Under 38 U.S.C. 2301, a medal for Mexican Border Service could be awarded for any U.S. soldier who served between January 1, 1911, and April 5, 1917.[4]
In the Siege of Sidney Street in London's East End, 1,500 members of the Metropolitan Police and the Scots Guards fought a gunbattle with a trio of anarchists who had killed three police officers earlier. When the building caught fire, two of the men burned to death.[2][12]
Nearly 13 years after its destruction in Havana Harbor, the battleship USS Maine was dredged to remove the remains of the sailors on board.[13]
A truce was made between the two rival tongs of New York's Chinatown, with the Hip Sing and the On Leong gangs hosting each other for banquets, then participating in a ceremony as the 100 men in each group cut off their queues simultaneously. The truce would last for only one year, before the Hip Sing leader was murdered.[16]
U.S. President Taft refused to grant a pardon to H.S. Harlan, a wealthy lumber and turpentine factory manager convicted of labor violations, and signaled that he would not keep white collar criminals from serving prison time. "Fines are not effective against men of wealth," Taft wrote, adding that to relieve "men of large affairs and business standing" from incarceration "would be to break down the authority of the law with those of power and influence... What is worse, it would give real ground for the contention so often heard that it is only the poor criminals who are really punished."[20]
The world's first downhill skiing race was held, taking place at Crans-Montana in the Alps of Switzerland. Lord Roberts of Kandahar, British war hero, sponsored the trophy, the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup.[23] Twenty competitors climbed to a hut at the Plaine Morte glacier and then made the 4,000 foot descent.[24] Cecil Hopkinson of Britain was the first winner.[25]
Monaco's Prince Albert I promulgated that nation's first constitution in response to protests against the absolute monarchy in the tiny European principality.[2][26]
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led by Douglas Mawson, commander of the Aurora, arrived at Cape Denison and encountered constantly blowing winds that dogged the group throughout its journey. Unlike Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott, Mawson sought to explore the Antarctic continent closest to Australia.[27]
Born:
Butterfly McQueen, (stage name for Thelma McQueen), African-American stage, film, radio and TV actress, known for Gone With the Wind; later the winner of a Daytime Emmy Award; in Tampa (d. 1995)
Gypsy Rose Lee (stage name for Rose Louise Hovick), American striptease entertainer; in Seattle (d. 1970)
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a federal court decision that had granted inventor George B. Selden an exclusive patent for the automobile. Henry Ford, who had been sued for damages in the form of royalties owed to Selden's Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) had lost to Selden in September. Ford posted a $350,000 bond to fight the appeal and the Court ruled that Selden's patent was limited. Victorious, Ford was cleared to create the nation's largest automobile company.[28]
The fastest recorded temperature drop in meteorological history took place in Rapid City, South Dakota. Unseasonably warm weather saw a temperature of 55°F (13°C) at 7:00 am. Over the next fifteen minutes, the thermometer reading dropped to below freezing 8°F (−13°C). The weather warmed and chilled again two days later for another record.[29]
Dr. Russell A. Hibbs performed the first spinal fusion, at the New York Orthopedic Hospital. Applying techniques learned from knee surgery to the vertebrae of the spine, Dr. Hibbs operated upon a patient with spinal tuberculosis to prevent further progression in the curvature of the spine.[31][32]
Southern Arkansas University began its first classes, with 75 students and 5 instructors beginning their term at what was then called the "Third District Agricultural School". In 1925, it was renamed Magnolia A & M College, and in 1951, Southern State College. The current name was adopted in 1976.[34]
An earthquake in Russia, at Vyerny, killed more than 250 people.[2][35]
For the second time in three days, Rapid City set a weather record. At 6:00 in the morning, the temperature in the South Dakota city was an unseasonable 49 degrees. Over the next two hours, the temperature dropped 62 degrees to 13 below zero.[36][37]
De Nachtwacht, painted in 1642 by Rembrandt van Rijn, was vandalized for the first time at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. A recently unemployed cook slashed through the 269-year-old canvas with a knife. On September 14, 1975, a retired schoolteacher cut through the 333-year-old painting and tore off a section in the center, and on April 6, 1990, another vandal sprayed sulfuric acid on the now 348-year-old masterpiece, which has been restored each time.[38]
Future Chinese Premier Wu Tingfang addressed a crowd of 40,000 at the Zhang Gardens in Shanghai and announced that he had cut off the queue which he had worn in his hair as a sign of deference to the Qing dynasty, then urged the crowd to follow suit. At least 1,000 did so, and others followed suit as publicity spread.[42]
Paraguay's President Manuel Gondra was forced to resign after less than two months in office. The Congress of Paraguay elected Minister of War Colonel Albino Jara to succeed him, though Jara would be sent into exile on July 6.[43]
The first military reconnaissance flight by airplane in India, and possibly in the world, was conducted by the British Indian Army from Aurangabad.[44]
Two shots were fired at France's Prime Minister Aristide Briand in the French Champber of Deputies. Briand was unharmed, but Messr. Mirmam, Director of Public Relief, was injured.[45]
The German submarine U-3 sank in the North Atlantic, but 27 of its 30 men were saved. According to reports, the crew "donned the special diving helmets and suits and were shot to the surface by means of the submerged torpedo tubes".[46]
