What Happened in March 1919

Historical Events

Augustus Does His Bit

Mar 12 George Bernard Shaw's comedy play "Augustus Does His Bit" premieres in NYC

Mar 15 American Legion forms (Paris)

Elius Erweckung

Mar 16 Frank Wedekind's play "Elius Erweckung" premieres in Hamburg

Mar 17 Dutch steel workers strike for 8 hr day & minimum wages
Mar 18 Order of DeMolay forms in Kansas City

Littérature

Mar 19 Literary Magazine "Littérature", edited by André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon publishes its first issue

The Politburo Five

Mar 23 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo which becomes the center of political power in the Soviet Union. Original members Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Krestinsky.

Marxist Revolutionary and Soviet Leader Vladimir Lenin

Mar 23 Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, designated as the first autonomous republic of Soviet Russia

Mussolini Forms Fascist Movement

Mar 23 Benito Mussolini forms Fascist group Fasci di Combattimento (Italian Fighting Bands) in Milan, Italy - later reorganized into National Fascist Party

League of Nations

Mar 25 Woodrow Wilson's dream of a League of Nations becomes a reality after the League Covenant is adopted at the Paris Peace Conference

Mar 28 78th Grand National: Ernie Piggott wins aboard Poethlyn; shortest price winner in history at 11-4
Mar 30 Belgian Army occupies Düsseldorf

Rowlatt Act

Mar 30 Gandhi announces resistance against Rowlatt Act

Pacifist and Spiritual Leader Mahatma Gandhi

Mar 30 Paul Claudel's "Tête d'Or" premieres in Paris
Mar 31 Strike against Ruhrgebied government of Scheidemann

Events in 1919

Famous Birthdays

Mar 1 João Goulart, Brazilian politician (President of Brazil. 1961-64), born in São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (d. 1976)
Mar 2 Eddie Lawrence, American comedian and monologist (The Old Philosopher), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2014) [1]

Jennifer Jones (1919-2009)

Mar 2 American actress (Farewell to Arms), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Mar 2 Tamara Toumanova, Georgian-American prima ballerina (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo), born in Tyumen, Russian (d. 1996)
Mar 3 Enzo Stuarti [Scapone], Italian-American pop tenor ("That's A'Nice!"), born in Rome, Italy (d. 2005)
Mar 4 Buck Baker, American auto racer (Grand National Series Champion 1956. 57; NASCAR Speedway Div Champion 1952), born in Charlotte, North Carolina (d. 2002)
Mar 6 Maurice Grosse, British paranormal investigator (d. 2006)
Mar 6 Wanda Luzzato, Italian concert violinist and teacher, born in Varese, Lombardy, Italy (d. 2002)
Mar 7 Jocelyn Hambro, British financier (Hambros Bank), born in London, England (d. 1994)
Mar 7 Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian writer (Twilight in Jakarta), born in Padang, Dutch East Indies (d. 2004)
Mar 8 Ivor Keys, British organist, musicologist, and academic (University of Nottingham; University of Birmingham), born in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England (d. 1995)
Mar 10 Marion Hutton [Thornburg], American singer (Glenn Miller Orchestra, 1938-42), and actress (In Society), born in Battle Creek, Michigan (d. 1987) [1]
Mar 11 Mercer Ellington, American composer, bandleader, and son of Duke Ellington, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1996)
Mar 13 Faye Glenn Abdellah, American pioneer in nursing research and US government official (health services), born in New York City (d. 2017)
Mar 14 Luther Henderson Jr, American orchestra leader (Polly Bergen Show), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2003)
Mar 14 Max Shulman, American novelist (Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Tender Trap), born in St Paul, Minnesota (d. 1988)
Mar 15 John Gregson, British actor (Gideon CID, The Longest Day, Shirley's World), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1975)
Mar 15 Lawrence Tierney, American actor (Abduction, Dillinger, Reservoir Dogs), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
Mar 15 Randy Brooks, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader ("Harlem Nocturne'), born in Sanford, Maine (d. 1967)
Mar 16 Ernő Király, Yugoslavian composer and ethnomusicologist, born in Subotica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (d. 2007)
Mar 17 Hank Sauer, American baseball left fielder (NL MVP, HR leader, RBI leader 1952; MLB All Star 1950, 52; Chicago Cubs), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2001)

