1926. Society (1)

Society

1926. Josef Stalin establishes himself as virtual dictator of the Soviet Union, beginning a 27-year rule that will bring new repression to Soviet citizens.

1926. Italy's Benito Mussolini assumes total power October 7, making the Fascist party the party of the state and brooking no opposition.

1926. Chiang Kai-shek succeeds the late Sun Yat-sen as leader of China's revolutionary party.

1926. Japan's Taisho emperor Yoshihito dies at age 47 after a 14-year reign. His son of 25 has acted as regent during the 5-year illness of Yoshihito and will reign until 1989 as the Showa emperor Hirohito. The influence of Japan's army and navy will increase enormously in the next 15 years.

1926. A British General Strike cripples the nation from May 3to May 12 as members of the Trade Union Congress rally to the slogan, "Not a penny off the pay, not a minute of the day."

1926. Ford Motor Company plants introduce an 8-hour day and a 5-day work week beginning September 5.

1926. The rocket launched March 16 by physicist Robert H. Goddard is the first liquid fuel rocket; it demonstrates the practicality of rockets and convinces Goddard that rockets will one day land men on the moon.

1926. Philadelphia's 533-meter Benjamin Franklin Bridge opens to traffic.

1926. Waltham, Mass., inventor Francis Wright Davis patents a power-steering unit and installs it in a 1921 Pierce-Arrow Runabout, but commercial production of cars with power steering will not begin until 1951.

1926. B.F. Goodrich chemist Waldo Lonsbury Semon pioneers synthetic rubber.