September 28, 1924: U.S. Army Lieutenants Smith, Arnold, Nelson and Harding return to Seattle, become the first persons to fly around the world
The Dawes Plan, a restructuring of the payment of reparations owed by Germany to the victorious Allied Powers of World War I, went into effect, three days after it was approved by Germany.[1]
Joe Boyer, who had won the 1924 Indianapolis 500 in May, was fatally injured at the infamous Altoona Speedway in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after crashing through the rail while attempting to take the lead in the Altoona 250.[3] A year before, the Altoona Speedway 250 race had claimed the life of 1919 Indianapolis winner Howdy Wilcox.
A hurricane that had stricken the Virgin Islands on August 28 eased, after having killed at least 80 people.[4][5]
Indianapolis winners Dario Resta (1916) and Joe Boyer (1924)
Died:Joe Boyer, 34, American auto racer and winner of the 1924 Indianapolis 500, died the day after his car crashed at the Altoona 250 race.
The Taif massacre of at least 300 civilians was carried out in the Kingdom of Hejaz at the city of Taif, near Mecca, by troops of the Ikhwan, sent by Sultan Ibn Saud of Nejd in the course of the Saudi conquest of Hejaz.[12]
The "Ruido de sables" (rattling of sabers) incident took place in Chile when a group of 56 young military officers, led by Colonel Marmaduke Grove, loudly rattled their ceremonial sabers within their scabbards in a political protest after they were asked to leave the Chamber of Deputies, which was debating military benefits.[13] "Ruido de sables" became a metaphor in Spanish-speaking nations for a military conspiracy to plot a coup d'état. The event was part of the young officers' response to the Chamber's failure to enact the proposed reforms of President Arturo Alessandri.
Chinese warlord Qi Xieyuan (referred to in the Western press during his lifetime as Ch'i Hsieh-yuan), governor of the Jiangsu province, went to war against Lu Yongxiang (Lu Yung-hsiang), military governor of the Zhejiang province, beginning the Jiangzu-Zhejiang War within China.[14]
Dario Resta, 42, Italian auto racer and winner of the 1916 Indianapolis 500, was killed instantly at the Brooklands racing circuit in England while trying to set a new land speed record. On the second lap, he suffered a blowout and crashed through a corrugated iron fence.[15]
British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald made a frank speech to the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva, essentially ending further discussion on the proposed "Treaty of Mutual Guarantee" that would replace existing national armies with an international armed force.[16][17] MacDonald said that history had demonstrated that military alliances were no guarantor of security, and that to provide security, Germany and Russia must be admitted to the League. He added, "If we cannot devise proper arbitration let us go back to competitive armaments and military pacts and prepare for the inevitable next war." As to representatives of small nations he said, "Pact or no pact, you will be invaded, devastated and crushed. You are certain to be the victims of the military age."[18][19]
The three remaining planes of the American round-the-world flyers (Chicago, New Orleans and Boston II) and their two-member crews returned to U.S. airspace and landed near Brunswick, Maine in a dense fog. To complete their journey, they were still required to return to Seattle.[25]
The same officers who had carried out the "ruido de sables" in Chile on September 3, led by Colonel Marmaduke Grove, entered the office of President Arturo Alessandri and demanded that he dismiss his Interior Minister, as well as to have him pressure the Congtress to enact a labor code, a reformed income tax law, and the raising military salaries. Faced with his overthrow, President Alessandri complied with Grove's demands and appointed General Luis Altamirano as the new Minister of the Interior.
Evgen Gvaladze, who had attempted an armed rebellion in the Georgian SSR, was arrested by Soviet authorities. Gvaladze was released in March as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners.
The fourth annual Miss America Pageant was held at Atlantic City, New Jersey and won by Miss Philadelphia, Ruth Malcomson (1906—1988). The 1922 and 1923 winner, Mary Katherine Campbell (who had entered from Ohio as Miss Columbus), placed First Runner-Up. The pageant marked the last time that previous winners were eligible to enter the Miss America pageant.[26]
Chicago's new Soldier Field, referred to at the time as the Grant Park Stadium, held its first public event, admitting 45,000 paying customers to watch the two-day Police Athletic Games, a fundraiser for the Chicago Police Benevolent Association. Events included a chariot race and a game of motorcycle polo.[27]
John Dillinger made his first attempt at a major crime when he and a friend attempted to rob a grocery store in Mooresville, Indiana. The two were shortly apprehended and sent to jail.[28]
Died:Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, 56, former member of Austro-Hungarian royalty, daughter of the Emperor Franz Joseph I, known for renouncing all rights to the throne in order to marry a fellow Austrian, Archduke Franz Salvator, rather than a member of another dynasty, died of lymphoma.
Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera issued a manifesto to the army appealing for an extension of his emergency powers, saying, "One year is too short a time to attempt to carry out the work which lay before the directorio when we assumed power."[29]
Daniel Inouye, American politician of Japanese descent and Medal of Honor recipient for heroism in World War II; in Honolulu (d. 2012). Inouye was the first U.S. Representative for Hawaii (1959 to 1963 as the at-large Congressman), U.S. Senator (1963 to 2012), and President pro tempore of the Senate from 2010 to 2012.[30]
Died:Georg von Hantelmann, 25, German fighter pilot and ace with 25 shootdowns during World War I, was killed on his farm in Prussia after confronting trespassers.[31]
Wendell Ford, U.S. Senator for Kentucky for four terms (1974 to 1999), Democratic Party whip from 1991 to 1999, Governor from 1971 to 1974; in Owensboro, Kentucky (d. 2015)
The Hanapepe massacre, a gun battle in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, killed 20 people, most of them striking Filipino workers at the McBryde sugar plantation on the island of Kauai.[34] After two strikebreakers were taken hostage by armed members of the Higher Wage Movement, Kauai County police intervened. When the fighting ended, four police officers and 16 plantation workers were dead. Afterward, 130 Filipino workers were arrested, 56 of whom received jail sentences, and many of whom were deported back to the Philippines.[35]
Combat troops from the United States, Great Britain, Japan and Italy were deployed in Shanghai to protect their nations' interests as civil war appeared imminent in China.[36]
Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist, world champion in the road cycling in 1949, 1956 and 1957; in Arendonk (d. 2003)
Died:Hermine Hug-Hellmuth, 53, Austrian child psychologist and psychoanalyst, was murdered by her nephew during a home invasion.[40]
The Leopold and Loeb trial ended with a sentence of imprisonment for "life plus 99 years" for both Nathan F. Leopold Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb for the May 21 kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks, instead of the death penalty the state had sought.[41] Loeb would remain at the Illinois State Penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois for the rest of his life, serving a little more than 11 years until being killed by another inmate on January 28, 1936. Leopold lived 35 more years, dying of a diabetes-related heart attack on August 29, 1971.[citation needed]
Njini Ntuta, Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Mining who was assassinated shortly after being dismissed by President Robert Mugabe; in Tjolotjo, Southern Rhodesia (murdered, 1984)
Following the forced resignation of Chile's President Arturo Alessandri, the three-member "September Junta", led by General Luis Altamirano, took over the administration of the South American republic, along with Admiral Francisco Nef and General Juan Pablo Bennett. The junta's rule would last only four months before a counter-coup on January 23, 1925.[42]
At the age of 11, Pengiran Ahmad Tajuddin became the new Sultan of Brunei (at the time a British protectorate) upon the death of his father, the Sultan Jamalul Alam II.[43]
Born:
Tom Landry, American football player and coach known for being head coach of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys for the first 18 seasons of its existence; in Mission, Texas (d. 2000)
General of the ArmiesJohn J. Pershing, the last American military officer to achieve the rank of a six-star general, and the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army since 1921, retired from the United States Army[citation needed] upon reaching the age of 64 (as required by Department of War regulations at the time) and was granted full pay and allowances for the rest of his life, as well as continued use of his office at the SWAN Building in Washington that served as the headquarters of the Department of State, the Department of War and the Department of the Navy. Pershing was succeeded as Army Chief of Staff by Major General John L. Hines.
French general Jean Degoutte allowed all functionaries and other public employees ousted or deported from the Ruhr since the occupation began to return to work.[47]
The hoax of the "Tucson artifacts" began[citation needed] as a family in the U.S. state of Arizona reported finding the first of 31 lead objects, including swords, crosses and ceremonial objects with dates written upon them in Roman numerals, corresponding to the years ranging from 47 A.D. to 157 A.D., with an inscription on one object that seemed to be evidence of settlers who had come to North America from the Roman Empire, founding a settlement called "Calalus".
Maurice Jarre, French composer known primarily for his creation of film scores for major motion pictures including Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Ghost (1990) winner of four Golden Globes and a Grammy Award; in Lyon (d. 2009)
A helicopter designed by Étienne Oehmichen lifted a 400-pound cargo 1 meter and 10 centimeters off the ground, winning a prize offered by the French government.[49]
High Point University opened as High Point College. Located in the town of High Point, North Carolina, the private Methodist college had an initial enrollment of 122 students, taught by nine faculty members.[51] It would be redesignated as a university in 1991 upon offering a master's degree program.
