1929

Events from the year **1929 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) (until March 4), Herbert Hoover (R-CA) (starting March 4)
* Vice President: Charles G. Dawes (R-IL) (until March 4), Charles Curtis (R-KS) (starting March 4)
* Chief Justice: William Howard Taft (OH)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Longworth (R-OH)
* Senate Majority Leader: Charles Curtis (R-KS) (until March 4), James Eli Watson (R-IN) (starting March 4)
* Congress: 70th (until March 4), 71st (starting March 4)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Bibb Graves (Democratic)
* Governor of Arizona: George W. P. Hunt (Democratic) (until January 7), John Calhoun Phillips (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Arkansas: Harvey Parnell (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Clement C. Young (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: Billy Adams (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: John H. Trumbull (Republican)
* Governor of Delaware: Robert P. Robinson (Republican) (Republican) (until January 15), C. Douglass Buck (Republican) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Florida: John W. Martin (Democratic) (until January 8), Doyle E. Carlton (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Georgia: Lamartine G. Hardman (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: H. C. Baldridge (Republican)
* Governor of Illinois: Len Small (Republican) (until January 14), Louis L. Emmerson (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Indiana: Edward L. Jackson (Republican) (until January 14), Harry G. Leslie (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Iowa: John Hammill (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Ben S. Paulen (Republican) (until January 14), Clyde M. Reed (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Kentucky: Flem D. Sampson (Republican)
* Governor of Louisiana: Huey P. Long (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Owen Brewster (Republican) (until January 2), William Tudor Gardiner (Republican) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Maryland: Albert C. Ritchie (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Alvan T. Fuller (Republican) (until January 3), Frank G. Allen (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Michigan: Fred W. Green (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: Theodore Christianson (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Samuel Aaron Baker (Republican) (until January 14), Henry S. Caulfield (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Montana: John E. Erickson (Democratic)
* Governor of Nebraska: Adam McMullen (Republican) (until January 3), Arthur J. Weaver (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Nevada: Fred B. Balzar (Republican)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Huntley N. Spaulding (Republican) (until January 3), Charles W. Tobey (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of New Jersey: A. Harry Moore (Democratic) (until January 15), Morgan Foster Larson (Republican) (starting January 15)
* Governor of New Mexico: Richard C. Dillon (Republican)
* Governor of New York: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: Angus Wilton McLean (Democratic) (until January 11), Oliver Max Gardner (Democratic) (starting January 11)
* Governor of North Dakota: Walter Maddock (Republican) (until January 9), George F. Shafer (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Ohio: A. Victor Donahey (Democratic) (until January 14), Myers Y. Cooper (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Oklahoma: Henry S. Johnston (Democratic) (until March 20), William J. Holloway (Democratic) (starting March 20)
* Governor of Oregon: I. L. Patterson (Republican) (until December 22), A. W. Norblad (Republican) (starting December 22)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: John Stuchell Fisher (Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Norman S. Case (Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: John Gardiner Richards Jr. (Democratic)
* Governor of South Dakota: William J. Bulow (Democratic)
* Governor of Tennessee: Henry Hollis Horton (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Dan Moody (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: George Dern (Democratic)
* Governor of Vermont: John E. Weeks (Republican)
* Governor of Virginia: Harry F. Byrd (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Roland H. Hartley (Republican)
* Governor of West Virginia: Howard M. Gore (Republican) (until March 4), William G. Conley (Republican) (starting March 4)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Fred R. Zimmerman (Republican) (until January 7), Walter J. Kohler Sr. (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Wyoming: Frank C. Emerson (Republican)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: William C. Davis (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: William Lee Cazort (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: H. L. Carnahan (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: George Milton Corlett (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: J. Edwin Brainard (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Ernest E. Rogers (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: James H. Anderson (Republican) (until January 15), James H. Hazel (Republican) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho:
	+ until January 7: O. E. Hailey (Republican)
	+ January 7-September 30: W. B. Kinne (Republican)
	+ September 30-October 25: vacant
	+ starting October 25: O. E. Hailey (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Fred E. Sterling (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: F. Harold Van Orman (Republican) (until January 14), Edgar D. Bush (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Arch W. McFarlane (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: De Lanson Alson Newton Chase (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Jacob W. Graybill (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: James Breathitt Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Paul N. Cyr (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Frank G. Allen (Republican) (until January 3), William S. Youngman (political party unknown) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Luren D. Dickinson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: William I. Nolan (Republican) (until June 25), Charles Edward Adams (Republican) (starting June 25)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Bidwell Adam (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Philip Allen Bennett (Republican) (until January 14), Edward Henry Winter (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: W. S. McCormack (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Frank A. Hazelbaker (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: George A. Williams (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Morley Griswold (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico:
	+ until January 1: Edward G. Sargent (Republican)
	+ January 1-July: Hugh B. Woodward (Republican)
	+ starting July: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: vacant (until January 1), Herbert H. Lehman (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Jacob E. Long (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Richard T. Fountain (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: vacant (until January 9), John W. Carr (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: George C. Braden (Republican) (until January 14), John T. Brown (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: William J. Holloway (Democratic) (until March 21), vacant (starting March 21)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Arthur H. James (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: vacant (until month and day unknown), James G. Connelly (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: E. B. Jackson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota:
	+ until month and day unknown: Hyatt E. Covey (Republican)
	+ month and day unknown: Clarence E. Coyne (Republican)
	+ starting month and day unknown: John T. Grigsby (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: vacant (until month and day unknown), Sam R. Bratton (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Barry Miller (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: vacant (until month and day unknown), Stanley C. Wilson (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Junius Edgar West (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: W. Lon Johnson (Republican) (until January 14), John Arthur Gellatly (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Henry A. Huber (Republican)

