1926

January 1

• Flood in Rhine strikes Cologne. [1]

January 3

• Greek General Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator. [1]

January 4

• Theodorus Pangalos resigns as Greek dictator. [1]

January 6

• Kees Boeke opens first comprehensive school in Holland. [1]
• The German airlines Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr unite to become Deutssche Luft-Hansa AG (later Lufthansa). [37]

January 8

• Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud becomes king of Hejaz; renames it Saudi Arabia. [1]
• Emile Paladilhe composer, dies at age 81. [1]

January 12

• The two-man comedy series "Sam 'n' Henry" debuts on Chicago's WGN radio station. The creators and the stars of the new radio program are Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell. (Two years later the show's name is changed to "Amos 'n' Andy".) [129]

January 15

• Enrico Toselli composer, dies at age 42. [1]

January 17

• George Burns marries Gracie Allen. [1]

January 20

• Second German government of Luther begins. [1]

January 21

• Belgian parliament accepts Locarno treaties. [1]
• Camillo Golgi Italian medical research (malaria, Nobel Prize 1906), dies at age 81. [1]

January 22

• Belgian chief of staff General Maglinse quits. [1]

January 23

• Désiré J Mercier Belgian philosopher/cardinal, dies at age 74. [1]
• Eugene O'Neill's "Great God Brown" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Joseph Carl Breil composer, dies at age 55. [1]

January 26

• Television first demonstrated (John L Baird, London). [1]

January 27

• US Senate agrees to join World Court. [1]

February 1

• Kirghiz Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kirghiz ASSR. [1]
• Land at Broadway and Wall Street sold at a record $7 per square inch. [1]

February 2

• Three men dance the Charleston for 22.5 hours. [1]

February 4

• Austrian chancellor Seipel wants to join Germany. [1]

February 5

• Andre Gedalge composer, dies at age 69. [1]

February 8

• German Reichstag decides to apply for League of Nations membership. [1]
• Sean O'Casey's "The Plough and the Stars" opens at Abbey Theatre Dublin. [1]
• Walt Disney Studios is formed. [1]

February 9

• Teaching theory of evolution forbidden in Atlanta Georgia schools. [1]

February 11

• Tokelau (Union) islands in south Pacific transfers to New Zealand. [1]

February 15

• Brooks Atkinson Theater opens at 256 W 47th Steet New York City. [1]
• Contract air mail service begins in US. [1]

February 17

• Avalanche buries 75 in Sap Gulch Bingham Utah, 40 die. [1]

February 21

• Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Dutch physicist (Nobel Prize 1913), dies at age 72. [1]

February 25

• Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain. [1]
• Kwo-Min-Tang (Guomindang) declares war on government/warlords. [1]

February 26

• Dark Street in the Bronx renamed Lustre Street. [1]
• Frederik Pijper Dutch vicar/church historian (Monasteries), dies at age 67. [1]
• Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller composer, dies at age 75. [1]

March 1

• Camilo d'Almeida Pessanha Portuguese poet (China), dies at age 58. [1]

March 3

• Cyril Metodej Hrazdira composer, dies at age 58. [1]
• International Greyhound Racing Association formed (Miami Florida). [1]

March 4

• De Geer government in Netherlands takes office. [1]

March 6

• China asks for a seat in the Security council. [1]

March 7

• First transatlantic telephone call (London-New York). [1]
• Jindrich Z Albestu Kaan composer, dies at age 73. [1]

March 9

• Bertha Landes elected first woman mayor of Seattle. [1]

March 10

• Run on Belgian banks. [1]

March 11

• Eamon da Valera ends leadership of Sinn Fein. [1]

March 12

• Denmark begins unilateral disarmament. [1]
• Pope Pius XI names J E van Roey archbishop of Malines Belgium. [1]

March 15

• Belgium's "black monday", franc falls. [1]

March 16

• Robert Goddard launches first liquid fuel rocket, goes 184' (56 metre). [1]

March 17

• Dutch Calvinists oust Reverend J G Geelkerken over Genesis 3. [1]
• Richard Rodgers and L Hart's musical "Girl Friend" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Spain and Brazil prevent Germany joining League of Nations. [1]

March 24

• The Beehive in the Hague opens first escalator in Netherlands. [1]

March 26

• ACD de Graeff appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies. [1]
• Konstantin Fehrenbach German reichs chancellor (1920-21), dies at age 74. [1]
• The first lip-reading tournament held in America. [1]

March 30

• Feliks E Dzerzjinski Lithuanian organizer (KGB), dies at age 48. [1]

March 31

• German Special Court of Justice for state security disbands. [1]

April 2

• Riots between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta. [1]

April 3

• First performance of Jean Sibelius' 7th Symphony in C. [1]
• Second flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by Robert Goddard. [1]
• Italy establishes corp of force in order to break powerful unions. [1]

