June 22, 1911: George V crowned King at Westminster AbbeyJune 4, 1911: Il Vittoriano dedicated in ItalyJune 28, 1911: A piece of Mars falls on EgyptJune 6, 1911: Colima Volcano erupts in Mexico
The Senate voted 48–20 to reopen the investigation of U.S. Senator William Lorimer of Illinois, after voting against his expulsion on March 1.[1]
Chiang Kai-shek first reached national prominence when he delivered a stirring public lecture advocating a socialist government for China, which he would eventually govern.[2]
Francisco I. Madero departed from El Paso, Texas on a Southern Pacific train at 1:30 am to make his journey back to Mexico City, to meet with interim President de la Barra. He stopped first at Spofford Junction, Texas, where he then crossed the border to board another train on June 2.[4]
L. Frank Baum filed for bankruptcy in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles after having incurred $12,600 in debts. He died in 1919 and never saw any more royalties from The Wizard of Oz, the publishing rights to which would remain with a trustee until 1932.[5]
Died: Edward Der-Pault, who had overcome the handicap of losing both legs and became a high diver at amusement parks, was killed in Bayonne, New Jersey before a crowd of several hundred people. Jumping from a 50-foot (15m) high ladder into a 6-foot (1.8m) tank of water, Der-Pault had miscalculated the distance and struck the edge of the tank.[6]
An earthquake in Mexico killed more than 1,200 people. In Zapotlán, 500 people were killed. The first shock was felt at 4:36 am and lasted for more than a minute.[11]Francisco I. Madero made a triumphant entry into Mexico City on the same day.[12][13]
The U.S. State Department gave permission for at least 1,500 Mexican soldiers to cross into the United States so that a rebellion in Baja California could be suppressed. The troops would be disarmed as soon as they crossed into Arizona, and their weapons and ammunition would be returned to them after they crossed from California back into Mexico.[14]
Former Congressman Charles D. Haines of New York founded the "Guardians of Liberty," an anti-Catholic and anti-Black organization that declared itself to be a "non-religious, non-partisan, non-racial moral force to promote patriotism and a sacred regard for the welfare of our country."[17]
The American battleship fleet arrived at Kronstadt in Russia. (June 11)[20]
At Rouen, France, the 1,000th anniversary of the arrival of the Normans was observed. The Kensington Runestone, purporting to be a record of the arrival of Norsemen in Minnesota in 1362, was loaned for the celebration by the Minnesota Historical Society.[21]
For the first time, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to have its members elected directly by the people, rather than by state legislatures. The 64-24 approval of the proposed Seventeenth Amendment, which changed the requirement of Article I, Section 3, was on an altered version of what had passed the House of Representatives. Voting on the "Bristow Amendment" (proposed by Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas), which added the language that "Congress may at any time by law make or alter" the date upon which the states voted on U.S. Senators, had ended in a 44–44 tie, which was broken by U.S. Vice-president James S. Sherman.[22]
The Chamizal dispute was resolved when the International Boundary Commission, consisting of representatives from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, made its decision in a dispute over a 600-acre piece of land known as El Chamizal, which had been south of the Rio Grande in 1848, until the river's course was shifted by a major flood in 1864 and El Chamizal north of the border. The Commission ruled that 437 of the acres should be returned to Mexico. The U.S. refused to abide by the ruling. On October 28, 1967, the 1911 ruling was finally certified by a new treaty between the two nations, a concrete channel was constructed to prevent further shifting of the Rio Grande, the 5,000 American residents were moved out, and El Chamizal was returned to Mexico.[23][24]
By a margin of 64–24, the U.S. Senate passed the House resolution for a constitutional amendment to permit direct election of U.S. Senators. At the time, the state legislatures elected their representatives in the Senate. An amendment to the House bill, providing for federal supervision of Senate elections, was tied 44-44, and Vice-president Sherman broke the tie in favor of the Senate bill.[25] The House finally accepted the amended version, 238–39, on May 12, 1912, sending the Seventeenth Amendment to the states for ratification. On April 8, 1913, Connecticut became the 36th of the 48 states to ratify the addition to the United States Constitution.[26]
Sultan Mehmed V of Turkey offered terms of peace for the Albanians within the Ottoman Empire, granting amnesty to Albanian insurgents who surrendered their weapons, and lifting the ban on Albanian-language schools.[27]
The Majlis, Parliament of Persia gave newly appointed Treasurer-General W. Morgan Shuster, an American financier, full control over Iranian finances, empowering him "to establish whatever departments and appoint all staffs that he considers necessary."[29] Shuster's decrees would lead to a change in government and his firing on January 11, 1912.[30]
Dwight David Eisenhower, age 20, of Abilene, Kansas, took the oath of allegiance and began his military career at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, as one of 265 cadets. Eisenhower had been an alternate candidate for the academy, finishing behind another applicant in the qualifying exams, but gained admission after the other man failed a physical examination.[31] In the years that followed his big break, he would graduate 61st in a class of 164, rise in the ranks of the United States Army to five-star general and commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War II, and, in 1953, the 34th President of the United States.[citation needed]
At Pristina (now in Serbia), Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V signed a general amnesty for all participants in the 1910 and 1911 rebellions against the Turks.[34]
Halley's Comet was photographed for the last time in more than 70 years, as it moved on out of the solar system. It would not be seen again from Earth until October 16, 1982.[37]
