February 1926


The following events occurred in February 1926:

February 1, 1926 (Monday)

February 2, 1926 (Tuesday)

February 3, 1926 (Wednesday)

  • By a decree of the Czechoslovakia's Prime Minister Thomas Masaryk, issued in accordance with the nation's Minorities Act, the Czech language became the government's official language, and all public officials and judges— not only those who used the Slovak language, but those in regions where German or Hungarian were the most common languages— were required to pass a test showing their fluency in Czech. "As a consequence," a historian would later note, "the civil service was depleted of German and Magyar officials, and dismissals did not spare even the most menial occupation. The replacements were Czech and, rarely, Slovak."
  • An explosion killed 20 coal miners at the Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company's No. 15 mine in Horning, Pennsylvania.
  • Spanish Army Colonel and future dictator of Spain Francisco Franco was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General at the age of 33, becoming the youngest general in Europe
  • Born:
  • *Hans-Jochen Vogel, German politician who was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1987 to 1991 during the period of Germany's reunification; in Göttingen, Free State of Prussia
  • *Glen Tetley, American ballet choreographer; in Cleveland
  • *Robert McGinnis, American illustrator known for designing cinema posters for major films, and covers for paperback books; in Cincinnati
  • Died: T. W. Ward, 72, founder of Britain's Thos W Ward Ltd. scrap metal company

February 4, 1926 (Thursday)

  • A $250 million, five-year plan to upgrade the United States Naval Air Force was submitted to the House Committee on Naval Affairs. The plan called to nearly double the number of Navy planes from 638 to 1,248 by the end of 1931.
  • Born: Dave Sands, Australian boxer who was the Australian heavyweight champion at the time of his death, and is one of the few people inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame despite never having held a world title; in Kempsey, New South Wales
  • Died: Mehmed Atıf Hoca, 51, Turkish Islamic philosopher and teacher, was hanged for violating Turkey's Hat Law.

February 5, 1926 (Friday)

  • Terrorists attacked a train that was traveling the railway from Moscow to Riga, with an ultimate destination of Berlin, specifically targeting a group of Soviet Foreign Ministry employees. After the train crossed the border out of the Soviet Union and into the Republic of Latvia, two armed men stopped the train between Ikšķile and Koknese to attack Soviet couriers L. F. Pecherskiy, Theodor Nette and his partner, with the apparent goal of stealing a diplomatic pouch. Two men, Antonijs Gabrilovich and Bronisławs Gabrilovich invaded the train compartment while carrying guns. Nette shot and wounded one gunman before being shot in the head, and Mahmastal, though wounded, stayed behind to guard the pouch while Pecherskiy escaped. The date of Nette's death is still observed on February 5 in Ikšķile by employees of the Russian Embassy in Latvia as part of the "All-Russian Day of Remembrance of Diplomatic Couriers Who Died in the Line of Duty".
  • A crowd of 10,000 people packed the streets of Los Angeles to watch the funeral procession of actress Barbara La Marr, who had died on January 30 at the age of 29. Numerous injuries were reported as onlookers, mostly women, rushed forward to get a view of the silver coffin.
  • Born:
  • *Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, American publisher of The New York Times from 1963 to 1992 and chairman of its board of directors from 1973 to 1997; in Southampton, New York
  • *Seiichi Miyake, Japanese engineer and inventor known for his invention of tactile paving, textured surfaces for roadsides, stairs and railway platforms to aid people with a visual impairment; in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.
  • Died: Carl Hau, German lawyer and convicted murderer who published two books about his 1907 crime after his parole in 1924, shot himself in the head while awaiting an appeal of his conviction for violating his probation.

February 6, 1926 (Saturday)

February 7, 1926 (Sunday)

February 8, 1926 (Monday)

February 9, 1926 (Tuesday)

  • Prince Faisal, son of the Sultan of Nejd and King of Hejaz, Ibn Saud, took office as the Viceroy of Hejaz, the Governor-General of the recently conquered Kingdom of Hejaz, and the highest ranking resident of the King. He would continue until the 1932 unification of the dual monarchy into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Flooding hit London suburbs after 18 consecutive days of rain raised the level of the River Lea, "causing scenes without parallel in London." Homes in Leyton, Tottenham, Chingford and Walthamstow were threatened by water as high as.
  • The Reichstag passed a declaration responding to Mussolini's speech of February 6, stating that Germany "vigorously rejects the Italian prime minister's objectively unjustifiable and insultingly phrased attacks and sneers." It went on to say, "Although the German people desire nothing more than to promote their own restoration in peaceful coöperation with other peoples, they will not permit themselves to be hindered from demanding the just treatment of German minorities under foreign sovereignty."
Born:

February 10, 1926 (Wednesday)

