December 1925

1925

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The following events occurred in December 1925:

December 30, 1925: Ben-Hur premieres in the United States

December 21, 2025: Battleship Potemkin premieres in the Soviet Union

December 1, 1925 (Tuesday)

• The Locarno Treaties were formally signed in London, intended to secure the post-war continental European territorial settlement.
• European delegates also agreed that troops engaging in the Occupation of the Rhineland would be greatly reduced on January 31, 1926.
• Voting for President was held in Bolivia after the May 2 results had been annulled. Hernando Siles Reyes was elected President, winning 97% of the vote against token opposition from Daniel Salamanca by, who officially received only 1,937 of the 72,549 votes cast. After Siles had completed his term, Salamanca would win the 1931 election.
• The Farmer-Labour Party was founded in Japan and dissolved two hours later upon orders from the government which claimed they had a secret communist agenda.
• The Stanley Baldwin government survived a vote of censure condemning a recent wave of arrests of communists on offences under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 as a violation of free speech rights.
• France negotiated separate treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia pledging mutual assistance in the event of an attack by Germany on any of the signatories.
• Born:
  • Martin Rodbell, American biochemist and 1994 Nobel Prize recipient for his co-discovery (with Alfred G. Gilman) of G-proteins and their role in signal transduction in cells; in Baltimore (d. 1998)
  • Lou Filippo, U.S. professional boxer, judge and actor known for portraying a fight referee in seven films, including the first five in the Rocky film franchise; in Los Angeles (d.2009)
  • Ichirō Hariu, Japanese art critic; in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture (d.2010)
  • Mike Colalillo, U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient for heroism in battle during World War II; in Hibbing, Minnesota (d.2011)Michael "Mike" Colalillo", Hall of Valor, MilitaryTimes.com
• Died: Ray Cariens, 25, American racing driver, died two days after being fatally injured at the 11th and final scheduled race for the 1925 AAA Championship Car season, held at the Culver City Speedway in Culver City, California.

December 2, 1925 (Wednesday)

• The German chemical company IG Farben was founded by a merger of six chemical companies (Agfa, BASF, Bayer, Griesheim-Elektron, Hoechst, and Weiler-ter-Meer) following an agreement reached on November 21.
• The first contract for oil drilling in the Kingdom of Bahrain was signed by Britain's Eastern and General Syndicate and the Sheik of Bahrain for an exclusive concession to develop, explore and drill for oil in an area of 100,000 acres 156.25 square miles (404.7 km²).
• The first National Hockey League game to ever take place in Pittsburgh was played at the Duquesne Gardens as the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates lost to their fellow expansion team the New York Americans, 2 to 1, in overtime.
• Tod Morgan won the World Junior Lightweight boxing championship at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles with a TKO in the 10th round over Mike Ballerino, who had held the title since April 1.
• Born:
  • Julie Harris, American actress; in Grosse Point, Michigan (d. 2013)
  • Bette Swenson Orsini, American investigative reporter for the St. Petersburg Times and 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner for her series about the Church of Scientology; in St. Petersburg, Florida (d.2011)

December 3, 1925 (Thursday)

• The Northern Irish Border Agreement was signed by representatives of Northern Ireland (Sir James Craig), the Irish Free State (W. T. Cosgrave) and Great Britain (Stanley Baldwin), and delineating the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Though the initial recommendations of the Irish Boundary Commission would have made transfers of land between the two states in Ireland, with 286 square miles (740 km²) of the Republic's County Donegal being transferred to Northern Ireland and 77 square miles (200 km²) in and around the Northern Irish city of Derry being ceded to the Republic, the final boundary remained unchanged.
• A Romanian Army court-martial convicted 84 participants in the 1924 Tatarbunary Uprising, nearly all of them Moldavians rather than Romanians, of attempting to overthrow the government, and meted out sentences ranging from 1 to 3 years in prison for most conspirators, 23 prisoners from 5 to 10 years, two to 15 years and the uprising leader, Iustin Batishcev to life imprisonment.
• Spain's Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera, who had overthrown the government of Spain in 1923 in a military coup d'etat, made the first step toward transition to a civilian government
• The George Gershwin composition "Concerto in F" was performed for the first time, premiering at Carnegie Hall with Walter Damrosch conducting and Gershwin at piano.
• Born: Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003; on island of Hauido, Japanese Korea (d. 2009)
• Died: John McAlery, 77, Irish association football (soccer) pioneer known for the first organized match in Ireland (between two Scottish clubs, Caledonian and Queen's Park on October 24, 1878 in Belfast) and the first semi-professional team (Cliftonville F.C.) in 1879, and co-founder of the Irish Football Association in 1880

