1920
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar)
| Years: 1917 1918 1919 - 1920(MCMXX) - 1921 1922 1923 |
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| Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s |
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| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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Contents |
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Events
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January
- January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk.
- January 9 - Britain announces it will build 1,000,000 homes for war veterans. The promise will never be fulfilled in full.
- January 9 - Thousands of onlookers watch as "The Human Fly" George Polley, climbs the New York Woolworth Building. He has reached the 30th floor when a policeman arrests him for climbing without a permit
- January 10 - League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.
- January 15 - Prohibition goes into effect in the United States with the Eighteenth Amendment coming into effect.
- January 16 - Allies demand that the Netherlands extradite the German Kaiser, who has fled there.
- January 19 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
- January 22 - The Australian Country Party is officially formed.
- January 23 - The Netherlands refuses to extradite the German Kaiser.
- January 28 - The Spanish legion is founded and stationed in North Africa to fight rebels in Morocco.
- January 28 - Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire and all non-Turkish areas.
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February
- February 1 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
- February 2 - Estonia's independence is recognised.
- February 2 - France occupies Memel.
- February 9 - League of Nations gives Spitzbergen to Norway.
- February 10 - Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
- February 17 - Woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to mental hospital, where she claims she is Anastasia.
- February 14 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
- February 22 - In Emeryville, California, the first dog racing track to employ an imitation rabbit opens.
- February 24 - Adolf Hitler presents his national socialist program in Munich.
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March
- March - World's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden. Hjalmar Branting takes over when Nils Edén resigns.
- March 1 - Hungarian Admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary
- March 1 - The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.
- March 13-March 17 - Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike.
- March 15 ? Red Army of Ruhr, communist army 60.000 men strong, formed
- March 19 - US Congress refuses to ratify Versailles Treaty.
- March 23 - Admiral Horthy declares that Hungary is a monarchy without anyone on the throne.
- March 26 - German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against rebellious Ruhr Red Army in the French-occupied area.
- March 26 - The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland
- March 29 - Sir William Robertson, who enlisted in 1877, becomes a field marshal in the British Army, the first man to rise to this rank from private
- March 31 - Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in British parliament.
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April-May
- April 2 - German army marches to Ruhr to fight Red Ruhr Army.
- April 4 - Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 ? Violence between Arabic and Jewish resident in Jerusalem ? governor declares the state of siege
- April 6 - French troops occupy Frankfurt.
- April 6 - The short-lived Far Eastern Republic declared in eastern Siberia
- April 11 - Mexican Revolution - Alvaro Obregon flees from Mexico City during a trial intended to ruin his reputation - he flees to Guerrero where he joins Fortunato Maycotte
- April 19 - Germany and Bolshevist Russia agree to the exchange of prisoners of war.
- April 20 - Alvaro Obregon announces in Chilpancingo that he intends to fight against the rule of Venustiano Carranza
- April 23 - National council in Turkey denounces the government of sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
- April 24 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish and Ukrainian troops attack Soviet army occupying Ukraine.
- May 2 - The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- May 7 - Polish-Soviet War: Polish troops occupy Kyiv. Ukrainian government returns to the city.
- May 7 - Venustiano Carranza leaves Mexico City in a large train
- May 9 - Alvaro Obregon's troops enter Mexico City
- May 15 - Maria Bochkareva executed in Soviet Union
- May 16 - Referendum in Switzerland is favorable to joining League of Nations.
- May 16 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
- May 17 - French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
- May 17 - First flight of KLM, Dutch air company, from Amsterdam to London.
- May 20 - Venustiano Carranza arrives in San Antonio Tlaxcalantongo. Troops of Rodolfo Herrero attack him at night and shoot him
- May 24 - Venustiano Carranza is buried in Mexico City - all of his mourning allies are arrested. Adolfo de la Huerta is elected provisional president
- May 24 - French president Paul Deschanel falls out of a train and is later found wandering
- May 27 - Thomas Masaryk becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
- May 29 - Great Horncastle flood. 20 people killed.
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June-July
- June 4 - Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Peace between The Allied and Hungary.
- June 12 - Polish-Soviet War: Red Army retakes Kyiv.
- June 13 - The United States Postal Service rules that children may not be sent via parcel post
- June 15 - New border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
- June 22 - Greece attacks Turkish troops.
