August 1926
The following events occurred in August 1926:
- An assassination attempt against Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera failed in Barcelona when a thrown dagger narrowly missed his head as he rode in a car. A 34-year-old Catalan anarchist was arrested.[1]
- Born: Hannah Hauxwell, farmer and television personality, in Baldersdale, England
- Died: Israel Zangwill, 62, British writer
- Italy enacted new austerity measures to fight poverty and redress the country's trade deficit. Pastry containing pure white flour was prohibited.[2]
- Born: Sy Mah, marathon runner, in Bashaw, Alberta, Canada (d. 1988)
- Some 400 armed Catholics barricaded themselves in the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and exchanged gunfire with federal troops until they ran out of ammunition and surrendered. According to U.S. consular sources, 18 were killed and 40 wounded.[3]
- Italy banned any parades, ceremonies and public demonstrations that were not authorized as "effectively useful".[4]
- London's first traffic lights came into operation at Piccadilly Circus.[5]
- The grand jury in the Aimee Semple McPherson case reconvened to consider further testimony and evidence.[6]
- Born: Tony Bennett, singer, in Astoria, Queens, New York; and Anthony Sampson, writer and journalist, in Billingham, England (d. 2004)
August 4, 1926 (Wednesday)
- Umberto Nobile was feted in Rome for his part in the recent North Pole expedition, as 20,000 filled the square in front of the Palazzo Chigi. Sharing the balcony with Nobile and his team Mussolini declared, "In vain did others try to steal the glory of Major General Nobile and to change the proportion of credit for events without parallel in human history. But I want to say in a voice of thunder that, Italy, it was you who were responsible for the glory, and it was you who pushed and helped him to his objective."[7]
August 5, 1926 (Thursday)
- France and Germany signed a trade accord.[5]
- English pilot Alan Cobham arrived in Port Darwin, Australia to complete the first half of his round-trip flight between England and Australia.[8]
August 7, 1926 (Saturday)
- Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles ruled out foreign mediation in the battle between the government and the Catholic church.[5]
- Spain and Italy signed a Treaty of Friendship.[10]
- Former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau weighed in on the Mellon–Berenger Agreement by publishing an open letter addressed to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. Excerpts from the letter read, "You are claiming from us payment not of a debt of commerce but of war. You know, as we do, that our treasury is empty....We are debtors, you are creditors. It seems this is regarded as purely a matter for the cashier's department, but are there no other considerations to be taken into account?....Come to our villages and read the endless list of their dead and make comparisons, if you will. Was this not a 'bank account?' The loss of this vital force of youth?....How is it we failed to foresee what is now happening? Why did we not halt under the shells and convoke a board meeting of profiteers to decide the question whether it would allow us to continue in defense of the finest conquest in the finest of histories?"[11]
- In Mexico, 20 people were executed by federal firing squad over the church riots.[13]
- Film actor Rudolph Valentino fell critically ill, collapsing at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City. He was rushed to hospital and operated on immediately for a ruptured appendix.[5]
- Father Luis Bátiz Sainz and three members of the Mexican Association for Catholic Youth were executed by firing squad.[18] The killing caused a band of ranchers led by former colonel Pedro Quintanar to seize the municipal treasury and declare themselves in open rebellion.[3]
- Born: Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, politician, in Patras, Greece
- A coffin brought from Norway to London thought to contain the remains of Lord Kitchener was opened by the coroner in the presence of police, but it contained no body. The scenario was the work of a hoaxer going by the name of Frank Power.[19]
- Mussolini announced the Quota 90, a controversial revaluation of the Italian lira.
