Historical Events in February 1924

Event of Interest

Feb 1 Ramsay MacDonald's incoming Labour government formally recognizes the Soviet Union

British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald — British Prime Minister
Ramsay MacDonald

Feb 2 International Ski Federation (FIS) forms

1st Winter Olympics

Feb 2 Norway’s Thorleif Haug takes the cross-country double at the Chamonix Winter Olympics when he wins the 18k event; Haug also 50k gold medalist

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*Einar Landvik, Nordic skier from Norway, competes in the first-ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, 1924*

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Feb 3 Alexei Ryko elected as President of People's commission (succeeds Lenin)
Feb 3 Canada beats United States, 6-1 to retain the Olympic ice hockey gold medal (won at 1920 Summer Games) at the Chamonix Games; Canadian LW Harry Watson top scores with 46 points
Feb 3 Switzerland claims the inaugural Olympic bobsleigh gold medal at the Chamonix Games, ahead of Great Britain and Belgium
Feb 4 George Kelly's play "Show-Off," premieres in New York City
Feb 4 Norway sweeps the medals in the Nordic combined event at the inaugural Chamonix Winter Olympics; Thorleif Haug wins his 3rd gold of the Games ahead of teammates Thoralf Strømstad & Johan Grøttumsbråten
Feb 4 Jacob Tullin Thams of Norway wins ski jumping gold at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; in 1936 he earns a silver medal in sailing at Berlin Summer Games
Feb 5 1st Winter Olympic Games close at Chamonix, France
Feb 5 The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".

Event of Interest

Feb 7 Benito Mussolini's Italian government exchanges diplomats with USSR

Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini — Italian Dictator
Benito Mussolini

Feb 8 1st US coast-to-coast radio hookup: General John Joseph Carty speech in Chicago
Feb 9 Nakhichevan ASSR constituted within Azerbaijan SSR
Feb 10 Bucky Harris at 27, becomes youngest baseball manager (Washington Senators)

Music Premiere

Feb 12 George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at influential concert "Experiment in Modern Music" held by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra at the Aeolian Hall, NYC

Composer and Pianist George Gershwin — Composer and Pianist
George Gershwin

Feb 12 George Kaufman's "Beggar on Horseback" premieres in NYC

Event of Interest

Feb 14 Thomas J. Watson renames the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) as International Business Machines (IBM)

Businessman Thomas J. Watson — Businessman
Thomas J. Watson

Feb 15 A deputation for the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) meets with the Minister of the Interior, Sir Patrick Duncan, and presents him with a memorandum setting out their objections concerning the Class Areas Bill