The month of January has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in January 1926.
The first radio station in Ireland, 2RN, begins broadcasting on January 1.
General Theodoros Pangalos declares a state of emergency in Greece and assumes dictatorial powers on January 3. General Pangalos had become Prime Minister of Greece in June 1925 after orchestrating a coup d’etat.
Great War cemeteries in France are submerged on January 7 due to ongoing downpours affecting various areas throughout Europe. The same rains flood the London subway system as well.
Gracie Allen and George Burns are married by a justice of the peace in Cleveland on January 7. The newlyweds ultimately gain renown as the comedy duo Burns and Allen.
Twelve-year-old Prince Nguyen Phœc Thuy is crowned Emperor of Vietnam on January 8. The prince’s father, Emperor Khai Dinh, died two months earlier on November 6.
Herman, Henry and Hillel Hassenfeld incorporate the Hassenfeld Brothers company on January 8. The company initially manufactures school supplies but eventually begins to make toys under the name “Hasbro.”
Twenty Mexican rebels open fire aboard a train traveling from Guadalajara to Mexico City on January 9. The bandits escape with the equivalent of $150,000 USD.
The four-masted schooner Prinz Valdemar capsizes on January 10, blocking all ship traffic in and out of Biscayne Bay and the harbor of Miami, Florida. All aboard are rescued unharmed, but two ocean liners are prevented from leaving the harbor.
United States Representative John W. Langley of Kentucky resigns from Congress on January 11. Langley’s resignation comes after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed his jail sentence for violating prohibition laws by illegally selling alcohol to New York-based bootleggers with ties to organized crime.
Michael Bond is born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, on January 13. Bond would survive a 1943 air raid in Reading during World War Two before authoring his first book, A Bear Called Paddington, in 1958.
Twenty-year-old Ayn Rand departs Russia by train on January 17. Rand’s early life in Communist Russia heavily influenced the philosophy reflected in many of her more notable works.
Voting rights activist Indiana Little leads several hundred Black men and women on a march to the Jefferson County registrar’s office in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 18. Little is arrested for disturbing the peace and would not be registered to vote for another 30 years.
Multiple ships near New York City are threatened by a gale on January 20. The U.S. luxury liner SS President Roosevelt completes a rescue of the British freighter SS Antinoe on January 28 after initial reports indicating the latter ship sank in the storm.
Chaplin Court Treatt and Stella Court Treatt complete the first successful journey across Africa by motorcar on January 24. The duo began their journey one year, four months and 11 days before completing the trip in Cairo, Egypt.
Speaking on behalf of the British Empire Cancer Campaign during a luncheon on January 25, British surgeon Sir Berkeley Moynihan says that cancer of the tongue is traceable to two things, including smoking.
Violette Neatley Anderson becomes the first African American woman to be admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 29.
The Chamber of Deputies passes “Law Number 100” on January 31. The law grants Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini the right to issue judicial norms without prior consultation with the Italian parliament.
