CLEVELAND, Ohio – Our eighth annual 100-year lookback covers famous firsts, births, deaths, inventions, milestones and more. We take a glimpse at life in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States and the world, as well as the arts, prizes and disasters.
COMING WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20: 1921 in sports
UPDATED: Here are our lookbacks at 2022 and sports in 2022
Heading for 100
The following people were born in 1921 and are still alive:
Fashion icon Iris Apfel
“Hurricane” Hazel McCallion, who served as mayor of Mississauga near Toronto from 1978 to 2014
Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II
Born in 1921 …
Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who was on the 1988 Democratic ticket as vice president
Journalist Ben Bradlee (Washington Post editor during Watergate)
Entertainer Carol Channing
Feminist Betty Friedan
Ohio native, astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn (above photo, top right)
Alan Hale (Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island”)
Author Alex Haley (“Roots”) (above photo, top left)
Actress Betty Hutton
Tenor Mario Lanza
First Lady Nancy Reagan
Actress Donna Reed (“It’s a Wonderful Life”)
Producer Gene Roddenberry (“Star Trek”) (The enterprise is shown in above photo, bottom left)
Actress Jane Russell (above photo, bottom right)
Actor Abe Vigoda (“The Godfather,” “Barney Miller”)
… died in 1921
Famed Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, known as the first recording star. He was 48.
Life in the United States
Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman - dubbed “The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America” - wins what becomes known as the first Miss America competition.
After a Black man is accused of raping a white woman, a mob burns a Tulsa, Oklahoma, neighborhood known as “Black Wall Street.” More than 300 people are killed, the segregated area is left in ruins, and no whites are arrested during the riot.
With the passage of a 2¢ per-package tax, Iowa becomes the first state to pass a cigarette tax.
West Virginia imposes the nation’s first state sales tax.
In a high-profile case reeking of anti-immigrant sentiment, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are convicted of killing the paymaster at the shoe company they worked for. They are put to death six years later in Massachusetts.
The final five San Francisco firehorses are retired, ending an era.
Life expectancy is 60 years for men, 61.8 for women.
Coco Chanel launches iconic perfume Chanel No. 5.
Most popular baby names are John and Mary.
A stamp cost 2 cents.
Life in Cleveland
Three of five Playhouse Square’s theaters - Allen, Ohio and State – open.
The Capitol Theatre opens in the Gordon Square neighborhood.
The inaugural Sweetest Day takes place in Cleveland on Oct. 8.
William A. Stinchcomb, who created the idea of the Metroparks system, is made the park district’s inaugural director. The Metroparks were established in 1917.
Prices of the day: The May Co. advertises “California” bathing suits for sale for $4.50. Black enamel briefcases are $3.50. Men’s collars – the stiff, starched collars only, not the shirts – are 19 cents (six for $1). The Lindner Co. advertises women’s sleeveless wool sweaters for $5. The Electric Specialty Shoppe on St. Clair Avenue is selling discontinued “electric fixtures” for $10.
Life in Ohio
Florence Allen becomes the first female judge to sentence a man to death in Ohio. A Utah native, she attended school in Ashtabula and then Western Reserve University and was the first woman assistant county prosecutor in the country. She was the first woman elected to a judicial office in Ohio.
Planes drop chemicals in Troy, Ohio, to kill caterpillars in what becomes known as the first crop dusting.
The Ohio Legislature enacts the Bing Act, requiring – with just a couple of exceptions - all children between 6 and 18 to attend school.
Inventions
The polygraph – lie-detector test – is invented in Berkeley, California. Police officer John Larson is credited with its invention.
Frank Gilbreth creates the diagram that lays out sequential steps in a process called a “flowchart.” He also co-wrote the 1948 semi-autobiographical novel “Cheaper by the Dozen,” which was turned into multiple movies and theatrical productions.
Benjamin Katz invents the headrest for automobiles. It would not debut in vehicles until 1968, though.
C.G. Johnson, founder of the Overhead Door Co., invents the garage door. Initial production of the “upward-acting” doors amounted to only one per day.
Disasters
A steamer sinks in the South China Sea, killing at least 900 people. Several theories exist as to what happened; one says the ship struck rocks.
Ukraine is ravaged by famine and severe drought that eventually will kill millions of people.
The Oppau explosion occurs in Germany. A tower silo holding 4,500 tonnes of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer explodes at a BASF plant. More than 500 people are killed. The blast happened because routine detonations (even after tests) were staged to loosen the fertilizer and, at the time, its explosiveness was not known.
Prizes
Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his work in theoretical physics. Englishman Frederick Soddy wins the prize in chemistry for his work with radioactive substances and isotopes. Anatole France wins in literature. Sweden’s Prime Minister Hjalmar Branting and Christian Lange, Norwegian secretary-general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, share the Nobel Prize for Peace. They had supported the League of Nations, born in 1920 from the aftermath of the first World War.