Born:Davidson Nicol, Sierra Leone physician and diabetes researcher known for his discoveries in analyzing the breakdown of insulin in the human body, as wells as being Sierra Leone's first ambassador to the United Nations (1969 to 1971); in Freetown, Sierra Leone (d. 1994)[53]
The Second Zhili–Fengtian War began in northeastern China between the Japanese-supported Manchurian forces led by Zhang Zuolin in the Fengtian Province (now Liaoning province), attacking the city of Ch'in-Huang-Tao (Qinhuangdao) in the Zhili province (now Hebei province) led by Wu Peifu. After six weeks, the war was over with Zhang's forces having taken control of Zhili province, along with Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces.[54]
German astronomer Friedrich Simon Archenhold said that he saw what he believed to be an attempt by inhabitants of Mars to contact Earth. "I cannot disclose everything I saw", Archenhold stated. "I am a scientist and I am not seeking newspaper sensations, but this much I will say – I was thunderstruck by what I saw. I could not believe my eyes. I thought perhaps my sons had climbed on the observatory roof and had planted something in the telescope, but it was not so. I am now going to Jungfrau, Milan, and other observatories to discuss my findings with other scientists seeking an answer to the question of whether there is life on Mars."[56]
The German government decided to postpone any attempt to join the League of Nations until the next year.[57]
Poland's Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza or KOP) was created to protect the nation's eastern boundaries from potential invasion by the Soviet Union and from bandits crossing the border from the U.S.S.R, with six battalions and five regiments.[citation needed]
In a ceremony, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge gave a signal from his desk in the White House to initiate the generation of power from the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, in the U.S. state of Washington.[64]
Born:Gerd Thoreid, Norwegian stand-up comedian who performed under her stage name of "GT-Sara" and who began her comedy career at the age of 50 and performed until age 90; in Furnes (d. 2020)[66]
Died:John Martin Schaeberle, 71, German-born American astronomer known for his development of a camera to take photos of the Sun and its corona during solar eclipses, and for his discovery that Procyon is actually part of a binary star system with a faint companion designated Procyon B[67]
The U.S. military occupation of the Dominican Republic came to an end after more than eight years.[68] Since May 5, 1916, when the U.S. Marines had arrived to maintain order while the Caribbean nation's customs revenues were take control of by the American government in order for the Dominican Republic to pay its debts. Upon completing its withdrawal after three months, the U.S. Marines turned over police power to the Dominican Republic National Police Force.
Bob C. Riley, U.S. politician who was the first blind person to serve as the governor of a U.S. state; in Little Rock, Arkansas.[71] From January 3 to January 12, 1974, Riley, who had lost his sight when he was wounded in World War II, and who been Lieutenant Governor since 1971, served as Governor of Arkansas for the remainder of the term of Dale Bumpers, who had resigned on January 3 to be sworn in as a U.S. Senator (d. 1994).
Died:George Walker, English-born South African prospector who discovered the gold deposits of Witwatersrand in 1886, but received no credit for his discovery, died in poverty at the age of 71.[72]
Alexander Krasnoshchyokov, Soviet Communist politician and the former party leader in the Far Eastern Republic, became the first prominent Bolshevik and ally of the late Vladimir Lenin to be arrested by the government on order of Joseph Stalin.[73] Convicted on charges of corruption, Krasnoshchyokov would be released four months later and be allowed to rejoin the Soviet government in the autumn of 1925, though eventually losing favor again with Stalin and being executed in 1937.
The Bukhara People's Soviet Republic, with a capital at Bukhara, was established by Uzbek, Tajik and Russian Communists in what is now Uzbekistan, and applied to be admitted to the Soviet Union.[74] It would exist for less than six weeks.
