Another year has passed. Every year I look back to see what was happening 100 years ago. On January 3, 1925 – Benito Mussolini made a pivotal speech in the Italian Chamber of Deputies which will be regarded by historians as the beginning of his dictatorship.
Two days later, on January 5, 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor (Wyoming) in the United States. From January 27–February 1, 1925, the 1925 serum run to Nome relays diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled across the U.S. Territory of Alaska to combat an epidemic.
Art Gillham recorded the first Western Electric masters to be commercially released, on Columbia Records, on February 25, 1925. Calvin Coolidge was sworn in for a full term as President of the United States, on March 4, 1925, in the first inauguration to be broadcast on radio. The British Royal Air Force bombards mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan, Pink’s War, March 9 – May 1, 1925.
The Chinese province of Yunnan suffered a 7.0 earthquake, on March 16, 1925, killing 5000. The Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest in U.S. history, on March 18, 1025, rampages through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people and injuring 2,027.
It hits the towns of Murphysboro, Illinois; West Frankfort, Illinois; Gorham, Illinois; Ellington, Missouri; and Griffin, Indiana. On April 1, 1925, the Patent and Trademark Office was transferred to the Department of Commerce. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published on April 10, 1925. Fritz Haarmann, a serial killer convicted of the murder of 24 boys and young men, was guillotined in Germany on April 15, 1925.
African American Tom Lee rescued 32 people from the sinking steamboat M.E. Norman, on May 8, 1925, on the Mississippi River. English explorer Percy Fawcett sent a last telegram to his wife before he disappeared in the Amazon on May 29, 1925.
On June 6, 1925, the Chrysler Corporation was founded as an automobile manufacturer by Walter Percy Chrysler in the United States. American engineer Charles Francis Jenkins achieved the first synchronized transmission of pictures and sound, on June 13, 1925, using 48 lines and a mechanical system in “the first public demonstration of radiovision”. On June 29, 1925, the 6.8 Mw Santa Barbara earthquake affected the central coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent),
destroying much of downtown Santa Barbara, California, and leaving 13 people dead. On July 18, 1925, Adolf Hitler published Volume 1 of his manifesto Mein Kampf in Germany. English racing motorist Malcolm Campbell became the first man to exceed 150 mph on land when on July 21, 1925,
at Pendine Sands in Wales, he drove a Sunbeam 350HP automobile at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph. On August 8, 1925, the Ku Klux Klan, the largest fraternal racist organization in the United States, demonstrated its popularity by holding a parade with an estimated 30,000-35,000 marchers in Washington, D.C.
On October 1, 1925, Mount Rushmore National Memorial was dedicated in South Dakota. On, October 2, 1925, in London, UK, John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the first television pictures with a greyscale image. On November 28, 1925, the weekly country music-variety radio program Grand Ole Opry was first broadcast on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, as the “WSM Barn Dance”.
On December 12, 1925, the first motel in the world, the Milestone Mo-Tel (later the Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo), opened in San Luis Obispo, California.
Births
On January 6, 1924, John DeLorean (d. 2005), an American car maker was born. Harry Stradling Jr. (d. 2017), was born on January 7, 1925, be was an American cinematographer. On January 9, 1925, Lee Van Cleef (d. 1989), an American actor was born. On January 12, 1925, Katherine MacGregor (d. 2018), an American actress was born.
On January 13, 1925, both Rosemary Murphy (d. 2014), an American actress, and Gwen Verdon (d. 2000), an American actress and dancer were born. Joan Leslie (d. 2015), an American actress, and Paul Newman (d. 2008), an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, and philanthropist were born.
American Computer Science inventor Douglas Engelbart (d. 2013), was born on January 30, 1925. Shelley Berman (d. 2017), an American comedian and actor was born on February 3, 1925, as was American actor John Fiedler (d. 2005). On February 8, 1925, Jack Lemmon (d. 2001), an American actor and film director was born. On February 17, 1925, American actor Hal Holbrook (d. 2021), was born.
On the same date, American actor, George Kennedy (d. 2016), was born. On February 20, 1925, Robert Altman (d. 2006), an American film director was born. On February 21, 1925, Sam Peckinpah (d. 1984), an American film director was born. On February 25, 1925, Lisa Kirk (d. 1990), an American actress and singer was born.
