September 1925

The following events occurred in September 1925:

• The Banco de México, Mexico's central bank, was inaugurated after having been authorized on August 25. The government-owned bank, initially led by director-general Alberto Mascareñas Navarro, was empowered to regulate exchange rates, interest rates, and monetary control, and the exclusive authority to mint coins and print banknotes, a task formerly delegated to private businesses.^[1]
• In a ceremony at the then-Chilean city of Tarata that began at 10:00 in the morning, the South American nation of Chile formally transferred its Departamento de Tarata to Peru as part of the resolution of a boundary dispute.
• Nicaraguan President Carlos José Solórzano declared martial law in the country as it was unclear whether rebels would uphold their promise to vacate the mountain-top fortress of La Loma.^[2]
• Danish seamen went on strike over their employers' refusal to raise wages. With seamen also on strike in China and across the British Empire, a large portion of the world's commerce was disrupted.^[3]
• A crew commanded by U.S. Navy Commander John Rodgers and four other members, who had departed from California in seaplane PN-9 No. 1 in an attempt to make the first flight to Hawaii, disappeared, prompting a search by U.S. Navy ships that had been placed in the area.^[4][5] The PN-9 had run out of gas 1,200 miles (1,900 km) into its flight while trying to locate one of the ships.^[6]
• Nazi Party member Hermann Göring, who would later become Adolf Hitler's chief advisor and commander of the Luftwaffe, was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward of the Långbro Hospital in Sweden after assaulting a nurse during his addiction to morphine. ^[7]. He remained in recovery for months until he could be rehabilitated.
• España Quinta, a Spanish troop transport carrying 1,000 Spanish Legion troops was reported sunk in Alhucemas Bay by Rif shelling.^[8] Fortunately, the report proved to be a false alarm and the ship was reported the next day as having arrived at Melilla in Spanish Morocco.^[9]
• Born:
  • Peter Mallett, Church of England priest who served as Chaplain-General to the Forces from 1974 to 1980; in Leicester, Leicestershire(d.1996)^[10]
  • Madeleine Chapsal, French novelist; in Paris (d.2024)^[11]
  • Colin Free, Australian screenwriter for television; in Sydney (d.1996)^[12]

• As part of his reform of culture in Turkey, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk issued a decree closing all politically-oriented religious lodges, including the zawiyas associated with the Muslim Sufi order and the lodges of the Suci dervishes.^[13] The dervish lodges were converted into museums.
• The Banka Kombëtare e Shqipnis (BKS), Albania's central bank, was inaugurated in Durrës after having been authorized on June 22.^[14]
• The Australian government announced new tariffs that included preferences for British goods.^[15]
• Ship owners told Australian seamen that they would face no reprisals for their outlaw strike if they returned to duty within 48 hours.^[3]

Born:

• • Gunnar Nilson, French jazz musician; in Luleå^[16]
  • Marcela Delpastre, French novelist who write in the Occitan language and in French; in Germont, Corrèze département (d.1998)^[17]

• The U.S. Navy dirigible USS Shenandoah broke up in a squall line near Caldwell, Ohio, killing 14 of the 43 crewmen aboard.
• Bautista Saavedra resigned the office of president of Bolivia after protests that followed his annulment of the results of the May 2 presidential election. Saavedra was replaced by the president of the Bolivian Senate, Felipe Segundo Guzmán, who scheduled a new election to be held on December 1.^[18]
• The Second International Conference on the Standardization of Medicine was held in Geneva, with the goal of standardizing drug formulae worldwide.^[19]
• French Army General, World War One hero and future traitor Philippe Pétain was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of French Forces in Morocco to bring an end to the Rif War, replacing Hubert Lyautey.^[20]
• Eight years after team handball was first played on December 2, 1917, the new German national team played its first international match, losing an outdoor meeting at Halle to Austria, 6 to 3.
• Born:
  • H. P. Patterson, American banker who served as president of the Chase Manhattan Bank from 1969 to 1972; in New York City (d. 1985)^[21]
  • Shoista Mullojonova, Tajik singer; in Dushanbe, Tajik ASSR (d. 2010)
  • Claire Malroux, French poet; in Albi, Tarn département^[22]
• Died:
  • Moisés Tuʻu Hereveri, 52, King of Easter Island from 1901 to 1902^[23]
  • Julius Stickoffer, 80, Swiss-born U.S. Army soldier who was the only Medal of Honor winner to receive the medal for heroism in the second Black Hawk War

