October 17, 1913: 28 people killed in deadliest air crash up to that timeOctober 7, 1913: Ford Motor Company inaugurates its first moving assembly lineOctober 16, 1913: Royal Navy launches its first oil-powered warship, HMS Queen ElizabethOctober 14, 1913: 439 coal miners killed in Wales, rescuers unable to find survivors inside
The following events occurred in October 1913:
Wednesday, October 1, 1913
The Culebra Cut of the Panama Canal was completed near Gatún, Panama after nearly 32 years. Engineers from France had begun excavation on January 20, 1882, before halting the project, which was resumed later by American engineers. The structure include Gatun Dam, the largest embankment dam in the world at the time, which formed Gatun Lake, then the largest artificial lake ever created.[1][2]
English singer and actress Marie Lloyd and her lover, Bernard Dillon, were arrested by the U.S. immigration authorities on their arrival in New York City when it was discovered that they were not married.[3]
A series of rail stations opened across England and Wales including:
Died:Eugene O'Keefe, 85, Canadian business leader, philanthropist, and founder of the O'Keefe Brewery Company (b. 1827)
Thursday, October 2, 1913
China's National Assembly passed a law limiting the President of China to a five-year term of office, with only one re-election.[10]
Flooding in Southern Texas caused $50,000,000 of property damage, though only 12 lives were lost.[11]
The Mexican city of Torreón fell to rebel invaders, led by Pancho Villa, a day after Mexican federal troops evacuated the area.[12]
Scottish murderer Patrick Higgins was hanged after being convicted of the November 1911 murder of his two sons, based on forensic evidence developed by Sydney Smith. Higgins, a habitual drinker, had admitted to the killings but had raised the defense of "insanity caused by epilepsy". This was disproved by analysis and testimony from Smith.[13]
Well-known American author Ambrose Bierce decided, at the age of 71, that he wanted to conclude his life by leaving his Washington, D.C., home to participate in the Mexican Revolution, departing by train after writing to his niece that "being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags... beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs". After reaching Mexico and sending a letter from Chihuahua City on December 26, Bierce vanished "without a trace".[14]
At 9:10 p.m., U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson signed into law the Revenue Act, also known as the Underwood–Simmons Tariff Act, dropping or reducing many of the tariffs of the United States. An amendment to the bill also provided the first federal income tax authorized by the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, though the initial rates were modest in comparison to the lowered cost of living provided by the tariff elimination.[16] The charges on imported meats, fish, dairy products, flour and potatoes were eliminated, as well as those for coal, iron ore and lumber from abroad, and farm machinery and office machinery made outside the United States. On the average the tariff rate was reduced from 37 percent to 27 percent. Wilson said afterwards, "We have set the business of this country free from those conditions which have made monopoly not only possible, but, in a sense, easy and natural."[17][18] The U.S. Senate had approved the bill, 36–17, the day before, and the House of Representatives had voted, 254–103, in its favor on September 30.
