I have been working hard this month at my blog HSD writing about people who lived in 1921 in the A to Z Blogging challenge. As a supplement to that work here are 10 things that took place in 1921.
Thing 1: According to babynames.it In 1921 The most popular Boy’s name in the U.S. was John and the most popular girls name was Mary. In 2015 (The last available data at babynames.it) John was ranked26th and Mary was down to 124th
Thing 2: In 1921 Boeing which has been a furniture maker before it began to manufacture airplanes. In 1921 it discontiued furniture altogether.
Thing 3: In 1921 John A. Larson invented the first lie detector and it was originally called a polygraph.
Thing 4: On March 4th, 1921 congress approves the burial of an unidentified soldier who died in WW I. While not fully completed until 1932, Warren G. Harding dedicated the tomb to the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day 2021.
Thing 5: April 2nd 1921 Albert Einstein spoke in New York on his theory of relativity. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics but did not receive it until 1922.
Thing 6: May 30, 1921 Tommy Milton wins 9th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Thing 7: July 14, 1921 Nicola Sacco & Bartolomo Vanzetti were found guilty of the 1920 murder of F.A. Parmenter. They were executed 6 years later after many appeals.
Thing 8: July 18, 1921 Babe Ruth hits his 139th home run in Detorit’s Navin Field. This broke the home run record previously held by Roger Connor of 138. Ruth added 596 more dingers in his storied career. Ruth held the record at 714 until 47 years ago tonight when Hank Aaron surpassed him with #715.
In 1921 Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record for the third time in 3 years. He broke it again in 1927. Here is a chart showing who owned the record immediately prior to and after the Bambino.
| Player | Year | Hr |
| Ned Williamson | 1884 | 27 |
| Babe Ruth | 1919 | 29 |
| Babe Ruth | 1920 | 54 |
| Babe Ruth | 1921 | 59 |
| Babe Ruth | 1927 | 60 |
| Roger Maris | 1961 | 61 |
Thing 9: August 3 , 1921 Eight members of the 1921 “Black Sox” were banned by Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis from Major League Baseball for life.
Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing ball games are planned and discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I don’t know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game.
Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis
Thing 10: October 13 1921 New York Giants defeat New York Yankees in last best 5 of 9 World Series.
That is what’s happening 100 years ago. To see more about 1921 click here for more A to Z challenge at HSD. . Click here to see more blogs participating in the 2021 challenge.
