July 7, 1912: The Automat opens, introduces "fast food"July 30, 1912: Emperor Meiji dies after 44 years of transforming Japan into a major world power.July 7, 1912: Harry Houdini escapes handcuffs, leg irons, and an underwater coffinHarriet Quimby
A new law went into effect in Egypt, making all ancient artifacts property of the state. Dealers were required to have a license, items could not be exported without a permit, and any evasion of the law would be punishable by confiscation of the items.[4]
The Woolworth Building in New York City became the world's tallest skyscraper, at 792 feet (241m), with the driving in of the final rivet to its steel frame, and would be completed by April 1, 1913.[5]
Russian ethnologist Shloyme Ansky, with the backing of philanthropist Goratsii Gintsburg (Horace Günzburg), launched the Jewish Ethnographic Expedition, a project that collected and preserved thousands of Jewish artifacts in Russia until the outbreak of World War I.[6]
Died:Harriet Quimby, 37, the first American woman to gain a pilot's license, was killed, along with a passenger, William A.P. Willard, when her airplane suddenly pitched forward, throwing them out of their seats. Quimby and Willard fell from an altitude of 1,000 feet (300m), into 5-foot (1.5m) deep waters in Dorchester Bay near Squantum, Massachusetts, where they had been participating in an airshow (b. 1875).[9][10]
Governor Woodrow Wilson
New Jersey GovernorWoodrow Wilson received the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States, after 46 ballots had been taken at the party convention. On the 45th ballot, with 730 votes needed to win, Wilson had 633, former House Speaker Champ Clark had 306, and Alabama Senator Oscar Underwood had 97. Underwood then withdrew his candidacy, putting the nomination within reach, and Clark followed suit. The final result was 990 votes for Wilson, 84 for Champ Clark, and 12 for Judson Harmon.[11] With the Republican Party split between the followers of U.S. President William Howard Taft and former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, the Democrats would win the U.S. presidency for the first time since 1892.[12]
Denmark established an army air corps to complement the naval air corps formed the previous year. The two units merged in 1950 to become the Royal Danish Air Force.[14]
The royal commission into the sinking of the Titanic wrapped in London after 42 days of investigation involving interviews with nearly 100 witnesses, making it the longest and most detailed British public inquiry up until that time.[15]
Sixteen miners were killed and six injured in an explosion at the Osterfeld colliery near Oberhausen in Germany.[16]
Sir Francis Henry May, recently appointed as the British Governor of Hong Kong, escaped an assassination attempt. A Chinese resident fired a revolver, striking the chair in which May had been sitting, but missed the Governor.[17]
Indiana GovernorThomas R. Marshall received the Democratic Party's nomination for vice-president at 1:56 am, more than eight hours after Woodrow Wilson had won the presidential nomination. In a statement, Wilson said of Marshall, "I feel honored by having him as a running mate,"[18] cited by William Safire as the possible "first recorded use of the term by a presidential nominee" to describe the vice-presidential nominee on his ticket, and giving a new meaning for a horse racing term.[19]
The Turkish Air Academy was founded as the Ottoman Empire began training its own pilots and flight officers.[20]
William Merriam Burton applied for the patent of the thermal cracking process that he had invented, which greatly increased the amount of gasoline that could be developed from crude oil. U.S. Patent No. 1,049,667 would be granted on January 7, 1913.[21]
In fiction, con man Harold Hill arrives in River City, Iowa, on the day before the town's Independence Day festivities in the opening act of Meredith Willson's 1957 musical The Music Man.[22]
The new 48-star American flag was first raised. Proclaimed as the symbol of the United States, it would continue to be used for forty-seven years, until July 4, 1959, when replaced by a 49-star banner. Until 2007, the 48-star flag had been the longest-lasting American flag in history.[26]
Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson successfully defended his title against white challenger "Fireman Jim Flynn" in East Las Vegas, New Mexico. The bout was scheduled to go for as many as 45 rounds but was stopped by New Mexico state police, who entered the ring in the ninth round at the request of Governor McDonald.[27]
Lightweight boxing champ Ad Wolgast fought challenger "Mexican Joe Rivers" in Los Angeles. In the third round, the fighters knocked each other out with simultaneous blows. Referee Jack Welch lifted the arm of the prone Wolgast and declared him the winner and still champion.[28]
