1920 - What happened in 1920 ?

January 1920

Saturday 03:

Curse of the Bambino: The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a sum of $125,000 and a loan of more than $300,000.

Saturday 10:

League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.

Monday 19:

The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.

Friday 23:

The Netherlands refuses to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.

February 1920

Sunday 01:

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.

Monday 02:

France occupies Memel.

Monday 09:

By the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.

Tuesday 10:

Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.

Sunday 22:

In Emeryville, California, the first dog race track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.

March 1920

Friday 19:

The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (first time was on November 19, 1919).

Sunday 28:

Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford marry.

April 1920

Thursday 15:

Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.

Friday 23:

The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.

Wednesday 28:

Azerbaijan is added to the Soviet Union.

Friday 30:

Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

May 1920

Sunday 02:

The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

Friday 07:

Polish-Bolshevik War: Polish-Ukrainian troops captured Kyiv during the Kiev Offensive.

Sunday 16:

In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.

Thursday 20:

Montreal Quebec station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.

June 1920

Friday 04:

Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.

Sunday 13:

The United States Postal Service rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.

July 1920

Tuesday 20:

The funeral of Empress Eugenie of France is held in St. Michael's Abbey near Farnborough, England.

Sunday 25:

Telecommunications: first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.

August 1920

Friday 13:

Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw begins, lasts till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.

Monday 16:

Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early the next day. To date, Chapman is the only player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game.

Wednesday 18:

19th Amendment to US constitution passes, guaranteeing women's suffrage.

Friday 20:

The first commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.

Tuesday 31:

First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.

September 1920

Friday 17:

National Football League is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.

Monday 20:

Foundation of the Spanish Legion

October 1920

Sunday 10:

The Carinthian Plebiscite determined that the larger part of Carinthia became part of Austria.

Saturday 30:

The Communist Party of Australia founded in Sydney.

November 1920

Tuesday 02:

In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.

Monday 15:

First assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva.

Sunday 28:

The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks opens.