May 30, 1911: Ray Harroun's car finishes first in inaugural Indianapolis 500May 25, 1911: Mexico's President Diaz forced to resign as rebels win Mexican RevolutionMay 21, 1911: French Minister of War Berteaux killed, Prime Minister Monis injured, when airplane crashes into reviewing standMay 23, 1911: New York Public Library dedicated
The following events occurred in May 1911:
May 1, 1911 (Monday)
The United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government, rather than the individual states, had the right to set apart lands for public use. The ruling, in Light v. United States (220 U.S. 523) initially applied to forest preserves, but would be extended to other federal use of land.[1][2]
May 2, 1911 (Tuesday)
The British House of Commons approved amendments to the Parliament Bill, a provision for veto of House of Lords power, with the first reading passing 299 to 193.[3]
Professor Horatio W. Parker of Yale University, and former Yale professor Brian Hooker won the $10,000 prize from New York's Metropolitan Opera for an opera written and composed entirely by Americans, with Mona receiving the grand prize.[4]
May 3, 1911 (Wednesday)
The German Antarctic Expedition, organized by Wilhelm Filchner, departed from Bremerhaven on the ship Deutschland. Sailing into the Weddell Sea and getting trapped by the ice there for eight months, the expedition would discover the Filchner Ice Shelf.[5]
May 4, 1911 (Thursday)
The British National Insurance Bill, providing for both health insurance and unemployment insurance, was introduced by Chancellor of the ExchequerDavid Lloyd George.[6] With workers paying 4d, employers 3d and the government 2d per worker per week, the system became operational on January 15, 1913, and provided sickness payments of up to 10 shillings per week during illness.[7]
May 5, 1911 (Friday)
Sir George Kemp's suffrage bill passed its second reading, 255–88. The right to vote was proposed for every woman "possessed of the household qualification," excluding women servants and lodgers, and prohibited women from voting in the same constituency as their husbands.[8]
A report on the Haram al-Sharif incident was published, in which it revealed British excavations within the sacred compound.[9][10]
Porfirio Díaz issued a "manifesto" declaring that he would eventually resign as President of Mexico, but not until hostilities by Francisco I. Madero's rebel armies ceased, declaring that he would step down "when, according to the dictates of my conscience, I am sure my resignation will not be followed by anarchy."[14]
The Chinese Grand Council was abolished, replaced by ten member constitutional cabinet, with Yikuang (Prince Qing) becoming the first Premier in China's history.[17]
China and the United Kingdom signed an agreement whereby the Chinese would phase out production of opium over a 7-year period, and the British would phase out exports of opium from India to China at the same rate.[18]
Germany issued a warning to France that an attempted occupation of the Moroccan city of Fes would be considered a violation of a treaty between the two nations.[20]
A fire broke out at the Empire Palace Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a performance of the variety and magic show of Sigmund Neuberger, who billed himself as "The Great Lafayette." The audience of 1,500 was evacuated in four minutes, but eleven members of the troupe, including Lafayette himself, died in the blaze.[22]
Johann Orth, formerly known as Archduke John Salvator of Austria, was declared legally dead 20 years after he had disappeared.[24]
The body of Elsie Paroubek, the subject of an exhaustive three-state manhunt by Chicago police over the four weeks since her disappearance in April, was found in a Lockport, Illinois drainage canal.[25] Her photograph was published on the front page of the Chicago Daily News[26] and would become an inspiration to amateur artist-author Henry Darger, who would make her a central figure in his immense fantasy novel The Story of the Vivian Girls.[27]
At 2:30 pm, General Juan Navarro surrendered the city of Ciudad Juárez to the rebel forces of Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa, who had attacked the city in defiance of Francisco Madero. The fall of Juarez was the first loss of territory to the rebels. Madero proclaimed himself President the next day.[28]
The United States Senate failed, after seven ballots, to elect a replacement for the office of president pro tempore, two weeks after the death of Senator William P. Frye of Maine.[29] Senator Jacob H. Gallinger of New Hampshire failed to win majority support. The deadlock was broken by an agreement to rotate the position among five different U.S. Senators until the 62nd U.S. Congress session ended in 1913.[30]