- British coal miners reopened negotiations with the government to resolve the ongoing lockout.[5]
- Reports circulated that Rudolph Valentino was dead. The New York Polyclinic Hospital issued a bulletin describing his condition as "favorable".[21]
- Rudolph Valentino's condition greatly improved. He answered a list of questions from the media and issued a statement thanking his fans and well-wishers for their messages of encouragement.[21]
- Born: Arthur Rock, businessman, in Rochester, New York
- Rudolph Valentino died at 10 minutes past noon. His last word before falling into a coma was 'Madre'.[24]
- Born: Clifford Geertz, anthropologist, in San Francisco, California (d. 2006)
- Died: Rudolph Valentino, 31, Italian film actor
- 100 were injured as a riot nearly ensued in New York when 60,000 mourners, mostly women, pushed through Campbell's Funeral Parlor to get a glimpse of Rudolph Valentino's body lying in state.[25]
- Pavlos Kountouriotis was restored as President of Greece.
- After a second chaotic day of public viewing of Rudolph Valentino's body, it was announced that Campbell's Funeral Parlor was moving the body to a vault until Monday's funeral and that public viewing was closed. Valentino's manager George Ullman explained, "The lack of reverence shown by the crowd, the disorder and attendant rioting since the body was first shown has forced me to this decision."[26]
- The film Beau Geste opened.
- Spain demanded that the international district of Tangier be annexed to the Spanish zone of Morocco, which it asserted was necessary to suppress the contraband flow of arms that enabled the recent Rif revolt.[27]
- Negotiations between the British government and locked-out coal miners broke down again.[28]
- Nazim Bey and three other men were hanged in Ankara for conspiring to assassinate Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.[29]
- In Wanhsien (now known as the Wanzhou District) in China, troops loyal to the local warlord Wu Peifu under the command of General Yang Sen boarded a British merchant ship of The China Navigation Company, the SS Wanhsien, and demanded transportation up the Yangtze River. Tensions had been high over a "wharfage" tax that the local authorities had been imposing on ships using the port. The ship's captain refused to leave port and a deadlock occurred until a boarding party from the HMS Cockchafer investigated and the ship was released after an argument. This was the first in a chain of events culminating in the "Wanhsien Incident" of September 5.[30][31]
- Born: Pat Coombs, actress, in Camberwell, England (d. 2002); Kristen Nygaard, computer scientist and politician, in Oslo, Norway (d. 2002)
- Died: John Rodgers, 45, American naval officer and aviator
- 20,000 German monarchists staged an assembly in Nuremberg to hail their "king", Rupprecht of Bavaria. Prince Oskar of Prussia and Field Marshal August von Mackensen also attended the event.[33]
- Another incident occurred on the Yangtze River near Wanhsien in which the China Navigation Co. ship Wanliu capsized a sampan in its wake that, according to General Yang Sen, was carrying soldiers under his command. When the ship pulled into Wanhsien, Yang Sen's troops were sent to occupy the ship as he demanded compensation, and once again the HMS Cockchafer had them removed and the Wanliu went on its way.[30][34]
- Born: Betty Lynn, actress, in Kansas City, Missouri
- A funeral Mass for Rudolph Valentino was held at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in New York. Thousands watched the funeral cortège as it proceeded down Broadway.[35]
- The first air "sleeper" flew from Berlin to London. The Hansa-designed biplane had a toilet, wireless phone and berths with beds for four passengers.[36]
- The last voting rights of Italians were removed as the Fascist government abolished the popular election of municipal officers, who were now to be appointed by the state.[37]
- Died: Eddie Lyons, 39, American actor
- An earthquake in Horta, Azores killed 9 and destroyed over 4,000 buildings.
- The Soviet and Afghan governments signed a Pact of Neutrality and Non-Aggression to supplement an earlier agreement.[10]
- About 300 ship passengers died in Leningrad when the Soviet steamer Burevestnik rammed a pier and sank.[38]
- In Wanhsien, troops of General Yang Sen seized the SS Wanhsien for a second time in a week as well as another merchant ship, the Wantung. The commander of the HMS Cockchafer did not have enough men to retake both ships this time, so he radioed for help.[39]
References
- ↑ "Catalan Hurls Dagger at Spain Czar in Motor". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 2, 1926. p. 7.