The government of Austria-Hungary passed a bill increasing the size of its army to 600,000 men and authorizing an army of 2,000,000 men in the event of war. The war against Serbia, less than nine months later, would escalate into World War I.[19]
Oregon, though it was the second of American state to pass an authorization for a minimum wage law (after Massachusetts), became the first state to have orders implementing a wage, beginning with a regulation for girls between the ages of 16 and 18 who had worked at least one year and who were working the maximum 54 hours per week; the $8.25 for the 54 hour week was equivalent to slightly more than 15 cents per hour.[22] Later rules would extend coverage to experienced adult women in Portland (November 23) and to all women, regardless of experience (February 7);[23][24]
At Marion, Illinois, legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley gave the last public performance of her shooting skills. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, where Oakley had been a major star, had gone bankrupt earlier in the year.[26]
Survivalist Joseph Knowles, who had gone into the forests of Maine on August 4 without clothing, food or tools, emerged after completing his two-month experiment. Not only had he survived, but he had fashioned "a bearskin robe, deerskin moccasins, and a knife, bow and arrows" from the materials in the wilderness.[27]
Mexican rebel leader Emiliano Zapata issued a widely circulated order to his troops, commanding them that "under no pretext nor for any personal cause should crimes be committed against lives and properties". Officers were directed to punish any soldiers who violated the order, or to face court-martial themselves.[28]
Henry Spencer was arrested by Chicago police for the murder of Mildred Rexroat nine days earlier. Spencer confessed to her murder, then told police that he had killed 13 other people over the years.[31]
Dan Smoot, American activist, advocate of the influence of communism in various public and government institutions; in East Prairie, Missouri (d. 2003)
Jack Mullin, American audio engineer, inventor of high fidelity (hi-fi) recordings by magnetic tape; in San Francisco (d. 1999)
Barely receiving the two-thirds majority required, Yuan Shikai was formally elected by the National Assembly after three rounds of voting, to a five-year term as the President of China. A total of 759 of the 850 Chinese Senators and Representatives participated in Beijing. With a candidate needing 506 votes, Yuan received 507 on the third ballot. Li Yuan-Heng, who had already said that he would not be a candidate for the office, received 179 votes, while the other legislators abstained. The votes for Yan and Li were 471–153 on the first round, and 497–162 on the second.[36] After the second round, a mob of Yuan's supporters surrounded the legislative building and blocked the exits.[37] Li was elected vice-president the next day.[38] President Yuan would dissolve the legislature four weeks later and assume dictatorial powers, then proclaim himself the Emperor.[39]
Chicago became the first major American city to pass a resolution declaring the immorality of the tango, a dance which had recently become popular in the United States after originating in Argentina. The tango differed from acceptable dances because of the contact between the upper thighs of the dancers.[40]
The Ford Motor Company factory in Highland Park, Michigan, began use of the moving assembly line to manufacture its Model T automobiles. With 140 assemblers, each assigned a different task, the time to produce a single car was cut by more than half, from 12+1⁄2 hours to 5+1⁄2 hours.[43]
The Maryland Supreme Court struck down Baltimore's recently passed ordinance requiring segregation of neighborhoods and its retroactive application, which would have forced families to move.[44]
The University of South Wales was founded as the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines, located at Treforest in South Wales in the United Kingdom, with a class of 17 students. In 1949, it would become Glamorgan Technical College, and, in 1975, Polytechnic of Wales, before becoming the University of Glamorgan in 1992.[49] On April 11, 2013, the University of Wales, Newport would be merged with the University of Glamorgan to create USW, located at the Treforest campus.[50]
The passenger ship SS Volturno, operated by the Uranium Line, caught fire while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Although 125 passengers and crew died while trying to evacuate, the other 532 people were rescued by ten other steamers that traveled to the rescue after hearing the S.O.S. signal by wireless telegraph,[52][53]Popular Mechanics magazine would observe in its next issue that "The day of the 'mystery of the sea,' when a vessel might sail from port and never be heard from again, is past."[54]
Died:Robinson Ellis, 76, British academic, described as "the greatest of English Latinists" (b. 1834)
Friday, October 10, 1913