Louis Nirenberg (d. 2020) was born on February 28, 1925, a Canadian-American mathematician, considered one of the most outstanding mathematicians of the 20th century. Paul Mauriat (d. 2006) was a French orchestra leader born on March 4, 1925. John Tate (d. 2019), an American mathematician was born on March 13, 1925.
Gene Ammons (d. 1974), an American jazz saxophonist, and Rod Steiger (d. 2002), an American actor were born on April 14, 1925. Bob Hastings (d. 2014), an American actor (McHales Navy), was born on April 18, 1925. Hugh O’Brian (d. 2016), an American soldier and actor was born on April 19, 1925. Elena Verdugo (d. 2017), an American actress was born on April 20, 1925.
Scott Carpenter (d. 2013), an American astronaut (Mercury Seven), was born May 1, 1925 (d. 2015). Yogi Berra, an American baseball player, was born on May 12, 1925. Malcolm X (d. 1965), was an African-American civil rights activist, born on May 19, 1925. Tony Curtis (d. 2010), an American actor, was born on June 3, 1925. Bill Hayes (d. 2024), an American actor and singer (The Ballad of Davy Crockett), was born on June 5, 1925.
Barbara Bush (d. 2018), a First Lady of the United States, was born June 8, 1925. Pierre Salinger (d. 2004), a White House Press Secretary, was born on June 15, 1925. Audie Murphy (d. 1971), an American World War II hero and actor, was born on June 20, 1925. Maureen Stapleton (d. 2006), an American actress, was born on June 21, 1925. June Lockhart, an American actress (Lassie and Lost in Space), was born on June 25, 1925.
Cara Williams (d. 2021), an American actress, was born on June 29, 1925. Farley Granger (d. 2011), an American actor, was born on July 1, 1925. Marvin Rainwater (d. 2013), an American country, rockabilly singer and songwriter, was born on July 2, 1925. On July 6, 1925, Merv Griffin (d. 2007), an American game show host, producer, talk show host, and singer, was born as well as
Bill Haley (d. 1981), an American musician. Sue Thompson (d. 2021), an American pop and country singer, was born on July 19, 1925. Joseph Sargent (d. 2014), an American film director (White Lightning, and MacArthur), was born on July 22, 1925. Barbara Bates (d. 1969), an American actress and singer, was born on August 6, 1925.
Ginny Tyler (d. 2012), an American voice actress (Disney films Bambi, Babes in Toyland, Mary Poppins, and The Sword in the Stone), was born on August 6, 1925. On August 15, 1925, Mike Connors (d. 2017), an American actor (Mannix), and Oscar Peterson (d. 2007), a Canadian jazz pianist were born.
Honor Blackman (d. 2020), an English actress (Pussy Galore in Goldfinger), was born on August 22, 1925. Donald O’Connor (d. 2003), an American actor, singer, and dancer, was born on August 28, 1925. Art Pepper (d. 1982), an American musician, was born on September 1, 1925.
Peter Sellers (d. 1980), an English comedian and actor (Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series), was born on September 8, 1925. Mel Tormé (d. 1999), an American musician, was born on September 13, 1925. B.B. King (d. 2015), an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, and Morgan Woodward (d. 2019), an American actor (Dallas and Cool Hand Luke), was born on September 16, 1925.
Marty Robbins (d. 1982), an American singer-songwriter and race car driver, was born on September 26, 1925. An American author, Gore Vidal (d. 2012) was born on October 3, 1925. Gail Davis (d. 1997), an American actress (Annie Oakley), was born on October 6, 1925. Lenny Bruce (d. 1966), an American comic, was born on October 13, 1925, as well as Margaret Thatcher (d. 2013), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
Angela Lansbury (d. 2022), an Irish-British-born American actress (National Velvet, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Murder She Wrote), was born on October 16, 1925. Johnny Carson (d. 2005), an American comedian and television host, was born on October 23, 1925. Doris Roberts (d. 2016), an American actress (Remington Steele and Everybody Loves Raymond, was born on November 4, 1925.
Richard Burton (d. 1984), a Welsh actor, best known for his role in Cleopatra, was born November 10, 1925. Jonathan Winters (d. 2013), an American actor and comedian, was born on November 11, 1925. Rock Hudson (d. 1985), an American actor, was born on November 17, 1925. Robert F. Kennedy (d. 1968), an American politician, Attorney General of the United States, and a leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate, was born on November 20, 1925.
