Events from the year 1919 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
:Champ Clark (D-Missouri) (until March 4)
:Frederick H. Gillett (R-Massachusetts) (starting May 19)
State governments
Events
January
February
March
April
May
- May 1 – Riots break out on International Labor Day in Cleveland, Ohio; 2 people are killed, 40 injured, and 116 arrested.
- May 9 – The United States recognizes the independence of Finland.
- May 10 – Charleston riot in Charleston, South Carolina killing three black men; beginning of Red Summer.
- May 16 – A U.S. Navy Curtiss aircraft (NC-4), commanded by Albert Cushing Read, departs Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- May 23 – The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is established as the Southern Branch of the University of California, making it the second-oldest undergraduate campus of the ten-campus University of California system. The school's motto is Fiat lux, "Let there be light."
June
July
August
September
- September 1 – In a three-way splintering of the Socialist Party of America, the leadership of the 60,000 alien members of the Left Wing form the at a separate convention in Chicago on September 1, 1919.
- September 6 – The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy: The U.S. Army expedition across America, which started July 7, ends in San Francisco.
- September 9 – The Boston Police Strike occurs.
- September 10 – September 15: The Florida Keys Hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.
- September 15 – the International Conference of Women Physicians, the first international conference of women physicians in history, convened in New York City, and ended on October 25
- September 22 – The Steel strike of 1919 begins across the United States.
- September 28 – Omaha Riot: A lynch mob besieges the police station and courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska, and lynches alleged rapist Will Brown.
October
November
- November 1 – The UMW Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis. Final agreement comes on December 10.
- November 7 – The first of the Palmer Raids is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution: over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in 23 different U.S. cities by the end of January 1920.
- November 9 – Felix the Cat appears in Feline Follies, making him the first cartoon character.
- November 10 – The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota (until November 12).
- November 11 – The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington results in the deaths of four members of the American Legion, and the lynching of a local leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
- November 14 – Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society (La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica), was established at the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, California.
- November 19 – The Treaty of Versailles fails a critical ratification vote in the United States Senate. It will never be ratified by the US.
- November 27 – Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, is established at Oklahoma A&M College (now named Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
December
Undated
Ongoing
Births
January
- January 1 â J. D. Salinger, author notable for the novel Catcher in the Rye (died 2010)
- January 2 â Charles Willeford, writer (died 1988)
- January 3
- Zara Cisco Brough, Nipmuc Chief (died 1988)
- Dorothy Morrison, actress (died 2017)
- January 4 â Lester L. Wolff, politician (died 2021)
- January 7 â Steve Belichick, American football player, coach and scout (died 2005)
- January 10 â Amzie Strickland, actress (died 2006)
- January 13 â Robert Stack, actor (The Untouchables) (died 2003)
- January 14 â Andy Rooney, journalist (60 Minutes) (died 2011)
- January 23 â Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (died 1962)
- January 24 â Leon Kirchner, American composer (d. 2009)
- January 25
- Edwin Newman, journalist and writer (NBC Nightly News) (died 2010)
- Eula Beal, contralto (died 2008)
- January 27 â Ross Bagdasarian Sr., actor, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer and creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks (died 1972)
