September 1923


The following events occurred in September 1923:

September 1, 1923 (Saturday)

September 2, 1923 (Sunday)

  • Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyōe was installed as Prime Minister of Japan as part of an "emergency cabinet" installed the day after the earthquake, and to fill the vacancy left by the August 24 death of Katō Tomosaburō.
  • The Kantō Massacre of non-Japanese ethnic minorities began in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake the day before, starting with vigilante groups targeting Korean residents on the island of Honshu, at first with the encouragement of local police, and then with the participation of police and the Imperial Japanese Army. An estimated 6,000 people of Korean, Chinese or Ryukyuan descent were killed after rumors were spread that minorities were seeking to overthrow the Japanese government during the chaos following the earthquake.
  • A "German Day" rally attended by over 100,000 nationalists was held in Nuremberg to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of victory over the French in the Battle of Sedan. Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff were in attendance as Nazis were among the paraders.
  • German Chancellor Gustav Stresemann suggested in a speech in Stuttgart that the passive resistance campaign in the Ruhr should be ended. "Every honest person in the Ruhr district and along the Rhine is longing for the hour when he will again return to work", Stresemann said. "This hour will have to come, and through German productive work the real solution of the conflict can be found. The purpose of passive resistance was to bring about this solution. We are ready to make the greatest material sacrifices, but we are not willing to give up the liberty of German soil."
  • Lon Chaney established his role as the "Man of 1,000 Faces" portraying Quasimodo in the debut of the popular silent film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, released by Universal Pictures and making its debut at the Astor Theatre in New York before going into nationwide release on September 6.
  • Died: J. Campbell Cantrill, 53, U.S. Congressman for Kentucky and Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky; died in the middle of his campaign for state office, six days after having undergone surgery for a ruptured appendix. William J. Fields, another incumbent U.S. Representative, was nominated by the Democratic Party's central committee to fill the vacancy left by Cantrill's death and would win the general election in November.

September 3, 1923 (Monday)

September 4, 1923 (Tuesday)

September 5, 1923 (Wednesday)

September 6, 1923 (Thursday)

September 7, 1923 (Friday)

September 8, 1923 (Saturday)

September 9, 1923 (Sunday)

September 10, 1923 (Monday)

September 11, 1923 (Tuesday)

September 12, 1923 (Wednesday)

September 13, 1923 (Thursday)

September 14, 1923 (Friday)

September 15, 1923 (Saturday)

September 16, 1923 (Sunday)

September 17, 1923 (Monday)

September 18, 1923 (Tuesday)

September 19, 1923 (Wednesday)

September 20, 1923 (Thursday)

September 21, 1923 (Friday)

September 22, 1923 (Saturday)

September 23, 1923 (Sunday)

September 24, 1923 (Monday)

  • Governor Walton of Oklahoma directed all citizen soldiers of the state to be prepared "with such arms as they possess or can obtain to come to the assistance of the sovereign state of Oklahoma when ordered to do so by the governor."
  • Murray State University began classes in the U.S. state of Kentucky as Murray State Normal School, with 202 students in at a former high school building until its permanent campus could be opened. Nearly 100 years later, it would have an enrollment of more than 9,000 students.
  • The U.S. Bureau of Fisheries vessel USFS Curlew rescued 58 of the 75 passengers and crew from the Canadian ferryboat Waubic.
  • Born: Ladislav Fuks, Czech novelist; in Prague, Czechoslovakia
  • Died: William Henry Ellis, 59, African-American entrepreneur and millionaire who had attempted to create a colony for African-Americans in Mexico's Tlahualilo Municipality

September 25, 1923 (Tuesday)

  • The German government, led by Friedrich Ebert, officially ended its campaign of passive resistance against occupying forces. In response, extremist groups, upset over Germany "losing another war", met to discuss overthrow of the government. Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler met in Munich with the top right-wing leaders who would form the Kampfbund and persuaded them to entrust him as their leader. Ernst Röhm would write later that Hermann Kriebel, Hitler, Hermann Göring of the Sturmabteilung, Adolf Heiss and Joseph Seydel of the Bund Reichskriegsflagge, and Friedrich Weber of the Bund Oberland, conferred on the situation and that "In a magnificent speech lasting two hours and a half, Hitler unraveled a gripping picture of the political situation, and at its conclusion requested us to entrust the full political leadership to him. Tears in his eyes... Heiss extended him his hand and acceded to his request, and Weber followed his example. I was also highly emotional, for I was seeing the concept take shape for which I had yearned for so long. Now I believed that the hour of our liberation was nearer..."
  • The first scheduled passenger airline service by flying boat commenced as British Marine Air Navigation Company began flights with three Supermarine Super Eagle aircraft on flights between Southampton in Britain, and Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands.
  • Born:
  • *John J. Graham, American graphic designer, designer of the NBC logo, in New York City

September 26, 1923 (Wednesday)

September 27, 1923 (Thursday)

September 28, 1923 (Friday)

September 29, 1923 (Saturday)

September 30, 1923 (Sunday)