December 4, 1925 (Friday)

• The Central Casting Corporation was established in Hollywood, California by Will H. Hays and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America to regulate the casting of additional performers (extras in films.
• Tipped off by an alert bank teller, the Banco de Portugal discovered the fraud and counterfeiting of the Portuguese escudo masterminded by the wealthy entrepreneur Artur Virgílio Alves Reis.
• The Armenian Orphan Rug was formally gifted to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in recognition of U.S. humanitarian assistance following the Armenian genocide.
• The Italian Chamber of Deputies passed a law allowing the government to regulate rates of industrial production based on the needs of the country.
• Born: Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer; in Cortina d'Ampezzo(d. 2009)

December 5, 1925 (Saturday)

• The 13th Grey Cup of Canadian football was played before 6,900 fans at the Lansdowne Park at Ottawa. The Ottawa Senators beat the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers, 24 to 1.
• The historic city of Medina, formerly part of the Kingdom of Hejaz, capitulated to the forces of the Sultan Ibn Saud of Nejd without resistance.
• The portrait of Saint Teresa of Ávila, painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1614, was found in Berlin after being missing for more than 200 years. A German art historian, Dr. Ludwig Burchard, discovered the lost painting in Belgium and its authenticity was confirmed by Professor Wilhelm von Bode.
• The sensationalized Kip Rhinelander divorce trial ended with the jury ruling in Mrs. Rhinelander's favour.
• Born:
  • Keith Reemtsma, American transplant surgeon known for the first successful cross-species kidney transplantation, performed in 1964, transplanting a kidney from a chimpanzee into a human; in Madera, California (d.2000)
  • Nurnaningsih (stage name for Raden Nganten Nurnaningsih), Indonesian film actress and model; in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies (d.2004)
  • Edmundo Arias, Colombian musician and songwriter of tropical music hits; in Tuluá (d.1993)
  • Sidney Michaelson, English-born Scottish computer scientist and Biblical scholar; in London (d.1991)
• Died: Władysław Reymont, 58, Polish writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate for his four-volume novel The Peasants

December 6, 1925 (Sunday)

• The Milner-Schialoja Agreement between the United Kingdom and Italy redrew the border between Egypt and Italian Libya, transferring Jaghbub to Italian control.
• The Pottsville Maroons defeated the Chicago Cardinals 21-7 to all but officially clinch the National Football League championship with the league's best record.
• Born: Shigeko, Princess Teru, eldest daughter of Hirohito; at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo (d. 1961)

December 7, 1925 (Monday)

• Republican U.S. Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Ohio was elected as the new Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to replace the retired Frederick H. Gillett of Massachusetts, who had served since 1919. In a vote along party lines, Longworth defeated Democrat Finis J. Garrett of Tennessee, 229 to 173. A group of 13 Republicans voted for a rival candidate Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin, while five others cast no vote at all.
• The legislature of the Philippines sent a petition to the United States Congress demanding independence.
• Italian-born U.S. boxer Rocky Kansas (ring name for Rocco Tazzo) defeated Jimmy Goodrich in the second round to win the world lightweight boxing championship. Goodrich had held the title for less than five months before losing to Kansas on a technical knockout in a bout at Broadway Auditorium.
• What is now the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway in New York City opened on 47th Street in Manhattan as the Biltmore Theatre.
• Born:
  • J. David Singer, U.S. political scientist known for devloping the Correlates of War project starting in 1964; in New York City (d.2009)
  • Lucille Kailer, American opera soprano; in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (d.2011)