## Events

### January - March

* January 1 – In college football, California loses to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the 27th Rose Bowl by a score of 8–7.
* January 29 – The Seeing Eye is established with the mission to train guide dogs to assist the blind, by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank in Nashville, Tennessee.
* February 11 – Eugene O'Neill's *Dynamo* premieres in New York.
* February 14 – St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven gangsters, rivals of Al Capone, are murdered in Chicago.
* February 26 – The Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming is established by Congress.
* March 2 – The longest bridge in the world, the San Francisco Bay Toll-Bridge, opens.
* March 4 – Herbert Hoover is sworn in as the 31st President of the United States, and Charles Curtis is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
* March 16 – A part-talkie film version of *Show Boat*, based on Edna Ferber's novel rather than the musical, premieres in Palm Beach (starring Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut). It is critically panned and not successful at the box office.

### April - June

* April 2 – The Bombing of Naco begins by Irish pilot Patrick Murphy, the first aerial assault on the United States by a foreign combatant.
* April 6 – The Bombing of Naco ends.
* May 13 – The National Crime Syndicate is founded in Atlantic City.
* May 15 – Cleveland Clinic Fire of 1929: A leak and explosion of methyl chloride refrigerant in a Cleveland hospital kills one hundred and twenty-eight and becomes regarded as the catalyst for the development of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants.
* May 16 – The 1st Academy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California, with William A. Wellman's *Wings* winning Academy Award for Best Picture. Joseph W. Farnham wins the only award ever given for Best Writing, Title Writing. Frank Borzage's 7th Heaven received the most nominations with five, while both it and F. W. Murnau's *Sunrise* jointly received the most awards with three.
* May 17 – Al Capone and his bodyguard are arrested for concealing deadly weapons.
* May 20 – The Wickersham Commission begins its investigation of alcohol prohibition in the United States.
* May 27 – *United States v. Schwimmer* decided in the Supreme Court affirms that pacifism is sufficient ground to deny an applicant citizenship of the United States.
* June 12 – Lou Hoover has tea at the White House with Jessie De Priest, wife of Oscar De Priest, the first black congressman of the 20th century.
* June 16 – Otto E. Funk, 62, ends his marathon walk (New York City to San Francisco, 4,165 miles in 183 days).
* June 21 – An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico.
* June 27 – The first public demonstration of color television is held, by H. E. Ives and his colleagues at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City. The first images are a bouquet of roses and an American flag. A mechanical system is used to transmit 50-line color television images between New York and Washington, D.C.

### July - September

* August 11 – The first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and largest U.S. African-American parade, is held in Chicago.
* August 19 – The radio comedy show *Amos and Andy* makes its debut, starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
* August 31 – The Young Plan, which sets the total World War I reparations owed by Germany at US$26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years, is finalized.
* September 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) peaks at 381.17, a height it will not reach again until November 1954.

### October - December

* October 11 – J. C. Penney opens Store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with department stores in all 48 states.
* October 14 – The Philadelphia Athletics defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 1, to win their 4th World Series Title.
* October 24
	+ Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (10 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government).
	+ The Mount Hope Bridge, connecting Portsmouth to Bristol in Rhode Island, opens to traffic.
* October 25 – Former U.S. Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall is convicted of bribery for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, becoming the first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for actions in office.
* October 29 – Wall Street Crash of 1929 ends.
* November 7 – The Museum of Modern Art in New York City opens to the public.
* November 15 – The Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario, opens to traffic.
* November 29 – Bernt Balchen, U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd, Captain Ashley McKinley, and Harold June, become the first to fly over the South Pole.
* December 3 – Great Depression: U.S. President Herbert Hoover announces to the U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation, and that the American people have regained faith in the economy.

