July 1913

July 1, 1913 (Tuesday)

• At a reunion to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, more than fifty thousand surviving veterans of the Union and Confederate armies assembled at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to set up tents. Eight of the aged veterans had died by the time President Wilson's speech to the gathering. The reunion ended on July 6.
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson set off from Seattle, Washington for a three-and-a-half-year exploration of the area between Alaska and the North Pole.
• During the Labour Unity Conferences held in Wellington, the industrial and political wings of each movement were recommended to split into their own organizations. As a result New Zealand Socialist Party officially dissolved and reformed as the Social Democratic Party, a precursor to the New Zealand Labour Party formed three years later.
• The Pretoria Regiment of the South African Army was established.
• Some 165 U.S custom districts were consolidated into 49, including the one for New Bedford, Massachusetts although it retain its status as a port of entry into the United States.
• A rail station opened in Newport, Isle of Wight, England to serve the Isle of Wight Central Railway. The rail station was active for only a decade and closed in 1923.
• A rail station opened in Dartford, Kent, England to serve the Gravesend West Line.
• American jewelers began the use of the metric carat as the standard for weighing of gemstones and pearls, with a carat being equal to 200 milligrams. The unit was slightly less than the English carat of 205.3035 milligrams.
• L. Frank Baum published his seventh Land of Oz book titled The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which restarted the entire series after The Emerald City of Oz.
• Daily newspaper Tageblatt began publication in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, becoming the second most popular paper in the country behind the Luxemburger Wort.
• The city of Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines was established.
• The city of Millville, Florida was incorporated.
• Malm Municipality was established in Norway. It dissolved in 1964 when it became part of Verran Municipality.
• Born:
• *Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam, Indian army officer, Chief of the Indian Army Staff 1966 to 1969; in Kumaramangalam, Madras Province, British India
• *André Tollet, French resistance leader, central leader of the committee involved in the Liberation of Paris in 1944; in Paris, France

  July 2, 1913 (Wednesday)

• Wall Street con man David Lamar testified before a United States Senate subcommittee that he had frequently impersonated Congressmen during telephone conversations in order to gain an advantage. The United States Department of Justice reluctantly concluded that there was no federal law under which Lamar could be prosecuted. Although federal law made it a felony "to impersonate an officer of the United States," the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that members of Congress were "not officers of the United States, but of the particular States from which they come."
• Upon recommendation of the city Board of Health, the city of Cincinnati seized control of eight ice plants whose workers had gone on strike during the hot summer. The strike settled four days later.
• The Crocker Land Expedition, on the ship Diana, departed from New York City toward the North Pole for a three-year exploration project.
• French aviator Marcel Brindejonc des Moulinais set a new distance record for an airplane, flying 3,100 miles from Paris to Saint Petersburg.
• The Catholic League was established to reconcile Protestant and Catholic faiths in England.

  July 3, 1913 (Thursday)

• The fiftieth anniversary of "Pickett's Charge", turning point in the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, was re-enacted by the survivors of the original battle.
• The Kingdom of Romania issued an order for mobilization of its armies in preparation of an invasion of Bulgaria.
• Born: Dorothy Kilgallen, American journalist, columnist for the New York Journal-American and panelist on the television show What's My Line?; in Chicago, United States

  July 4, 1913 (Friday)

• As the Second Balkan War continued, Greek and Serbian armies were successful in routing attacking Bulgarian troops, at Kilkis, Central Macedonia, which would later become part of Greek territory.
• The Russian village of Astradamovka, located in the Alatyr Oblast, was destroyed by a fire which killed 154 peasants.
• Major General Erich von Falkenhayn was appointed as the new German Minister of War after General Josias von Heeringen resigned.
• Anthony Wilding of England won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship, ending the hope of American Maurice McLoughlin to become the first foreigner to win the Wimbledon finals. Wilding overwhelmed McLoughlin in three straight sets, 8-6, 6-3 and 10-8.
• American race car driver Harry Knight was killed along with his mechanic Milton McAllis when their car blew a tire during a race in Columbus, Ohio and rolled over twice.
• The opening of a new county courthouse in Ventura, California kicked off two days of Fourth of July celebrations that saw 20,000 people attend.
• Died: Alfred Lyttelton, 56, British politician and cricket player, wicket-keeper for the England cricket team from 1879 to 1898, Secretary of State for the Colonies 1903 to 1905