- January 28 â Gabby Gabreski, American fighter ace (d. 2002)
- January 30
- John C. Elliott, politician and 39th Governor of American Samoa (1952) (died 2001)
- Fred Korematsu, Japanese-American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
- January 31 â Jackie Robinson, African-American baseball player (d. 1972)
February
- February 7 – Desmond Doss, American combat medic (died 2006)
- February 9, Protestant ecumenical theologian (died 2004)
- Robert Martin, fighter pilot (died 2018)
- February 12 – Forrest Tucker, actor (F Troop) (died 1986)
- February 15 – Norman Garbo, author and lecturer (died 2017)
- February 13
- Tennessee Ernie Ford, musician (died 1991)
- Eddie Robinson, football coach (died 2007)
- February 16 – Charlie Parlato, musician (died 2007)
- February 18 – Jack Palance, actor (died 2006)
- February 19 – William Gianelli, politician (died 2020)
- February 21 – Malcolm E. Beard, politician (died 2019)
- February 25 – Monte Irvin, African-American baseball player (died 2016)
- February 26 – Mason Adams, actor (died 2005)
March
- March 2 – Jennifer Jones, actress (died 2009)
- March 4 – Buck Baker, racecar driver (died 2002)
- March 5 – Myron H. Bright, U.S. federal judge (died 2016)
- March 7 – Mary Ann Hawkins, surfing pioneer, diver, swimmer and stunt double (died 1993)
- March 13 – Jack P. Lewis, Biblical scholar (died 2018)
- March 14 – Max Shulman, comedic writer (died 1988)
- March 15 – Lawrence Tierney, actor (died 2002)
- March 17 – Nat King Cole, African-American singer (died 1965)
- March 24
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and publisher (died 2021)
- Robert Heilbroner, economist (died 2005)
- March 25 – Jeanne Cagney, actress (died 1984)
- March 26 – Strother Martin, actor (died 1980)
- March 27 â John Kotz, basketball player (died 1999)
- March 28 – Dewey F. Bartlett, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971 (died 1979)
- March 29 – Eileen Heckart, actress (died 2001)
- March 30 – McGeorge Bundy, U.S. National Security Advisor (died 1996)
April
- April 1 – Joseph Murray, transplant surgeon, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)
- April 3 – Ervin Drake, songwriter (died 2015)
- April 4 – Charles O. Porter, politician (died 2006)
- April 6 – Caren Marsh Doll, actress and dancer
- April 12 – Billy Vaughn, singer, multi-instrumentalist and orchestra leader (died 1991)
- April 13
- Howard Keel, singer, dancer and actor (Dallas) (died 2004)
- Madalyn Murray O'Hair, née Mays, atheist activist (died 1995)
- Phil Tonken, radio and television announcer (died 2000)
- April 16
- Merce Cunningham, dancer and choreographer (died 2009)
- Edward Simons Fulmer, American Army Air Forces officer (died 2017)
- April 18 – Samuel L. Myers Sr., economist (died 2021)
- April 22 – Donald J. Cram, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- April 27 – Victor Wouk, scientist (died 2005)
May
- May 1 – Lewis Hill, broadcaster, co-founder of Pacifica Radio (d. 1957)
- May 3
- John Cullen Murphy, comic strip artist (died 2004)
- Pete Seeger, folk singer and musician (died 2014)
- May 4 – Dory Funk, professional wrestler (died 1973)
- May 8 – Lex Barker, actor (died 1973)
- May 10 – Daniel Bell, sociologist (died 2011)
- May 16 – Liberace, pianist (died 1987)
- May 17 – Ronald Verlin Cassill, novelist, short story writer, editor, painter, and lithographer (died 2002)
- May 20 – George Gobel, comedian (died 1991)
- May 21 – Wense Grabarek, politician (died 2019)
- May 30 – Joe McQueen, jazz saxophonist (died 2019)
- May 31 – Vance Hartke, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1959 to 1977 (died 2003)
June
- June 6 – Doris Merrick, actress and model (died 2019)
- June 7 – George Glamack, basketball player (died 1987)
- June 9 – Jimmy Newberry, baseball player (died 1983)
- June 11 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American pianist and composer (died 2010)
- June 14 – Gene Barry, actor (died 2009)
- June 15 – Charles Kaman, aeronautical engineer (died 2011)
- June 19 – Pauline Kael, film critic (died 2001)
- June 22 – Clifton McNeely, basketball player and coach (died 2003)
- June 23 – R. C. Pitts, basketball player (died 2011)
- June 24