Recommendations by the National Monetary Commission for a "Reserve Association of America" with 15 districts were made public by a spokesman for U.S. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. The plan was implemented, with changes, as the Federal Reserve System.[50]
Died: Sir Francis Galton, 88, English explorer and biologist
Eugene Burton Ely became the first person to land an airplane on a ship, bringing his Curtiss biplane down on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania, anchored thirteen miles out to sea from an airfield in San Francisco. A 127-foot-long wooden platform had been built on the Pennsylvania, and 22 ropes strung across it. Ely's plane had three hooks on the undercarriage, to catch the ropes as the plane landed. Captain Charles F. Pond of the Pennsylvania praised the flight as "The most important landing of a bird since the dove flew back to the ark".[56][57]
In Philadelphia, Dr. Edward Martin performed the first cordotomy on a human being for the relief of intractable pain, with the assistance of neurologist Dr. William Spiller. The two published their results the following year.[58]
The legislatures of both Ohio and Kansas ratified the proposed 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, providing for the collection of a federal income tax.[2] After a discovery was made in 1953 questioning Ohio's statehood, the validity of the 16th Amendment was challenged, although 41 other states also ratified the amendment.[59][60]
Born:
Busher Jackson, Canadian NHL player and Hall of Fame enshrinee; in Toronto (d. 1966)
Dr. Walter Bradford Cannon first had the insight of a connection between stress, increased secretions of adrenaline and higher levels of glucose in the blood, writing in his scientific diary, "Got idea that adrenals in excitement serve to affect muscular power and mobilize sugar for muscular use—thus in a wild state readiness for fight or run. flight or fight!"[61]
By a margin of 31,742 for and 13,399 against, voters in the territory of New Mexico approved the proposed State Constitution, clearing the way for Congress to consider it for statehood.[62][65]
Philip Orin Parmelee set a new airplane flight endurance record, keeping a Wright Flyer in the air for 3 hours and 40 minutes over San Francisco.[62]
Bestselling author David Graham Phillips was murdered in New York by a man who had been offended by his latest novel, The Fashionable Adventures of Joshua Craig. Fitzhugh Goldsborough shot Phillips five times, then shot himself. The motive, police learned later, was that Goldsborough imagined that a character in the book was based on his sister. Phillips died the next day, after telling doctors, "I can fight two wounds, but not six."[66][67]
Chemist Marie Curie failed in her bid to become the first woman member of France's Académie des Sciences by two votes. From the 58 members, Curie received 28 votes, and Edouard Branly 29. On the next vote, Branly received the majority of 30, and Curie never again stood for membership.[68]
Kotoku Shusui and ten other persons were hanged, six days after being convicted of conspiracy to assassinate Hirohito, the Crown Prince of Japan.[69][70]
Born:C. L. Moore (Catherine Lucille Moore), one of the first women science fiction authors; in Indianapolis. (d. 1987)
An army of 1,600 mercenaries invaded Honduras and battled at La Ceiba against the Honduran Army. Successful, the forces of Manuel Bonilla then marched to the capital, Tegucigalpa, which would fall weeks later.[71]
U.S. troops were sent to the Rio Grande to keep Mexican insurgents from crossing into the United States.[62]
The United States and Canada announced the successful negotiation of the first reciprocal trade agreement between the two nations.
Aviator Roger Sommer set a new record for number of passengers on an airplane, flying five passengers in France on a 13-mile (21km) trip from Douzy to Remilly-Aillicourt, then back.[73][74] The previous record had been set by Sommer on April 20, 1910, when he carried four persons on a short flight.
Several soldiers were killed in a border clash between Peru and Ecuador.[62]
The Diamond Match Company agreed to surrender its patent rights for a substitute for the poisonous white phosphorus, clearing the way for all matches to be safely manufactured.[62][79]
The comic strip "Mr. Twee Deedle", by Johnny Gruelle, debuted in the New York Herald and later in newspapers across the U.S. Gruelle, who had won the chance to show his talents in a national contest, later became more famous as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy.[81]
James White, a disabled black youth, was executed in a public hanging in Middlesboro, Kentucky, after he had slept, at age 16, with a white girl and was then accused of rape. James Breathitt, the state Attorney General, concluded that White was incapable of understanding the charge against him, and asked Governor Augustus E. Willson to commute the sentence. Governor Willson agreed that White was "mentally imperfect", but added that "he is none the less dangerous to society, and if his case is not punished by death, is dangerous to the whole state". As an historian noted, "White, most likely unaware of the reason why, died on the gallows in Middlesboro before a crowd that numbered in the thousands."[88]
David L. Lewis, The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company (Wayne State University Press, 1976) p24; Steven Watts, The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century (Random House, Inc., 2006) p165; "Auto Maker Win Suit Over the Selden Patent", The Day (New London, CT), January 10, 1911, p1
Roald Amundsen, The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram" 1910–1912, translated by A. G. Chafer (John Murray Publishing, 1913) p. 168.
Elliot S. Valenstein, The War of the Soups and the Sparks: The Discovery of Neurotransmitters and the Dispute Over How Nerves Communicate (Columbia University Press, 2005) p. 105. ISBN0-231-13588-2.
"Phillips Dies of His Wounds; Novelist Shot by Crazy Musician Expires in Bellevue After a Day of Suffering". The New York Times. January 25, 1911. p.1.
George C. Wright, "By the Book: The Legal Executions of Kentucky Blacks," in Brundage, Under Sentence of Death: Lynching in the South (UNC Press Books, 1997) p. 264.