The following events occurred in January 1922:
January 1, 1922 (Sunday) A delegation of the Far Eastern Republic in Washington, D.C. revealed what it claimed to be secret documents revealing a military alliance between France and Japan, seeking to secure Japanese domination of Siberia in exchange for stabilization of French interests in Russia. France and Japan both denounced the documents as forgeries. Belgium officially instituted bilingualism, with documents to be printed in both French and Dutch. Born: Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, U.S. Senator for South Carolina from 1966 to 2005; in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 2019) Died: István Kühár, 34, Slovene (Prekmurje Slovene) writer and politician
January 2, 1922 (Monday) In the Rose Bowl, two of college football's undefeated and untied teams, the Washington & Jefferson Presidents (10-0-0) and the California Golden Bears (9-0-0) played to a 0 to 0 tie in Pasadena, California. The Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book lists both teams (along with three others) as the unofficial champion of the 1921 college football season. On the same day, in the other major postseason college game of the time, the once-beaten (4-1-2) Aggies of Texas A&M defeated the previously undefeated and untied (10-0-0) Praying Colonels of Centre College, 22 to 14, at Dallas, Texas. The game was also notable for the introduction of the "12th Man" tradition of Texas A&M, when a student spectator is called to be ready to enter the game. The Soviet government published statistical data showing that 1,766,118 people had been executed since the October Revolution. The value of the German mark fell to 1/32,000th of the British pound or 133rd of a British penny. With an exchange rate of $4.86 to the British pound, the U.S. dollar was worth 6,600 German marks, and American banks refused to accept the mark for payment of debts. Died: Suddha Dibyaratana, 44, Princess of Rattanakosin, and member of Thai royalty as the daughter of King Chulalongkorn, died from tuberculosis.
January 3, 1922 (Tuesday)
American inventor Hiram A. Farrand was granted U.S. Patent #1,402,589 for his creation of the "concave-convex" steel tape, flexible and slightly curved for ease of extension and retraction, setting the standard now used for the pocket tape measure. The "Farrand Rapid Rule" design, marketed in the 1920s by the Brown Company, set the standard still used in metallic tape measures. The "Peace dollar", the new design for the American silver dollar by the United States Mint, was put into circulation six days after the striking of the first coins (dated 1921) on December 28. In compliance with the Treaty of Ankara, signed on October 20, France began the withdrawal of its occupation forces from Turkey, starting with the departure of French Army troops in the Mersin Province. Romania and Latvia established diplomatic relations. Born: Sunwoo Hwi, South Korean novelist; in Chongju, Japanese Korea (now located in North Korea) (d. 1986)
January 4, 1922 (Wednesday) In India, the massive tall Asian Elephant Guruvayur Keshavan was donated to the Guruvayur Temple by royal family of Nilambur. Keshavan, about 10-years old at the time of his capture, would serve at the temple for almost 55 years until his death on December 2, 1976. Representatives of Belgium, France and Great Britain met at Cannes for a conference on Germany's inability to make reparations payments. Born: Tian Jiaying, Chinese teacher and editor who served as the personal secretary for Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong from 1948 until his suicide during the Cultural Revolution (d. 1966)
January 5, 1922 (Thursday) London Times correspondent A.B. Kay was kidnapped by armed members of the Irish Republican Army. Kay had been having lunch in a pub across from the Dáil Éireann when three men with revolvers burst in and abducted him, angry over a story he'd written regarding public opinion in Cork over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Kay was released that same night. The Washington Naval Conference adopted a declaration outlawing submarine warfare against merchant ships. Occupational troops of the French Army the French Armenian Legion withdrew their occupational forces from the Turkish city of Adana after three years of enforcement against further actions against the Turkish Armenian minority. Died: Ernest Shackleton, 47, Anglo-Irish polar explorer, died from a heart attack caused by the blockage of his coronary artery by atheroma plaque. Shackleton's ship, Quest RYS, had arrived at South Georgia Island less than 24 hours earlier and was preparing to enter Antarctic waters as part of the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition. Alfred Dolge, 73, German-born American inventor, industrialist and reformer