What Happened in April 1924

Historical Events

Adolf Hitler Sentenced

Apr 1 Adolf Hitler sentenced to 5 years labor for "Beer Hall Putsch" but General Ludendorff acquitted

  • Apr 1 Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co
  • Apr 1 Imperial Airways forms in Britain
  • Apr 1 The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.

Topkapi Palace Converted

Apr 3 Istanbul's Ottoman Topkapi Palace is converted into a museum on orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

  • Apr 6 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight
  • Apr 6 Italy fascists receives 65% of vote of parliament
  • Apr 6 Völkische Block (Nazis) receives 17.8% of vote in Bavaria
  • Apr 8 South African State pass the Industrial Conciliation Act No 11: provides for job reservation, excluded blacks from membership of registered trade unions, prohibited registration of black trade unions
  • Apr 10 Tubular steel golf club shafts approved for championship play
  • Apr 11 1st men's college swimming championships begin
  • Apr 11 Socialists win Danish parliamentary elections
  • Apr 11 WLS-AM in Chicago IL begins radio transmissions
  • Apr 12 WLS-AM in Chicago begins radio transmissions
  • Apr 13 Greek plebiscite for a republic
  • Apr 15 Flemish-Walloon riots in Louvain, Belgium, 1 dead
  • Apr 15 Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.
  • Apr 15 WHO-AM in Des Moines Iowa begins radio transmissions
  • Apr 16 1st radio-transmission of wireless: Mattheus Passion
  • Apr 16 Child labor laws strengthened in Holland
  • Apr 17 Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures & Louis B Mayer Co merged to form Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)
  • Apr 18 1st crossword puzzle book published by Simon & Schuster
  • Apr 19 "National Barn Dance" premieres on WLS Chicago

28th Boston Marathon

Apr 21 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar for the third consecutive year in 2:29:40.2; 4th race victory

  • Apr 22 Hague Chambers of Commerce forms
  • Apr 23 British Empire Exhibition opens at Wembley, London
  • Apr 27 Antwerp soccer tie Belgium-Netherlands 1-1
  • Apr 28 119 die in coal mine disaster at Benwood, West Virginia
1924 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Apr 1 Brendan Byrne, American politician (Governor of New Jersey 1974-82), born in West Orange, New Jersey (d. 2018)
  • Apr 1 Čkalja [Miodrag Petrović], Serbian actor and one of the most popular comedians of former Yugoslavia, born in Kruševac, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (d. 2003)
  • Apr 1 Günther Becker, German classical and electro-acoustic composer, born in Forbach, Germany (d. 2007)
  • Apr 2 Bobby Ávila, Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (MLB All-Star 1952, 54, 55; AL batting champion 1954; Cleveland Indians), born in Veracruz City, Mexico (d. 2004)
  • Apr 2 Denis Rooke, British engineer and CEO (British Gas), born in New Cross, London (d. 2008)
  • Apr 2 Wallace "Bud" Smith, American boxer (World lightweight title 1955-56), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1973)
  • Apr 3 Joseph Kerman, American educator and musicologist (Contemplating Music: Challenges to Musicology), born in London, England (d. 2014)

Marlon Brando (1924-2004)

Apr 3 American actor (The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire; On the Waterfront), born in Omaha, Nebraska

  • Apr 3 Murray Dickie, Scottish opera singer and director, born in Bishopton, Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1995)
  • Apr 4 Chris Prater, English screenprinter, born in London (d. 1996)

Gil Hodges (1924-1972)

Apr 4 American Baseball HOF 1st baseman (8 x MLB All Star; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers; NY Mets; World Series 1955, 59, 69; Gold Glove Award 1957–59) and manager (Washington Senators, NY Mets), born in Princeton, Indiana

  • Apr 5 Mart Kempers, Dutch graphic artist and sculptor, born in Enschede, Netherlands (d. 1993)
  • Apr 6 Charlie Rouse, American hard bop tenor saxophonist (Thelonious Monk Quartet; Sphere), born in Washington, DC (d. 1988)
  • Apr 7 (Johannes Mario) J.M. Simmel, Austrian writer (It Can't Always Be Caviar), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2009)
  • Apr 7 Ikuma Dan, Japanese composer (Yūzuru), born in Toyko (d. 2001)
  • Apr 7 Nick Perito, American pianist, accordion player, arranger and orchestra leader (Perry Como; Muzak; The Don Knotts Show), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2005)
  • Apr 8 Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English army officer (NATO Commander) and historian, born in Coventry, England (d. 2006)
  • Apr 8 Frédéric Back, German-born Canadian short film director and screenwriter (The Man Who Planted Trees), born in Saarbrücken, The Territory of the Saar Basin (d. 2013)
  • Apr 9 Harald Heilmann, German composer, born in Aue, Germany (d. 2018)
  • Apr 10 Kenneth Noland, American Color Field painter, born in Asheville, North Carolina (d. 2010)
  • Apr 10 Lee Bergere, American actor (Star Trek, Soap, Dynasty), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007)
  • Apr 12 Curtis Turner, American auto racer (184 NASCAR races over 17 years, 17 wins), born in Floyd, Virginia (d. 1970)
  • Apr 12 Julius Moormann, Dutch student and resistance fighter (WWII), born in Nijmegen, Netherlands (d. 1944)
  • Apr 12 Peter Safar, Austrian physician (pioneered cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2003)
  • Apr 12 Sergiu Natra [Nadler], Romanian-Israeli composer (Symphony in Red, Blue, Yellow and Green), and music professor (Tel Aviv University, 1975-85), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 2021)
  • Apr 13 Jack Chick, American religious cartoonist (Chick tracts), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2016)
  • Apr 13 Stanley Donen, American film director and producer (Singin' in the Rain, Bedazzled, Damn Yankees), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 2019)
  • Apr 14 Shorty Rogers [Milton Rajonsky], American jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player, arranger, and composer, born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
  • Apr 15 John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham, British writer and historian, born in Westminster, London (d. 2001)
  • Apr 15 Neville Marriner, English violinist (London Symphony, 1954-69), and conductor (Academy of St Martin in the Fields, 1958-2011; Minnesota Orchestra, 1979-86), born in Lincoln (d. 2016)