- Al Molinaro, actor (died 2015)
- Jack Naylor, inventor (died 2007)
- June 26
- George Athan Billias, historian (died 2018)
- Richard Neustadt, political historian (died 2003)
- June 28 – Joseph P. Lordi, government official (died 1983)
- June 30 – Ed Yost, inventor (died 2007)
July
- July 1 – Gerald E. Miller, vice admiral (died 2014)
- July 7
- William Kunstler, lawyer and civil rights activist (died 1995)
- Earl Mazo, journalist, author, and government official (died 2007)
- Harry Zeller, professional basketball player (died 2004)
- July 11 – Donald Zilversmit, Dutch-born U.S. nutritional biochemist, researcher and educator (died 2010)
- July 13
- Joe Gill, magazine writer and comic book scripter (died 2006)
- William F. Quinn, politician (died 2006)
- July 14
- Cleveland Clark, Negro league baseball player
- Marion F. Kirby, ace in the United States Army Air Forces (died 2011)
- Hal Lahar, American football player and coach (died 2003)
- Eugene Allen, waiter and butler (died 2010)
- July 15
- Mike Karmazin, American football guard (died 2004)
- Everett P. Pope, United States Marine (died 2009)
- July 17 – Milt Smith, American football player and business operator (died 2010)
- July 19 – Dallas McKennon, voice actor (died 2009)
- July 22 – Allie Paine, college basketball standout (died 2008)
- July 26 – Virginia Gilmore, actress (died 1986)
- July 31 – Robert M. Morgenthau, lawyer (died 2019)
August
- August 13
- Rex Humbard, television evangelist (died 2007)
- George Shearing, Anglo-American jazz pianist (died 2011)
- August 14 – Isaac C. Kidd Jr., admiral (died 1999)
- August 17 – Georgia Gibbs, singer (died 2006)
- August 18 – Walter Joseph Hickel, 2nd and 8th Governor of Alaska (died 2010)
- August 20
- Walter Bernstein, screenwriter and producer (died 2021)
- Thomas G. Morris, politician (died 2016)
- August 21 – Sister Jean, religious sister (died 2025)
- August 22 – Larry Winn, American politician (died 2017)
- August 25 – George Wallace, 45th Governor of Alabama (died 1998)
- August 28 – Ben Agajanian, American football player (died 2018)
- August 29 – Sono Osato, dancer and actress (died 2018)
September
- September 4 – Howard Morris, actor (d. 2005)
- September 5 – Tom Jordan, Major League Baseball player (died 2019)
- September 6
- Lee Archer, U.S. fighter pilot (died 2010)
- September 9 – Barbara Fiske Calhoun, American WWII cartoonist and painter; co-founded Quarry Hill Creative Center in Rochester, Vermont, where she taught art and helped establish the ideals of the group. Born Isabelle Daniel Hall in Tucson, Arizona (Died 2014).
- John Mitchum, actor (died 2001)
- September 14 – Kay Medford, character actress and comedian (died 1980)
- September 24
- Rick Vallin, Russian-American actor (died 1977)
- Jack Costanzo, percussionist (died 2018)
- Dayton Allen, comedian and voice actor (died 2004)
- September 27
- Jayne Meadows, actress (d. 2015)
- Charles H. Percy, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1967 to 1985 (died 2011)
October
- October 3 – James M. Buchanan, economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)
- October 11 – Art Blakey, jazz drummer (died 1990)
- October 12
- Mary Ainslee, film actress (died 1991)
- Doris Miller, sailor (died 1943)
- October 13 – Jackie Ronne, born Edith Maslin, Antarctic explorer (died 2009)
- October 14 – Edward L. Feightner, U.S. navy officer (d. 2020)
- October 15 – Chuck Stevenson, race car driver (died 1995)
- October 16 – Kathleen Winsor, writer (died 2003)
- October 17 – Charles Y. Glock, sociologist (died 2018)
- October 18 – Anita O'Day, jazz singer (died 2006)
- October 21 – Donald West VanArtsdalen, federal judge (died 2019)
- October 25 – Norman A. Erbe, 35th Governor of Iowa (died 2000)
- October 26
- Edward Brooke, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979 (died 2015)
- James E. Myers, songwriter (died 2001)
- Jacob Pressman, rabbi, co-founder of American Jewish University (died 2015)
- October 27 – Jeremiah Stamler, cardiologist (died 2018)
- October 30 – Takuma Tanada, Japanese-American biologist (died 2018)
November
- November 2 – Bill Mills, Major League Baseball player (died 2019)
- November 3
- Bert Freed, American character actor and voice-over actor (died 1994)