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson pressed a telegraph key at his desk in the White House, sending the electrical charge that ignited dynamite to destroy the Gamboa Dike, thereby completing the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There was no ceremony; after Wilson pressed the button at 2:00 pm, he said, "There, it is all over. Gamboa is busted."[56][57]
Sixteen days before the legislative and presidential elections scheduled for October 26, Mexico's President Victoriano Huerta ordered the arrest of 110 members of the Chamber of Deputies. Soldiers of the Mexican Army surrounded the legislative building, then marched in to arrest the legislators, who had signed a resolution protesting the disappearance of Senator Belisario Dominguez.[58] Seventy-four of the legislators were later charged with conspiring to overthrow the Huerta government.[59]
At the inauguration ceremony for China's president Yuan Shikai, the Chief of Beijing's mounted police was arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate Yuan. Police Chief Chen, who confessed that he had been bribed by leaders of the Southern provinces rebellion, had aroused suspicion because of his persistence in trying to be near President Yuan during the ceremony, and several bombs were found at Chief Chen's home.[60]
The body of Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, was found floating in the sea, 11 days after his September 28 disappearance from the passenger liner SS Dresden. The crew of the steamer Coertsen, from Belgium, found the body, which was identified by the items Diesel had been carrying.[61]
French composer Erik Satie produced the first in a series of piano compositions for beginners titled Enfantines.[62]
The day after President Victoriano Huerta dissolved parliament in Mexico, Britain's Sir Lionel Carden greeted the President as the new British Minister to Mexico, which the United States inferred to be a British attempt to gain Huerta's alliance.[65]
Mayor of BostonJohn F. Fitzgerald issued an order banning the tango, the turkey trot, "and other dances of a similar character". The order required that "a matron and a policeman must stand guard in every public dance hall in Boston" to break up any attempts at the controversial dances, and pledged to revoke the license of any dance hall that failed to observe the rules.[66]
Franz Rosenzweig, preparing to convert from Judaism to Christianity, decided at the last moment to reaffirm his Jewish faith. Rosenzweig would go on to become an Orthodox Jewish philosopher whose most famous work was The Star of Redemption.[67]
The lineups were announced for an unprecedented round for the world tour to be made by baseball's Chicago White Sox and New York Giants, managed, respectively, by Charles Comiskey and John McGraw.[68] The two teams, which included stars from other major league clubs, would begin their westward journey on October 18 with a game in Cincinnati, then set sail for Tokyo on November 19 and would return in March after playing exhibition games in ten foreign nations.[69]
In the worst mining disaster in British history, 439 coal miners were killed in the explosion of the Universal Colliery at Senghenydd, Wales. At 6:00 a.m., 935 miners went underground into the pits, designated "Lancaster" and "York". Two hours later, there was an explosion in the Lancaster pit. There were 498 survivors. After 74 bodies had been removed and no survivors located by rescuers, the decision was made to leave the other 345 entombed in the mine.[74][75]
British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and Leader of the OppositionBonar Law met secretly to discuss a bipartisan solution to the growing demand for Home Rule in Ireland. From their meetings, there would emerge the eventual separation of the mostly Protestant counties, in Northern Ireland, from the mostly Roman Catholic counties in the rest of the island.[76]
China's President Yuan Shikai ordered the arrest of a list of his opponents, including former president Sun Yat-sen, Huang Hsing and Chang Chi.[82]
Thursday, October 16, 1913
President Toptani
The Republic of Central Albania was proclaimed by politician Essad Pasha Toptani, who installed himself as president with his capital at Durrës. Toptani, a rival of Albanian leader Ismail Qemali, disbanded the government three months later under pressure from the leaders of the Great Powers nations, shortly before the outbreak of World War I.[83]
The British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first to use oil, rather than coal, for its fuel, was launched from Portsmouth. The new generation of British battleship had ten 15-inch guns.[85] After service during both world wars, the ship would be dismantled in 1948.[86]
The play Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, was performed for the first time, albeit in the German language, at the Burgtheater in Vienna. The play, which would later become the basis for the musical My Fair Lady, would premiere in London on April 11, 1914.[88]
