Events from the year 1919 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: Woodrow Wilson (D-New Jersey) Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall (D-Indiana) Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White (Louisiana) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Champ Clark (D-Missouri) (until March 4), Frederick H. Gillett (R-Massachusetts) (starting May 19) Congress: 65th (until March 4), 66th (starting March 4)
Events
January
January 1 – Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company. January 6 – Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, dies in his sleep at the age of 60. January 15 – The Boston Molasses Disaster: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150. January 16 – The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition, goes into effect in the United States. January 22 – The United States recognizes the independence of Poland. January 25 – The Hotel Pennsylvania opens in Manhattan.
February
February 6 – The Seattle General Strike begins. Over 65,000 workers strike. February 11 – The Seattle General Strike ends when Federal troops are summoned by the state of Washington's Attorney General. February 25 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon (.26¢/L) tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. February 26 – An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).
March
March 3 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the conviction of Charles Schenck. March 5 – A. Mitchell Palmer becomes Attorney General of the United States through recess appointment. March 15 – The American Legion forms in Paris.
April
April 13 – Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for speaking out against the draft during World War I. April 15 – Boston Telephone Strike of 1919 begins. Ends successfully for the telephone operators and supporters on April 20. April 30 – Several bombs are intercepted in the first wave of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings carried out by followers of Luigi Galleani.
May
May 1 – Riots break out on International Labor Day in Cleveland, Ohio; 2 people are killed, 40 injured, and 116 arrested. May 9 – The United States recognizes the independence of Finland. May 10 – Charleston riot in Charleston, South Carolina killing three black men; beginning of Red Summer. May 16 – A U.S. Navy Curtiss aircraft (NC-4), commanded by Albert Cushing Read, departs Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight. May 23 – The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is established as the Southern Branch of the University of California, making it the second-oldest undergraduate campus of the ten-campus University of California system. The school's motto is Fiat lux, "Let there be light."
June
June 2 – Eight mail bombs are sent to prominent figures as part of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings. June 4 – Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification. June 5 – Baltimore Mine Tunnel Disaster. June 15 – Pancho Villa attacks Ciudad Juárez. When the bullets begin to fly to the U.S. side of the border, two units of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment cross the border and repulse Villa's forces. June 28 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I. June – The Algonquin Round Table group of writers, critics, actors and wits led by Alexander Woollcott first meets at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
July
July 1 – "Thirsty First": The Wartime Prohibition Act comes into effect. July 6 – The British dirigible airship R34 lands at Mineola, New York, completing the first transatlantic flight by airship. July 7 – The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy: The U.S. Army sends an expedition across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to determine how well troops could be moved from one side of the country to the other by motor vehicles. July 18 – 1919 Kimball mining disaster. July 21 – Wingfoot Air Express crash: The Goodyear dirigible airship Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago and crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building; 2 passengers, 1 crew member, and 10 people on the ground are killed; 2 people parachute to the ground safely. July 27 – The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 begins when a white man throws rocks at a group of 4 black teens on a raft.