April 1923

The following events occurred in April 1923:

April 1, 1923 (Sunday)

• Four directors of the Krupp works were arrested by French authorities and charged with inciting their workers in the altercation of the previous day.^[1]
• The romantic comedy film Safety Last!, starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis, was released. This film features one of the most famous scenes of the silent movie era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock while dangling from the outside of a skyscraper.^[2]
• Paterson F.C. and St. Louis Scullin Steel tied 2-2 in the National Challenge Cup Final. Paterson was declared the winner of the soccer tournament when Scullin declined to play a rematch.

April 2, 1923 (Monday)

• 50,000 Krupp workers threatened to go on strike if the four directors were not released.^[3]
• Born: Alice Haylett, baseball player, in Coldwater, Michigan (d. 2004); Gloria Henry, actress, in New Orleans; G. Spencer-Brown, polymath, in Grimsby, England

April 3, 1923 (Tuesday)

• The Soviet Union announced that Konstantin Budkevich had been executed on March 31.^[4]
• Closing arguments were presented in the William Z. Foster trial.^[5]

April 4, 1923 (Wednesday)

• Adolf Hitler told the Chicago Tribune that rumors he was planning a march on Berlin to overthrow the government were "fairy tales" and asserted that his only fight was against bolshevism.^[6]
• Warner Bros. film studio was founded.
• Born: Peter Vaughan, actor, in Wem, England
• Died: John Venn, 88, English logician and philosopher

April 5, 1923 (Thursday)

• Upon the death of Lord Carnarvon, speculation abounded of a "curse" placed on those who disturbed the tomb of a Pharaoh.^[7]
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle suggested that an evil spirit, or "elemental", might have induced the death of Lord Carnarvon. "The Egyptians had powers we know nothing of", he explained. "They easily may have used these powers, occult and otherwise, to defend their graves. They always opposed digging up the mummies."^[8]
• The trial of William Z. Foster ended in a hung jury, deadlocked 6-6 after 31 hours of deliberation. "The verdict is for the best", Foster told the media. "It is a victory for the jury, I think, in that they had the courage to stand that way. There must have been a mountain of prejudice against these ideas."^[9]
• The second Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas was destroyed by fire. 1 fireman was killed when the walls collapsed.^[10]
• Born: Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, President of South Vietnam, in Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm (d. 2001)
• Died: George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, 56, English aristocrat (probable blood poisoning)

April 6, 1923 (Friday)

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a lecture at Carnegie Hall in New York City in which he displayed a series of "spirit photographs", including a pair taken at the Cenotaph in London at the time of the two-minute silence to England's war dead. One picture showed a faint luminous patch which Doyle described as "ectoplasm", and another showed what appeared to be ghostly faces floating above the crowd.^[11][12]
• The second Herrin Massacre jury acquitted six defendants after seven hours of deliberation.^[13]
• Former Supreme Court Justice John Hessin Clarke said that only American entry into the League of Nations could keep Britain and France from going to war against each other in the future. "France and Britain have been enemies oftener than friends during the last 200 years", he explained. "It is plain truth to say that there has not been a time in modern history when two nations controlling the destiny of the world stood so much in need of an impartial counselor, guide, and friend to compose inevitable differences as they arise as Britain and France stand in need of each a one today."^[14]
• Louis Armstrong made his recording debut, with King Oliver's Creole Band on "Chimes Blues".^[15]
• Born: Ramón Valdés, actor, in Mexico City (d. 1988)

April 7, 1923 (Saturday)

• Nine Irish Republicans were reported killed when government troops surrounded a house where they were meeting in Glencar, County Kerry.^[16]
• Land mines blew up a bridge in Dublin; two bridges over the River Fane were also blown up.^[16]
• The Soviet Union issued a statement distancing itself from the William Z. Foster affair, saying it took "no responsibility" for the actions of American communists because "the Russian government does not direct the affairs, plans or theories of the international communist contingent."^[17]

April 8, 1923 (Sunday)

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lectured again at Carnegie Hall, describing a recent talk he had with the spirit of William Thomas Stead in which Doyle was advised as to the preface of a new book he was writing.^[18]
• U.S. President Warren Harding returned to Washington after five weeks of vacation.^[19]
• Born: George Fisher, political cartoonist, in Beebe, Arkansas (d. 2003); Edward Mulhare, actor, in Cork, Ireland (d. 1997)