Nat King Cole (1919-1965)

Mar 17 American jazz pianist and pop vocalist ("Unforgettable", "Mona Lisa"), born in Montgomery, Alabama

Mar 18 Christopher Challis, British cinematographer (worked with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), born in London, England (d. 2012)
Mar 18 Laila Schou Nilsen, Norwegian alpine skier (Olympic bronze combined; won the non-medal downhill 1936) and speed skater (unofficial World C'ship gold 1935, 37, 38; 5 x WR), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1998)
Mar 18 Len Johnson, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, 6 wickets, BB 3/8; Queensland), born in Ipswich, Australia (d. 1977)
Mar 19 Lennie Tristano, American jazz pianist (The New Tristano), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1978)
Mar 21 Lois Collier [Madelyn Earle Jones], American actress (A Night in Casablanca, Boston Blackie, Slave Girl), born in Salley, South Carolina (d. 1999)
Mar 23 Carl Graffunder, American mid-century modernist architect in Minnesota, born in Rock Island, Illinois (d. 2013)
Mar 23 Michael Lyne, British Air Vice-Marshal (d. 1997)
Mar 24 John J. Duncan Sr., American politician (Rep-R-TN, 1965-1988), born in Huntsville, Tennessee (d. 1988)
Mar 24 Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American beat poet (Coney Island of the Mind), born in Bronxville, New York (d. 2021) [1]
Mar 24 Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian of economic thought (The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers), born in New York City (d. 2005)
Mar 25 Jeanne Cagney, American stage, screen, and radio actress (Lion is in the Streets; Quicksand; Yankee Doodle Dandy), born in New York City (d. 1984)
Mar 26 Ed Hinton, American actor (I Lived 3 Lives - "Agent Henderson"), born in North Carolina (d. 1958)

Strother Martin (1919-1980)

Mar 26 American actor (Cool Hand Luke ; Slapshot), born in Kokomo, Indiana

Mar 27 Julian Amery, British conservative politician and minister, born in London (d. 1996)
Mar 27 Simon van Collem, Dutch journalist and TV host (Amsterdamned), born in Amsterdam (d. 1989)
Mar 28 Jacob Avshalomov, Russian-American composer (Symphony of Songs; The Oregon), conductor (Portland Youth Philharmonic, 1954-91), and pedagogue, born in Tsingtao, China (d. 2013)
Mar 28 Tom Brooks, Australian cricket umpire (23 Tests 1970-78), born in Paddington, Australia (d. 2007)
Mar 28 Vic Raschi, American baseball pitcher (4 × MLB All-Star; 6 × World Series; AL strikeout leader 1951; NY Yankees), born in West Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1988)
Mar 29 Eileen Heckart, American actress (Butterflies Are Free, Doll's House, Trauma Center), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2001)
Mar 30 McGeorge Bundy, American national security adviser for JFK (1961-66), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
Mar 30 Ramsay Ames [Phillips], American actress, model and dancer (The Mummy's Ghost; Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1998)
Mar 31 Chet Gierlach, American music publisher, jazz and popular song composer ((The Funniest Bird I've Heard of) The Kiwi (Kee Wee) Bird), born in New Castle, Pennsylvania (d. 1995)

Born in 1919

Famous Divorces

Gloria Swanson & Wallace Beery

Mar 1 Actress Gloria Swanson (19) divorces actor Wallace Beery (31) after 2 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Mar 2 Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (b. 1812)
Mar 5 Jozef Surzynski, composer, dies at 67
Mar 8 Auguste Tolbecque, French cellist and composer, dies at 88
Mar 8 LaMarcus Thompson 'Father of the American roller coaster', American inventor (Switchback Railway), dies at 71 [1]
Mar 10 Amelia E. Barr, British-born American writer (Remember the Alamo), dies at 87
Mar 11 Harald Fryklöf, Swedish composer, dies at 36
Mar 14 Roger Atkinson Pryor, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 90
Mar 16 Sigurd von Koch, Swedish composer, dies at 39
Mar 25 Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German painter, poet and sculptor (Seated Youth), commits suicide at 38

On This Day