• The government of Norway appointed Johannes Gerckens Bassøe as the first Governor of Svalbard, which had been newly acquired as Norwegian territory.^[24]
• Rif rebels launched an offensive toward the Spanish-held city of Tétouan.^[25]
• Samuil Feinberg's "Piano Sonata No. 6" premiered in Venice ^[26]
• Born:
  • S. K. Ramachandra Rao, Indian scholar; in Hassan, Kingdom of Mysore, British India(now Karnataka state)(d.2006)^[27]
  • E.G. Franz Sauer, German ornithologist who proved the theory that birds use the stars to migrate accurately; in Mannheim (d.1979)^[28]

• In the USSR, a joint protest against Soviet Communist Party Secretary Joseph Stalin was signed by Comintern leader Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Deputy Premier Finance Commissar Grigory Sokolnikov and Vladimir Lenin's widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya^[29]. Zinoviev, Kamenev and Sokolnikov would all become victims of Stalin's Great Purge and would all be executed.
• Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King announced that the 14th Parliament was dissolved and that new elections were to be held on October 29.^[30]
• The ocean liner SS Sophocles barricaded its striking sailors into the ship and then pulled out of Cape Town, South Africa en route to Australia, but was forced to turn around and go back when the sailors refused to work.^[31]
• Born: William Conton, Sierra Leone novelist; in Bathurst, British Gambia (d.2003)^[32]
• Died:
  • Mahmoud Al-Ayyash, 27, Syrian revolutionary referred to as "Abu Stita", was executed at Aleppo by a French Army firing squad along with 11 other rebels.^[33]
  • Sir Lionel Woodward, 60, British colonial administrator and Chief Justice of the Federated Malay States since 1920, shot himself to death.^[34]

• The silent films The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney in the title role; Kentucky Pride directed by John Ford; The Coming of Amos directed by Cecil B. DeMille; Pretty Ladies starring ZaSu Pitts; and The White Outlaw starring Jack Hoxie were released.
• Dietzen, a new colony on Scoresby Sund in Greenland, was established by Denmark.^[35]
• Tipperary defeated Galway on a score line of 5–6 to 1–5 (51 points to 8) to win the hurling championship of Ireland.
• Gastone Brilli-Peri won the Italian Grand Prix in his Alfa Romeo P2 at Monza and completing the 800 kilometres (500 mi) race in 5 hours, 14:33.
• Born:
  • Nina Lowry, British barrister who in 1976 became the first woman judge of the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales ("Old Bailey"); as Noreen Margaret Collins in Hampstead, London (d.2017)^[36]
  • Freddie Oversteegen, Dutch resistance fighter during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II; in Schoten (d.2018)^[37]
  • Jorge Noceda Sánchez, Dominican physician surrealist painter; in Santo Domingo (d.1987)^[38]
• Died:
  • Riley Hatch, 63, American stage and silent film actor^[39]
  • Philippine Espenschied Von Overstolz, 80, American socialite and partron of the arts ^[40]

