April 25, 1913: Mary Phagan, 13-year old pencil factory employee, murdered in AtlantaApril 24, 1913: The Woolworth Building, tallest in the world until 1930, opens to the publicApril 29, 1913: Jewish factory superintendent Leo Frank arrested and wrongfully charged with Phagan's murder.
King of Albania and would-be King of France Philippe
The Turkish government approved the terms of peace to end theFirst Balkan War, losing 60,000 square miles of its territory to the Balkan nations.[1]
The first trial of theassembly line method of manufacturing was made, with theFord Motor Company testing the process in the putting together of amagneto for aflywheel motor at its factory inHighland Park, Michigan. The assembly process was split among 29 employees, each putting together a part of the magneto and then sending it over to another employee. The production time for each magneto was lowered from 20 minutes to 13 minutes. When the height of the line was raised the next year, and a moving conveyor was added, the time dropped to eight minutes, and then five minutes, a quadrupling of the production rate.[2]
Lord Northcliffe, the publisher of the British newspaper, theDaily Mail, offered a prize of £10,000 ($50,000) to the first persons who could make a direct flight across theAtlantic Ocean, within 72 hours or less. In 2013 money, the equivalent would be £730,000 or $1.1 million.[citation needed] The shortest trip was 1,900 miles betweenIreland andNewfoundland, whichJohn Alcock andArthur Whitten Brown would accomplish on June 15, 1919.[7]
TheRiverview Hospital opened inCoquitlam,British Columbia as a mental health facility, and was handling just over 900 patients by the end of the year. It would operate until 2012 and close to make way for new provincial mental health facility.[9][page needed]
The weekly newspaperNorthern Herald began publication inCairns, Australia. It would cease publication in 1939.[10]
The U.S. government released a group ofApache Indians held as prisoners of war at theFort Sill Military Reservation inOklahoma since 1894. Of the group, 163 elected to be relocated toNew Mexico, while another 76 received allotments of land inOklahoma, and the last Apaches would leaveFort Sill on March 7, 1914.[12]
British record labelPolydor Records was established initially as a subsidiary to theDeutsche Grammophon company, becoming its own independent label in 1972.[13]
The 550 foot (170 m) long German dirigibleZ-4, flying near the boundary withFrance in order to inspect French border defenses, strayed into French territory, ran out of fuel, and went down at the airfield atLunéville in northeastern France where theFrench Army seized control of the ship and detained its crew of eleven.[14] France allowed civilian repairmen to cross over fromGermany, and theZ-4 left the next day, but not before it was photographed and measured in detail.[15]
An angry mob inMondak, Montana, carried out thelynching of a black construction worker, J. C. Collins, hours after Collins had shot and killedSheridan County Sheriff Thomas Courtney and a deputized citizen, Richard Bermeister.[19][20] Collins was forcibly removed from jail by a group who had overpowered his captors, then taken to a telephone pole and hanged; in some accounts, some of the citizens attempted unsuccessfully to set fire to the hanging corpse and, failing in that effort, shot the body with bullets.[21]Booker T. Washington would mention the lynching in a July 15, 1913, letter to theBoston Transcript.[22]
Emmanouil Argyropoulos, 23, the first Greek citizen to become a pilot, died ub the first fatal plane crash inGreece (b. c.1889). Argyropoulos and his passenger, Konstantinos Manos, had been flying over theLangadas region nearThessaloniki when hisBlériot airplane suddenly lost power at an altitude of 600 metres (2,000 ft) and plummeted earthward, killing both men.[26][27]
Ebbets Field opened as the new home of baseball'sBrooklyn Superbas (later the Dodgers), who played an exhibition game against the newly renamedNew York Yankees (formerly the New York Highlanders) from the rivalAmerican League. The Superbas won the game, 3–2, before 25,000 fans.[30][31] Genevieve Ebbets, daughter of Dodgers ownerCharles Ebbets, threw the honorary first pitch.
