wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 people and injuring 150. January 16 The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition, is ratified. Pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes the second Prime Minister of Poland. January 18 ]: The Paris Peace Conference opens in France, with delegates from 27 nations attending for meetings at the Palace of Versailles. Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Narva, expelling the Red Army from Northern Estonia. Bentley Motors Limited is founded in England. January 19–28 – Russian Civil War: The Red Army begins the counter offensive in the Perm area against the White forces. January 19 The Monarchy of the North is established in Northern Portugal. 1919 German federal election, first under the Weimar Republic and the first in Germany with female suffrage. January 21 – Dáil Éireann meets for the first time in the Mansion House, Dublin. It comprises Sinn Féin members elected in the 1918 general election who, in accordance with their manifesto, have not taken their seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but chosen to declare an independent Irish Republic. In the first shots of the Anglo-Irish War, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men are killed in an ambush at Soloheadbeg in Tipperary. January 23 – Khotyn Uprising: partisans capture the city of Khotyn in Romania. January 25 – The League of Nations is founded in Paris, France. January 31 – Battle of George Square: The British Army is called in to deal with riots, during negotiations over working hours in Glasgow, Scotland. February February 1 – Estonian War of Independence: Estonian forces liberate Valga and Võru, expelling the Red Army from the entire territory of Estonia. February 3 – Russian Civil War: Soviet troops occupy Ukraine. February 4–5 – Pressburg (Bratislava) becomes the capital of Slovakia. February 5 United Artists (UA) is incorporated in the United States by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a motion picture producer. Russian Civil War: Soviet troops occupy the city of Kyiv after the Battle of Kiev (January 1919). February 10 – The Inter-Allied Women's Conference convenes to compile a list of women's issues to present to the delegates of the Paris Peace Conference. February 11 Friedrich Ebert is elected the first President of Germany (Reichspräsident), by the Weimar National Assembly. The Seattle General Strike ends, when