1923 was a year to remember in many ways, from the rapid destabilisation of Germany, to the Flying Scotsman’s first journey.
A great way to learn more about the major events in 1923 is with an original 1923 newspaper.
1923 Timeline
Turn the page to:
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
- No More Prohibition in New York
- Germany’s Struggles
January
January 1: USSR is established.
January 1: The railways in Britain are divided into four: Great Western Railway; London, Midland and Scottish Railway; London North Eastern Railway; and Southern Railway.
January 9: The Swaraj party is founded in India.
January 9: Juan de la Cievra makes the first gyroplane flight in Spain.
January 10: The last US troops leave Germany.
January 11: Ruhr is occupied by French and Belgian troops to collect reparations.
January 13: An agreement is reached between the UK and the US, which staggers the repayment of their war debt over 62 years.
January 23: A strike of taxi drivers begins in Amsterdam.
January 24: The Aztec Ruins National Monument is established in Mexico.
February
February 1: The formation of the Fascists Voluntary Militia.
February 2: A treaty is signed between the US and countries in Central America.
February 5: Communists and socialists are arrested in Italy.
February 8: 120 people are killed in an explosion at a coal mine in New Mexico.
February 10: Ink paste is manufactured for the first time.
February 16: The burial chamber of Tutankhamun is opened and the sarcophagus is found.
February 16: Theresa Weld Blanchard wins the US Ladies’ Figure Skating Championship.
February 16: Sherwin Badger wins the US Men’s Figure Skating Championship.
February 18: Mine workers strike in Belgium over wages.
February 23: The import duty on German products is lowered from 26% to 5% in Britain.
February 23: The Flying Scotsman begins its service.
February 24: Arrests of individuals linked to the mafia take place across the US.
February 25: The price of bread in Berlin rises to 2000 marks.
February 26: Fascists and nationalists merge in Italy.February 28: King Gustaf V of Swedish visits the Netherlands.
Tutankhamun
Image: Wikimedia Commons
March
March 3: The first issue of Time magazine is published.
March 3: The US declines membership to the International Court of Justice.
March 4: The last article written by Lenin appears in Pravda.
March 5: Pension laws are introduced in Montana and Nevada.
March 9: The strike of taxi drivers in Amsterdam comes to an end.
March 13: Sound-on-film moving pictures are shown by Lee de Forest in New York City.
March 14: The NSDAP is prohibited by the German Supreme Court.
March 14: President Warren Harding is the first president to pay taxes.
March 15: Vladimir Lenin suffers a stroke for the third time.
March 21: Charles Hughes, US foreign minister, refuses to recognise the USSR.
March 23: Sergeant Murphy wins the 82nd Grand National.
March 25: Trans-Jordan is granted autonomy by Britain.
March 31: 13 people are killed when French soldiers fire on workers at a factory in Essen.
April
April 7: The first operation on a brain tumour under local anesthetic is performed.
April 15: Insulin becomes widely available for the treatment of diabetes.
April 18: Central Lithuania is annexed by Poland.
April 19: A new law in Egypt allows men to vote, but not if they are soldiers.
April 24: A general harbour strike begins in New York City.
April 28: Wembley Stadium opens in Wembley, London.
May
May 1: Adolf Hitler, Ernst Rohm, and other Nazis try to break up May Day demonstrations.
May 4: Prohibition is revoked in New York.
May 7: A strike of miners begins in Belgian.
May 13: Willa Carter’s ‘One of Ours’ is awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
May 23: The first flight from Brussels to Lympne in Britain takes place.
May 24: Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
May 25: Britain formally recognises Adbullah as leader of Trans-Jordan.
May 26: The first 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place.
May 28: Women wearing trousers is legalised in the US.
May 30: Tommy Milton wins the Indianapolis 500.
May 31: The USSR and China exchange diplomats.
May 31: The South Africa Indian Congress is formed.
June
June 9: King Boris III and Premier Stamboeliski are overthrown in Bulgaria.
June 12: Harry Houdini frees himself from a straight jacket while hanging upside down.
June 14: ‘Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane’ is recorded.
June 14: The government falls in Belgium.
June 15: Arthur Havers wins the British Men’s Golf Open.
June 16: The Sun Yat Sen military academy is founded in China.
June 27: The first aerial refueling takes place.
June 28: Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of the Netherlands visit London.
July
July 3: Dock workers strike across Britain.
July 6: Suzanne Lenglen gains her fifth title at Wimbledon.
July 6: 17 people are killed and 28 are injured in a crash on the railway in New Zealand.
July 6: The Central Executive Committee accepts the Russian Empire becoming the USSR.
July 7: Bill Johnston gains his only Wimbledon title.
July 7: A year abroad is introduced for students at the University of Delaware.
July 8: President Warren Harding visits Alaska.
July 10: 23 people are killed by large hailstones in Russia.
July 10: All political parties in Italy that are not fascist are dissolved.
July 11: Harry Frazee sells the Red Sox for one million dollars.
July 13: The Hollywood Sign is dedicated, reading Hollywoodland at this time.
July 13: Roy Chapman Andrews is the first to discover dinosaur eggs.
July 15: Bobby Jones wins the US Men’s Golf Open.
July 15: The new constitution is accepted by the parliament in Italy.
July 18: A new divorce law is accepted by the House of Lords in Britain.
July 22: Henri Pelissier wins the 17th Tour de France.
July 24: A peace treaty is signed by the Allies and Turkey.
July 25: The German Mark devalues further: 600,000 Marks are equal to one dollar.
August
August 3: Calvin Coolidge becomes President of the US after the death of Warren Harding.
