July 26, 1931: International Bible Students Association changes name to Jehovah's WitnessesJuly 1, 1931: Wiley Post and Harold Gatty complete flight around the world in record 8 days and 16 hoursJuly 26, 1931: Royal wedding in Romania joins Princess Ileana of Romania and Archduke Anton of Habsburg-Bourbon
A fistfight broke out in the British House of Commons. It began when Labour MPJohn McGovern criticized the arrest of two Scottish preachers for holding meetings on theGlasgow Green without permits. McGovern refused to sit down when he was not satisfied with theSecretary of Scotland's reply, and remained standing even after being suspended. A half dozen attendants arrived and tried to pull McGovern out of the chamber by force, but they were attacked by three Labour MPs,James Maxton,John Beckett andJohn Kinley, and opposing MPs joined in. Proceedings were suspended for 19 minutes and the fight lasted until McGovern was finally dragged out of the chamber.[3]
A marble memorial toGustav Stresemann was unveiled inMainz. Foreign MinisterJulius Curtius spoke at the ceremony, which was briefly interrupted by a Nazi who jumped up to the microphone and shouted "Germany awake!" before being arrested.[14]
Anti-Chinese rioting occurred inPyongyang. Approximately 127 Chinese people were killed, 393 wounded, and a considerable number of properties were destroyed by Korean residents.[15]
Outdoor political rallies were banned inBavaria due to frequent violence.[24]
Born:
Alice Munro, Canadian short-story author and 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate; inWingham, Ontario, Canada (d. 2024)
Nick Adams (stage name for Nicholas Adamshock), American TV actor known for starring in the ABC westernThe Rebel; inNanticoke, Pennsylvania (died of prescription drug overdose, 1968)
Died:F. W. Fitzpatrick, 68, Canadian-born American architect known for his advocacy of fireproofing buildings, died after being struck by a car
In a baseball game against thePhiladelphia Phillies,Mel Ott of theNew York Giants hit his 100th career home run at the age of 22 years and 132 days. This still stands as the major league record for the youngest player to hit 100 homers.[28][29]
TheDanatbank in Germany failed, causing arun on all other leading banks in the country.[31]
The German government issued an emergency decree throughArticle 48 ordering all banks in the country closed down for 48 hours.[32] The German stock market was also shut down and ended up not reopening until September.[33]
Banks throughout Germany reopened. The only withdrawals that were allowed were for shopkeepers to meet payrolls, and foreign currency exchanges were prohibited.[36][37]
An accident occurred on the set of the filmScarface when some dynamite caps exploded prematurely, injuring four actors and bystander Gaylord Lloyd (Harold Lloyd's brother), who was struck in the right eye.[39]
Died: Dr.Nicolae Paulescu, 61, Romanian physiologist who patented the early diabetes treatment pancreine, an extract from the processing of insulin from cattle pancreas
The German government issued several new decrees aimed at making foreign currency more difficult to acquire. A special visa was introduced that every German intending to cross the border was required to obtain for a fee of 100 Reichsmarks.[40][41]
A conference of seven powers (Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Germany) met in London to discuss the economic situation in Germany.[43]
TheHeywood Broun-produced musicalShoot the Works opened at George M. Cohan's Theatre on Broadway. Broun himself sang, danced and acted in the show.[45]
Born:Gene Fullmer, American professional boxer, world middleweight champion in 1957, 1959 to 1962; inWest Jordan, Utah (d. 2015)
Acting Governor of BombaySir Ernest Hotson survived an assassination attempt atFergusson College inPune. The first of two shots fired at point blank deflected off a metal stud on his clothes[46]
The London Conference broke off with little accomplished other than producing a request to world bankers to maintain their existing short-term credits to Germany.[48]
The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over the uninhabitedAshmore and Cartier Islands to Australia, effective May 10, 1934.[23] The islands are the highest point on the Ashmore Reef and the Cartier Reef. The largest of them, West Island on the Ashmore Reef, has an area of 230 acres (93 ha) at low tide.
The German government announced the formation of a new bank, the "Acceptance and Guarantee Bank", which would make reserve cash available to all banks to assure them of money to meet possible bank runs.[51]
John Africa, the founder of MOVE, a Philadelphia-based, predominantly black organization active from the early 1970s to the present (killed in fire in 1985)
Ramsay MacDonald became the first British Prime Minister to visit Berlin since the end of World War I. "We are filled with admiration for Germany and we are firmly convinced that if she continues her efforts, if she asserts all her intellectual, moral and economic powers to get on her feet again, without giving way to despair, other nations will help her and not suffer her to go under", MacDonald said.[56]
Arriving inWarsaw after his visit to the Soviet Union,George Bernard Shaw said that other countries must follow the USSR's "remarkable example", saying, "Unlike the western politicians, who are working for their own benefit, the Russian rulers are working for the people and for their country. I am a confirmed communist, as I was beforeLenin, and even more so after seeing communist Russia. Talk of forced labour in Russia is rubbish. There is more slavery in other countries." Shaw also described Stalin as "a most honest and able man."[61]
The Peruvian football clubDefensor Lima was founded.
^Darrah, David (July 10, 1931). "Mussolini and Stimson Agree on Arms Cut".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^Darrah, David (July 10, 1931). "Mussolini Puts Vatican Row Up to the People".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 3.
^Knowles, Arthur; Beech, Graham (2005).The Bluebird Years: Donald Campbell and the Pursuit of Speed. Wilmslow: Sigma Press. p. 22.ISBN978-1-85058-766-8.
^Holtfrerich, Carl-Ludwig (1999).Frankfurt as a Financial Centre: From Medieval Trade Fair to European Banking Centre. Munich: C.H. Beck. p. 216.ISBN978-3-406-45671-8.
^abMercer, Derrik (1989).Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 404.ISBN978-0-582-03919-3.
^Wales, Henry (July 16, 1931). "German Banks to Open Today; Battle Rioters".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^Wales, Henry (July 17, 1931). "Shoot Rioters as Banks Pay Wage Checks".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
