1919
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
Years: 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 - 1919 - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924
Events
- XWA (now CFCF),in Montreal, Quebec is the first public radio station in North America to go the air.
- January 1 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company
- January 11 - Romania annexes Transylvania.
- January 15 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people
- January 15 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland
- January 16 - The 18th Amendment, authorizing Prohibition, goes into effect in the United States
- January 18 - World War I: A peace conference opens in Versailles, France.
- January 18 - Bentley Motors is founded
- January 23 - Hans Haas, zoologist and underwater scientist
- January 23 - Ernie Kovacs, comedian (+ 1962)
- January 25 - The League of Nations is founded
- February 1 - The first Miss America is crowned (New York City).
- February 11 - Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
- February 23 - Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.
- February 25 - Oregon places a 1 cent per gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
- February 26 - An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
- March 2 - The first Communist International meets in Moscow
- March 15 - The American Legion forms in Paris
- March 23 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- May 4 - May Fourth Movement opposes foreign colonizers in China
- May 29 - Einstein's theory of General Relativity confirmed by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total eclipse of the Sun
- November - at end of month health officials declare global Spanish Flu Pandemic over
- The Åland Islands vote for a return to Swedish rule in a referendum.
- Les Champs Magnetiques, the first automatic book, is written by Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault.
- December 30 - Lincoln's Inn, in London admits its first women bar student.
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1919 in film
- 1919 in literature
- 1919 in music
- 1919 in fashion
- Marcel Tolkowsky's Diamond Design is published.
- 1919 in sports
- The Black Sox scandal -- Seven members of the Chicago White Sox take bribes to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds
Births
- January 1 - J. D. Salinger, novelist
- January 13 - Army Archerd, Hollywood journalist
- January 13 - Robert Stack, actor
- January 14 - Andy Rooney, television journalist
- January 25 - Edwin Newman, journalist, writer
- January 31 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player
- January 27 - Ross Bagdasarian, musician, actor (+ 1972)
- January 31 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (+ 1972)
- February 5 - Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician (+ 1996)
- February 5 - Red Buttons, actor
- February 11 -Gretchen Fraser, slalom skier.
- February 11 - Eddie Robinson, football coach.
- February 12 - Forrest Tucker, actor (+ 1986)
- February 13 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, musician (+ 1991)
- March 2 - Jennifer Jones, actress
- March 11 - Mercer Ellington, musician, composer (+ 1996)
- March 15 - Lawrence Tierney, actor (+ 2002)
- March 17 - Nat King Cole, singer (+ 1965)
- March 24 - Lawrence Ferlinghetti, author and publisher
- March 30 - McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor (+ 1996)
- May 3 - Pete Seeger, singer and musician
- June 5 - Richard Scarry, children's author
- July 7 - Jon Pertwee, actor
- October 11 - Art Blakey, jazz drummer
- October 22 - Doris Lessing, British writer
- November 10 - Mikhail Kalashnikov - Soviet inventor
Deaths
- January 6 - Theodore Roosevelt
- February 17 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada
- April 4 - Sir William Crookes, chemist and physicist
- December 3 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French painter.
- Physics - Johannes Stark
- Chemistry - not awarded
- Medicine - Jules Bordet
- Literature - Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler
- Peace - Thomas Woodrow Wilson