Died:Ralph Rose, 28, American athlete, holder of the world record for distance in the shot put, and Olympic gold medalist 1904, 1908 and 1912, died of typhoid fever (b. 1885)
Austria-Hungary, acting on its own without consultation with the other "Great Powers", delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, demanding that Serbian troops be withdrawn within eight days from the territory set aside for Albania by the Great Powers.[90] The Serbians withdrew on October 25, but the unilateral action of the Austrian Emperor began the breakup of the Great Powers.[91]
Twenty United States Army soldiers were killed and another 102 were injured when the train they were riding on fell while crossing a high trestle over the Buckatunna river, near State Line, Mississippi.[95]
Arthur Zimmermann, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany, told the British Ambassador to Berlin, Edward Goschen, that the Germans had been surprised by Austria-Hungary's ultimatum as a policy that "might lead to serious consequences", but (according to Goschen) added that "restraining advice at Vienna on the part of Germany was out of the question". Historian Martin Gilbert would write years later that "In these final fourteen words lay the seeds of a European war."[97]
Polk Miller, 69, American musician, early performer of folk banjo music (b. 1844)
Tuesday, October 21, 1913
R.J. Reynolds' new "Turkish blend" cigarette
A conspiracy, by monarchists within the Portuguese Army, to overthrow the republic and to restore King Manuel to the throne, was put down by loyal officers in the city of Viana do Castelo.[102]
Camel cigarettes were introduced by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The brand name was a reference to the cigarette's blend of Turkish and Oriental tobacco, and the image of a dromedary camel, on the packet, was based on "Old Joe", an animal at the Barnum and Bailey Circus.[103]
An explosion killed 263 coal miners at the Stag Canyon Fuel Company's Mine Number 2, near Dawson, New Mexico, .[107] Thirty-seven years later, when the Phelps-Dodge Coal Company shut down its operations at the end of April, 1950, Dawson would become a ghost town.[108]
W. E. B. Du Bois debuted his historical pageant The Star of Ethiopia in New York City to a largely positive reception from the public, praised for its focus on contributions by Africans and their descendants on human history.[112]
The United States Senate passed the "La Follette Seaman's Bill", which "ended the virtual enslavement of sailors" by outlawing one-year service contracts and allowing workers on private American ships to quit upon reaching port. The bill, sponsored by Robert M. La Follette, also required that before a ship could sail from an American port, it had to have sufficient lifeboats and rafts for all aboard, and training for the crew to permit two seamen for each boat.[114]
Died:Edwin Klebs, 79. Prussian-Swiss medical researcher who identified the bacteria that causes diphtheria (b. 1834)
Friday, October 24, 1913
Winston Churchill, at the time the British First Lord of the Admiralty, made a final attempt to halt to the ongoing arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany, suggesting a joint moratorium on the building of more warships. A previous suggestion had been rejected by Kaiser Wilhelm; "This time", a historian would write later, "his proposal wasn't even acknowledged."[118]
An alternative to the Ulster Covenant of 1912 was created at a public meeting in Dublin to dispute assertions made by the original covenant against the Home Rule Bill set forth by the British government.[119]
Cornelia Cole Fairbanks, 61, American suffragist, early advocate for women's right and women's suffrage, wife of former U.S. Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, died of pneumonia (b. 1852)
Saturday, October 25, 1913
One day before the expiration of the eight-day ultimatum given by Austria-Hungary on October 18, Serbian troops withdrew from Albania.[120]
The Count of Romanones resigned as Prime Minister of Spain, along with his cabinet, after failing a vote of confidence by only three votes. On the motion in the Spanish Senate of whether to support the Romanones administration, the result was 103 in favor, 106 against.[121] Former Prime Minister Eduardo Dato would become the new premier on October 29.[122]
The restoration of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, where the United States Congress met from 1790 to 1800 before Washington, D.C., became the American capital, was completed, and the building returned to its 1776 appearance. At the dedication, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson commented that "it has seemed to me that I saw ghosts crowding in, a great assemblage of spirits, no longer visible to us, but whose influence we still feel as we feel the molding power of history itself".[124]