December 8, 1925 (Tuesday)

• U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made his third State of the Union address to the Congress, stating that "in the fundamentals of government and business the results demonstrate that we are going in the right direction. The country does not appear to require radical departures from the policies already adopted so much as it needs a further extension of these policies and the improvement of details."
• The comedic stage musical The Cocoanuts, written by Irving Berlin for the Marx Brothers, opened on Broadway.
• Born:
  • Sammy Davis Jr., African American singer, stage and film actor; in Harlem, New York City (d. 1990)
  • Hank Thompson, U.S. baseball player known for being the first African-American player on the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles; in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 1969)
• Died: Marguerite Marsh, 37, American film actress

December 9, 1925 (Wednesday)

• The Swinton Lions defeated the Wigan Warriors 15-11 to win rugby's Lancashire Cup.
• Born: Atif Yilmaz; Turkish filmmaker; in Mersin (d. 2006)
• Died: Pablo Iglesias, 75, co-founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party

December 10, 1925 (Thursday)

• The Nobel Prizes for 1925 were awarded in Oslo. The honourees consisted of James Franck and Gustav Hertz (award for Physics), Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (Chemistry) and George Bernard Shaw (Literature). There was no Prize for Medicine that year. The Peace Prize was not awarded at the time either; Austen Chamberlain of the United Kingdom and Charles G. Dawes of the United States were named retroactively twelve months later for their roles in the Locarno Treaties and the Dawes Plan, respectively.
• The Chicago Cardinals football team beat the Milwaukee Badgers 59-0 in a game that resulted in the Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal, because the Badgers team was composed of high school players that the Cardinals could easily beat in order to pad their win–loss percentage and claim the NFL championship.

December 11, 1925 (Friday)

• Pope Pius XI promulgated Quas primas, an encyclical introducing the Feast of Christ the King.
• Karam Chand and Kartari Chand, whose marriage would continue for more than 90 years and stand as the second-longest recorded marriage in history, were wed in a Sikh ceremony in India. The relationship would last for 90 years, 9 months and 19 days, ending on September 30, 2016, with the death of Karam Chand.
• Born: Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and 2000 co-recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system"; in New York City (d. 2019)

December 12, 1925 (Saturday)

• The Pottsville Maroons football team played an exhibition game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Philadelphia, winning 9 to 7. The unauthorized game caused the 1925 NFL Championship controversy when National Football League President Joseph Carr immediately suspended the Maroons and denied them the rights to the championship on the grounds that they had violated the territorial rights of the Frankford Yellow Jackets.

The first Motel

• The first motel (a portmanteau of "motor" and "hotel") in the world, the Milestone Mo-Tel, was opened in San Luis Obispo, California. The business would later be renamed the Motel Inn.
• The Chilean National Zoo opened in Santiago.
• Born:
  • Ted Kennedy, Canadian ice hockey player for the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs and inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame and 1955 Hart Memorial Trophy winner for Most Valuable Player; in Humberstone, Ontario (d. 2009)
  • Vladimir Shainsky, Ukrainian composer, in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (d. 2017)

December 13, 1925 (Sunday)

• Agent General for Reparations to Germany Seymour Parker Gilbert released his first annual report in Berlin, announcing that Germany was making rapid advances in its industrial and economic health and was fulfilling all its Dawes Plan commitments to the last detail.
• Born: Dick Van Dyke, American TV, film and stage actor, winner of four Primetime Emmy Awards (three for the The Dick Van Dyke Show, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award (for Bye Bye Birdie; in West Plains, Missouri
• Died: Antonio Maura, 72, five-time Prime Minister of Spain

December 14, 1925 (Monday)

• Pope Pius XI elevated four new cardinals: Bonaventura Cerretti, Enrico Gasparri, Irishman Patrick O'Donnell and Alessandro Verde. He also made a speech that did not specifically mention Mussolini or fascism by name but condemned "legislation which makes the state and not the church the center of social life."
• The League of Nations settled the border between Greece and Bulgaria and fined the Greek government for the border violation committed during the Incident at Petrich.
• Italy's Fascist government signed a secret pact with Britain aimed at reinforcing Italian dominance in Ethiopia.
• Born: Sam Jones, U.S. baseball pitcher, 1959 National League winner for most wins and lowest ERA, and NL winner for most strikeouts in 1955, 1956 and 1958; in Stewartsville, Ohio (d. 1971)