• An attempt by Spanish troops during the Rif War to make an amphibious landing at Alhucemas Bay at Spanish Morocco ended in disaster. The Spanish withdrew after 361 of their troops were killed and 1,975 wounded.^{[41] [42][43]}
• Italian Army General Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga was appointed by Prime Minister Mussolini as the Commandant-General of the Fascist Party's Voluntary Militia for National Security (MSVN), more commonly known as the "Blackshirts".^[44]
• The Treze Futebol Clube was founded in Brazil.
• Amidst unrest in Shanghai, rioting occurred; several were wounded as British police fired on a crowd of over 2,000 demonstrators protesting unequal treaties.^[45]
• Born:
  • Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer who founded the Laura Ashley PLC retail chain of fashion stores in 1954; as Laura Mountney in Dowlais, Marthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan (fatally injured in 1985).^[46]
  • Bhanumathi (stage name for P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna), Indian Telugu film actress known for Chandirani in 1953, singer, novelist and music composer; in Doddavaram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Andhra Pradesh state) (d.2005)^[47]
  • Nosratollah Vahdat, Iranian comedian, actor and director known for The Bride (Arouse Farangi); in Isfahan (d.2020)
  • Oreste Benzi, Italian Catholic priest who founded the Pope John XXIII Community Association; in San Clemente, Emilia-Romagna (d.2007)^[48]
• Died:
  • René Viviani, 61, Prime Minister of France at the beginning of World War One, from 1914 to 1915 ^[49]
  • Thomas Ronayne, 76, General Manager of the New Zealand Railways Department from 1895 to 1913, and coal mine operator, was accidentally killed when fell from a shuttlecar while visiting the Clydevale mine at Seddonville.^[50]

• Spanish forces carried out the first successful amphibious landing with tanks, coming ashore at Alhucemas Bay in Morocco, the day after a disastrous first attempt.^[41] After a preliminary bombardment and a feint landing near Cape Tres Forcas.^[51]
• It was announced that explorer Roald Amundsen had signed a deal with the Italian government to use the dirigible N-1 in another attempt to fly to the North Pole, to be undertaken in 1926.^[52]
• Born:
  • Peter Sellers, English comedian and film actor known for portraying multiple characters in Dr. Strangelove, and Inspector Clouseau in five of the films in the Pink Panther series; as Richard Henry Sellers in Southsea, Portsmouth (died from a heart attack, 1980)^[53]
  • Bat-Sheva Dagan, Polish-born Israeli psychologist, author and Holocaust survivor; as Izabella Batszewa Rubinsztajn, in Lodz (d.2024)^[54]

• In Detroit in the U.S., a white mob estimated at 5,000 people attempted to drive Dr. Ossian Sweet and his family out of the home that the black couple had purchased in an all-white neighborhood from the house on 2905 Garland Street. A white bystander, Leon Briener, who lived across the street, was killed by a gunshot fired from inside the house.^[55] Dr. Sweet was among those arrested and charged with murder, and a famous criminal case dealing with race relations in America would result.^[56][57]
• Rif rebels surrounded Tétouan.^[58]
• Russian composer Igor Stravinsky completed Serenade for piano in A major in Vienna.^[59]
• Born: Soňa Červená, Czech opera mezzo-soprano singer and actress; in Prague (d.2023)^[60][61]

• Missing for nine days, Commander John Rodgers and the crew of PN-9 No. 1 were found after having fashioned a sail from the seaplane's fabric and sailing within 15 miles (24 km) of Nawiliwili Bay at the island of Kauai. U.S. Navy submarine USS R-4 located the seaplane and the minesweeper USS Tanager (AM-5) was dispatched and to tow the aircraft to shore.^[62]Finally, nine days later, after sailing the plane 450 miles to within 15 miles of Nawiliwili Bay, Kauai. During the nine days, the crew had limited water and no food.^[63] Despite not reaching Hawaii by air, the Rodgers flight established a new non-stop air distance record for seaplanes of 1,992 miles (3,206 km)^[64]
• French troops led by Marshal Philippe Pétain launched a new offensive against the Rif rebels north of the Ouergha River.^[65][66]
• Born: Boris Tchaikovsky, composer, in Moscow, Soviet Union (d. 1996)