Born:
Don Harron, Canadian comedian and actor, known for bringing his Canadian TV character Charlie Farquharson to the U.S. country music and comedy show Hee Haw; in Toronto (d. 2015)
Alick Bannerman, 70, Australian cricketer who played in 28 Test matches from 1879 to 1893[75]
William Verner Longe, 67, English painter known for his paintings of horses and horse racing[76]
A secret agreement was made by the Republic of China and the Soviet Union, following up on an equally-secret protocol on March 14. The Chinese had made a bargain with the Soviets that all former conventions, treaties, protocols, contracts, and documents between the Soviet and China would be annulled until a conference could convene between the two nations.[77]
Hermann Buhl, Austrian mountaineer noted for making the first ascents of 26,660 feet (8,130m) high Nanga Parbat (in 1953) and 26,414 feet (8,051m)Broad Peak (in 1957); in Innsbruck (killed in climbing accident, 1957)
The Autostrada, the world's first divided highway, opened to motor traffic in Italy. An improvement to existing limited-access roads, the Autostrada had only one lane in each direction and no exits along its high-speed 42.6 kilometres (26.5mi) route between Milan and Varese.[79]
Spanish Army Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Franco, angry with the plans of Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera to pull back troops fighting the Rif War in Morocco, approached General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and proposed that he lead a coup d'état to overthrow the premier.[81] The General declined the suggestion, and Franco postponed his plans to lead a right-wing revolution against the Spanish government.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge condemned socialism in a speech in Washington made during the closing exercises of a convention of the Society of the Holy Name. "Socialism and communism cannot be reconciled with the principles which our institutions represent", Coolidge said in a statement interpreted as a criticism of rival presidential candidate Robert M. La Follette. "They are entirely foreign, entirely un-American. We stand wholly committed to the policy that what the individual produces belongs entirely to him to be used to the benefit of himself, to provide for his own family and to enable him to serve his fellow man."[82]
The sinking of the American freighter SS Clifton in Lake Huron drowned all 26 of its crew.[84] The ship had departed Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, the day before with a cargo of crushed stone, bound for Detroit.[85] Its wreckage would be found more than 90 years later in 2016.[86]
The 19-story Roosevelt Hotel opened in 45 East 45th Street in Manhattan.[88] Located near Grand Central Station had 1,025 rooms, as well as services such as child care, a kennel, and an in-house physician.
Died: Sir Maung Khin, 52, the first native-born judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma, and the first Burmese citizen to be knighted by the British monarchy.[89]
Voting was held in Denmark for 28 of the 76 seats of the Landstinget, the upper house of the nation's parliament, the Rigsdag. While Venstre retained a plurality (31 seats) after the vote, and the Socialdemokratiet of Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning were in second place, Stauning's party retained control of the lower house, the Folketing, for which elections had been held for on April 11.
The German cabinet announced its decision to work towards entering the League of Nations as "a great power having equal rights with other great powers."[90]
The Indian civil rights organization Samata Sainik Dal was founded by B. R. Ambedkar with a mission of "safeguarding the rights of all oppressed sections of Indian society."[92]
The Tamil language newspaper Tamil Nesan published its first issue.[93] Aimed at ethnic Indians in British Malaya, and later for Malaysia, Tamil Nesan was notable for its duration. It would continue for more than 74 years before ceasing publication in 2019.[94]
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum arrived in the U.S. state of South Dakota at the invitation of Doane Robinson to carry out plans to carve a statue of four American presidents in the state's Black Hills.[95] Borglum's first choice of sites was the 150 feet (46m) tall granite pillars known as The Needles, but soon decided that the eroding, fragile rock formation could not support carving.[96] After considering, and rejecting, Black Elk Peak, Borglum would eventually settle on Mount Rushmore.
The five-story tall Leifeng Pagoda at Hangzhou in China collapsed suddenly, almost 950 years after its completion in the year 975.[99] In 1999, building of an identical pagoda on the ruins of the old one would begin, opening on October 25, 2002.