December 15, 1925 (Tuesday)

• The War Ministry of Japan ordered 3,500 troops to Manchuria to protect the South Manchuria Railway and other Japanese interests around Mukden as the forces of Guo Songling advanced against Zhang Zuolin.
• A League of Nations commission ruled on the Mosul Question by assigning most of the territory in the oil-rich Mosul region to Iraq, despite strong Turkish objections.

Reza Shah Pahlavi

• Reza Shah took the oath to become the first shah of Persia of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Madison Square Garden c. 1941

• The third version of Madison Square Garden opened in New York City. The first official event was the New York Americans hockey team playing their first ever home game, losing 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens.
• The film The Plastic Age opened.

Battling Siki

• Died: Battling Siki (ring name for Louis Mbarick Fall), 28, Senegalese-born American boxer who leld the light-heavyweight title for six months in 1922 and 1923, was found shot to death in New York City.

December 16, 1925 (Wednesday)

• The Italianization of South Tyrol became a contentious subject between Italy and Germany as a newspaper run by Gustav Stresemann ran an editorial protesting an Italian decree banning Christmas trees. "Have the most influential of the Italian politicians been abandoned by their God or their common sense, or have they without exception gone mad with their Fascist megalomania. For this newest deed can only be described as that of a crazy person", the editorial declared.
• Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, was founded at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.
• Colombo Radio was launched in Ceylon. The station subsequently became known as Radio Ceylon.
• The werewolf film Wolf Blood was released in the United States.

December 17, 1925 (Thursday)

U.S. Army Colonel William L. Mitchell, convicted of insubordination

• The court-martial of Col. Billy Mitchell (U.S. Army) ended when he was convicted on all eight charges of insubordination. Mitchell was suspended without pay for five years, a verdict the court ruled was "lenient because of the military record of the accused during the world war."
• The Siege of Jeddah ended in victory for Ibn Saud.
• Turkey and the Soviet Union signed a security pact.
• Natacha Rambova filed for divorce from Rudolph Valentino in Paris court.

December 18, 1925 (Friday)

• The 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) opened in Moscow.
• António Maria da Silva became Prime Minister of Portugal for the fourth time.
• Died: Hamo Thornycroft, 75, British sculptor

December 19, 1925 (Saturday)

• Reichstag President Paul Löbe spoke out in favour of partial prohibition in Germany.
• Ali of Hejaz abdicated the throne of Hejaz.
• Born:
  • Rabah Bitat, Algerian politician who served as interim President of Algeria from 1978 to 1979; in Aïn Kerma, French Algeria (d. 2000)
  • Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter; in New York City (d. 2012)
• Died: José Ignacio Quintón, 44, Spanish pianist and composer

December 20, 1925 (Sunday)

• The Western film Tumbleweeds was released.

December 21, 1925 (Monday)

• The Sergei Eisenstein film Battleship Potemkin was released in the Soviet Union.
• A Soviet decree announced that December 25 and 26 would be "days of rest" throughout Russia, although no mention of Christmas was made. Soviet efforts to make its citizens go to work on Christmas had been unpopular in previous years.
• Born: Dorothy Kamenshek, American baseball player, batting champion for the AAGPBL in 1946 and 1947, and the league's all time leader in hits and total bases; in Norwood, Ohio (d. 2010)
• Died:
  • Jules Méline, 87, Prime Minister of France from 1896 to 1898
  • Lottie Lyell (stage name for Charlotte Edith Cox), 35, Australian female pioneer filmmaker, died from tuberculosis.

December 22, 1925 (Tuesday)

• The film A Kiss for Cinderella was released.
• Died:
  • Alice, Princess Dowager of Monaco, 67, consort of Albert of Monaco
  • Mary Thurman, 30, American film actress, died from pneumonia.