## Sport

* March 29 - For the first time in Stanley Cup history two American teams face off for hockey's ultimate prize when the Boston Bruins defeat the New York Rangers 2 games to 0 for the Bruins first Stanley Cup victory. The deciding game is played in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

## Memoriam

* January 1 – Adelaide Alsop Robineau, ceramicist (aged 64; Syracuse, NY, USA)
* January 5 – Marc McDermott, actor (aged 57; Glendale, CA, USA)
* January 13
	+ Wyatt Earp, gunfighter (aged 80; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Emil Fuchs, sculptor and painter (aged 62; NY, USA)
* January 15
	+ Leonard Cline, novelist, poet and journalist (aged 35; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ George Cope, painter (aged 73; West Chester, PA, USA)
* January 25 – Oscar Underwood, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1915 to 1927 (aged 66; Accotink, VA, USA)
* January 29 – Dallas Lore Sharp, nature writer (aged 59; Plymouth, MA, USA)
* January 30 – Franklin J. Drake, admiral (aged 82; Washington, DC, USA)
* February 4 – William Rankin Ballard, businessman (aged 81; Seattle, WA, USA)
* February 11 – Frank Putnam Flint, U.S. Senator from California from 1905 to 1911 (aged 66; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 14 – Thomas Burke, sprinter (aged 54; Boston, MA, USA)
* February 18 – William Russell, silent film actor (aged 44; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 22 – Louise Upton Brumback, landscape painter (aged 62; Gloucester, MA, USA)
* February 24
	+ Adaline Hohf Beery, songbook compiler (aged 69; Kane, IL, USA)
	+ Frank Keenan, actor (aged 70; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 27 – Briton Hadden, co-founder of Time magazine (aged 31; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* March 1 – Royal Hurlburt Weller, politician (aged 47; Manhattan, NY, USA)
* March 5 – David Dunbar Buick, inventor (aged 74; Detroit, MI, USA)
* March 6 – Moses E. Clapp, politician (aged 77; Accotink, VA, USA)
* March 12 – Asa Griggs Candler, businessman and politician (aged 77; Atlanta, GA, USA)
* March 15 – Pinetop Smith, blues pianist (aged 24; Chicago, IL, USA)
* March 18 – William P. Cronan, Naval Governor of Guam (aged 50; San Diego, CA, USA)
* March 28 – Katharine Lee Bates, librettist, author of "America the Beautiful" (aged 69; Wellesley, MA, USA)
* April 4 – William Michael Crose, United States Navy Commander and 7th Governor of American Samoa (aged 62; San Diego, CA, USA)
* April 5 – Lewis Stevenson, politician (aged 60; Bloomington, IL, USA)
* April 28 – May Jordan McConnel, Australian trade unionist and suffragist (aged 68; CA, USA)
* May 9 – Valentine Remmel, SLP nominee in 1900 (aged 76; Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
* May 19 – Timothy Francis Donovan Aaron, New Jersey politician (aged 76; Jersey City, NJ, USA)
* June 2 – Don Murray, jazz clarinetist (aged 24; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* June 4 – Harry Frazee, Broadway producer and baseball owner (aged 48; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 5 – Adolph Coors, brewer (aged 82; Virginia Beach, VA, USA)
* June 9
	+ Louis Bennison, silent Western film actor (aged 44; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Margaret Lawrence, actress (aged 39; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 11 – William D. Boyce, entrepreneur and founder of the Boy Scouts of America (aged 70; Chicago, IL, USA)
* July 2 – Gladys Brockwell, film actress (aged 34; Hollywood, CA, USA)
* July 3 – Dustin Farnum, silent Western film actor (aged 55; New York City, NY, USA)
* July 12 – Robert Henri, painter (aged 64; New York City, NY, USA)
* July 20 – Noble Drew Ali, prophet (aged 43; Chicago, IL, USA)
* August 3
	+ Emile Berliner, inventor (aged 78; Washington, DC, USA)
	+ Thorstein Veblen, economist (aged 72; Menlo Park, CA, USA)
* August 19 – Chris Kelly, jazz trumpeter (aged 39; New Orleans, LA, USA)
* August 27 – James Knox Taylor, official architect (aged 71; Tampa, FL, USA)
* September 2 – Paul Leni, filmmaker (aged 44; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* September 4 – F. F. Proctor, vaudeville impresario (aged 78; Larchmont, NY, USA)
* September 25 – Miller Huggins, baseball manager (aged 50; New York City, NY, USA)
* October 3 – Jeanne Eagels, actress (aged 39; New York City, NY, USA)
* October 15 – Annie Lowrie Alexander, physician and educator (aged 65; Charlotte, NC, USA)
* October 28 – Theodore E. Burton, U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1909 to 1915 (aged 77; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 14 – Joe McGinnity, baseball player (aged 58; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* November 17 – Herman Hollerith, businessman and inventor (aged 69; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 24 – Raymond Hitchcock, actor and producer (aged 64; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* December 10 – Harry Crosby, publisher and poet (aged 31; New York City, NY, USA)
* December 19 – Blind Lemon Jefferson, blues musician (aged 36; Chicago, IL, USA)
* December 21 – I. L. Patterson, politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (aged 70; Eola, OR, USA)