April 4

• Greek dictator Theodorus Pangalos elected president. [1]

April 6

• Giovanni Amendola antifascist/editor-in-chief (Il Mondo), dies at age 43. [1]

April 7

• Forest fire burns 900 acres and kills two (San Luis Obispo California). [1]
• Mussolini's Irish wife breaks his nose. [1]

April 11

• Flemish Economic Covenant (VEV) forms in Ghent. [1]

April 12

• Dutch Catholic Radio Broadcast (KRO) forms. [1]

April 13

• Bicyclists without bicycle-tax-stamp rounded up in Amsterdam. [1]

April 16

• Book of the Month Club sends out its first selections "Lolly Willowes" and "Loving Huntsman" by Sylvia Townsend Warner. [1]

April 19

• Squire Bancroft [Butterfield] actor/manager (Haymarket), dies at age 84. [1]

April 20

• First check sent by radio facsimile transmission across the Atlantic. [1]

April 22

• Persia, Turkey and Afghanistan sign treaties of security. [1]

April 23

• Joseph Pennell artist/author, dies. [1]

April 24

• Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Treaty of Berlin. If one country is attacked, the other is to remain neutral. [10]

April 25

• Ellen K S Key Swedish author/feminist (Century of the Child), dies at age 76. [1]
• Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot", premieres in Milan. [1]
• Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi. [1]

April 26

• Germany and Russia sign neutrality/peace treaty. [1]
• Karachai Autonomous Region is established in RSFSR (until 1943). [1]

April 29

• France and US reach accord on repayment of WWI. [1]

May 1

• British coal-miners go on strike. [1]
• Nicolaus Adriani translator (Middle-Celebes Language), dies at age 60. [1]
• Satchel Paige makes pitching debut in Negro Southern League. [1]

May 2

• US military intervenes in Nicaragua. [1]

May 3

• British general strike-3 million workers support miners. [1]
• Napoleon V Bonaparte French pretender to the throne, dies at age 63. [1]
• Pulitzer prize awarded to Sinclair Lewis (Arrowsmith). [1]
• US marines land in Nicaragua (9-months after leaving), stay until 1933. [1]

May 4

• General strike hits Britain. [1]

May 5

• Sinclair Lewis refuses his Pulitzer Prize for "Arrowsmith". [1]

May 8

• First flight over North Pole (Bennett and Byrd). [1]
• A Philip Randolph organizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. [1]
• Fire breaks out in Fenway Park. [1]

May 9

• Joseph Mallaby Dent publisher, dies. [1]
• Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett make first flight over North Pole. [1]

May 11

• Airship Norge leaves Spitsbergen for first air crossing of Arctic Ocean. [1]

May 12

• British general strike ends. [1]
• Dmitri Shostakovich's first Symphony, premieres in Leningrad. [1]
• General Pilsudski sets coup on premier Witos compared. [1]
• Umberto Nobile flies Airship Norge is first vessel to fly over the North Pole. [1]

May 13

• German Government of Luther falls. [1]

May 15

• British general strike ends, but mine workers go on strike. [1]
• Mohammed VI Vahideddin last sultan of Turkey (1918-22), dies. [1]

May 16

• Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Mohammed Osman) last sultan of Turkey, dies. [1]

May 17

• Chiang Kai-shek is made supreme war lord in Canton. [1]
• German Government of Marx takes power. [1]
• Lucien Herr French leader (Correspondance entre Schiller), dies. [1]

May 18

• Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished in Venice CA; She showed up a month later and said she had been kidnapped. [1]

May 19

• French air force bombs Damascus Syria. [1]

May 20

• Belgian Government of Jaspar takes power. [1]
• US Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots and planes. [1]
• Railway Labor Act became law. [1]
• Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies. [1]

May 21

• Georgy L'vovich Catoire composer, dies at age 65. [1]
• Ronald Arthur A Firbank British writer (Prancing Nigger), dies at age 40. [1]

May 22

• "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" by Gene Austin hits #1. [1]
• Chiang Kai-shek replaces communists in Guomindang China. [1]
• Dutch Communist Party expels David Wijnkoop. [1]

May 23

• Hans Koessler composer, dies at age 73. [1]
• Lebanese constitution is established under French mandate. [1]

May 25

• Symon Petlyura leader of Ukraine (pogroms), assassinated at age 47. [1]

May 26

• Lebanon adopts constitution. [1]
• S V Petlura Ukrainain ataman, assassinated by Shalom Schwarzbard. [1]

May 28

• Military coup by General Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal. [1]
• US Customs Court created by congress. [1]

May 31

• Portuguese President Bernardino Machedo resigns after coup. [1]
• Sesquicentennial Exposition opens in Philadelphia. [1]

July 2

• US Army Air Corps created; Distinguish Flying Cross authorized. [1]