The American steamship SS Merida sank after it was struck by another vessel, the Admiral Farragut off of the coast of Cape Charles in the U.S. state of Virginia.[31] Although the 131-member crew and the 188 passengers were all rescued, SS Merida sank with a cargo that included 372 silver bars and a cargo worth two million dollars at the time, equivalent to $65 million more than 110 years later. Subsequent attempts to salvage the cargo would recover very little.[32]
Iranian treasurer Bill Shuster
At the request of the parliament of Persia, William Morgan Shuster, a 34-year-old American lawyer, arrived in what is now Iran to manage the nation's economy as its Treasurer General. Shuster was forced to leave eight months later after the Russian Empire sent troops to prevent him from seizing the assets of the former royal family.[33]
May 13, 1911 (Saturday)
An Imperial Decree was issued in China, annexing the railroad lines from Hankou to Guangzhou and Chongqing, in advance of the receipt of the first installment of a loan from foreign banks to construct a new railroad.[34]
The Parliament Act 1911, nicknamed the "Veto Bill" because it gave the right of the lower house of Parliament to reverse decisions by the House of Lords, passed the British House of Commons on its third reading, 362–241, and moved on to the House of Lords.[38]
Died: James Smith, 53, Chairman of Manufacturing Committee of Standard Oil Company.[citation needed]
May 16, 1911 (Tuesday)
A group of 303 Chinese and five Japanese immigrants were killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution, led by Francisco I. Madero's brother Emilio Madero, took the city of Torreón from the Federales.[39] After a three-day defense, government troops departed and twelve hours of rioting began. Among the victims was Dr. J.W. Lim, a wealthy Chinese-Mexican banker, who was dragged through the streets before being shot.[40] In all, 316 Chinese residents were murdered during the revolution, and China's ambassador to Mexico, Shung As Sune, demanded compensation from the Mexican government of 33,600,000 pesos, worth $16,800,000 for the loss of lives and property.[41]
Died: Margaret A. Weller, 68, the first person to learn how to use the QWERTY keyboard. Mrs. Weller, the wife of a court reporter, tested the prototype of the typewriter invented by C. Latham Sholes in 1867.[43]
The Illinois State Senate voted to reopen the investigation into the controversial election of U.S. Senator William Lorimer, a day after the committee concluded that he would not have been elected without bribery.[24]
Parks Canada, the governmental agency which regulates national parks in the Dominion of Canada, was created as the Dominion Parks Branch of the Canadian Department of the Interior, and was the first National Park Service in any nation.[44][45]
Carlo Crispi of New York became the first American to be convicted of a crime as a result of fingerprint evidence alone. Crispi, whose prints had been taken during a burglary a few years earlier, was caught after his fingerprints had been found on a pane of glass at the scene of another break in. After hearing expert testimony, Crispi pleaded guilty to burglary in return for a light sentence of 6 months and in the interests of science.[46]
May 20, 1911 (Saturday)
The Hukuang Loan Agreement, which would prove to be the downfall of the Manchu Dynasty and the Chinese Empire, was signed in Beijing, providing for a $30,000,000 loan to the Imperial Government.[47]
Milt Gabler, American record producer who introduced multiple innovations in the recording industry; in Harlem; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (d. 2001).[citation needed]
The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez was signed, formally ending the Mexican Revolution. The treaty was to have been signed at the customs office at Juarez, which was on the Mexican–American border and had served as the headquarters for rebel leader Francisco I. Madero, but, as The New York Times reported later, "By some mistake, as yet unexplaned, the Custom House was locked when the Police Commissioners arrived." Judge Francisco S. Carbajal, appearing as representative for Mexico's President Porfirio Díaz, and Madero and two other insurgent leaders, decided to sign the treaty on the steps of the customs building, under the illumination of automobile headlights.[48]
Prime Minister MonisWar Minister Berteaux
French Minister of WarHenri Berteaux was killed, and Prime Minister Ernest Monis was seriously injured, after they were struck by an airplane at Issy-les-Moulineaux. The occasion was the start of the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race, with 200,000 spectators turning out to watch. Piloted by a Messieur Train, the monoplane took off without clearance, was caught in a downdraft and plunged into the assembled dignitaries. Berteaux was struck by the propeller which severed his left arm, fractured his skull and cut his throat, and Monis sustained compound fractures of his right leg and a broken nose.[49]