The United States of America Foot Ball Association, now theUnited States Soccer Federation (USSF), was founded. The word "soccer" would not be made part of the organization name until 1945 (as the United States Soccer Football Association), and the word "football" would not be dropped until the USSF adopted its present name in 1974.[32]
TheBucharest Academy of Economic Studies (Academia de Studii Economice din București or ASE) was founded by decree ofKing Carol ofRomania. It would have more than 35,000 undergraduate and 1,600 masters and doctoral students by the time of its centennial in 2013.[35]
China inaugurated its first elected Parliament atBeijing, with more than 500 of the 596 Representatives and 177 of the 274 Senators present when the assembly opened at 11:00 am.[38]
U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson broke a 100-year tradition and personally appeared before a joint session ofUnited States Congress to speak in support of a bill on tariffs.[40][41]
Ebbets Field, the new home of baseball'sBrooklyn Dodgers at 55 Sullivan Place, hosted its first official game. The stadium, which was the smallest in the National League, could hold 25,000 people, and bad weather limited the attendance to 10,000 in a 1–0 loss to thePhiladelphia Phillies.[45] The Dodgers would play their last game there on September 24, 1957, and it would host aNegro league contest, with theHavana Cubans defeating theKansas City Monarchs 6-4 as its final baseball game onAugust 23, 1959. Demolition would begin onFebruary 23, 1960, and apartments now stand on the site.[46]
Albert S. Burleson, the newU.S. Postmaster General, proposed thesegregation of white and black federal employees in the postal service, at a cabinet meeting with PresidentWoodrow Wilson.Navy SecretaryJosephus Daniels wrote in his diary that Burleson advocated separation of the races in the railway mail service, "and he was anxious to segregate White and Negro employees in all Departments of the Government."[This quote needs a citation] Wilson made no objection to Burleson's suggestion, implying that segregation within a federal office was left to the choice of each cabinet member.[citation needed] By the end of the year, separate bathrooms and lunchrooms were set aside for black and white workers at thePost Office Department.U.S. Treasury SecretaryWilliam Gibbs McAdoo implemented racial segregation at theBureau of Engraving and Printing, and Daniels had done the same at the office of the Auditor of the Navy, and layoffs of black federal employees took place in the South during 1914.[50][51]
TheBritish Ecological Society, an environmentalist organization that was the first of its kind in history, was founded by 47 persons who had been invited by the British Vegetation Committee. An American counterpart, theEcological Society of America, would be created in 1915.[56]
Anarchist Rafael Sancho Alegre fired three shots atKing Alfonso as he was riding through the streets ofMadrid. It was the eighth attempt on the life of the King, who was uninjured and would reign until 1931.[60]
A group of 200,000 Belgian workers went on strike in protest over the government's failure to approve the abolition of the "plural vote" system. Under the existing law, Belgian men who were 25 or older could have as many as three votes, with extra voting rights awarded for marriage, land ownership, a university degree or government employment. TheLabour Party had sought a rule for one vote for any Belgian citizen over the age of 21.[65][66] The Belgian government revised the constitution a week later and the strike ended.[67]
The first issue ofScouting, the magazine of theBoy Scouts of America, was published, originally as a semi-weekly newsletter.[69][page needed] In its 100th year, the magazine would be published five times a year.[70]
Less than ten years after the first successful airplane flight, the firstSchneider Trophy airplane race, held inMonaco, was won by French pilotMaurice Prévost, who flew hisDeperdussin Coupe Schneider at an average speed of 45.71 miles per hour (73.56 km/h) for six laps and a total distance of 300 kilometers or 190 miles.[75]
Some 20,000 protesters gathered inTokyo to cheer various speakers who were demanding thatJapan declare war on theUnited States in response to the impendingAlien Land Act being considered by the California state legislature.[81]
Athletic Park opened inVancouver as a baseball venue although it also hosted football, lacrosse, and other sport events.[84]
Born:Miss Read (pen name for as Dora Jessie Shafe), British novelist best known for theFairacre andThrush Green series; inLondon (d.2012)[citation needed]
French GeneralJoseph Joffre presented "Plan XVII" to theSupreme War Council, in what would become the basis for French military strategy duringWorld War I in the event of an invasion byGermany.[85] General Joffre's plan, approved by the War Ministry on May 2, assumed that the German Army would come across the German-French border, and failed to have any contingency for whatGermany would do in 1914, when it invadedBelgium and then crossed the Belgian-French border.[86]
The weekly American newspaperFrostburg Mining Journal ofFrostburg, Maryland, published its final issue. The paper's publisher, the Mining Journal Publishing Company, went under and was bought out by Peter L. Livengood in May.[89] In September, Livengood commenced publishing of the paper in September under a new name,The Frostburg Spirit, before it was sold again in 1915 and original name was revived. The paper ceased its operations in 1917.[89]
U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson sent a message to the California state Senate and House, urging the members not to pass legislation aimed at barring Japanese persons from owning land in that state, requesting them to pass a broader law that would affect all aliens.[92][full citation needed]