August 6: Henry Sullivan becomes the first American and the third person ever to swim the English Channel.
August 6: Gustav Stresemann becomes Chancellor and Foreign Minister in Germany.
August 11: The Premier of the Netherlands resigns.
August 12: Enrico Tiraboschi becomes the first person to swim the English Channel westward.
August 13: Gustav Stresemann becomes Premier in Germany.
August 13: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Pasja becomes President of the Republic of Turkey.
August 13: The US Steel Corp enforces an eight hour work day.
August 15: Eamon de Valera is arrested in the Irish Free State.
August 15: An accord is reached between the US and Mexico regarding oil.
August 18: Helen Wills Moody wins the US National Women’s Tennis Championship.
August 18: Margaret Molesworth wins the Australasian Women’s Tennis Championship.
August 18: Pat O’Hara Wood wins the Australasian Men’s Tennis Championship.
August 20: The strike of dock workers in London comes to an end.
August 23: Paavo Nurmi sets the world record for running one mile.
August 24: Paavo Nurmi sets the world record for running three miles.
August 31: The mandate of Ruanda-Urundi is given to Belgium by the League of Nations.
August 31: Corfu is occupied by Italian troops.
August 31: Mussolini demands an apology from the Greek government for the death of an Italian general and his staff on their border.
September
September 1: 142,000 people are killed by an earthquake in Japan.
September 2: Bill Johnson wins the International Lawn Tennis Challenge.
September 4: The first US airship makes its first flight.
September 6: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands celebrates her silver jubilee.
September 7: Interpol is formed.
September 7: Mary Katherine Campbell is crowned Miss America.
September 8: Six Us Navy destroyers are lost in the Honda Point Disaster.
September 9: Albin Stenroos sets the world record for running twenty kilometres.
September 10: The Irish Free State joins the League of Nations.
September 12: Southern Rhodesia is taken over by Britain.
September 13: A coup takes place in Spain.
September 14: Miguel Primo de River takes control of Spain.
September 15: A State of Siege is declared in Oklahoma because of the Ku Klux Klan.
September 15: Bill Tilden wins the US National Men’s Tennis Championship.
September 23: A demonstration of 80,000 people takes place in Amsterdam over the Fleet law.
September 26: The Commonwealth Conference takes place in London.
September 27: Italian troops leave Corfu.
September 28: Abyssinia leaves the League of Nations.
September 28: The Radio Times is published for the first time.
October
October 2: The British army leaves Constantinople.
October 5: Edward Hubble identifies the Cepheid star.
October 6: An experimental calendar is adopted by the USSR.
October 11: German Mark devalues further: four billion Marks are equal to one dollar.
October 16: The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio is founded.
October 16: The self-winding watch is patented by John Harwood.
October 21: The first planetarium opens in Munich.
October 25: The first report on the Teapot Dome scandal is published by the US Senate.
October 26: The Fleet laws are rejected by the second Chamber in the Netherlands.
October 26: The government resigns in the Netherlands.
October 29: Textile workers strike in the Netherlands.
October 29: Turkey declares independence and celebrates the first Republic Day of Turkey.
November
November 2: Ministers under Gustav Stresemann step down.
November 6: Five day weeks are adopted in the USSR.
November 8: The Beer Hall Putsch begins in Munich.
November 9: 16 people die on the second day of the Beer Hall Putsch and Hitler flees.
November 11: The eternal flame for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is lit under the Arc de Triomphe.
November 12: Hitler is arrested for attempting to seize power.
November 12: Dr Hjalmar Schacht is tasked with dealing with Germany’s currency problem.
November 14: Kentaro Suzuki reaches the summit of Mount Lizuna.
November 20: Garrett Morgan patents his traffic signal design.
November 20: The Rentenmark becomes the new official currency in Germany.
November 22: Lothar Witzke is pardoned by President Calvin Coolidge.
November 23: The government of Germany under Gustav Stresemann falls.
November 29: The Dawes Commission is set up to discuss the economic situation in Germany and how it relates to reparations owed to the US.
November 30: Wilhelm Marx leads a minority government in the Netherlands.
Eternal Flame, Arc de Triomphe
Image: Wikimedia Commons
December
December 6: One of the landmark 1923 events, the presidential address is broadcast on the radio for the first time in the US.
December 8: A friendship treaty is signed between the US and Germany.
December 8: A coalition between the Labour and Liberal party wins in Britain.
December 8: A price and salary freeze comes into force in Germany.
December 16: The Canton Bulldogs win the National Football League Championship.
December 17: King George II is overthrown in Greece.
December 18: The international zone of Tangier is established in Morocco.
December 21: Nepal gains independence.
December 31: The first transatlantic radio broadcast takes place.
No More Prohibition in New York
When looking in further detail at what happened in 1923, the end of prohibition is certainly one of the key events. When the 18th Amendment was ratified, it was not embraced by everyone. Some states didn’t bother to enforce it properly in the first place, but New York was the first to make the decision to repeal the measures they had previously put into place.
Prohibition was officially repealed in 1933 when the 21st Amendment was ratified, and while some states took action before this date, there are some counties in some states where some form of prohibition applies to this day.
Germany’s Struggles
It’s really interesting to see the day-by-day escalation of events in Germany during 1923. At the beginning of the year, the rest of the world was more concerned with receiving their reparation payments than anything else that was happening in the country at the time. With hindsight, we are able to speculate whether Adolf Hitler would have had the same influence over the people if he was unable to take advantage of the disastrous economic situation. He would not take power for another ten years, but the seeds of his plans were being sown as early as 1923.