Born:Peter Hurkos, Dutch-born housepainter who claimed to have obtained psychic powers after falling from a roof in 1941; in Dordrecht (d. 1988).[citation needed]
May 22, 1911 (Monday)
A monument was unveiled at Arlington, Virginia, to Pierre L'Enfant, with U.S. President Taft and French Ambassador Jusserand speaking in honor of the Frenchman who had designed the city of Washington, D.C. Said Taft, "There are not many who have to wait 100 years to receive the reward to which they are entitled, until the world shall make the progress which enables it to pay the just reward."[50]
The New York Public Library was dedicated by President Taft and by the library's greatest benefactor, Andrew Carnegie . It opened the next day at 9:00 to the general public.[51]
Ne Win, Prime Minister and then President of Burma from 1958 to 1981, and chairman of the nation's sole political party until his 1988 ouster, in Paungdale (d. 2002).[citation needed]
The Dreamland amusement park at New York's Coney Island was destroyed by a fire that began after workmen had been repairing a ride called the Hell Gate. The park had been built only 7 years earlier by William H. Reynolds for $3.5 million (equivalent to $70,000,000 a century later), included a 70-foot-tall tower, and employed 2,500 people. It was never rebuilt.[57][58]
The body of Belle Walker, an African-American cook, was found 25 yards from her home on Garibaldi Street in Atlanta. Her throat had been cut by an unknown slayer, and the crime was reported in the Atlanta Constitution under the headline "Negro Woman Killed; No Clew to Slayer"[59] On June 15, another black woman, Addie Watts, was found with her throat slashed, followed on June 27 by Lizzie Watkins. The search for the serial killer, called "the Atlanta Ripper" by the press, found six different suspects, but no convictions were ever made, nor was the crime ever solved. By the end of 1911, fifteen women, all black or dark-skinned, all in their early 20s, had been murdered in the same manner. The "Ripper" may have had as many as 21 victims.[60]
The United States Post Office Department announced a surplus for the first time in its history. Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock returned $3,000,000 to the U.S. Treasury, declaring it necessary because of a surplus "considerably over $1,000,000".[61]
Died:W. S. Gilbert, 74, British playwright and lyricist (to the music of Arthur Sullivan in the famous partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan), suffered a fatal heart attack and drowned while swimming to the rescue of 17-year-old Ruby Preece on the lake of his estate. Preece got out of the lake on her own afterward.[citation needed]
May 30, 1911 (Tuesday)
Ray Harroun won the very first running of the Indianapolis 500 automobile race, driving car #32, a Marmon Wasp. At an average speed of 74.59 miles per hour, Harroun, who was the only driver not to have a mechanic riding with him, completed the race in 6 hours and 42 minutes.[64]
May 31, 1911 (Wednesday)
The terrorist bombing of the barracks at Fort La Loma in Nicaragua killed 130 people.[65]
Shortly after the thoroughbred horse Sunstar won the 132nd running of Britain's premiere horse race, the Epsom Derby, a powerful thunderstorm struck the area in and around Epsom. Seventeen people were killed by lightning strikes, and more were injured, during the evening. A downpour soaked most of the 100,000 spectators, though none were killed.[66]
The newly built megaship RMS Titanic
The White Star liner RMS Titanic, at the time the largest mobile object ever constructed, was launched from Belfast at 12:13 pm. It was 883 feet long, 58 feet high and weighed 46,000 tons. It would sink less than a year later.[67]
Porfirio Díaz left Mexico to begin his exile in France, departing from Veracruz on the steamer Ypiranga. Before departing, he declared, "I shall die in Mexico."[68] He would die in exile in France in 1915.
^"Paroubek Girl Slain: Tragic Events in Day." Chicago Daily News, May 9, 1911.
^Michael Bonesteel, Henry Darger: Art and Selected Writings. Rizzoli, 2001.
^"Juarez Falls, Gen. Navarro a Prisoner", New York Times, May 11, 1911 Friedrich Katz, The Life and Times of Pancho Villa (Stanford University Press, 1998) p. 111.
^"Regulars Balked; Senate Deadlocked", New York Times, May 12, 1911.
^Richard A. Baker, 200 notable days: Senate Stories, 1787 to 2002
(Government Printing Office, 2006) p. 104.
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