The world in 1920

October 16 this year is a great day for The Southern Cross because it was on Saturday of that date 90 years ago that the first issue of this great newspaper went on sale.

In Durban’s Emmanuel cathedral alone, 800 copies of the initial print run of 3 500 were sold. Within weeks, circulation increased to 6 000, making The Southern Cross one of the biggest South African weekly newspapers of all time.

Quite remarkable is the fact that not once over these nine decades has this newspaper missed a publication.

What was the world like in those days, I wonder?

Well, January 1920 sees the establishment of the South African Air Force and later in the year Prince Arthur of Connaught is appointed the third Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.

Olive Schreiner, author and feminist, dies in Wynberg, Cape Town.

Lt Col Pierre van Ryneveld and Flight Lieutenant Christopher Joseph (Flossie) Quinton-Brand leave London on February 4, 1920 from Brooklands Aerodrome in Surrey, England, in a Vickers Vimy named the “Silver Queen” in an attempt to be the first to fly from Britain to Cape Town.

On February 27, the competing aircraft crashed at Tabora in Tanganyika, without injury. The “Silver Queen II” crashes in Bulawayo due to being overloaded on March 6. The hot and high conditions over Africa are taking their toll.

But, the South African government and the two South African pilots are determined that they would be the first airmen to complete an end-to-end trip to their homeland. Another aircraft, this time a de Havilland DH9, part of the Imperial Gift, is flown to Bulawayo, and handed over to the two pilots.

Their journey resumes on March 17, and the aviators land three days later at Young’s Field, Wynberg, Cape Town. Their mail cargo of letters had been transferred from aircraft to aircraft and so safely reaches its destination.

Their flight took a total of 45 days with a flight time of 109 hours and 30 minutes. Meanwhile at the Vatican, Joan of Arc is canonised. Over 30 000 people attend the ceremony in Rome, including 140 descendants of Joan’s family. Pope Benedict XV presides over the rite, for which the interior of St Peter’s basilica in Rome is richly decorated.

In October 1920 the world’s first domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States; Adolf Hitler makes his first public political speech in Austria; Polish troops take Vilnius; a large part of Carinthia province votes to become part of Austria rather than Yugoslavia; the Polish army captures Tarnopol, Dubno, Minsk, and Dryssa and a ceasefire is enforced; a peace treaty between the Soviet and the Finnish governments is concluded at Tartu.

Thousands of unemployed demonstrate in London; the League of Nations moves its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland.

Earlier in the year the New York state assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen as thousands of onlookers watch “The Human Fly” George Polley, climbs the New York Woolworth building. He reaches the 30^th floor before being arrested. Prohibition begins in the United States with the Eighteen Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect.

The Australian Country Party is officially formed, led by Nelson Pollard. On January 28, Turkey gives up the Ottoman Empire and most of its non-Turkish areas. On February 9, the League of Nations gives Spitsbergen to Norway.

On February 17, a woman named Anna Anderson tries to commit suicide in Berlin and is taken to a mental hospital, where she claims she is Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.

Irish War of Independence: The Black and Tans special constables arrive in Ireland. On March 31, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in the British parliament.

April 4, 1920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; nine killed, 216 injured. The 1920 Summer Olympics open in Antwerp, Belgium.

The first flight of Dutch air company, KLM, from Amsterdam to London County Council bars foreigners from council jobs.

On July 31, France prohibits the sale or prescription of contraceptives.

August – The British parliament passes a bill to restore order in Ireland, suspending jury trials. Catholics riot in Belfast. The town hall of Templemore, Ireland, is burned down during the riots. The Flying Squad is formed in the London Metropolitan Police.

November 21 – Bloody Sunday: British forces open fire on spectators and players during a football match in Dublin’s Croke Park, killing 14 Irish civilians. This follows the assassination of 12 British agents by the IRA in an earlier attack elsewhere.

December 11 – Martial Law is declared in Ireland.

Born in a tempestuous year, The Southern Cross has survived all manner of hurdles – political, financial and logistical. With your support here’s hoping it will last another 90 glorious years.

Look out for our special anniversary edition on October 27