Black actor Charles Gilpin is awarded the NAACP’s Springarn Medal. The medal – the organization’s highest honor and bestowed annually – recognizes an individual for excellence in their field. The founders of what is now Karamu House in Cleveland had sponsored the Dumas Dramatic Club in 1920. In 1922, they renamed the club the Gilpin Players.
The Boston Post wins the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of Charles Ponzi’s operations. (Ever heard of a Ponzi scheme?)
Edith Wharton’s novel “The Age of Innocence” wins a Pulitzer Prize. It is the first by a woman to win the prize for literature.
Arts and Entertainment
“The Kid,” the first full-length silent comedy-drama, is released. Charlie Chaplin wrote, produced, directed and starred in the movie.
Actress-model Virginia Rappe dies under mysterious circ*mstances. Well-known comedian Fatty Arbuckle is tried three times in connection with her death. He is eventually acquitted; his career, though, never recovers.
“The Sheik” starring Rudolph Valentino is released.
American politics
Warren G. Harding of Ohio is sworn in as 29th president of the United States. His attorney general is Harry M. Daugherty, also of the Buckeye state.
Ohio native William Howard Taft become chief justice. He is the only person to serve as both chief justice and president.
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 is passed. It’s the first federal law in U.S. history that limits immigration of Europeans. The law specifies “that no more than 3 percent of the total number of immigrants from any specific country already living in the United States in 1910 could migrate to America during any year.”
On Aug. 25, Dr. Robert Lovett diagnoses Franklin D. Roosevelt with polio. It comes after other doctors misdiagnosed FDR’s condition.
On Armistice Day, Nov. 11, President Warren G. Harding dedicates the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The tombstone would not be completed for more than a decade. It reads: “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God.”
The first gubernatorial recall election in the country is held in North Dakota. Challenger Ragnvald A. Nestos defeats Gov. Lynn Frazier by a little more than 4,000 votes. Frazier would go on to serve in the U.S. Senate from 1923 to 1941.
World affairs
Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers – Nazi - Party. In November, he gives a speech at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. A massive fight between political opponents breaks out, giving birth to the Sturmabteilung (translated: “Assault Division,” or brownshirts or storm troopers.)
Northern Ireland is officially created.
Reza Khan initiates a coup in Iran. Four years later he becomes shah.
William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes prime minister in Canada. He was a leader of the Liberal Party through critical years in the 20th century.
Sweden grants women the right to vote and abolishes the death penalty.
The Chinese Communist Party, Italian Communist Party, Communist Party of South Africa and Communist Party of Spain are all created. Must have been something in the water.
Famous firsts
Seeking a faster way to cook burgers, J. Walter Anderson flattens the meat, griddles up some onions, and voila! He and his partner Billy Ingram open the first White Castle in Wichita. It is considered the first fast-food restaurant.
Texas native Bessie Coleman receives her international pilot’s license in France, the first African-American to do so.
The first Radio Shack opens in Boston.
Colleges and organizations created
Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, Kentucky
National Honor Society, the high school academic-service organization, founded in Pennsylvania
Pilot International volunteer service organization, founded in Georgia
Service Employees International Union, founded in Chicago when immigrant janitors from Eastern Europe, Africa, Turkey, Spain and Ireland come together.
American Physical Therapy Association, founded to help World War I veterans.
200 years ago
Missouri is adopted as the 24th state.
Several colleges are founded: George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; University of the Sciences (created as Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, the first college of pharmacy in North America); and Widener University in Wilmington, Delaware.
Spiritual healer Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Church of Christ, Scientist, is born.
Clara Barton is born. She founded the American Red Cross.
Sources
apta.org, babynames.it, basf.com, bbc.com, blog.covingtonaircraft.com, boundarystones.weta.org, britannica.com, carsafetydesignfeatures.weebly.com, christianscience.com, Cleveland Encyclopedia of History, ctvnews.ca, fdrlibrary.org, genealogytrails.com, imdb.com, immigrationtounitedstates.org, daily.jstor.org, kshs.org, nobelprize.org, nps.gov, ohiohistorycentral.org, overheaddoor.com, penguinrandomhouse.com, Plain Dealer archives, politico.com, popculturemadness.com, pulitzer.org, redcross.org, sciencedirect.com, seiu.org, sfchronicle.com, supremecourt.ohio.gov, tax.iowa.gov, usps.com, womenshistory.org, World Almanac, worldhistoryproject.org
Previous 100-year lookbacks
I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 8:05 a.m. Fridays for “Beer with Bona and Much, Much More” with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler.
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