• The British, French and German governments agreed in principle on a security pact, and began planning a conference to arrange for a formal treaty.^[67]
• Miss California, Fay Lanphier, was crowned the winner of the 5th Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

• The British Trades Union Congress adopted a resolution introduced by A. A. Purcell supporting "the right of all peoples in the British Empire to self-determination, including the right to choose complete separation from the Empire."^[68]
• Born: Stan Lopata, baseball player, in Delray, Michigan (d. 2013)

• Western Union Telegraph announced it had established direct unbroken contact between San Francisco and London through a new invention enabling the automatic repetition of signals. Prior to this development, operators at interim points had to copy the message and send it on to the next relay point.^[69]
• Xavier University of Louisiana, the first Catholic university for African-Americans in the world, opened.^[70]
• Born:
  • Thomas Leigh Gatch, Jr., United States Army Reserve colonel and balloonist (disappeared 1974)^[71]
  • Mel Tormé, jazz singer, in Chicago (d. 1999)

• The stage production of The Jazz Singer opened on Broadway. George Jessel played the starring role which Al Jolson later made famous in the 1927 film version of the same name.^[72]
• Rif pressure on Tétouan was relieved as Spanish reinforcements broke the siege.^[73]
• The Byzantine cross appeared in the sky over the city of Athens during an old calendar service, which at the time was being persecuted by the Greek authorities. The police sent to end the service found themselves weeping alongside the thousands of others who witnessed the miracle. This event attracted many to the cause of preserving the old Greek Orthodox calendar and reinvigorated the faith of many embracing the secularity of the times.^{[citation needed]}

• Crown Prince Umberto of Italy automatically became a member of the Italian senate, as per the country's constitution, upon his twenty-first birthday.^[74]
• Born: Helle Virkner, actress, in Gammel Rye, Denmark (d. 2009)

• U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg announced that British Communist politician Shapurji Saklatvala would not be allowed into the United States to attend the congress of the Inter-Parliamentary Union as a British delegate. Kellogg explained that this action was taken in response to revolutionary speeches made by Saklatvala, stating, "I do not believe we should admit foreigners to this country to preach anarchy or revolutionary overthrow of government."^[75]
• Born:
  • Charles Haughey, Taoiseach of Ireland; in Castlebar (d. 2006)
  • B.B. King, American blues musician; near Berclair, Mississippi (d. 2015)
• Died: Alexander Friedmann, 37, Russian mathematician, died of typhoid fever.

• The American Civil Liberties Union sent a telegram to Secretary Kellogg protesting his decision to ban Shapurji Saklatvala from entering the country. Idaho Senator William Borah also criticized the decision, saying, "We have laws in this country to protect ourselves. If Saklatvala violates them he can be arrested. If he incites Americans to commit crimes, put him in jail."^[76]
• In Mexico City, 18-year-old Frida Kahlo was almost killed in a serious accident when the bus in which she was riding crashed into a streetcar. Kahlo sustained numerous injuries, including a fractured spinal column, from which she never fully recovered. It was during her two-year recovery in bed that she first began to paint.^[77]
• Died: Carl Eytel, 63, German American artist

• The Sultan of Morocco put a $25,000 bounty on the head of Rif leader Abd el-Krim.^[78]
• U.S. President Coolidge defended the legality of Secretary of State Kellogg's decision to ban Shapurji Saklatvala from entering the country, as Saklatvala was not visiting in the capacity of an official government representative.^[79]
• H.P. Lovecraft wrote the short story In the Vault.
• Born: Harvey Haddix, baseball player, in Medway, Ohio (d. 1994)

• The U.S. State Department warned that American citizens participating in the Rif War may be subject to prosecution for "high misdemeanour". An escadrille of American pilots was known to be flying for the French side.^[80]
• In New Zealand, Wellington YMCA defeated Seacliff AFC to win the 1925 Chatham Cup of football.
• Born: Franklin Sousley, United States Marine and flag raiser on Iwo Jima, in Hill Top, Kentucky (d. 1945)

• The Villa Literno–Napoli Gianturco railway opened in Italy, Rome's first underground rail line.^[15]
• The Harold Lloyd comedy film The Freshman was released.
• Independiente F.B.C. was founded in Paraguay.