Arab rebels surprised Turkish troops in a battle at the port city of Gheesan (now Jizan, Saudi Arabia), and killed and wounded many of them. By mistake, the Turkish gunboat Sutebbe shelled its own troops. One estimate placed the number of Turkish dead at at least 1,000.[38]
The Women's Coronation March saw the largest demonstration up to that time in favor of British women's suffrage. Forty thousand women marched in London from Thames Embankment to Albert Hall along the route of the coronation procession.[39]
The University of Iceland (Haskoli Islands) was founded in Reykjavik with the consolidation of a theological college, a medical school and a law school. The largest higher education institute in the nation, the university has 12,000 students and 1,100 faculty members.[40]
The Detroit Tigers broke the record for greatest comeback in a baseball game, after trailing the Chicago White Sox by twelve runs. Down 13–1, the Tigers won 16–15. The feat has been duplicated only twice, on June 15, 1925 (the Athletics beat the Indians 17-15 after being down 14–2), and on August 5, 2001 (the Indians won 15-14 after trailing the Mariners 12-0 and 14–2).[41]
As the water level from inside the wreckage of the USS Maine was lowered, the first human remains from the 1898 explosion were found. Sixty-eight of the men on the Maine were not recovered out of 252 killed.[42]
The first Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, with 192 deputies, convened. The first order of business was to vote for permanent banishment of the former royal family of Braganza. The United States recognized the new republic the same day.[43]
The General Motors Export Company was organized as the auto manufacturer made plans to begin selling GM vehicles overseas.[44]
The first trolleybus service was inaugurated in the United Kingdom, with the cities of Leeds and Bradford being the first to use the electric buses that drew power from overhead wires.[45]
Actress Sarah Bernhardt, on a visit to the United States, became the first woman to be admitted for a reception at New York's all-male Players Club, breaking a tradition dating back to the social club's founding by Edwin Booth in 1888.[46] Legend has it that "The Divine Miss Sarah" was trapped in the club's elevator for an hour while being escorted to see the apartment that Booth had occupied prior to his death in 1893.[47]
King George V of the United Kingdom was crowned at Westminster Abbey and his wife was crowned as Queen Mary.[51] At 1:40 pm, the exact moment of George V's coronation, the clock at the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool – the largest electric clock in the British Empire at the time – was set into motion.[52]
Prime Minister of FranceErnest Monis, recovering from injuries sustained on May 21, lost a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, 243-224, and he and the entire cabinet resigned. The resolution was brought by Deputy Andre Hesse, three days after the Minister of War, General François Goiran, remarked that there was no provision for a Commander in Chief of French forces in time of war.[54]
Led by Luigj Gurakuqi, Albanian nationalists gathered in the village of Gerche in Montenegro and drafted the "Gerche Memorandum," later reprinted in Libri i Kuq (The Red Book). Demands were made in for Albanian autonomy within the Ottoman Empire, the teaching of the Albanian language in schools, and representation in the Turkish parliament by Albanian deputies.[34]
As Sultan Mehmed V continued his tour of the Ottoman Empire's European territories, he was greeted by thousands of loyal subjects in Greece as he paid his respects at the tomb of Sultan Murad II at Salonika (now Thessaloniki).[citation needed]
A group of 40 wealthy travelers, riding in twelve Premier automobiles, began a transcontinental journey, departing from Ohio Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a 4,617 mile journey to Los Angeles.[57] The "Premier Trip", which concluded in L.A. 45 days later, was followed by American newspaper readers and is said to have "inspired hundreds, and then thousands, of ordinary families to make the cross-country journey by automobile", as well as promoting the creation of a coast-to-coast highway.[58]
Baron Von Bienerth, the Chancellor of the Empire of Austria resigned after the Christian Socialists lost their majority in Parliament in 2 rounds of voting.[9]
At Niagara Falls, New York, stunt pilot Lincoln Beachey made what Cal Rodgers called "the greatest flight ever made", for the Niagara International Carnival. Beachey flew over the center of the Horseshoe Falls, made a vertical dive through the mist to the river below, pulled up, flew under the 168-foot-high Lower Steel Arch Bridge, and barely cleared the Canadian cliffs, before landing.[59][60]
The Nakhla meteorite fell in Egypt at about 9:00 am, near the city of El-Nakhla outside of Alexandria, with 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of mass breaking into forty pieces. The Nakhla meteorite was later determined to be one of 36 Martian meteorites originating from the planet Mars. In 2006, it was suggested by a team led by David McKay that the Nakhla meteorite, as well as an Antarctic one examined in 1996, showed signs of microbe alteration, evidence of life having once existed on Mars. One of the pieces of the Nakhla meteorite was said to have killed a dog, but as one author notes, "there is no real evidence for this having actually happened."[62]
Wisconsin became the first[63] U.S. state to enact a state income tax, when the state Senate approved the House bill by a margin of 15–14.[64] Governor Francis E. McGovern signed the bill into law on July 13.[65]
Russia launched its first dreadnought sized battleship, and its largest warship to that time, the Sevastopol.[66]
Jewish buyers were admitted to the fur sales at Tyumen in Siberia for the first time, after a request by the U.S. Embassy in Russia to Premier Pyotr Stolypin. The Governor of Tobolsk had issued an order prohibiting Jews from attending the fair, including those from the United States.[67]
The Fuerzas Regulares Indigenas, commonly referred to as the "Regulares" was founded as an infantry battalion in the Army of Spain, and was initially composed of soldiers from Spanish Morocco under the command of Spanish officers.[70]
The Britannica Year-Book 1913: A Survey of the World's Progress Since the Completion in 1910 of the Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, 1913) p. xi.