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.
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 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.
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.[3]
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.
November 1 – The Coal Strike of 1919 begins in the United States by the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis. Final agreement comes on December 10.
November 7 – The first Palmer Raid is conducted on the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists are arrested in 23 different U.S. cities.
November 14 – Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society (La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica), was established at the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, California.
November 27 – Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, is established at Oklahoma A&M College (now named Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Various strikes occur in the United States: Strike of US railroad workers; The Longshoreman's strike; The Great Steel Strike; and a general strike in Seattle, Washington.
US President Wilson promises eventual independence for Philippines, though subsequent Republican administrations see it as a distant goal.
September 9 – Barbara Fiske Calhoun, American WWII cartoonist and painter; co-founded Quarry Hill Creative Center in Rochester, Vermont, where she taught art and helped establish the ideals of the group. Born Isabelle Daniel Hall in Tucson, Arizona (Died 2014).
^"Poland - Countries - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
^"Finland - Countries - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
^"Chicago History". Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13.
^Rahimi, Shadi (June 10, 2005). "Going, Going, Gone: Babe Ruth Contract Sold for $996,000". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
^Mcshane, Larry (June 10, 2005). "Babe Ruth contract sells after 15 minutes of intense bidding". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
^ ab"Ruth Bought By New York Americans For $125,000, Highest Price In Baseball Annals" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1920. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
^"The long legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haiti". Washington Post. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
^McFadden, Robert D. (12 May 2021). "Lester L. Wolff, Influential Former Congressman, Dies at 102". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
^Brown, Emma (February 23, 2021). "Lawrence Ferlinghetti, literary citadel of San Francisco, dies at 101". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^Bernstein, Adam (2006-12-12). "Singer Georgia Gibbs, 87; Performed With Big Bands and on Radio Shows". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
^"Actress Jayne Meadows dies at 95; spent early years in Providence". The Providence Journal. April 28, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
^Leo Marx, 102, Dies; Studied Clash of Nature and Culture in America