  July 5, 1913 (Saturday)

• Three days of rioting by miners in the Rand District of South Africa halted after the government agreed to bring legislation for improvement of working conditions. The night before, Johannesburg police had fired their guns into a crowd of protesters who ignored orders to disperse, killing 40.
• The Ottoman Empire announced that it would not intervene in the war against Bulgaria on the condition that Bulgaria relinquish its claims for indemnity from the empire from the First Balkan War.
• The United States Postal Service began to segregate black postal clerks from white clerks.
• Died: Prince Arisugawa Takehito, 51, Japanese Imperial Navy Admiral and head of the Shinnōke branch of the Imperial House of Japan

  July 6, 1913 (Sunday)

• English clergyman Henry Beeching delivered what would become a widely republished sermon at the Norwich Cathedral in the British city of Norwich, describing the faith of the late George Borrow.
• Born: Vance Trimble, American journalist, celebrated investigative reporter for the Howard-Scripps newspaper chain, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1960; in Harrison, Arkansas, United States
• Died: J. C. Williamson, 67, American-Australian actor and theatrical producer, founder of J. C. Williamson Ltd.

  July 7, 1913 (Monday)

• The Irish Home Rule bill passed on its third reading in the British House of Commons, 352-243. The measure was sent to the House of Lords, which rejected it on July 15.
• Mexican-American folk hero and outlaw Gregorio Cortez was freed from the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, where he had served eight and one half years, following a pardon issued by Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt.
• Born: Pinetop Perkins, American blues musician who played piano for Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and The Legendary Blues Band; as Joseph William Perkins, in Belzoni, Mississippi, United States
• Died: E. Burd Grubb, 71, U.S. Army officer and regiment commander during the Battle of Chancellorsville and the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War, later the U.S. Ambassador to Spain

  July 8, 1913 (Tuesday)

• Andrew Fisher retained his leadership of the Australian Labor Party during the party's leadership vote, defeating challengers William Higgs and Billy Hughes.
• Trainmen and conductors of most of the railroads in the eastern United States voted 72,473 to 4,210 in favor of going on strike for higher wages, tying up the nation's commerce and travel.
• The Welsh Disestablishment Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons and was sent to the House of Lords for consideration.
• British yacht Vivid ran aground and wrecked at the island of Colonsay off the coast of Scotland while en route from Glasgow to Stornoway on her maiden voyage as a civilian training ship.
• Pearl Curran, a St. Louis housewife who was experimenting with a Ouija board, began reporting the communications of "Patience Worth", whom Curran said had been an Englishwoman who had lived in Dorset more than 200 years earlier, during the 17th century, and had been killed by Indians after crossing the ocean to America. For the next 24 years, until her death in 1937, Mrs. Curran would publish novels and poems attributed to her communications with Patience Worth.
• Born:
• *Walter Kerr, American writer and theater critic, columnist for The New York Times; in Evanston, Illinois, United States
• *Bill Thompson, American actor, known for his voice work for the cartoon character Droopy for MGM and for the Walt Disney animated films; as William Thompson, in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States
• Died: Louis Hémon, 32, French novelist who moved to Canada, was killed after being struck by a train in Chapleau, Ontario. His novel Maria Chapdelaine was published after his death, and brought him posthumous fame.

  July 9, 1913 (Wednesday)

• China's National Assembly ratified a treaty with Russia, relinquishing its claims on Mongolia.
• Born: Ted Grant, South African-British activist, founder of Militant and Socialist Appeal in the United Kingdom; as Isaac Blank, in Germiston, Transvaal, Union of South Africa

  July 10, 1913 (Thursday)

• Romania declares war on Bulgaria.
• This afternoon, the United States Weather Bureau recorded the highest ever ambient air temperature of 134 °F at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley. The record's validity was later challenged, and in 2020 a temperature of was recorded at the same location, making it the world's highest verified air temperature, subject to confirmation.
• Born: Salvador Espriu, Spanish poet, known for poetry collections including La pell de brau and D'una vella i encerclada terra; as Salvador Espriu i Castelló, in Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain
• Died: Hayashi Tadasu, 63, Foreign Minister of Japan from 1906 to 1912