April 9, 1923 (Monday)

• Harvard University passed a resolution declaring that "men of the white and colored races shall not be compelled to live and eat together, nor shall any man be excluded by reason of his color."^[20]
• The U.S. Supreme Court decided Adkins v. Children's Hospital and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. United States

April 10, 1923 (Tuesday)

• The Conservative government of Bonar Law was defeated on a snap vote with many members absent following a dull debate on civil service estimates. Labour members gleefully called on the government to resign, but few took the vote seriously.^[21]
• The first ban on marathon dancing was issued in Sunderland, England when the mayor invoked an existing local regulation. The magistrate called the fad "an idiotic idea, verging on lunacy."^[22][23]
• Died: Liam Lynch, 29, officer in the Irish Republican Army (fatally wounded in battle)

April 11, 1923 (Wednesday)

• U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover addressed the National League of Women Voters, advocating American participation in the World Court.

April 12, 1923 (Thursday)

• Lee de Forest successfully demonstrated his Phonofilm system to the New York Electrical Society.^[24]
• The Seán O'Casey play The Shadow of a Gunman premiered at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.^[25]
• The Kandersteg International Scout Centre was founded in Switzerland.

April 13, 1923 (Friday)

• Moscow was hit with flooding as the Moskva River overflowed.^[26]
• A crowd of workers took over the town hall of Mülheim in the Ruhr and established a workers' council.^[27]
• The outdoor play The Ramona Pageant was first performed at Hemet, California.
• Born: Don Adams, television actor (Get Smart), in New York City (d. 2005); Supriyadi, Indonesian national hero, in East Java (d. 1945?)

April 14, 1923 (Saturday)

• The National League of Women Voters voted against an endorsement of the League of Nations as presently constituted, but urged that the United States "associate itself with other nations" in order to prevent war.^[28]
• A dance marathon in Baltimore was stopped by police after 53 hours.^[22]
• Born: Roberto De Vicenzo, golfer, in Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires, Argentina

April 15, 1923 (Sunday)

• A collection of Phonofilms were shown at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City, demonstrating Lee de Forest's revolutionary sound-on-film technique. The short film subjects included a dancing ballerina, a string quartet, and vaudeville performers including Eddie Cantor. However, as the musical accompaniment to the films was non-synchronous and the sound quality rather poor, they failed to generate much interest at the time.^[29][30][31]
• The romantic drama film Enemies of Women, starring Lionel Barrymore and Alma Rubens, and the drama The Trail of the Lonesome Pine starring Mary Miles Minter were released.
• Insulin first became broadly available for diabetes patients in North America.^[32]

April 16, 1923 (Monday)

• 11 housing officials in Moscow were condemned to death for taking bribes.^[33]
• The Stanley Baldwin government presented its budget for the year. Revenues were higher than forecast so taxes on income and beer sales were cut.^[34][35]

April 17, 1923 (Tuesday)

• Irish troops captured Dan Breen and a number of other Irish Republicans without resistance at the Glen of Aherlow.^[36]
• Born: Solly Hemus, baseball player, manager and coach, in Phoenix, Arizona

April 18, 1923 (Wednesday)

• Yankee Stadium opened its doors in New York City. Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the ballpark's history as the New York Yankees downed the Boston Red Sox 4-1.^[37] 74,200 packed the stadium, setting a new single-game attendance record.^[38]

April 19, 1923 (Thursday)

• 5 were killed and at least 40 wounded in fighting in Mülheim.^[39]
• Clarence DeMar won the Boston Marathon.^[40]

April 20, 1923 (Friday)

• The first issue of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer was published.
• Born: Mother Angelica, Franciscan nun, in Canton, Ohio; Irene Lieblich, artist, in Zamość, Poland (d. 2008); Tito Puente, salsa and Latin jazz musician, in New York City (d. 2000)

April 21, 1923 (Saturday)

• Italy celebrated the Founding of Rome as a holiday for the first time. Benito Mussolini had May Day festivities replaced with this holiday instead, suppressing International Workers' Day.^[41]
• The farm worker's strike ended in England.^[34]