- July 1 - Germany declares its neutrality in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia
- July 2 - Polish-Soviet War: Red Army continues offensive into Poland.
- July 10 - Arthur Meighen becomes Canada's ninth prime minister.
- July 12 - Bolshevist Russia recognizes independent Lithuania.
- July 13 - London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs.
- July 14 - France declares that Faisal I of Syria is deposed and occupies Damascus and Aleppo
- July 17 - Republic of Mirdite proclaimed near Albanian-Serbian border with Yugoslav support
- July 22 - Polish-Soviet War: Poland sues for peace with Bolshevist Russia.
- July 25 - First transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.
- July 26 - Pancho Villa takes over Sabina and contacts de la Huerta to offer his conditional surrender. He signs his surrender in July 28
- July 29 - The United States Bureau of Reclamation begins contruction of the Link River Dam as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
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August-September
- August 2 - British parliament passes bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials.
- August 3 - Catholics riot in Belfast.
- August 10 - Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives signs the Treaty of Sevres.
- August 11 - Bolshevik Russia recognizes independent Estonia and Latvia.
- August 13 - August 25 - Polish-Soviet War: The Red Army is defeated in the Battle of Warsaw.
- August 15 - Town Hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots.
- August 18 - 19th Amendment to US constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 19 August-25 August - Second Silesian Uprising, the Poles in Upper Silesia rise against the Germans
- August 20 - The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
- September 4 - La Tercio de Extranjenos, the "Regiment of Foreigners" (modern-day Spanish Legion) inaugurated in Spain
- September 5 - Presidential elections begin in Mexico
- September 8 - Gabriele D'Annunzio declares Fiume a free state.
- September 16 - The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City - 39 dead, 400 injured
- September 20 - The first soldier joins the Spanish Legion.
- September 22 - Flying Squad formed in London Metropolitan Police.
- September 29 - First domestic radio sets come to stores in USA – Westinghouse radio costs $10.
- September 29 - Adolf Hitler's makes first public political speech, in Austria.
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October-November
- October 9 - Polish troops take Vilnius
- October 10 - In the Carinthian Plebiscite a large part of Carinthia Province votes to become part of Austria rather than of the Yugoslavia.
- October 12 - Polish-Soviet War After Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa, the ceasefire is enforced.
- October 18 - Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London ? 50 injured
- October 26 - Alvaro Obregon is announced elected president of Mexico
- October 27 - League of Nations moves its headquarters to Geneve, Switzerland
- November 2 - Warren G. Harding defeats James M. Cox in the U.S. presidential election, the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.
- November 2 - In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
- November 11 - Unknown Soldier buried in Westminster Abbey.
- November 15 - In Geneva, the first assembly of the League of Nations is held.
- November 17 - Council of League of Nations accepts the constitution of Danzig(Gdansk) free state.
- November 21 - Bloody Sunday - British forces open fire on spectators and players during a Football match in Dublin's Croke Park, following the assassinations of 12 British agents.
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December
- December 1 - Álvaro Obregón becomes president of Mexico.
- December 5 - Referendum in Greece is favorable to reinstatement of monarchy.
- December 11 - Martial law in Ireland.
- December 16 - Finland joins the League of Nations.
- December 16 - 8.6 Richter scale Earthquake causes landslide in Gansu Province, China - 180.000 dead.
- December 23 - United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.
- December 25 - Foundation of The Rosicrucian Fellowship's Spiritual Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California (USA).
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Undated
- Number of US Americans move to Paris to escape the Prohibition
- France prohibits selling of contraceptives.
- Roman Ungern von Sternberg conquers Urga and declares himself as a ruler of Mongolia.
- Kurd rebellion in Turkey begins.
- Johnny Torrio invites Al Capone to Chicago, Illinois from New York City, New York.
