]

File:Richard Egan 1949.JPG]]

=August=

File:Esther Williams - portrait.jpg]]

File:Alex haley US coast guard.png]]

File:Gene Roddenberry crop.jpg]]

=September=

File:President Virgilio Barco.png]]

File:Deborah Kerr in colour Allan Warren.jpg]]

=October=

File:James Whitmore.jpg]]

File:Mihai.jpg]]

{{ cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4fh_Gmas8YC |chapter=Profile of Francisco Morales Bermúdez

|title=Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture | volume=4 | page=116 |editor1=Barbara A. Tenenbaum |author=Georgette Magassy Dorn |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons (Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall) | year=1996 |isbn=9780684192536

}}

=November=

File:Charles Bronson - 1966.JPG]]

File:Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt.jpg]]

File:Brian Keith - still.jpg]]

File:Roy_Campanella_1956.jpg]]

File:Rodney_Danagerfield_1972-1.jpg]]

File:Stanleyho2006.jpg]]

=December=

File:Deanna_Durbin_in_Yank_Magazine.jpg]]

File:Madiha Yousry.jpg]]

File:Steve Allen - press photo.JPG]]

Deaths

= January–February =

File:Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg(cropped).jpg]]

File:Andrea Carlo Ferrari - Photo.jpg]]

File:King Nikola of Montenegro.jpg]]

File:EDato.jpg]]

File:%C3%89mile_Combes_(1835%E2%80%931921).jpg]]

= March–April =

= May–June =

= July–August =

File:Enrico Caruso XV.png]]

File:Peter I of Serbia (Rotary Photo 7119 A).jpg]]

File:Humperdinck Postcard-1910.jpg]]

File:John Boyd Dunlop.jpg]]

File:Takashi_Hara_posing.jpg]]

File:Picture_of_Abdul-Baha.jpg]]

File:Camille_Saint-Sa%C3%ABns_in_1900_by_Pierre_Petit.jpg]]

= September–October =

= November–December =

Nobel Prizes

File:Nobel medal.png

References

{{portal|1920s}}

{{Reflist}}

Sources

{{commons and category}}

  • New International Year Book: 1921 (1922) [https://books.google.com/books?id=F11MAAAAMAAJ&q=intitle:international+intitle:year+intitle:book online edition]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20101201191819/http://www.pwnhc.ca/timeline/1900/Airplane_1921.html 1921 Aviation Comes North- NWT Historical Timeline- A Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre Online Exhibit]

{{Events by month links}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1921}}