1957–65) and 10,000 m, (world record holder 1956–60)(committed suicide, 1975) Juliette Gréco, French singer, in Montpellier (d. 2020) February 8, 1927 (Tuesday) In what the American press described as "the most pretentious funeral in the history of the Orient", the Emperor Taishō, known in the West as Yoshihito, was buried after being mourned by his 80,000,000 subjects in Japan, who thought of him as a deity. February 9, 1927 (Wednesday) By a 59–30 vote, the United States Senate rejected American participation in the Permanent Court of International Justice of the League of Nations, more popularly known as the "World Court". The strongest gun control legislation in the United States, to that time, was signed by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. Taking effect on May 10, the Miller Act prohibited the sending of revolvers, pistols and other small arms through the mail. The ban was easily evaded by using private shipping companies. February 10, 1927 (Thursday) President Coolidge addressed a joint session of the United States Congress and announced that he would invite the world's major powers to meet in Geneva to discuss further reductions of their navies. In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty had been signed by the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan. As one historian noted, "The hastily conceived meeting, which [Coolidge] expected to parallel the success of the 1921-22 naval conference, turned out to be a fiasco." The first contingent of American troops in China arrived as 300 U.S. Marines arrived at Shanghai to protect U.S. citizens there. Jonny spielt auf, Ernst Krenek's opera about an African-American jazz musician, premiered in Leipzig and became a hit in Germany. Born: Leontyne Price, African-American operatic soprano and prima donna, in Laurel, Mississippi (alive in 2021) Died: Frank S. Ryan, 46, American who at one time was known as the "prince of clairvoyants" until his nationwide ring was broken in 1914. February 11, 1927 (Friday) Billy Gaffney, a 4-year-old boy, was kidnapped while playing near his apartment building at 99 Fifteenth Street in Brooklyn, and was never found. More than eight years later, convicted child murderer Albert Fish confessed to abducting and killing Gaffney. The city of Homewood, Alabama, near Birmingham, was created by the merger of the towns of Rosedale, Edgewood and Grove Park. February 12, 1927 (Saturday) The first contingent of British troops landed in Shanghai to begin protection of British citizens. Within a week, 21 warships