- Spider Jorgensen, baseball player and coach (died 2003)
- November 4
- Martin Balsam, actor (died 1996)
- Shirley Mitchell, actress (died 2013)
- November 5 – Myron Floren, accordionist (The Lawrence Welk Show) (died 2005)
- November 10 – Michael Strank, U.S. Marine flag raiser on Iwo Jima (died 1945)
- November 15
- Carol Bruce, singer and actress (died 2007)
- Leo Marx, historian and literary critic (died 2022)
- Joseph Wapner, judge and TV personality (died 2017)
- November 19
- Ken Buehler, basketball player (died 2019)
- Elizabeth Strohfus, aviator (died 2016)
- November 26 – Frederik Pohl, science fiction writer (died 2013)
- November 30 – Johnnie Jones, civil rights attorney (died 2022)
- November 30 – Oliver Red Cloud, chief of the Oglala Sioux (died 2013)
December
- December 1 – Charles Steen, geologist and businessman (died 2006)
- December 2 – Norma Miller, African-American dancer, choreographer, actress, author and comedian (died 2019)
- December 7 – Charles McGee, member of the Tuskegee Airmen, served as a USAF officer until 1973 (died 2022)
- December 8 – Lorraine H. Morton, politician (died 2018)
- December 9
- Bert J. Harris Jr., politician (died 2019)
- William Lipscomb, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)
- December 14 – Margie Stewart, model and actress (died 2012)
- December 15 – Max Yasgur, farmer (died 1973)
- December 21
- Larry Eisenberg, writer (died 2018)
- Tommy Byrne, baseball player (died 2007)
- Doug Young, voice actor (died 2018)
- December 27 – Charles Sweeney, WWII pilot (died 2004)
- December 31 – Recy Taylor, activist (died 2017)
Deaths
- January 2 – Eliza Putnam Heaton, journalist and editor (born 1860)
- January 6
- Max Heindel, Danish-American astrologer and mystic (born 1865)
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909, 25th vice president of the United States from March to September 1901 (born 1858)
- January 7 – Henry Ware Eliot, industrialist and philanthropist (born 1843)
- January 8 – Jim O'Rourke, baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer (born 1850)
- January 14 – Shelley Hull, stage & film actor, husband of Josephine Hull, brother of Henry Hull (born 1884)
- January 31 – Nat C. Goodwin, veteran stage star & silent film actor (born 1857; apoplexy)
- January 27 – French Ensor Chadwick, admiral (born 1844)
- February 18 – Henry Ragas, jazz pianist (born 1891)
- March 23 – Henry Blossom, lyricist (born 1866)
- April 8 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, businessman (born 1852)
- April 9
- Sidney Drew, actor (born 1863)
- James Reese Europe, jazz musician and composer, band leader (born 1881; stabbed in fight)
- April 15 – Jane Delano, nurse and founder or the American Red Cross Nursing Service (born 1862)
- May 6 – L. Frank Baum, author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker (The Wizard of Oz) (born 1856)
- May 14 – Henry John Heinz, businessman (born 1844)
- May 12 – D. M. Canright, Seventh-day Adventist minister and author, later one of the church's severest critics (born 1840)
- May 13 – Helen Hyde, etcher and engraver (born 1868)
- May 21 – Lamar Johnstone, silent film actor and director (born 1885)
- May 25 – Madam C. J. Walker, African American entrepreneur and philanthropist (born 1867)
- c. June 1 – Caroline Still Anderson, African American physician, educator and activist (born 1848)
- July 8 – John Fox Jr., journalist, novelist and short story writer (born 1862; pneumonia)
- August 1 – Oscar Hammerstein I, musical theatre impresario (born 1847)
- August 9 – Ralph Albert Blakelock, American painter (born 1847)
- August 11 – Andrew Carnegie, industrialist (born 1835 in Scotland)
- September 20 – Cy Seymour, baseball player (born 1872)
- September 27 – Gardner Dow, college football player (born 1898)
- October 30 – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, author and poet (born 1850)
- November 23 – Henry Gantt, project engineer (born 1861)
- November 24 – William Stowell, silent film actor and director (born 1885)
- December 2 – Henry C. Frick, industrialist (born 1849)
- December 7 – J. Thompson Baker, politician from New Jersey (born 1847)
- December 10 – William E. Miller soldier and Pennsylvania State Senator (born 1836)
See also
References
External links