Johnny Mandel (d. 2020), an American composer and conductor, was born on November 23, 1925. William F. Buckley Jr. (d. 2008), an American journalist, author, and commentator, was born November 24, 1925. Julie Harris (d. 2013), an American actress (East of Eden and I Am a Camera), was born on December 2, 1925. Sammy Davis Jr. (d. 1990), an American singer, dancer, musician, and actor, was born on December 8, 1925.
Dick Van Dyke, an American actor, singer, and dancer, was born on December 13, 1925. Robert B. Sherman (d. 2012), an American songwriter (The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), was born on December 19, 1925.
Deaths
George Bellows (b. 1882), was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, “the most acclaimed American artist of his generation.” He died on January 8, 1025. Fanny Bullock Workman, an American geographer, writer, and mountain climber (b. 1859), died on January 22, 1925.
Oliver Heaviside (b. 1850), a British mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations, died on February 3, 1925. Floyd Collins (b. 1887), an American cave 457explorer, principally in a region of Kentucky that houses hundreds of miles of interconnected caves, is today a part of Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest-known cave system in the world. He died on February 13, 1925.
James Lane Allen (b. December 21, 1849) was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel A Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. He died on February 18, 1925. On February 23, 1925, James H. Wilson (b. 1837), an American Union Army major general died. William A. Clark (b. 1839), an American entrepreneur and politician, involved with mining, banking, and railroads, died on March 2, 1925.
John Montgomery Ward (b. March 1860), was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, manager, executive, union organizer, owner, and author. The MLB Hall of Famer died on March 4, 1925. Amy Lowell (b. 1874), an American poet and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry died on May 12, 1925. On May 15, 1925, Nelson A. Miles (b. 1839), an American general died. Thomas R. Marshall (b. 1854), the 28th Vice President of the United States (to Woodrow Wilson), died on June 1, 1925. Christy Mathewson (b. 1880), an American baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer, died on October 7, 1925.
James Buchanan Duke (b. 1856), an American tobacco and electric power industrialist, and founder of the American Tobacco Company, died on October 10, 1925. On November 12, 1925, an American tennis player, Robert Wrenn (b. 1873) died. He was a left-handed tennis player, a four-time U.S. singles championship winner, and one of the first inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Karl Abraham (b. 1877), a German psychoanalyst and a collaborator of Sigmund Freud, (who called him his ‘best pupil’). He died on December 25, 1925.
Nobel Prizes
James Franck and Gustav Ludwig Hertz were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1925 for their pioneering experiments on the behavior of electrons in gases. Their work, known as the Franck-Hertz experiment,
provided experimental confirmation of quantum theory by demonstrating that electrons could only gain or lose energy in discrete quantities when interacting with atoms. This groundbreaking research was crucial for understanding atomic structure and paved the way for modern quantum mechanics.
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925 for his work on colloids and the invention of the ultramicroscope. His research clarified the properties of colloidal solutions, which are mixtures where fine particles are dispersed in another substance. By using the ultramicroscope, Zsigmondy was able to observe and study particles that were too small to be seen with ordinary microscopes, revolutionizing the study of materials science and chemistry.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was not awarded in 1925. During this era, the Nobel Committee sometimes chose not to award prizes in categories where no nomination met the required standard of “the greatest benefit to humankind.” George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright, critic, and social reformer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 for his work characterized by both literary artistry and humanitarian ideals.
Shaw’s plays, including Pygmalion and Saint Joan, are celebrated for their wit, critical social commentary, and exploration of human rights and societal reform. Despite initially declining the prize, Shaw later accepted it, donating the monetary award to advance cultural and linguistic research.
Austen Chamberlain and Charles Gates Dawes shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for their roles in promoting international reconciliation and diplomacy. Chamberlain, a British statesman, was recognized for his contributions to the Locarno Pact,
which sought to ensure peace in Western Europe after World War I. Dawes, an American banker and politician, was honored for the Dawes Plan, a financial arrangement that restructured Germany’s reparations payments, easing post-war tensions and fostering economic stability.
Further Reading
Sources
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/
- Nobel Prize https://www.nobelprize.org/
- Famous Birthdays https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1925.html
- On This Day https://www.onthisday.com/deaths/date/1925
- Infoplease “Top News Stories from 1925” https://www.infoplease.com/year/1925
