1926

Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events of 1926

January-February

January 1

Flood in Rhine strikes Cologne.
Ireland's first regular radio service, 2RN (later Radio Éireann), begins broadcasting.
Turkey switches to the Gregorian calendar after reforms set by Kemal Atatürk.

January 3 - Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece.
January 8 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
January 12 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, in which the two white performers portrayed two black characters from Harlem looking to strike it rich in the big city. It was a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, Amos 'n' Andy.
January 16 - BBC radio play about worker's revolution causes a panic in London
January 21 - Belgian parliament accepts Locarno treaties
January 26 - John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system.
January 29 - Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown opens at the Greenwich Theatre
January 31 - British and Belgian troops leave Cologne.
February 1 - Land at Broadway and Wall Street in New York City sold at a record $7 per sq inch
February 8 - Sean O'Casey's "Plough and Stars" opens at Abbey Theater in Dublin
February 9 - Flooding in London suburbs
February 12 - Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature
February 25 - Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain.

March-April

March 6 - The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is destroyed by fire.
March 7 - First transatlantic telephone call, London - New York
March 16 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts
March 23 - Eamon de Valera organizes Fianna Fáil.
April 4 - Greek dictator Theodorus Pangalos elected president.
April 7 - Failed assassination attempt against Mussolini
April 12 - By a vote of 45 to 41, the United States Senate unseats Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart and seats Daniel F. Steck, after Brookhart had already served for over one year.
April 16 - Train crash in San José, Costa Rica - 178 dead
April 24 - The Treaty of Berlin under which Germany and the Soviet Union each pledged neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
April 25 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name "Pahlevi."
April 30 - Bessie Coleman is killed after falling 2,000 feet from an airplane.

May-June

May 1 - Coal miner's strike begins in Britain
May 3 - The General Strike begins in support of the coal strike
May 9

Martial law in Britain because of the general strike
French navy bombards Damascus because of Druze riots
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of his diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).

May 10 - Talks between government and strikers begins in UK
May 10 - planes piloted by Major Harold Geiger and Horace Meek Hickam, students at the Air Corps Tactical School, collided in mid-air at Langley Field, Virginia. Hickam parachuted to safety.
May 12 - May 14 - Military coup (the May Coup) by Józef Piłsudski succeeds in Poland
May 12

Roald Amundsen flies over the North Pole.
UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a general strike by trade unions ends (the strike began on May 3).

May 18 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.
May 20 - Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots and planes.
May 23 - First Lebanese constitution is established.
May 26 - Rifkabyl rebels surrender in Morocco
May 28 - 1926 coup d'état commanded by Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal that installed the Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) that would be followed by António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo.
June 4 - Ignacy Moscicki becomes president of Poland
June 19 - DeFord Bailey is first African American to perform on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry
June 29 - Arthur Meighen returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.

July-August

July 1 - Kuomingtang begins a campaign in the northern China for unification
July 3 - Caudron C.61 aircraft operated by Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne crashes in Czechoslovakia
July 9 - New military coup in Portugal, now by general Antonio Carmona
July 12 - Lightning strike destroys an ammunition depot in Dover, New Jersey
July 15 - BEST buses make its début in Bombay.
July 23 - Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.
July 26 - National Bar Association incorporates.
August 1 - Failed assassination attempt against Jon Lee in Barcelona
August 6

Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel from France to England
In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.

August 18

British miners' union begins negotiations with the government
A weather map is televised for the first time, sent from NAA Arlington to the Weather Bureau Office in Washington, D.C.

August 22 - In Greece, Georgios Kondylis ousts Theodoros Pangalos
August 25 - Pavlos Kountouriotis announces that dictatorship is finished in Greece and becomes a president

September-October

September 1 - Lebanon under the French Mandate gets its first constitution therefore becoming a republic. Charles Debbas is elected president.
September 11

Spain leaves the League of Nations
Aloha Tower is officially dedicated at Honolulu Harbor in the Territory of Hawai'i

September 16 - Philip Dunning and George Abbott's "Broadway," premieres in New York City
September 18 - Great Miami Hurricane: A strong hurricane devastates Miami, Florida, leaving over 100 dead and caused several hundred million dollars in damage; equal to nearly $100 billion dollars today.
September 20 - Twelve cars full of gangsters open fire at the Hawthorne Inn, headquarters of Al Capone in Chicago. Only one of Capone's men is wounded
September 25

League of Nations Slavery Convention abolishes all types of slavery.
William Lyon Mackenzie King returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.

September 26 - Gene Tunney defeats Jack Dempsey and becomes heavyweight champion of the world.
October 2 - Józef Piłsudski becomes prime minister of Poland
October 12 - British miners agree to end their strike
October 14 - Alan Alexander Milne's book "Winnie-the-Pooh" is released.
October 20 - Hurricane kills 650 in Cuba
October 23 - Decree in Italy bans women from holding public office
October 23 - The Fazal Mosque is built, this was one of the first mosques built in London
October 31 - Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.

November-December

November 10 - In San Francisco, California, a necrophiliac serial killer named Earle Nelson (dubbed "Gorilla Man") kills and then rapes his 9th victim, a boardinghouse landlady named Mrs. William Edmonds.
November 10 - Michinomiya Hirohito is crowned the 124th Emperor of Japan
November 11 - U.S. Route 66 was established.
November 15 - The NBC radio network opens with 24 stations (it was formed by Westinghouse, General Electric and RCA).
November 24

The village of Rocquebillier in French Riviera is almost destroyed in a massive hail.
Sri Aurobindo retires, leaving the Mother to run the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India.