Henry Mancini (1924-1994)

Apr 16 American Grammy and Academy Award-winning film and television composer (Breakfast at Tiffany's; Peter Gunn; Pink Panther films), arranger, and conductor, born in Cleveland, Ohio

  • Apr 16 Geoffrey Johnson Smith, Scottish Conservative politician (1959-2001), born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 2010)
  • Apr 16 John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and chairman of ICI (1982-87), born in Hackney, London (d. 2008)
  • Apr 17 Althea Simmons, American human rights activist and chief lobbyist (NAACP), born in Shreveport, Louisiana (d. 1990)
  • Apr 17 Donald Richie, American-born author and (Japanese) film critic, born in Lima, Ohio (d. 2013)
  • Apr 17 Patrick Sergeant, British investor and founder (Euromoney Publications)
  • Apr 18 Buxton Orr, Anglo-Scottish composer, born in Glasgow (d. 1997)
  • Apr 18 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American blues singer ("Mary Is Fine"), born in Vinton, Louisiana (d. 2005)
  • Apr 18 Henry Hyde, American politician (Rep-R-Illinois 1975-2007), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2007)
  • Apr 18 Roy Mason [Baron Mason of Barnsley], British defense secretary and Labour MP, born in Royston, England (d. 2015)
  • Apr 20 Gerhard Samuel, American conductor and composer, born in Bonn, Germany (d. 2008)
  • Apr 20 Leslie Phillips, British stage and screen, screen, and radio actor (Carry On; Harry Potter films), born in Tottenham, England (d. 2022) [1]
  • Apr 20 Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (The Ten Commandments; Spartacus; An American in Paris), born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 2008)
  • Apr 20 Paul Van Buren, American theologist (Theological Explorations), born in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 1998)
  • Apr 21 Daniel Melnick, American television and film producer (Get Smart; Ages of Man; Roxanne), and studio executive, born in New York City (d. 2009)
  • Apr 21 Ira Louvin [Loudermilk], American country singer and mandolin player (Louvin Brothers), born in Section, Alabama (d. 1965)
  • Apr 23 Arthur Frackenpohl, American composer, arranger, and pedagogue (Natural Superiority of Music), born in Irvington, New Jersey (d. 2019)
  • Apr 23 Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz and session drummer, and bandleader, born in Elgin, Illinois (d. 2007)
  • Apr 23 Colin Welch, British political journalist and critic of Enid Blyton's Noddy series, born in Ickleton Abbey, Cambridgeshire (d. 1997)
  • Apr 24 Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2009)
  • Apr 24 Ruth Kobart [Kahn], American actor and singer (King's Quest VII, Forum), born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 2002)
  • Apr 24 Yehoshua Lakner, Israeli pianist, composer (Circles and Signals; Cornerstones), and teacher, born in Bratislava, Slovakia (d. 2003)
  • Apr 25 Erzsébet Szőnyi, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2019)
  • Apr 25 Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, conductor, classical concert, opera, and film score composer (Death in Venice; Il diavolo in giardino), born in Palermo, Italy (d. 2005)
  • Apr 28 Blossom Dearie, American jazz singer and pianist, born in East Durnham, New York (d. 2009)
  • Apr 28 Donatas Banionis, Lithuanian actor (Solaris, Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment), born in Kaunas, Lithuania (d. 2014)
  • Apr 28 Kenneth Kaunda, 1st President of Zambia (1964-91), born in Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) (d. 2021)
  • Apr 29 Al Balding, Canadian golfer (first Canadian to win PGA Tour event in US, 4-time winner), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2006)
  • Apr 29 Renée "Zizi" Jeanmaire, French dancer and actress (Carmen; Hans Christian Andersen), born in Paris, France (d. 2020)

Sheldon Harnick (1924-2023)

Apr 30 American musical theater lyricist (Fiorello; Fiddler on the Roof), born in Chicago, Illinois [1]


Born in 1924

Famous Deaths

  • Apr 1 Stan Rowley, Australian athlete (Olympic gold 5,000m team, bronze 60m, 100m, 200m 1900), dies at 47
  • Apr 2 Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming, Danish botanist (plant ecology, environment-organism interactions), dies at 82

Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)

Apr 14 American architect (father of skyscrapers), dies at 67

  • Apr 14 Roland Napoléon Bonaparte, French prince and president of the Société de Géographie, dies at 65
  • Apr 15 Eduardo Caudella, Romanian opera composer, dies at 82
  • Apr 16 Jack Board, English cricket wicket-keeper (Eng in 6 Tests 1898-1906), dies at 57
  • Apr 21 Eleanora Duse, Italian actress (La Gioconda, La Locandiera), dies at 64
  • Apr 24 George Street, English cricket wicket-keeper (1 Test, 1 dismissal; Surrey CCC, MCC), dies in a road accident at 34
  • Apr 24 Granville Stanley Hall, American pioneering psychologist, dies at 78
  • Apr 26 Josef Labor, Austrian composer, dies at 82