April 22, 1923 (Sunday)

• Benito Mussolini slashed 1 billion lire from Italy's budget, reducing the projected deficit for the fiscal year 1923–24 to 3 billion. Most of the reductions were achieved by cutting civil service jobs.^[42]
• The Bulgarian Agrarian National Union won a majority of seats in the Bulgarian parliamentary election.
• A bomb exploded at Comiskey Park in Chicago, but there were no injuries. It was suspected that the hiring of non-union labor to paint the exterior of the ballpark was the reason for the bomb, but no arrests were ever made.^[43]
• Born: Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith, geologist and glaciologist, in London, England (d. 2012); Bettie Page, model, in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2008); Aaron Spelling, film and television producer, in Dallas, Texas (d. 2006)

April 23, 1923 (Monday)

• France blocked an Anglo-Swedish attempt to set up an inquiry into the administration of the Saar Basin after complaints were received from the population there of censorship. French delegate Gabriel Hanotaux said the measures were "temporary".^[44]
• Cannabis was added to the list of prohibited narcotics in Canada. The move received virtually no attention because little was known in Canada about the drug at the time.^[45]
• Born: Dolph Briscoe, 41st Governor of Texas, in Uvalde, Texas (d. 2010)
• Died: Princess Louise of Prussia, 84

April 24, 1923 (Tuesday)

• The Fascist Grand Council approved Benito Mussolini's motion to embody all the Fascists into a national militia, giving the country a reserve army of 500,000 with no expenditures as they were considered volunteers.^[46]
• The city of Beverly Hills, California voted 507 to 337 to remain independent and not be annexed to Los Angeles.^[47]
• Born: Gus Bodnar, ice hockey player, in Fort William, Ontario, Canada (d. 2005)

April 25, 1923 (Wednesday)

• The San Pedro Maritime Strike began.
• Turkey demanded that the Soviet Union be allowed to participate in the reopened Conference of Lausanne.^[48]
• Wisconsin Senator and projected 1924 presidential candidate Robert M. La Follette denounced the World Court as "a cunning plan of the international bankers to entangle the United States in the European chaos."^[49]
• Born: Albert King, blues guitarist and singer, in Indianola, Mississippi (d. 1992)

April 26, 1923 (Thursday)

• The Wedding of the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon took place at Westminster Abbey.
• An international coalition of women's suffragists, including the American Carrie Chapman Catt, threatened to picket the home of Benito Mussolini if he did not participate in a women's suffrage congress in Rome next month.^[50]

April 27, 1923 (Friday)

• Éamon de Valera announced that the Irish Republican Army was prepared to agree to a ceasefire in the civil war.^[51]

April 28, 1923 (Saturday)

• Wembley Stadium hosted its first event, the FA Cup Final. Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2-0 in front of an official attendance of 126,047, though estimates place the actual number at around 200,000 as approximately 75,000 fans scaled the venue's inadequate barriers and gained free admission. The game was almost canceled when the crowd spilled over onto the playing area, but it was feared that doing so would cause a riot and so a police contingent led by PC George Scorey slowly coaxed the crowd off the pitch before the match could start.^[34][52]
• Leeds defeated Hull 28-3 to win the Challenge Cup of rugby at Belle Vue, Wakefield.^[53]
• Eighty-year-old Minnesota Senator Knute Nelson died on a Pennsylvania Railroad train shortly after it left Baltimore en route to his home in Alexandria. The cause of death was given as angina pectoris.^[54][55]
• Died: Knute Nelson, 80, U.S. Senator from Minnesota

April 29, 1923 (Sunday)

• Two splinter groups of the French Communist Party merged to form the Socialist-Communist Union.
• Born: Irvin Kershner, film director, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)
• Died: Ernst von Plener, 81, Austrian statesman

April 30, 1923 (Monday)

• By a 7–2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court barred foreign vessels from bringing liquor into American ports, but allowed American ships to sell liquor three miles outside of U.S. territory.^[56]
• Born: Percy Heath, jazz bassist, in Wilmington, North Carolina (d. 2005); Al Lewis, actor, in New York City (d. 2006); Francis Tucker, rally driver, in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 2008)

References