November 25 - Death penalty re-established in Italy.
November 26 - Arrest of all Italian Communist deputies.
November 27

Vesuvius erupts.
In Williamsburg, Virginia, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg begins.

December 2 - British prime minister Stanley Baldwin ends the martial law that had been declared due to general strike
December 8 - Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey; on December 14 she is found in Harrogate hotel
December 17 - Democratically elected government is overthrown during the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état‎; Antanas Smetona assumes the power in Lithuania.
December 18 - Turkey converted to Gregorian calendar making 'tomorrow' January 1 1926
December 25 - In Japanese History, end of the Taishō era and beginning of the Shōwa era and the period of Japanese expansionism

Undated

Widows pensions introduced in NSW
Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and makes rodeo's first high-cut rodeo chaps at Stirling, Alberta Canada
The short-lived Western Australian Secession League is founded.
International African Institute is founded.
Raymond Pearl publishes landmark book, Alcohol and Longevity.
Selman Waksman publishes Enzymes
The Pike School of Andover, Massachusetts is founded.
US Marines interfer Nicaragua to bolster conservative government.

Births

January-February

January 2 – Harold Bradley, American session guitarist on country music records.
January 3 - George Martin, English producer of The Beatles
January 5 - William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet
January 6
Kim Daejung, President of South Korea, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
January 8

Evelyn Lear, American soprano
Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
Soupy Sales, American comedian

January 11 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (d. 1998)
January 12 - Ray Price, American singer
January 14

Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
Tom Tryon, American actor and novelist (d. 1991)

January 15 - Florence Buchsbaum, theater director and musician (d. 1996)
January 17 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and dancer (d. 2006)
January 19 - Fritz Weaver, American actor
January 20

Patricia Neal, American actress
David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)

January 21 - Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
January 26 - Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
January 27

Fritz Spiegl, Austrian journalist (d. 2003)
Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d. 2004)

January 29 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
February 2 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France

Elaine Stritch, Broadway/Film Actress.

February 6 - Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
February 7 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut
February 8

Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)
Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)

February 10 - Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer and football manager (d. 1993)
February 11

Paul Bocuse, French chef
Alexander Gibson, British conductor and founder of the Scottish Opera
Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor

February 16

John Schlesinger, British film director (d. 2003)
Margot Frank, sister of Anne Frank (d. 1945)

February 20

Richard Matheson, American author
Bob Richards, American track and field athlete

February 22 - Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
February 27 - David H. Hubel, Canadian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
February 28 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian author

March-April

March 1 - Pete Rozelle, American commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
March 2 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (d. 1995)
March 3 - James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
March 4

Richard DeVos, American billionaire, co-founder of Amway
James J. Eagan, former Mayor of Florissant, Missouri (d. 2000)
Fran Warren, American popular singer

March 6

Alan Greenspan, American economist and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director

March 8 - Sultan Salahuddin (d. 2001)
March 13 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
March 15 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football player (d. 1983)
March 16

Jerry Lewis, American comedian
Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)

March 17 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
March 18 - Peter Graves, American actor
March 24 - Dario Fo, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate
March 26 - László Papp, Hungarian boxer (d. 2003)
March 30 - Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman
March 31 - John Fowles, English writer (d. 2005)
April 1

Charles Bressler, American tenor
Anne McCaffrey, American author

April 2 - Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver
April 3 - Gus Grissom, astronaut (d. 1967)
April 6

Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor and actor (d. 1990)
Gil Kane, Latvian-born cartoonist (d. 2000)
Ian Paisley, Northern Irish politician

April 9 - Hugh Hefner, American magazine editor
April 12 - Khozh-Akhmed Bersanov, Chechen ethnographer
April 14 - Frank Daniel, Czech-born writer, producer, director, teacher (d. 1996)
April 17 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (d. 2004)
April 21 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
April 21 - Arthur Rowley, English footballer (d. 2002)
April 22 - James Stirling, Scottish architect (d. 1992)
April 24 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
April 25 - Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
April 26

Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)
David Coleman, British TV sports broadcaster

April 28 - Harper Lee, American author
April 30

Cloris Leachman, American actress
Edmund Cooper, British author & poet (d. 1982)

May-June

May 5 - Ann B. Davis, American actress
May 8

Don Rickles, American comedian and actor
David Attenborough, British broadcaster, naturalist and producer

May 10 - Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, American film personality and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter (d. 2004)
May 15

Peter Shaffer, English playwright
Anthony Shaffer, English novelist and playwright (d. 2001)

May 18 - Dirch Passer, Danish actor (d. 1980)
May 20 - John Lucarotti, TV writer (d. 1994)
May 25 - Bill Sharman, American basketball player and coach
May 26 - Miles Davis, American musician (d. 1991)
May 30 - Tsuneo Watanabe, Japanese businessman
June 1

Andy Griffith, American actor
Marilyn Monroe, American actress (d. 1962)

June 3

Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
Roscoe Gardner Bartlett, Republican member of the United States House of Representatives

June 6 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
June 11 - Frank Plicka, Czech-born photographer
June 13 - Paul Lynde, American comedian (d. 1982)
June 15 - Shigeru Kayano, Japanese Ainu activist (d. 2006)
June 16 - William F. Roemer, Jr., United States FBI agent (d. 1996)
June 21 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (d. 2003)
June 25 - Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer (d. 1973)
June 28 - Mel Brooks, American entertainer
June 29 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (d. 2006)
June 30 - Paul Berg, American chemist, Noble Prize laureate

July-August

July 1

Robert Fogel, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
Carl Hahn, German automotive executive, chairman of Volkswagen from 1982 to 1993
Hans Werner Henze, German composer