The month of February has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in February 1924.
• Honduran President Rafael López-Gutiérrez refuses to leave office on Feb. 1. López-Gutiérrez cites uncertainty regarding a successor as his reason for remaining in office after initially beginning a four-year term on Feb. 1, 1920.
• Former United States President Woodrow Wilson falls into a coma at 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 2. The 67-year-old former president dies less than 24 hours later.
• Thanks in part to the recommendation of British physicians, Indian freedom fighter Mohandas Gandhi is released from incarceration in Ahmedabad on Feb. 4. Gandhi served less than one-third of his six-year prison sentence for sedition.
• Forty-one miners drown in a flash flood inside an underground iron mine near Crosby, Minn., on Feb. 5. The flood is caused when the crew blasts too close to the bottom of a nearby lake.
• Wilson is buried in a vault beneath the center aisle of the chapel of the Washington National Cathedral on Feb. 6. He remains the only president to be buried in the District of Columbia.
• In response to the German Embassy’s refusal to offer condolences or lower flags in honor of Wilson, roughly 200 taxi drivers plant an American flag on the embassy lawn on Feb. 6.
• The Fascist government of Italy formally recognizes the Communist Soviet Union on Feb. 7.
• On Feb. 8, Chinese national Gee Jon becomes the first person in American history to be executed with lethal gas. Jon was convicted in a gangland slaying and was put to death in an airtight chamber at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. Elsewhere in the United States, five inmates, each convicted murderers, were put to death in Texas, marking the state’s first use of the electric chair.
• Two-hundred fifty delegates representing 61 trade unions, civic groups and fraternal organizations attend the opening day of the Negro Sanhedrin on Feb. 11. The conference was an attempt to establish a national program protecting the legal rights of African American tenant farmers and wage workers.
• On Feb. 13, one day after testifying in the trial of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, Chicago White Sox outfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch is arrested for perjury. Lawyers for the White Sox produced documents contradicting Felsch’s testimony, resulting in his arrest.
• On Feb. 14, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company renames itself the International Business Machines Corporation, which would ultimately be shortened to IBM.
• U.S. Sen. Frank L. Greene of Vermont is shot in the head and seriously wounded by a stray bullet during a shootout on Feb. 15. The shootout involved bootleggers and Prohibition enforcement agents, and Green was struck while walking with his wife along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
• German artist George Grosz is fined 500 gold marks on Feb. 16. The court determined a collection of Grosz’s drawings depicting the decadence of Berlin society was obscene.
• Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos resigns on Feb. 19. Venizelos had been in office less than four weeks.
• U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first president to make a radio broadcast from the White House on Feb. 22.
• Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu of Albania is shot twice by anarchist Beqir Valteri on Feb. 23. Often referred to as Zog I of Albania, the prime minister reportedly survived more than 50 assassination attempts over the course of his life. Though Valteri’s efforts were unsuccessful, Zogu’s injuries forced him to step away from office for a short period following the shooting.
• On Feb. 24, the Beverly Hills Speedway hosts its final race. The speedway is torn down as property values in Beverly Hills skyrocket.
• Trials related to the Beer Hall Putsch that occurred on Nov. 9, 1923, begin in Munich on Feb. 26. Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff are among those put on trial.