French cyclist Gabriel Poulain won a contest for human powered flight by remaining at least 10 centimetres (3.9in) off the ground for 3.6 meters, slightly less than 12 feet.[29]
In the second fatal American railroad crash in two days, 26 people were killed and 29 injured when a freight train rear-ended a passenger train on the Ligonier Valley Railroad near the resort town of Wilpen, Pennsylvania.[30] Most of the victims were women and children, who were returning home after a day at the Wilpen Fair Grounds.[24]
The 1912 Summer Olympics were formally opened at the national stadium in Stockholm by declaration of King Gustaf.[32] Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 athletes, including 48 women, participated.[33]
A riot broke out during a strike among lumber mill workers in Grabow, Louisiana, resulting in four deaths, fifty injuries, and a total 58 strikers arrested.[36]
The first Automat in New York City, providing fast food to customers in a self-service format, was opened by Horn & Hardart at 1557 Broadway in Times Square. Similar to a vending machine, the service featured foods prepared in a kitchen and then placed in windowed slots, which a diner could access by placing coins into a machine. The service had existed in Philadelphia since 1902.[37]
Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini performed his most dangerous stunt up to that time. In addition to his familiar act of having to escape being locked up in handcuffs and leg irons, Houdini was placed in a wooden box that was weighted down, nailed shut, and then thrown off of the tugboat Catherine Moran into the East River at New York City. A minute after the coffin sank, Houdini surfaced before hundreds of spectators, including reporters and photographers.[38][39]
The Russian and Japanese Empires signed a secret treaty regarding the division of their interests in Inner Mongolia (now part of China), with Russia to have control of Mongol territory west of the longitude of Beijing (116°27'E) and Japan control of that to the east, while Outer Mongolia was to be under Russian control.[41]
Italian forces capturedMisrata, which had provided a critical supply line for Ottoman forces in Libya. Ottoman forces suffered 500 dead and 500 wounded, while Italian forces had 23 killed and 112 wounded.[43]
At the 800 meter Olympic running competition, the world record of 1:52.8 seconds was broken by the first three finishers, with Ted Meredith of the United States winning in 1:51.9.[45]
Inventor Elmer A. Sperry, founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, filed the patent application for the first aircraft stabilizer or autopilot, a means of keeping an airplane level and flying in a straight line at a fixed altitude while the pilot was temporarily away from the controls. "My idea is to provide a reference line," Sperry wrote, "or lane which is fixed in space so that it may be used to govern automatically the movements of a body, such as torpedoes, air craft or the like."[50] U.S. Patent No. 1,186,856 was granted on June 13, 1916, giving the Sperry Company exclusive right to manufacture and sell the autopilot and its improvements until 1933.[citation needed]
Mexican rebels marched into Colonia Diaz, one of the American Mormon colonies in Mexico, and gave the American colonists there 24 hours to surrender all weapons. The colonists' senior official, Junius Romney, met with the rebels' leader and learned that the rebels planned to drive the Americans out.[52]
Near the Persian city of Ardabil, a Russian military column consisting of a squadron of Cossacks and a few mountain artillery guns attacked a village supporting the former Shah. Eleven 'Shahaveens' or Shah supporters were killed with one Cossack a casualty on the Russian side.[54]
The United States Senate voted 55–28 to remove William Lorimer from his post as U.S. Senator from Illinois, after determining that his election by the Illinois Senate had been secured by corruption.[56] Lorimer would earn what a U.S. Senate historian[who?] called "the dubious distinction of being the last senator to be deprived of office for corrupting a state legislature."[57]
Dr. Théodore Tuffier, a surgeon in France, performed the first successful surgery for aortic stenosis on a human patient, an unidentified man from Belgium. The operation went so well that the man was able to return home twelve days later, and was still doing well eight years later. The next procedure to treat narrowing of the aortic valve did not take place again until 36 years later.[58]
The weekly newspaper Al-Hilal, published by Indian Muslim activist Abul Kalam Azad to persuade Urdu-speaking Muslims to join in the move to gain independence from the United Kingdom, made its first appearance.[59]
July 14, 1912: Ken McArthur at the entrance to Stockholm Olympic Stadium.