Presidential and legislative elections were held as scheduled in Mexico, but the results were not announced. The Mexican Constitution required that at least one-third of the registered voters had to participate in order for an election to be valid, and it was estimated than less than one-eighth of the electorate turned out.[131]
The Emir of Kuwait, Mubarak Al-Sabah, signed a treaty with the United Kingdom, pledging that if oil were discovered in Kuwait, the British government would have to approve the granting of a concession to any company seeking drilling rights.[134]
In a foreign policy address made in Mobile, Alabama, at the Southern Commercial Congress, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announced a new direction. "I want to take this occasion to say", President Wilson told the delegates, "that the United States will never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest. She will devote herself to showing that she knows how to make an honorable and fruitful use of the territory she has..." Wilson's statement is sometimes misquoted, usually in stories about Mobile, as "the United States would never again wage a war of aggression".[135]
Two people were killed by a tornado in Wales. As of 2007, this was the last instance of a fatality from a tornado in the United Kingdom.[136]
General Félix Díaz, who had been a candidate for President of Mexico in the elections the day before, was granted refuge at the American consulate in Veracruz, and transferred to the safety of the American battleship USS Louisiana.[138]
Menahem Mendel Beilis, a Jewish factory superintendent who had been falsely accused ("blood libel") of the ritualistic murder of a child, was acquitted by a jury in Kiev.[141]
Ten minutes before baseball's New York Giants and Chicago White Sox were preparing to start an exhibition game in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the bleachers over the right field collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. Seven hundred fans had crowded onto benches that were meant to hold 400. One spectator, U.S. Army Private Chester Taylor, was killed.[143]
After months of delay, Edwin Howard Armstrong filed a patent application on his invention of the regenerative circuit. On the same day, Irving Langmuir applied for a patent on his own regenerative circuit. In the lawsuits that followed over nearly 20 years, Armstrong would be given priority on the strength of a diagram of the circuit, which he had had notarized on January 13, 1913[146] and would be granted U.S. Patent #1,113,149 on October 6, 1914.[147]
Thursday, October 30, 1913
Serbia and Montenegro signed a treaty defining the border between the two Balkan kingdoms. Serbian Minister of War Miloš Božanović (on behalf King Peter) and Montenegrin Education Minister Mirko Mijuskovic (for King Nicholas) executed the agreement.[148]
15-year-old Ida Kaufman, a student at the Ferrer Modern School in New York, married her former history teacher, 28-year-old Will Durant. Ida would take on the name Ariel Durant, and the Durants would go on to write the eleven-volume study of Western history, The Story of Civilization. According to some accounts, Ariel roller-skated to the New York City Hall to attend the civil ceremony.[151]
The Public Service Association was established to represent government employees and public servants in New Zealand. The organizations currently represents some 70,000 members.[152]
^Smith, Ephraim P.; et al. (2008). Federal Taxation: Comprehensive Topics. Commerce Clearing House. p. 113.
^"Wilson Signs New Tariff Law". The New York Times. October 4, 1913. p. 1.
^Northrup, Cynthia Clark; Turney, Elaine C. Prange, eds. (2003). "Personal Income Tax". Encyclopedia of Tariffs and Trade in U.S. History. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 297.
^Bernandt, G.B. Словарь опер впервые поставленных или изданных в дореволюционной России и в СССР, 1736–1959 [Dictionary of Operas First Performed or Published in Pre-Revolutionary Russia and in the USSR, 1836–1959]. Москва: Советский композитор, 1962, pp. 279–280
^"Record of Current Events", The American Monthly Review of Reviews (November 1913), pp. 551-554
^The Atlantic Transport Line, 1881–1931: A History with Details on All Ships (McFarland, 2012) pp. 124–125
^"'Volturno' Rescue Latest Triumph of Wireless", Popular Mechanics magazine (December 1913) p. 809
^"Great New Land Found in Arctic", New York Times, October 12, 1913
^"Canal Is Opened by Wilson's Finger", New York Times, October 11, 1913
^"Few Saw Button Pressed", New York Times, October 11, 1913
^"Huerta Arrests 110 Legislators", New York Times, October 12, 1913; "Huerta Becomes Mexican Dictator", New York Times, October 12, 1913
^Scott Mainwaring and Matthew Soberg Shugart, Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 1997) p. 230
^"Plot to Kill Yuan at Inauguration", New York Times, October 11, 1913
^Josh Tickell, Biodiesel America: How to Achieve Energy Security, Free America from Middle-east Oil Dependence And Make Money Growing Fuel (Yorkshire Press, 2006) p. 65
^Pierre-Daniel Templier, "Erik Satie", MIT Press, 1969, p. 85.