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Births
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January
- January 1 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
- January 2 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
- January 3 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
- January 5 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
- January 6 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist
- January 6 - John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
- January 6 - Early Wynn, baseball player (d. 1999)
- January 12 - Bill Reid, Canadian artist (d. 1998)
- January 19 - Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian United Nations Secretary General
- January 20 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
- January 20 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- January 20 - John O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal
- January 23 - Gottfried Böhm, German architect
- January 30 - Delbert Mann, American television and film director
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February-March
- February 7 - An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)
- February 11 - Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
- February 11 - Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
- February 11 - Paul Peter Piech, American artist (d. 1996)
- February 12 - William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (d. 2000)
- February 17 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian film director (d. 2001)
- February 18 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
- February 18 - Eddie Slovik, U.S. Army private (d. 1945)
- February 26 - Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
- February 29 - Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
- March 3 - James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (d. 2005)
- March 3 - Ronald Searle, British cartoonist
- March 11 - Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 14 - Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- March 15 - Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
- March 16 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
- March 17 - Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- March 19 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian poet and artist (d. 2002)
- March 20 - Pamela Harriman, English-born U.S. Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
- March 22 Werner Klemperer, German actor (d. 2000)
- March 25 - Patrick Troughton, British actor (d. 1987)
- March 25 - Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)
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April
- April 1 - Toshirô Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
- April 2 - Jack Webb, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1982)
- April 5 - Arthur Hailey, American writer
- April 7 - Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player
- April 11 - Peter O'Donnell, British cartoonist and writer
- April 15 - Thomas Stephen Szasz, Hungarian-born psychiatrist and writer
- April 13 - Liam Cosgrave, President of Ireland
- April 27 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- April 29 - Harold Shapero, American composer
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May
- May 2 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
- May 6 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (d. 2004)
- May 9 - Richard Adams, English author
- May 18 - Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
- May 18 - Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
- May 23 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
- May 26 - Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)
- May 28 - Gene Levitt, American television writer, producer, and director (d. 1999)
- May 29 - John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- May 30 - Franklin Schaffner, American film and television director (d. 1989)
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June-July
- June 2 - Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (d. 2003)
- June 12 - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
- June 12 - Jim Siedow, American actor (d. 2003)
- June 16 - José López Portillo, President of Mexico (d. 2004)
- July 10 - David Brinkley, American television reporter (d. 2003)
- July 10 - Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 17 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish International Olympic Committee president
- July 21 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
- July 24 - Bella Abzug, American politician (d. 1998)
- July 25 - Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (d.1958)
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August-December
- August 8 - Leo Chiosso, Italian poet
- August 16 - Charles Bukowski, American writer (d. 1994)
- August 18 - Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- August 21 - Christopher Robin Milne, English author and bookseller (d. 1996)
- August 22 - Ray Bradbury, American writer
- August 29 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
- September 10 - Fabio Taglioni, Italian motorcycle engineer (d. 2001)
- September 14 - Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer
- September 14 - Lawrence Klein, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 22 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (d. 1993)
- September 29 - Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 1 - Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor (d. 2001)
- October 1 - Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
- October 6 - Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (d. 2005)
- October 8 - Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
- October 9 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
- October 15 - Mario Puzo, American author (d. 1999)
- October 31 - Fritz Walter, German football player (d. 2002)
- November 5 - Douglass North, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 21 - Stan Musial, baseball player
- November 23 - Paul Celan, Romanian-born poet (d. 1970)
- November 25 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, King of Malaysia (d. 2000)
- November 25 - Ricardo Montalban, Mexican actor
- November 25 - Noel Neill, American actress
- November 27 - Abe Lenstra, Dutch football player (d. 1985)
- December 6 - Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer
- December 6 - George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- December 9 - Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
- December 24 - Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- December 30 - Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)
