As called for by theTrades Union Congress, an estimated 1.7 million people began ageneral strike in Britain in support of the locked out miners, at one minute to midnight.[1][5]
Britain came to a standstill on the first full day of the general strike. Subways and rail stations were closed and the streets of London were devoid of street cars or buses.[6]
Two new papers, theBritish Worker (supporting the general strike) and theBritish Gazette (condemning it) appeared in Britain to fill the void left by the other dailies that only published in very limited form during the strike.
Limited services returned around Britain as volunteers and strike-breaking workers stepped in, notably to help distribute food and provide other necessities.[8]
With peace talks having failed, French warplanes bombedRif Republic positions as theRif War resumed.[9]
In the Soviet Union,Léon Theremin demonstrated his experimental television system which electrically transmitted and then projected near-simultaneous moving images on a five-foot square screen as part of his thesis.[10]
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin addressed the British public about the ongoing strike in an evening radio broadcast; such a broadcast in a time of emergency was the first of its kind in the country.[11]
ExplorerRichard E. Byrd and co-pilotFloyd Bennett claimed to be the first to fly over theNorth Pole in theJosephine Ford monoplane, taking off fromSpitsbergen, Norway and returning 15 hours and 44 minutes later. Both men were immediately hailed as national heroes, though some experts have since been skeptical of the claim, believing that the plane was unlikely to have covered the entire distance and back in that short an amount of time.[13] An entry in Byrd's diary discovered in 1996 suggested that the plane actually turned back 150 miles short of the North Pole due to an oil leak.[14]
Although Britain was quiet in light of the Sabbath, soldiers were becoming an increasingly common sight in the streets of London.[15]
The Flying Scotsman, the train on the route betweenEdinburgh andKing's Cross, London, was derailed inNorthumberland by a group of locked-out miners who pulled up the tracks. This caused the Government to use increasingly hostile rhetoric against the strikers, using such terms as "anarchists" and "lunatics".[1][16]
In Britain, Mr.Justice Asbury granted aninjunction to theNational Sailors' and Firemen's Union to enjoin the General-Secretary of itsTower Hill branch from calling its members out on strike. Astbury ruled that the strike was not protected by theTrade Disputes Act 1906 and that the strike in the plaintiff union had been called in contravention of its own rules.[17] The ruling came as a heavy blow to the Unions' cause.[18]
The Italian-built airshipNorge reached theNorth Pole at 01:25 Greenwich time; Norwegian, American and Italian flags were dropped onto the ice. TheNorge continued on toward Alaska in its bid to cross the entireArctic Ocean.[19]
TheMay Coup began in Poland. A state of emergency was declared as units loyal to MarshalJózef Piłsudski marched on Warsaw.
The Polish government held negotiations with MarshalPiłsudski. No agreement was reached and fighting broke out around 19:00 hours.
Britain started to return to normal on the first day back from the general strike, though many transport services were late in their resumption. Voluntary workers were still keeping buses and trains running.[22] Miners remained locked out.
Died:Mehmed VI, 65, the lastSultan of the Ottoman Empire, who reigned from 1918 until being deposed upon the abolition of the monarchy by the Republic of Turkey in 1922. His 13-year-old sonŞehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul made no pretense of claiming the abolished throne.
The nationally famous Christian evangelist preacherAimee Semple McPherson was kidnapped from a beach inVenice, California. At first believed to be the victim of a drowning, McPherson would reappear after a memorial service had been held at theAngelus Temple.[23]
An estimated 30,000 members of theCommunist Party of Germany demonstrated in Berlin. About 50,000 members ofDer Stahlhelm held a demonstration of their own in Düsseldorf.[29]
The Mexican government announced the nationalization of minerals and petroleum resources, which clouded the property rights of foreign resource extraction companies and increased tensions between Mexico and the United States.[26]
The opening ceremonies for theSesquicentennial Exposition, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, were held in Philadelphia.
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