^"Record of Current Events" November 1913, pp. 551-554
^"Athletics Win World's Series on Bad Errors", New York Times, October 12, 1913
^Mark T. Gilderhus, The Second Century: U.S.–Latin American Relations Since 1889 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000) p. 43
^Elfers, James E. (2003). The Tour to End All Tours: The Story of Major League Baseball's 1913–1914 World Tour. University of Nebraska Press. pp. xxi–xxiii.
^Douglas L. Wheeler, Republican Portugal: A Political History, 1910–1926 (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998) pp. 96-97
^Barbara Berliner, et al., The Book of Answers: The New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions (Simon and Schuster, 1992) pp. 236-237
^"Sam S. Shubert", in The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943–1965 by Corinne J. Naden (Scarecrow Press, 2011) p. 199
^"223 May Be Dead in Dawson Mine", New York Times, October 23, 1913
^Linda G. Harris, Ghost Towns Alive: Trips to New Mexico's Past (University of New Mexico Press, 2003) p. 61; James E. Sherman and Barbara H. Sherman, Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico (University of Oklahoma Press, 1975) p. 68; GhostTownGallery.com
^"Record of Current Events" December 1913, pp. 671-674
^"About Us". Syndenham College of Commerce and Economics. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
^Miranda Vickers, The Albanians: A Modern History (I.B.Tauris, 1999) p. 79
^"Spanish Ministry Falls", The Manchester Guardian, October 27, 1913, p. 10
^Francisco J. Romero Salvado, Spain 1914–1918: Between War and Revolution (Routledge, 2012)
^Constantinos Vacalopoulos (2004). Ιστορία της Μείζονος Θράκης, από την πρώιμη Οθωμανοκρατία μέχρι τις μέρες μας, History of Greater Thrace, from early Ottoman rule until nowadays. Thessaloniki: Publisher Antonios Stamoulis. p. 282. ISBN960-8353-45-9.
^"Wilson Aims Thrust at Favor Seekers", New York Times, October 26, 1913
^Miyata, Hiroyuki (June 2014). 釜石線ショートヒストリー ～路線と蒸気機関車～ [A short history of the Kamaishi Line: The line and steam locomotives]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 54, no. 638. Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. pp. 24–25.
^Bloor and Gladstone. Toronto Public Library: Bloor-Gladstone library local history collection,1912- 2010
^"Memorial to Titanic Dead." Washington Post. October 26, 1913.
^"Mexico Votes; Nobody Elected", New York Times, October 27, 1913
^"Bloodshed Attends Italian Elections", New York Times, October 27, 1913
^"Italy's Election under the New Laws", New York Times, October 26, 1913
^Zach Levey and Elie Podeh, Britain And the Middle East: From Imperial Power to Junior Partner (Sussex Academic Press, 2008) p. 233
^Howard Jones, Crucible of Power: A History of American Foreign Relations Since 1897 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008); "No Conquest, Wilson's Pledge", New York Times, October 28, 1913, p. 1
^Christopher C. Burt, Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book (W. W. Norton & Company, 2007) p. 186
^"Dato as Spain's Premier", New York Times, October 27, 1913
^"Diaz a Refugee on Battleship", New York Times, October 29, 1913
^Marco Picichè, Dawn and Evolution of Cardiac Procedures: Research Avenues in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology (Springer, 2012) p. 26
^Sungook Hong, Wireless: From Marconi's Black-box to the Audion (MIT Press, 2001) p. 187
^Henry B. Davis, Electrical and Electronic Technologies: A Chronology of Events and Inventors from 1900 to 1940 (Scarecrow Press, 1983) p. 53
^Nicholas Whyte and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, The Future of Montenegro: Proceedings of an Expert Meeting 26 February 2001 (Center for European Policy Studies, 2001) p. 11
^* "Election Results 1913". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
^"Peace Monument, (sculpture)". Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
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