December 23, 1925 (Wednesday)

Hejaz conquered by Nejd to create Saudi Arabia

• The Saudi conquest of Hejaz was completed when the Kingdom of Hejaz surrendered to Ibn Saud.
• Born: Duncan Hallas, British communist activist; in Manchester(d. 2002)

December 24, 1925 (Thursday)

• Pope Pius XI closed the holy door at St. Peter's Basilica as the Jubilee year drew to a close.

December 25, 1925 (Friday)

• The American Geographic Society announced the recipients of medals for notable contributions to the field of geography. Lucien Gallois, Erich von Drygalski, Robert Bartlett and David L. Brainard were among the honorees.
• Nomura Securities was founded in Japan, a separate section from Osaka Nomura Bank. (currently Resona Holdings)
• Six chemical companies in Germany merged to form IG Farben.
• Born: Dorothy Mueller, American baseball pitcher in the AAGPBL, with 92 wins in games six seasons and 1.80 ERA; in Cheviot, Ohio (d. 1985)
• Died:
  • Karl Abraham, 48, German psychoanalyst
• Died: Guo Songling, 42, Manchurian general, was executed after leading a revolt against Zhang Zhuolin and attacking Zhang's capital at Shenyang.

December 26, 1925 (Saturday)

• White Hand Gang leader Richard "Pegleg" Lonergan arrived at a Christmas party in a Brooklyn speakeasy with five of his men around 3 a.m., intoxicated and uttering various racial slurs. The lights went out, shots were fired and patrons ran out in a panic. When the lights came back on, Lonergan and two of his men lay dead. Al Capone was in the club while on a visit to New York and had arranged the hit at the request of Frankie Yale; the ambush further enhanced Capone's notoriety.
• The Communist Party of India was founded.
• Died: Richard Lonergan, 25, Brooklyn mobster

December 27, 1925 (Sunday)

• A mine explosion killed 52 miners near Palaú, in Mexico.
• The Príncipe Pío station opened in Madrid, Spain.

December 28, 1925 (Monday)

• The George Gershwin musical Tip-Toes opened on Broadway.
• Crown Prince Carol renounced his right to the throne of Romania over a scandalous affair.
• A U.S. postage stamp bearing a portraiture of the late President Woodrow Wilson was issued.
• Born:
  • Milton Obote, President of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and from 1980 to 1985; in Akokoro (d. 2005) Ingham, Keneth (1994). Obote: A Political Biography. London/New York: Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-415-05342-6.

Ingham 1994, p. 12.

• • Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer and writer; in Ulm(d. 2002)
• Died:
  • Raymond P. Rodgers, 76, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, former Direct of the Office of Naval Intelligence and President of the Naval War College.
  • Sergei Yesenin, 30, Russian poet, hanged himself in his room at the Hotel Angleterre in Leningrad the after writing his final poem "Goodbye my friend, goodbye". (До свиданья, друг мой, до свиданья) in his own blood

December 29, 1925 (Tuesday)

• Europe began to get hit with a series of major floods. Hungary and Romania were the first to be struck hard, where Cluj-Napoca and Debrecen were inundated and about 100 people drowned.
• Born: Pete Dye, U.S. golf course designer, in Urbana, Ohio (d. 2020)
• Died: Félix Vallotton, 60, Swiss painter

December 30, 1925 (Wednesday)

• The historical epic film Ben-Hur was released in the United States.
• Six people were killed in the Netherlands amid torrential rains and flooding.
• Born: Ian MacNaughton, Scottish actor; in Glasgow (d. 2002)

December 31, 1925 (Thursday)

• The first attempt at a worldwide New Year's celebration was made via international radio. The United States sent out musical entertainment and New Year's greetings from the consuls general of various foreign countries in New York. Evening listeners for participating stations across the United States heard a radio announcer in London say, "This is 2LO calling America and sending New Year's greetings. We have received word that the American stations are broadcasting this program and we hope that it is being relayed successfully."
• Belgium was hit with its worst flooding since 1876.
• The first Saint Silvester Road Race was run in Brazil.
• Died: J. Gordon Edwards, 58, Canadian filmmaker