The two children of dancerIsadora Duncan were killed in an automobile accident, shortly after having dined with her inParis. Deirdre Duncan, 6, and Patrick Duncan, 3, were drowned along with their governess, Annie Sim, when the car they were in rolled down a hill into the riverSeine. Duncan herself would be killed in a freak accident onSeptember 14, 1927, while a passenger in an automobile.[94][95]
Three members of the France's infamousBonnot Gang, Raymond Callemin, André Soudy andÉlie Monier, were executed byguillotine at 4:30 a.m. All three were beheaded within 40 seconds of each other.[103][page needed]
Quo Vadis? became the first motion picture to be shown in a Broadway theater, normally reserved for plays, and attracted thousands of spectators at a time, all willing to pay one dollar to watch a two-hour feature film.[104][page needed]
Mexico's government began the increased printing of papercurrency in order to finance its armies during the revolution. The first issue put an additional five millionpesos into circulation, but within two years, the government had printed 672,000,000 pesos, and other factions issued their own paper money. Between April and July, the inflation rate rose from 10% to 100%, and to nearly 1000% by April 1915 and 10,000% by April 1916 and more than 100,000% by September 1916.[107]
The Ottoman Turkish city ofIskodra (referred to as "Scutari" in the English-language press and "Shkodra" byMontenegro) surrendered to Montenegrin troops after six months ofsiege.[108][109][110]
The 55-storyWoolworth Building, designed by architectCass Gilbert and located at 233 Broadway Street inNew York City, officially opened as the tallestskyscraper in the world. At 7:30 pm inWashington, D.C., U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson pushed a button that lit the 80,000 lights in the 792 foot high structure.[112] The event, one commentator would write later, "ushered in the era of the great skyscraper".[This quote needs a citation] The Woolworth Building's reign as the tallest in the world would last until 1930.[113]
The "Cat and Mouse Act," officially named the Prisoners' Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act, was given royal assent in theUnited Kingdom.[118] Proposed byHome SecretaryReginald McKenna in response to the use of thehunger strike by imprisonedsuffragettes, the law provided that if a prisoner has a "condition of health... due in whole or in part to the prisoner's own conduct in prison," the Secretary of State could "authorise the temporary discharge of the prisoner" who, after recuperation, would return to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence, extended by the time on leave.[119]
Leo Frank, the 29-year old superintendent of the National Pencil Company factory inAtlanta, Georgia, presented 13-year-old employee Mary Phagan her weekly pay after closing time. Mary's body was found the next morning at the bottom of an elevator shaft. Frank became the prime suspect in her murder, and was arrested three days later on April 29 for her murder.[122] A prominent Jew in Atlanta and president of the city's B'nai B'rith, Leo Frank would be convicted of Mary's murder despite the absence of evidence linking him to the killing. Although his death sentence would be commuted in 1915 to life imprisonment, a mob of angry citizens would kidnap him from the prison farm and lynch him.[123][page needed]
French composerErik Satie would complete his next humorous piano compositionDescriptions automatiques but kept it secret from the public until its public performance by Spanish pianist and partnerRicardo Viñes.[127]
The agreement for a $125,000,000 (£25,000,000) loan toChina, from banks in five European nations, was signed inBeijing by the Chinese Prime Minister.[128] The loan was at an interest rate of 5% per annum.[129] Although the agreement was unconstitutional because it was not approved by the Parliament, PresidentYuan Shikai was able to use the funding to defeat his opponents in the civil war that followed.[130]
Albert Schweitzer opened his first hospital facility, a day after supplies had arrived at his remote location inGabon, and began the first major medical treatment for the native African population.[131]
Four weeks after having been offered the Albanian throne,Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Montpensier, announced that he was declining the chance to becomeKing of Albania. The Duke, whose candidacy was opposed by Italy and Austria-Hungary, announced his decision in a letter published in the newspaperLe Figaro. Ferdinand would die on January 30, 1924.[133]
TheNational Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba opened inHavana after its society received a decree to operate on February 23.[137] However, the museum site would be moved several times throughout the city before its current Palace of Fine Arts was built in 1955.[138]
Germany's Foreign Minister,Gottlieb von Jagow, said in a speech at theReichstag thatGermany would respect the guarantees ofBelgium's neutrality, followed by Minister of WarJosias von Heeringen, who pledged that "Germany will not lose sight of the fact that the neutrality of Belgium is guaranteed by international treaty."[This quote needs a citation] Germany would invade Belgium fifteen months later on its entry intoWorld War I on August 2, 1914.[141]
Franklin Knight Lane, the newUnited States Secretary of the Interior, rescinded an order that had banned automobiles from enteringYosemite National Park and other parks, increasing the tourism in those areas. Lane wrote that "This form of transportation has come to stay, and to close the park against automobiles would be as absurd as the fight for many years made by old naval men against the adoption of steam in the navy."[144][page needed]
^"Industrial Revolution and Assembly Line Work", inWork in America, Volume 1: A–M, Carl E. Van Horn and Herbert A. Schaffner, eds. (ABC-CLIO, 2003) p. 288
^"Record of Current Events",The American Monthly Review of Reviews (May 1913), pp. 545–548
^"Alcock and Brown: First Across the Atlantic Direct", by John Motum,Putnam Aeronautical Review (July 1989) p. 84, reprinted by Naval Institute Press, 1990
^"All New Haven Out to Greet Mr. Taft".The New York Times. April 2, 1913.