A railroad accident near Chicago, the third major American railroad crash in two weeks, killed 15 people and injured 30. The Denver Overland Limited, eastbound to Chicago, was idled at Western Springs, Illinois, when it was struck at 70 miles an hour by a mail train traveling to Omaha, Nebraska.[63]
Commonwealth Bank, founded by the Australian government and now one of the largest multinational corporations in Australia, opened for business. Prime Minister Andrew Fisher opened the first account at the bank.[64]
A vote of confidence in the Turkish government passed 194–4.[1]
The National Insurance Act took effect in the United Kingdom.[1] The original Act provided sickness, disability and maternity benefits and free treatment for tuberculosis for all insured workers, but not for their dependents.[65]
Died:Francisco Lázaro, 24, Portuguese Olympic athlete, died one day after collapsing from hyperthermia while running in the marathon at the Olympics in Stockholm, becoming the first casualty of the modern Olympic games. Lazaro had covered large portions of his body with grease to prevent sunburn, but overheated and was unable to perspire, creating a fatal electrolyte imbalance. He fell after running 30 kilometres (19mi) of the 42.195 kilometres (26.219mi) race, as his body temperature climbed to 41°C (106°F).[67] (b. 1888)
Hurshid Pasha, who had temporarily become the Ottoman Empire's Minister of War, resigned as problems continued in Albania, which presented its grievances to the Grand Vizier. He was replaced by General Mahmud Mukhtar.[1]
Herman Rosenthal, New York City gambler, was shot to death by four gunmen, hours before he was scheduled to testify before a grand jury on police corruption. The killing, carried out by hired gangsters, would be traced to New York City Police DepartmentlieutenantCharles Becker. The four shooters, and Lt. Becker, would later be convicted for the murder and executed.[69][70]
The Free State of Ikaria was declared on the small island near the coast of Turkey, as its predominantly Greek inhabitants broke away from the Ottoman Empire. It would retain independence until November 1, when it would be taken by the Kingdom of Greece.[71]
General Pedro Ivonet, who took command of negro rebels in Cuba, was found and killed by government troops at Nueva Escocia. The other major rebel leader, General Julio Antomarchi, surrendered later in the day at El Cobre.[73]
In the Italo-Turkish War, Turkish defenders sank two Italian torpedo boats with cannon fire after a fleet of eight Italian boats attempted to block the entrance to the Dardanelles.[74]
Albanian rebels agreed to a truce with Ottoman troops, after the Ottoman government agreed to send a commission of Parliament to investigate grievances in the Ottoman province.[1]
A large meteorite streaked over the town of Holbrook, Arizona, at 6:30 pm local time, and then exploded, showering an area six miles eastward with more than 15,000 pieces. Based on the fragments recovered, the meteor was estimated to weigh more than 400 pounds.[75][76]
The National Packing Company, informally referred to as the "Meat Trust," was dissolved after being found to have violated American anti-trust laws. The assets of the company were divided among the three companies that had merged in 1902 to create National Packing: Swift & Company, Armour and Company and Morris & Company.[78]
The first automatic telephone exchange in the United Kingdom, replacing human operators on switchboards, was inaugurated in London by the General Post Office with a system capable of handling 1,500 lines.[83]
An earthquake measuring 7.0 in magnitude rocked the Piura region in Peru, killing 101 people.[84]
The First International Congress on Eugenics convened in London, with 400 delegates from twelve nations.[85] Major Leonard Darwin, one of the sons of Charles Darwin, presided over the Congress, and told delegates that "The unfit amongst men are now no longer necessarily killed off by hunger and disease, but are cherished with care, thus being enabled to reproduce their kind, however bad that may be... the effect likely to be produced by our charity on future generations is, to say the least, but weakness and folly."[86]
The United States Senate approved creation of a territorial legislature for Alaska, a single chamber of 16 members.[1] The bill would be signed into law on August 24.[87]
Creation of a naval wing of the British Royal Flying Corps was approved in Council.[1]