July 10

• Lake Denmark, New Jersey arsenal explodes, kills 21, $75m damage. [1]

July 16

• National Geographic takes first natural-color undersea photos. [1]

July 22

• 105 degrees F (41 degrees C), Waterbury, Connecticut (state record). [1]
• 108 degrees F (42 degrees C), Troy, New York (state record). [1]

July 23

• Fox Film buys the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film. [5]

July 26

• National Bar Association incorporates. [1]

August 5

• Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1.5 hours. [1]

August 6

• New York's Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim the English Channel. [1]
• Warner Bros premieres Vitaphone sound-on-disc movie system (New York), Don Juan with John Barrymore shown. [1]

August 11

• Cleveland Indian Tris Speaker hits his 700th double. [1]

August 22

• Charles William Elliot President of Harvard (1869-1909), dies at age 92. [1]

August 23

• Rodolpho Alfonzo Rafaello Pietro Filiberto Guglieimi Di Valentina. [1]

September 9

• National Broadcasting Company created by the Radio Corporation of America. [1]

September 11

• Aloha Tower dedicated in Honolulu. [1]

September 18

• Hurricane hits Miami and south Florida, destroying hotels, piers, marinas, mansions built in preceding years. 400 killed, 50,000 made homeless. [1] [341.116]

September 25

• Henry Ford announces the 8 hour, 5-day work week. [1]
• International slavery convention signed by 20 states. [1]

October 4

• Dahlia is officially designated as San Francisco city flower. [1]

October 16

• Troop ship sinks in Yangtze River, killing 1,200. [1]

October 22

• Wallace Whitehead, student, repeatedly punches magician Harry Houdini in the abdomen, after asking if he had strong muscles, and receiving permission to punch him. (By the end of the month, Houdini will die of a ruptured appendix.) [194.23]

October 24

• Magician Harry Houdini performs in Detroit, Michigan, but collapses during intermissions from stomach pain. [194.24]

October 25

• Harry Houdini is operated on in Detroit, Michigan, and found to have a gangrenous ruptured appendix. Doctors realize he will die soon. [194.24]

October 31

• Erich Weiss, better known as magician Harry Houdini, dies in Detroit, Michigan, USA. [1] [5] [194.24]

November 3

• Annie Oakley dies. [1]

November 10

• Vincent Massey becomes first Canadian minister to USA. [1]

November 15

• NBC on-air debut with a radio network of 24 stations. [1]

November 18

• Pope Pius XI encyclical On the persecution of the Church in Mexico. [1]

November 24

• KVI-AM in Seattle Washington begins radio transmissions. [1]

November 27

• 110,000 watch Army and Navy play a 21-all tie. [1]
• KXL-AM in Portland Oregon begins radio transmissions. [1]
• Restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, begins. [1]

December 1

• Hans Heinrich XIV Hochberg composer, dies at age 83. [1]

December 3

• Manchester Guardian (German Reichswehr/Red Army work together). [1]

December 5

• Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" debuts. [1]

December 6

• Claude [Oscar] Monet French painter (impressionist), dies at age 86. [1]

December 7

• Gas refrigerator patented. [1]

December 8

• Jan Six Dutch art historian/collector, dies. [1]

December 10

• First radio broadcast in the Springfield Illinois area (WCBS). [1]
• Second part of Hitler's Mein Kampf published. [1]

December 11

• Josephine Baker performs in Amsterdam. [1]

December 12

• Jean Richepin French poet/writer (Contes sans morale), dies at age 77. [1]
• Leningrad: premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's first Pianoconcert. [1]

December 14

• Danish Madsen government, forms. [1]
• Theo van Rysselberghe Belgian painter (pointillism), dies at age 64. [1]

December 15

• Facist national symbol elevated in Italy. [1]

December 16

• Darius Milhaud's opera "Le Pauvre Matelot" premieres in Paris. [1]
• WOW-AM in Omaha Nebraska begins radio transmissions. [1]

December 17

• Alexandr Dmitriyevich Kastal'sky composer, dies at age 70. [1]
• German Marx government falls due to cooperation with red army. [1]
• KYA-AM in San Francisco California begins radio transmissions. [1]
• Lithuanian military state under General Augustine Woldemaras. [1]

December 20

• Sidney Howard's "Silver Cord" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 23

• KEX-AM in Portland Oregon begins radio transmissions. [1]

December 25

• Yoshihito 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), dies at age 47. [1]
• Prince-regent Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989). [1]

December 27

• Depot Square in the Bronx renamed Botanical Square. [1]
• Latkin Square in Bronx named for first US Jewish soldier to die in WWI. [1]

December 28

• Imperial Airways begins England-India mail and passenger service. [1]

December 29

• Rainer M Rilke Austrias songwriter/writer (Wise Queen), dies at age 51. [1]
• Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index. [1]

December 30

• Paul Eliot Greens "In Abraham's Bosom" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]