- ↑ "Italy Put on War Basis to End its Poverty". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 3, 1926. p. 1.
- 1 2 Tuck, Jim (1997). "Cristero Rebellion: part 1 – toward the abyss". Mexconnect. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ Rue, Larry (August 4, 1926). "Duce Bans All Parades Not for 'Useful' Purpose". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mercer, Derrik (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 345. ISBN 9-780582-039193.
- ↑ "Aimee McPherson Scandal". Golden Age of Radio. November 18, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ Rue, Larry (August 5, 1926). "Mussolini Hangs North Pole on Maj. Gen. Nobile". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 15.
- ↑ "Australia and Back – Alan Cobham 1926". Airway Museum. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ "Gertrude Ederle, the First Woman to Swim the English Channel – 6 August 1926". The British Newspaper Archive. August 5, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- 1 2 "Chronology 1926". indiana.edu. 2002. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ "'Tiger' Claws Coolidge with Letter on Debt". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 9, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ "Wheat Famine Menaces World, Says Scientist". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 10, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ Cornyn, John (August 11, 1926). "Firing Squads Execute 20 in Mexican Riots". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 3.
- ↑ Gibbons, Floyd (August 12, 1926). "3 Nations Serve Warning Notes on Bulgarians". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 13.
- ↑ Schultz, Sigrid (August 12, 1926). "50 Injured in Berlin Riots on Republic Day". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
- ↑ "24 Killed, 250 Hurt in Hungary Munitions Blast". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 13, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ Gonzalez, Raymond J. "Home Runs Off The Big Train". Society for American Baseball Research.
- 1 2 "Bl. Luis Batiz Saintz". Catholic Online. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ Darrah, David (August 17, 1926). "Fooled England and They Want to Arrest Him". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 5.
- ↑ "U.S. Judge Curbs Border Influx by Visa Order". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 18, 1926. p. 16.
- 1 2 Ellenberger, Allen R. (2005). The Valentino Mystique. McFarland. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-7864-1950-4.
- ↑ Schultz, Sigrid (August 21, 1926). "Germany's Reds Crumbling; Old Leaders Ousted". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 6.
- ↑ "Pilsudski Ousts Foes in Army to Avert Revolt". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 22, 1926. p. 15.
- ↑ Pickford, Hala (2012). "Biography of Rudolph Valentino". RudolphValentino.org. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ Sawyers, June (September 25, 1988). "Ah, Valentino, How Many Of Our Hearts You Broke!". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ "Uproar Ends Valentino Rite". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 26, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ "Spain's Demand for Tangier Put Before Powers". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 27, 1926. p. 16.
- ↑ Darrah, David (August 27, 1926). "Strikers Stone British Police in Mine Field". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 16.
- ↑ "Turk Gallows Takes 4 More of Kemal's Foes". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 28, 1926. p. 1.
- 1 2 "Captain Albert Robert Williamson OBE, DSC, Merchant Navy, his career, and the Wanhsien Incident in China, September 1926". Naval-History.net. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ Hu, Shizang (1995). Stanley K. Hornbeck and the Open Door Policy, 1919–1937. Greenwood Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-313-29394-5.
- ↑ World's Strangest Baseball stories. Watermill Press. 1993. p. 72. ISBN 0-8167-2850X.
- ↑ Schultz, Sigrid (August 30, 1926). "20,000 File in Goose Step Past Bavarian "King"". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 4.
- ↑ "HMS Cockchafer". Naval Warfare. February 21, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ↑ "Surgeon Sends Last Farewell of Valentino". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 31, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ Schultz, Sigrid (August 31, 1926). "First Aerial Sleeper Flies; Berlin-London". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
- ↑ "Duce Abolishes Vote Rights of Italian People". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 31, 1926. p. 11.
- ↑ "300 Die in Ship Crash; Cabins Trap Scores". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 1, 1926. p. 1.
- ↑ "Wanhsien Incident". Frank S. Taylor Family and Royal Navy History. Retrieved January 3, 2015.