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Date unknown
- Patrick Campbell Rodger, Anglican bishop (d. 2002)
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Deaths
- January 2 - Paul Adam, French writer (b. 1862)
- January 3 - Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1888)
- January 4 - Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
- January 6 - Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathematician (b. 1839)
- January 7 - Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
- January 18 - Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet (b. 1825)
- January 24 - William Percy French, Irish songwriter and entertainer (b. 1854)
- January 24 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (tuberculosis) (b. 1884)
- January 24 - William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, British diplomat and administrator (b. 1864)
- January 26 - Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist, model, and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani (suicide) (b. 1898)
- February 2 - Field E. Kindley, American World War I aviator (b. 1896)
- February 3 - Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
- February 6 - Augustus F. Goodridge, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1839)
- February 7 - Aleksandr Kolchak, Russian naval commander (b. 1874)
- February 15 - Joseph Burton Sumner, founder of Sumner, Mississippi (b. 1837)
- February 20 - Joseph J. Fern, Mayor of Honolulu (b. 1872)
- February 20 - Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (b. 1856)
- February 27 - William Sherman Jennings, Governor of Florida (b. 1863)
- March 1 - John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama (b. 1842)
- March 1 - William A. Stone, Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1846)
- March 1 - Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (b. 1880)
- March 4 - Roswell P. Bishop, U.S. Congressman from Michigan (b. 1843)
- March 11 - Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
- March 13 - Charles Lapworth, English geologist (b. 1842)
- March 26 - William Chester Minor, American surgeon (b. 1834)
- March 26 - Mary Augusta Ward, Tasmanian novelist (b. 1851)
- March 31 - Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (b. 1837)
- March 31 - Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland (b. 1848)
- April 8 - John Brashear, American astronomer (b. 1840)
- April 8 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
- April 9 - Moritz Cantor, German historian of mathematics (b. 1829)
- April 21 - Maria L. Sanford, American educator (b. 1836)
- April 26 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
- May 1 - Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (b. 1882)
- May 9 - Agnes Macdonald, wife of John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1836
- May 11 - James Colosimo, Italian-born gangster (b. 1877)
- May 11 - William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
- May 16 - Levi P. Morton, Vice President of the United States (b. 1824)
- May 21 - Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)
- May 21 - Eleanor H. Porter, American novelist (b. 1868)
- May 23 - Svetozar Borojevic, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b. 1856)
- May 30 - George Ernest Morrison, Australian adventurer (b. 1862)
- June 5 - Rhoda Broughton, Welsh writer (b. 1840)
- June 5 - Julia A. Moore, American poet (b. 1847)
- June 6 - James Dunsmuir, Canadian politician (b. 1851)
- June 13 - Essad Pasha, Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1863)
- June 14 - Gabrielle Réjane, French actress (b. 1856)
- June 14 - Max Weber, German political economist (b. 1864)
- June 18 - Jewett W. Adams, Governor of Nevada (b. 1835)
- June 18 - John Macoun, Irish born naturalist (b. 1831)
- June 20 - Marie Adolphe Carnot, French chemist, mining engineer, and politician (b. 1839)
- June 20 - John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1838)
- June 27 - Adolphe Basile Routhier, Canadian poet (b. 1839)
- July 1 - Delfim Moreira, President of Brazil (b. 1868)
- July 10 - John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
- July 11 - Empress Eugénie of France (b. 1826)
- July 14 - Albert Keller, German painter (b. 1844)
- July 22 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, American heir (b. 1849)
- August 1 - Frank Hanly, Governor of Indiana (b. 1863)
- August 1 - Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist (b. 1856)
- August 2 - Ormer Locklear, American pilot (b. 1891)
- August 9 - Samuel Griffith, Australian politician and judge (b. 1845)
- August 10 - Adam Politzer, Austrian otologist (b. 1835)
- August 12 - Hermann Struve, Russian-born astronomer (b. 1854)
- August 16 - Henry Daglish, Premier of Australia (b. 1866)
- August 16 - Joseph Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (b. 1836)
- August 17 - Ray Chapman, baseball player (b. 1891)
- August 22 - Anders Zorn, Swedish painter (b. 1860)
- August 26 - James Wilson, Scottish-born American politician (b. 1835)
- August 31 - Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist and psychologist (b. 1832)
- September 7 - Simon-Napoléon Parent, Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)
- September 10 - Olive Thomas, American actress (b. 1894)
- September 18 - Robert Beaven, Canadian politician (b. 1836)
- September 24 - Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian jeweler (b. 1846)
- September 25 - Jacob Schiff, German-born banker and philanthropist (b. 1847)
- September 30 - William Wilfred Sullivan, Canadian journalist, politician, and jurist (b. 1843)
- October 2 - Winthrop M. Crane, Governor of Massachusetts and Senator (b. 1853)
- October 10 - Hudson Stuck, English mountaineer (b. 1865)
- October 19 - John Reed, American journalist (b. 1887)
- October 20 - Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)
- October 24 - Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (b. 1853)
- November 4 - Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1858)
- November 13 - Luc-Olivier Merson, French painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
- November 23 - George Callaghan, British admiral (b. 1852)
- November 25 - Gaston Chevrolet, Swiss-born automobile race driver and manufacturer (b. 1892)
- November 30 - Eugene W. Chafin, American politician (b. 1852)
- December 3 - William de Wiveleslie Abney, English astronomer and photographer (b. 1843)
- December 11 - Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
- December 12 - Edward Gawler Prior, Canadian mining engineer and politician (b. 1854)
- December 14 - George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
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