The first radio communication between a U.S. Navy airplane and a ship (the torpedo boat USS Stringham) took place, with the Stringham and the plane three miles apart.[89]
France became the first country to use national markings on military aircraft other than a flag, by a decree requiring military aircraft to display the manufacturer, serial number, and the maximum load and roundels on the fuselage and wings.[90]
Evacuation of American women and children from the four Mormon colonies in Mexico at Chihuahua state, was ordered by senior Mormon official, Junius Romney. In all, there were 4,000 Americans in twelve colonies.[52]
Bonar Law, conservative Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, declared in a speech that, "We regard the Government as a revolutionary committee which has seized by fraud upon domestic power... We shall use any means to deprive them of the power which they have usurped and to compel them to face the people they have deceived."[94]
The Turkish cabinet announced that it would investigate the grievances of its citizens in Northern Albania and that armed force would not be used against them.[1]
A pier on Germany's largest island, Rügen, collapsed under the weight of 1,000 people who were waiting for the arrival of the cruise ship Kronprinz Wilhelm. One hundred people went down into the Baltic Sea, and at least 14 drowned. The accident led to the creation of the German Life Saving Association.[96]
The Turkish Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry arrived in Pristina to investigate Albanian complaints.[1]
Nicaragua's Minister of War, General Luis Mena, brought rebel troops into the capital, Managua, in an attempt to overthrow President Adolfo Díaz. The Diaz government was saved by a request for intervention by the U.S. Marines.[98][99]
An assassination attempt was made against Hassam Bey, leader of the Albanian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, while he was in Uskub (now Skopje, North Macedonia).[1]
The first National Conference of American Newspaper and Magazine Writers opened at Madison, Wisconsin.[1]
The Emperor Meiji, also called Mutsuhito, died at 12:43 am after a 44-year reign as Emperor of Japan, during which the nation rose from isolationism to become a world power. Crown Prince Yoshihito of Japan was proclaimed as the Emperor Taishō after the death of his father.[100] In Japanese history, the event marked the end of the Meiji era and the beginning of the Taishō era.
The report of the British Court of Inquiry on the sinking of the Titanic, signed by the Chairman Lord Mersey, was presented to British Parliament after hearing testimony from 97 witnesses over 38 days. The Court concluded that the cause of the disaster "was due to collision with an iceberg, brought about by the excessive speed at which the ship was being navigated."[101] On the same day, the first of the 710 Titanic survivors died, 21-month-old Mary Nakid, of meningitis. Millvina Dean, 16 months younger, would be the last survivor, dying on May 31, 2009.[102]
The ministry of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Ahmed Muhtar Pasha survived a vote of confidence by a margin of 113–95.[1]
The Sims Act was signed into law by U.S. President William Howard Taft, prohibiting the interstate transportation of "films or other pictorial representations of prize fights."[103][104]
Albanian delegates at Pristina demanded the dissolution of the Turkish Chamber of Deputies.[1]
The United States Navy tested an aircraft catapult for the first time using a prototype on shore, but proved a failure as the aircraft was badly damaged during the test.[105]
The Britannica Year-Book 1913: A Survey of the World's Progress Since the Completion in 1910 of the Encyclopædia Britannica] (Encyclopædia Britannica, 1913) pp. xxx-xxxiii
Berry, Connie E. (1976). The Brotherhood of Timber Workers and the Grabow Incident in Southwest Louisiana. McNeese State University Thesis, (In Special Collections). Thesis/History/1976b.
"Radio- Naval aircraft carry the most powerful and efficient radio equipment yet to be perfected by engineers", by Comm. G. B. H. Hall, Flying and Popular Aviation Magazine (June 1942) p. 157
Lyle L. Vander Werff, Christian Mission to Muslims: The Record: Anglican and Reformed Approaches in India and the Near East, 1800-1938 (William Carey Library, 1977) p. 167
Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 111
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