• All telephone and telegraph workers in Paris staged a surprise two-hour walkout as a protest against low salaries.^[81]
• The War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee was dedicated.

• The film The Circle starring Eleanor Boardman was released.
• The Jerome Kern stage musical Sunny opened on Broadway.

• Princess Mafalda of Savoy married Philipp of Hesse.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched the National League pennant with a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.^[82]
• Born: Denis C. Twitchett, Cambridge scholar of Chinese history, in London (d. 2006)

• In the Great Syrian Revolt, French troops captured the Druze city of As-Suwayda.^[83]
• The Washington Senators clinched their second straight American League pennant by sweeping a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians.^[84]
• Born: Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist, in Mogok, Burma (d. 2004)

• The U.S. submarine USS S-51 was sunk off the coast of Rhode Island in a collision with a merchant steamer, killing 33 of the 36 crew aboard.

• Germany accepted an invitation to attend a European security conference set to open October 5, with the Swiss town of Locarno set as the likely location.^[85]
• Born: Bobby Shantz, baseball player, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania (alive in 2021)
• Died: Miguel Zabalza, 29, Spanish Olympic fencer, was killed in action in the Rif War.^[86]

• Hundreds died in Shandong Province as the Yellow River overflowed in China, the worst flooding since the 1887 deluge.^[87]
• Norwegian athlete Charles Hoff broke his own pole vault record again with a height of 4.25 metres (13.9 ft) at a meet in Turku, Finland.^[15]
• The Hindu right-wing paramilitary organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was established by Dr. K. B. Hedgewar in India.^[88]
• The war film The Dark Angel and the drama film The Mystic opened.
• Born: Robert Edwards, physiologist, in Batley, England (d. 2013)

• The American Debt Funding Commission handed France a plan for settlement of French debt from loans during the war, which would see France pay $40 million a year on a total obligation of over $3.3 billion plus interest.^[89]
• Born:
  • Cromwell Everson, South African composer; in Beaufort West (d. 1991)
  • Carolyn Morris, American baseball player; in Phoenix, Arizona (d. 1996)

• The British Foreign Office said that the Treaty of Versailles, particularly Article 231, would not be up for revision at the upcoming Locarno conference. A communique about the conference included the statement, "The question of Germany's responsibility for the war is not raised by the proposed pact. We are at a loss to know why the German government thought it proper to raise it at this moment, and are obliged to observe that the negotiation of a security pact cannot modify the Treaty of Versailles nor alter the judgment of the past."^[90]
• At a party congress in Liverpool, Britain's Labour Party overwhelmingly voted against a merger with the Communist Party of Great Britain and to exclude communists from their membership ranks.^[15][91]
• Born: Paul MacCready, aeronautical engineer, in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2007)
• Died: Léon Bourgeois, 74, French statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

• Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos dissolved the country's Constituent Assembly, explaining that it had lost the confidence of the nation and presented an obstacle to its recovery. Pangalos said new elections would be conducted.^[92]
• A Vatican committee issued a circular to the directors of pilgrimages notifying them that women found in churches not wearing opaque clothing that covered their head, collar, legs and upper arms would be ejected.^[93]
• Jewelry valued at $750,000 was stolen from the six-room Plaza Hotel suite of Woolworth heiress Mrs. Jessie Woolworth Donahue, daughter of F.W. Woolworth. They were stolen in broad daylight from her bedroom while she was in the bathtub a few feet away.^[94]
• Born: Arkady Ostashev, Soviet, Russian scientist, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite and the first cosmonaut, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Docent, laureate of the Lenin and state prizes, in village Maly Vasilyev, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union (d. 1998)