  • Germany formally applied to join the League of Nations, and a special session of the League Council was scheduled for February 12.
  • The war of words between Germany and Italy continued, as Mussolini warned the League of Nations to stay out of the South Tyrol dispute and reaffirmed that Italy would "not accept any discussion of this matter by any assembly or council." Germany responded that it considered the matter closed until such time as it could be addressed by the League.
  • Gdynia gained city rights in Poland.
  • Born:
  • *Bernard Lewis, English businessman who founded the River Island fashion clothing chain of stores and one of the 100 wealthiest people in the UK; as Bernard Pokrasse in Finsbury Park
  • *Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer; in Belfast

February 11, 1926 (Thursday)

February 12, 1926 (Friday)

February 13, 1926 (Saturday)

February 14, 1926 (Sunday)

February 15, 1926 (Monday)

February 16, 1926 (Tuesday)

  • The two best women's tennis players in the world, Suzanne Lenglen of France and Helen Wills of the U.S., faced each other at Cannes in an event billed as "The Match of the Century". At the time, Lenglen was the reigning 1925 champion of the French Open and of Wimbledon, and ranked as the number one women's player in the world, while Wills was the 1925 U.S. Open champion, her third consecutive crown. In their only match against each other during their careers, with the format of the best two of three sets, Lenglen won the first set, 6 to 3. In the second Wills had a 5 to 4 lead over Lenglen, and was even congratulated by Lenglen on a shot that appeared to have won the set and would have forced a third match. Instead, linesman Charles Hope ruled that Wills had not won, and play continued. In extra sets, Lenglen came back to win, 8 games to 6 and took both the set and the match.
  • Born:
  • *John Schlesinger, English-born American film director, winner of the 1969 Academy Award for Best Director for Midnight Cowboy; in Hampton, London
  • *Jean Patchett, American fashion model; in Preston, Maryland
  • *Rayene "Ray" Simpson, Australian soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross for his heroism during the Vietnam War; at Redfern, New South Wales
  • *Margot Frank, German-born Dutch older sister of Anne Frank and concentration camp victim; in Frankfurt
  • Died: George West, American cattle rancher and founder of the town of George West, Texas; in Bath Springs, Tennessee

February 17, 1926 (Wednesday)

  • The Grand National Assembly of Turkey approved the Turkish Civil Code, a secular set of rules to replace the Muslim Sharia code except for religious matters. The new code, intended to modernize law in the same manner as the Swiss Civil Code to provide civil rights to the nation's women, acknowledging their entitlement to have the same rights as men. Among other things, women were given the right to choose any profession, civil marriage was made compulsory, and polygamy was banned, but would not be granted the right to vote until 1934.
  • In the U.S., an avalanche in Utah's Bingham Canyon killed 79 men, women and children in the copper mining town of Highland Boy.
  • In the harbor of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidadian steamer Naparima sank after colliding with an ocean liner, the Vandyck of the Lamport and Holt Line. Eleven passengers and crew on the Naparima drowned, while the remainder were rescued by fishing boats.
  • In soccer football, the national team of Colombia
  • *Friedrich Cerha, Austrian opera composer; in Vienna

February 18, 1926 (Thursday)

  • In Greece, President Theodoros Pangalos carried out the arrest and deportation of 15 opposition leaders, including former premier Alexandros Papanastasiou and former Interior Minister Georgios Kondylis. Papanastasio and the others were deported to the island of Anafi, the most remote of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. Pangalos ordered that "all firearms, except those used for sport", such as hunting rifles, were to be delivered to police authorities by March 30 after which police would have the right to search for and confiscate firearms.
  • Ayn Rand arrived in the United States.
  • At Slough in England, the French auto manufacturer Citroën opened what would become "the largest factory under one roof in Britain", with 500,000 square feet of workshops that would eventually produce 200 cars per day. Chairman Andre Citroën said in a speech that he hoped that the combination of French engineers and British workmen would work well, and that vehicles would range in price from $775 to $1,225.
  • Born: Len Ford, American football player and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee; in Washington, D.C.

February 19, 1926 (Friday)

February 20, 1926 (Saturday)

February 21, 1926 (Sunday)

February 22, 1926 (Monday)

February 23, 1926 (Tuesday)

  • In Mexico City, 7 Catholics were killed in clashes between rioters and government agents who were taking over the Church of the Holy Family.
  • U.S. President Calvin Coolidge expressed opposition to ex-general Billy Mitchell's advocation of a large air force, saying it would make the United States a militaristic nation and lead to an arms race.

February 24, 1926 (Wednesday)

February 25, 1926 (Thursday)

February 26, 1926 (Friday)

February 27, 1926 (Saturday)

February 28, 1926 (Sunday)