Died:Lotta Crabtree (Charlotte Mignon Crabtree), 76, popular American stage actress, comedian and philanthropist, later profiled in the 1951 film Golden Girl[101]
As China's Fengtiang province was on the verge of losing the Zhili–Fengtian War that Fengtian's leader Zhang Zuolin had started on September 15, Governor Zheng Shiqi of the Anhui province telegraphed China's President Cao Kun for aid. Cao Kun sent 250,000 troops to Manchuria to resist the Fengtian troops, although the additional aid failed to prevent the Fengtian takeover.[107]
British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald told a gathering in Derby that his government had secured many valuable concessions in its treaties with the Soviet Union and if the House of Commons failed to ratify them, he would send the country to another general election.[108]
Essendon FC (2-0-0) played against Richmond Tigers (1-0-1) in the final championship series of a round robin tournament between the four Victorian Football League finalists (Essendon, Richmond, Fitzroy Maroons and South Melbourne FC). Despite losing to Richmond, 73 to 86, Essendon won the championship of the tournament. While both teams had finished with records of 2 wins and 1 loss (for 8 points in the standings, based on four for a win and one for a tie), and Richmond had beaten Essendon, the winner was declared based on the ratio of points for against points against. In its first two games, Essendon had scored 130 against 57 for the opposition, while Richmond had 141 against 133. To gain the crown, Richmond would have had to score 66 points more than Essendon in their match. While the tournament winner would normally have played the Grand Final against the team that ended the regular season in first place, Essendon had finished first, so no grand final was played.[109]
The four remaining American aviators in the round-the-world flight expedition completed their journey by landing at Sand Point in Seattle in the airplanes Chicago (with pilot Lowell H. Smith and co-pilot Leslie P. Arnold) and New Orleans (with pilot Erik H. Nelson and co-pilot John Harding Jr), all four of whom were U.S. Army lieutenants.[113] Four planes (with 8 total crew) had departed from Sand Point on April 6. Including stops for rest and maintenance, the trip took 175 days and covered 27,553 miles (44,342km). Time 363 hours and 7 minutes.[114]
The Politis–Kalfov Protocol was signed at the League of Nations in Geneva following the Tarlis incident of July 27, when 17 Bulgarian peasants were killed by a Greek soldier. Greece's ambassador to the League, Nikolaos Politis, and Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Hristo Kalkov, signed the protocol, with Greece agreeing to protect its Bulgarian-Greek minority and even to sponsor schools for Bulgarian-Greek students. The Greek Parliament, however, never ratified the treaty.[115]
Italy's Fascist Premier Benito Mussolini announced plans to build the world's highest skyscraper in Rome. Italian architect Mario Palanti proposed a 1,500-foot (460m) high pyramidal structure with 4,500 rooms, featuring a concert hall and a huge gymnasium for the training of Olympic athletes.[118]
Hudson, Manley O. (1925). "The Third Year of the Permanent Court of International Justice". The American Journal of International Law. 19 (1). American Society of International Law: 57. doi:10.2307/2189082. ISSN0002-9300. JSTOR2189082. S2CID147690767.
"Labor for MacDonald in His Geneva Stand; Hull Trades Union Congress Discusses Universal Strike as War Preventive.", The New York Times, September 6, 1924, p.2
McGinn, Patrick (1 November 1986). "Communalism and the North-West Frontier Province: the Kohat Riots, 9–10 September 1924". South Asia Research. 6 (2): 139–158. doi:10.1177/026272808600600204. ISSN0262-7280. S2CID145791223.
"Political Murder Again Stirs Rome; Casalini, Fascist Deputy, Is Slain by Carpenter, Who Says He Avenges Matteotti.", The New York Times, September 13, 1924, p.17
Bennett, Shelley M. (May 1, 2013). The Art of Wealth: The Huntingtons in the Gilded Age. San Marino, CA: Huntington Library Press. p.350. ISBN978-0-87328-253-6.
Hauptman, Laurence (2008). Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800. Syracuse University Press. p.140. ISBN978-0-8156-3165-1.
Wilma, David (2010). Power for the people: a history of Seattle City Light. Seattle, Wash: History Ink, in association with University of Washington Press. pp.41–43. ISBN978-0-295-98576-3. OCLC613433169.
"Gandhi Will Fast 21 Days for Peace; Nationalist Leader of India Appeals to Hindus and Moslems to End Their Quarrel.", The New York Times, September 19, 1924, p.6
Bass, Harold F. (June 16, 2023). "Biography, Bob Cowley Riley (1924–1994)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, AR: Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
"Gold and Silver", by M. W. Von Bernewiz, in The Mineral Industry: Its Statistics, Technology and Trade during 1924, ed. by G. A. Roush (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1925) p.318
Mayakovsky, Vladimir (1986). Love is the Heart of Everything: Correspondence between Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik 1915-1930 (edited by Bengt Jangfeldt, translated by Julian Graffy). Edinburgh: Polygon. p.247. ISBN0-948275-04-9.
"Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No.27, 055. New South Wales, Australia. 20 September 1924. p.15. Retrieved 7 August 2016– via National Library of Australia.
"The Soviet Union's Secret Diplomacy Concerning the Chinese Eastern Railway, 1924–1925", by Bruce A. Elleman, in Journal of Asian Studies (1994), p. 468
"Lotta Crabtree, Actress, Is Dead; Stricken at the Age of 77, in a Hotel Where She Made Her Home in Boston". The New York Times. September 26, 1924. p.21.
Shields, Sarah D. (2000). Mosul before Iraq: Like Bees Making Five-Sided Cells. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p.25. ISBN0-7914-4488-0.
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