^Ministry Health Branch (1970).A Summary of the Growth and Development of Mental Health Facilities and Services in British Columbia: 1850–1970. Vancouver, British Columbia: City of Vancouver.
^Hanlon, Ann-Marie (2013). "Satie and the Meaning of the Comic". In Potter, Caroline (ed.).Erik Satie: Music, Art and Literature.Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 19–48.
^Rachel McClean,Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Research Methods (Academic Conferences Limited, 2012) p. 553
^"Славия започва с топка назаем" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 10 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved5 November 2019.
^Bruce Bartlett,Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past (Macmillan, 2009) pp. 102–103.
^ "Prejudices and Empty Promises: Woodrow Wilson's Betrayal of the Negro, 1910–1919", by Cleveland M. Green,The Crisis magazine (November 1980), pp. 380–387
^Elizabeth A. Eldredge,Power in Colonial Africa: Conflict and Discourse in Lesotho, 1870–1960 (University of Wisconsin Press, 2007) pp. 152, 162
^Farrar, C. W.; & Farrar, M.Incomparable Delray Beach: its early life and lore. Star Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 31–32.
^James Thorpe,Henry Edwards Huntington: A Biography (University of California Press, 1994) p. 291
^"XIII. Amendment Author Expires".Milwaukee Journal. April 13, 1913. p. 1.
^"Anarchist Shot at King Alfonso".The New York Times. April 14, 1913.
^"Valdez Is Dominican President".The New York Times. April 14, 1913.
^"16 Mexicans Die to Save General".The New York Times. April 14, 1913.
^"Thomas Jefferson, (Sculpture)".Art Inventories Catalog at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian Institution. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2018.
^"Fakta om SIL" (in Norwegian). Surnadal IL. Retrieved14 August 2009.
^"200,000 Belgian Workers Go Out".The New York Times. April 15, 1913.
^ "500,000 Belgians Strike Tomorrow".The New York Times. April 13, 1913.
^Charles D'Ydewalle,Albert and the Belgians: Portrait of a King, translated by Phyllis Megroz (Quinn and Boden, 1935, reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, 2005) p. 52
^Pieters, Walter M. (1998).Above Flanders' Fields: A Complete Record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and Their Units During the Great War, 1914–1918. Grub Street. pp. 14,23–24.ISBN978-1-898697-83-1.
^"Armistice Till April 23".The New York Times. April 18, 1913. p. 6.
^"Japanese Clamor for War with the United States— Frantic Demands for Open Hostilities With America Are Hysterically Cheered in Tokio".Los Angeles Times. April 18, 1913. p. 1.
^"120 Miners Killed by Gas Explosion".The New York Times. April 24, 1913.
^Maurer, Noel (2002).The Power and the Money: The Mexican Financial System, 1876–1932.Stanford University Press. pp. 149–150.
^"Scutari Entered by Montenegrins".The New York Times. April 23, 1913.
^Gerolymatos, André (2002).The Balkan Wars: Conquest, Revolution, and Retribution from the Ottoman Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond.Basic Books. p. 226.
^Erickson, Edward J. (2003).Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 312.
^Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 260.ISBN0-87021-907-3.
^Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 54.ISBN0-85177-245-5.
^"Lane Opens Up Yosemite Park to Automobiles",Fresno (CA) Republican, April 30, 1913, quoted in "Yosemite: the Park and its Resources", by Linda W. Greene (1987)
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