May 1921

[May 1], 1921 (Sunday)

• 1921 Jaffa riots: The activities of the Jewish Communist Party, calling for the establishment of a "Soviet Palestine", culminate in a march through the Jewish-Arab border neighbourhood of Manshiyya, where they clash with the rival socialist Ahdut HaAvoda group, leading to large-scale rioting involving Jews, Christians, Arabs and Muslims.

  [May 2], 1921 (Monday)

• The third Silesian civil war begins with "Operation Bridges", in which the Wawelberg Group, destroy German rail bridges.
• Giovanni Ancillotto flies across the Andes in Peru in an Ansaldo A.1 Balilla, making the journey from Lima to Cerro de Pasco in 1 hour 35 minutes, at an average altitude of 5,500 meters, reaches a maximum altitude of 7,000 meters while passing Mount Meiggs; he covers the 76 miles from Lima to La Oroya at an average speed of 230 km/hr.
• The Japanese passenger ship Tokuyo Maru catches fire and sinks in the Pacific Ocean. The US army ship Buford rescues 65 survivors.
• Born: Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, music composer, graphic artist, lyricist and author, in Calcutta
• Died: Yosef Haim Brenner, 39, Russian-born Hebrew writer, murdered in the Jaffa Riots.

  [May 3], 1921 (Tuesday)

• The province of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom, under the Government of Ireland Act.
• The government of France calls up 200,000 men in preparation for the occupation of Germany's Ruhr Valley.
• Born: Sugar Ray Robinson, US boxer, in Ailey, Georgia

  [May 4], 1921 (Wednesday)

• In the UK, the Hastings by-election brought about by the resignation of Laurance Lyon is won by the Coalition Unionist candidate Eustace Percy.

  [May 5], 1921 (Thursday)

• The London Schedule of Payments sets World War I reparations for Germany and its allies at 132 billion gold marks.
• The lowest attendance in the history of The Football League is recorded when only 13 paying spectators attend a football match between Leicester City and Stockport County F.C. in England.
• Died: Alfred Hermann Fried, 56, Austrian Jewish pacifist writer and Nobel laureate

  [May 6], 1921 (Friday)

• A Provisional Treaty is signed in Berlin, by which Germany recognises the Soviet regime in Russia.

  [May 7], 1921 (Saturday)

• The 47th Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs and is won by Behave Yourself.

  [May 8], 1921 (Sunday)

• The 1921 Copa del Rey football tournament concludes in the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, with Athletic Bilbao winning the trophy with a 4-1 victory over Atlético Madrid.

  [May 9], 1921 (Monday)

• Born: Joseph Beuys, German "Fluxus" artist, in Krefeld

  [May 10], 1921 (Tuesday)

• Joseph Wirth replaces Constantin Fehrenbach as Chancellor of Germany.
• The first performance of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, at the Teatro Valle in Rome, meets with a mixed response, provoking a brawl.

  [May 11], 1921 (Wednesday)

• Thousands of people riot in Kanchrapara after workers on the East Bengal State Railway in British India go on strike.

  [May 12], 1921 (Thursday)

• The Dutch cargo ship Stad Schiedam runs aground at Marstenen Bo, Norway, and is beached.

  [May 13], 1921 (Friday)

• In the Penrith and Cockermouth by-election to the UK Parliament, caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist Member of Parliament, James Lowther, Lowther's brother Cecil Lowther elected as Coalition candidate with a majority of 31.
• The US schooner Miztec founders in Lake Superior, off Vermillion Point, Michigan, with the loss of its seven crew.

  [May 14], 1921 (Saturday)

• May 1921 geomagnetic storm: A geomagnetic storm, caused by a solar outburst, begins, lasting until May 17 and causing damage in North America, Europe and the southern hemisphere.
• The British coaster Karatara catches fire off Cape Town, South Africa, and is abandoned with no loss of life.

  [May 15], 1921 (Sunday)

• In the Italian general election, the Liberal governing coalition of Giovanni Giolitti fails to obtain a majority. The Italian Socialist Party is left with only 122 seats. Benito Mussolini is elected for the first time.
• US stunt pilot Laura Bromwell sets a new record for consecutive loops by a woman, with a total of 199 consecutive loops in 1 hour 20 minutes over New York State.
• Born: Baron Vaea, Tongan politician, Prime Minister 1991–2000

  [May 16], 1921 (Monday)

• The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia is founded at a conference in Prague.

  [May 17], 1921 (Tuesday)

• The UK's Ministry of Labour, under Thomas James Macnamara, issues an order confirming general minimum time-rates, piece-work basis time-rates and overtime rates for male and female workers.

  [May 18], 1921 (Wednesday)

• Born: Patrick Dennis, US writer, in Chicago

  [May 19], 1921 (Thursday)

• The Emergency Quota Act, a piece of immigration legislation affecting the flow of "undesirables" into the United States, comes into effect.

  [May 20], 1921 (Friday)

• The Spanish cargo ship Manuel Carsi begins leaking and sinks in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Vilano, Algeria. The crew are rescued.

  [May 21], 1921 (Saturday)

• Born: Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist, dissident and peace campaigner, in Moscow

  [May 22], 1921 (Sunday)

• Born: Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist, dissident, peace campaigner and Nobel laureate, in Moscow

  [May 23], 1921 (Monday)

• The Leipzig War Crimes Trials open in Germany.
• Born: Humphrey Lyttelton, English jazz musician and broadcaster, in London

  [May 24], 1921 (Tuesday)

• In the Northern Ireland's first general election, the Ulster Unionist Party wins a two-thirds majority of votes cast and more than three-quarters of the seats in the new Parliament.
• The British cargo ship Atua hits rocks and is beached at Naitonitoni, Fiji. She was refloated on 6 June.

  [May 25], 1921 (Wednesday)

• Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin. The violence results in the deaths of five Republicans, and the capture of another 80 by the British Army.
• Born: Hal David, US songwriter, in New York City
• Died: Émile Combes, Prime Minister of France 1902–1905, 85

  [May 26], 1921 (Thursday)

• A general strike is proclaimed in Norway, in support of seamen threatened with a 30% wage cut.
• The US schooner Esperanto hits a submerged wreck in the Atlantic Ocean off Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and founders.

  [May 27], 1921 (Friday)

• Osage Indian murders: The discovery of the body of Anna Brown in a ravine in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States, leads to a large-scale murder investigation, potentially involving hundreds of victims over a twenty-year period.
• The state of emergency in the United Kingdom is renewed by royal proclamation in response to the continuation of the miners' strike.

  [May 28], 1921 (Saturday)

• The Communist Party of Canada meets for the first time, secretly, in a barn in Guelph, Ontario.
• The British cargo ship William Finglay sinks in the North Sea south east of Tod Point, Yorkshire.
• British tanker Antiope catches fire at Sourabaya, Netherlands East Indies, and is a total loss. Its crew are rescued.

  [May 29], 1921 (Sunday)

• The 11th Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycle race takes place in Belgium and is won by Louis Mottiat.

  [May 30], 1921 (Monday)

• The 1921 Indianapolis 500 is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the United States and is won by Tommy Milton.
• Born: Jamie Uys, South African film director, in Boksburg

  [May 31], 1921 (Tuesday)

• Tulsa race riot: White mobs attack black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. 26 black and 10 white people are killed; it is estimated that 150–200 black and 50 white people were injured.