July 1925


The following events occurred in July 1925:

July 1, 1925 (Wednesday)

July 2, 1925 (Thursday)

July 3, 1925 (Friday)

  • The German government sent a strong protest note to the Soviet Union over the sentencing of three German students to death for "high treason and spying". Numerous German newspapers called for a break in diplomatic relations between the two countries as many were convinced that the charges were trumped up in order to arrange for an exchange of prisoners.
  • Suzanne Lenglen of France defeated Joan Fry of the United Kingdom in the Women's Singles Final at Wimbledon.
  • Born:
  • *Michael Oliver, Welsh cardiologist; in Borth, Dyfed
  • *Henry F. Dobyns, American anthropologist who had calculated the pre-Columbian population of North American natives as being at least 9.8 million people and its decrease during the 16th century as being 90 percent; in Tucson, Arizona
  • *Otto von Sadovszky, Hungarian-born American anthropologist known for his "Cal-Ugrian theory" of a linguistic link between languages spoken in Siberia to the Penutian languages of the North American western coast; in Hungary

July 4, 1925 (Saturday)

  • The collapse of the Pickwick Club in Boston killed 44 people, most of them party-goers at an event that had started the night before to celebrate the Fourth of July. At 3:30 in the morning, about 120 people were dancing on the second floor of the former Hotel Dreyfus when the ceiling above them fell, followed by a wall and then the floor beneath them.
  • Police in Rome reported that the treasury of St. Peter's Basilica was robbed of 5–7 million lira worth of valuables, including gold crosses and other religious objects.
  • René Lacoste defeated fellow French tennis player Jean Borotra in the Men's Singles Final at Wimbledon.
  • Fighting while in pain from a visit to a dentist earlier in the day, and distracted by an ulcerated tooth, world flyweight boxing champion Pancho Villa lost a decision to Jimmy McLarnin at Emeryville, California, though the fight was not for the title and Villa retained his championship for the last 10 days of his life. Villa, who earned a record of 90 wins, 8 losses and 4 draws, had three more teeth extracted days later, ignored medical advice to get bed rest, was found to have an infection that spread to his throat and to his heart. He went into a coma after emergency surgery on July 13 and never woke up.

July 5, 1925 (Sunday)

July 6, 1925 (Monday)

July 7, 1925 (Tuesday)

July 8, 1925 (Wednesday)

  • In the U.S., Ralph Samuelson, later celebrated as "The Father of Waterskiing" became the first person to perform a ski jump on water, performing at a water carnival at Lake Pepin in Minnesota as a speedboat guided him up a ramp with a 30-degree incline and into the air. After his first attempt failed because the ramp was too rough, Samuelson greased the surface with lard and made the first successful jump.
  • The Riffians launched a new offensive against the city of Fes in the Rif War.
  • Defense lawyer Clarence Darrow arrived in Dayton, Tennessee to much less fanfare than that afforded Bryan the previous day.
  • In the ongoing gang war between Al Capone's North Side Gang and the Genna crime family, Antonio Genna became the third member of the Genna brothers to be shot to death in less than two months. Angelo Genna had been killed on May 27, followed by Mike Genna's death on June 13 during a gun battle with police.
  • Born: Leonard Neff, American psychiatrist, PTSD expert and hostage negotiator; in Peoria, Illinois

July 9, 1925 (Thursday)

July 10, 1925 (Friday)

July 11, 1925 (Saturday)

July 12, 1925 (Sunday)

  • The first radio network in Japan, Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai was created by the agreement the stations Tokyo Hōsō Kyoku and Nagoya Hōsō Kyoku.
  • In what is now called the Toledo Incident, a mob of 200 white residents of the logging town of Toledo, Oregon kidnapped 29 residents of Asian descent, forced them into trucks and cars, and transported them to a train station at Oregon. The group— 22 Japanese employees of the Pacific Spruce Corporation sawmill, four Filipino workers and one Korean, along with two wives and three American-born children— were placed on a train bound for Portland. In an unusual outcome to the racist action, the Lincoln County sheriff's department and the Toledo police arrested five of the mob leaders. Eight men and a woman would be sued for violating the civil rights of one of the workers, Tamakichi Ogura, and a year later, judgment would be rendered in Ogura's favor for $2,500 in damages.
  • The Greek-language Turkish newspaper Apoyevmatini was founded in Istanbul and would continue to be published 100 years later.
  • Born:
  • *Roger Smith, U.S. automotive executive, Chairman and CEO of General Motors 1981 to 1990, title subject of the 1989 Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me; in Columbus, Ohio
  • *Rosie Harris, Welsh author of romantic novels; in Cardiff
  • Died: H. J. Lawson, 63, British inventor and auto executive who founded the Daimler Company in 1910, now part of the Jaguar Cars motor group.

July 13, 1925 (Monday)

July 14, 1925 (Tuesday)

July 15, 1925 (Wednesday)

July 16, 1925 (Thursday)

July 17, 1925 (Friday)

  • Almost 80 people were killed in Hong Kong when three days of heavy rains and a landslide caused the collapse of flood wall. The waters swept away or destroyed multiple residences in the Sheung Wan section of the city.
  • A joint manifesto calling for the British government to give home rule to India and signed by 40 prominent Indians, was published.
  • The Svalbard Act was passed into law by the Parliament of Norway, establishing Norwegian sovereignty and laws over what had formerly been known as the Spitzbergen Islands of the Arctic Ocean.
  • Born: Wolfgang Kaiser German experimental physicist known for the development of the ruby laser and his innovations on use of lasers; in Nuremberg
  • Died: Lovis Corinth, 66, German painter, died of pneumonia

July 18, 1925 (Saturday)

July 19, 1925 (Sunday)

July 20, 1925 (Monday)

July 21, 1925 (Tuesday)

July 22, 1925 (Wednesday)

July 23, 1925 (Thursday)

July 24, 1925 (Friday)

July 25, 1925 (Saturday)

July 26, 1925 (Sunday)

July 27, 1925 (Monday)

  • The Houdina Radio Control Company, owned by Francis P. Houdina, gave the first demonstration of a remote controlled automobile. Houdina equipped the driverless American Wonder, a 1926 Chandler car, with a radio antenna and a receiver and, with transmission from another car immediately behind the wonder, guided the Wonder in New York City up Broadway Street and, after a turn, back down Fifth Avenue. The car narrowly missed several other vehicles before crashing into a sedan.
  • The first radio station in the Australian state of Queensland, 4QG Brisbane, commenced operation as a service of the Queensland state government.
  • George Seldes, an American correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, was ordered to leave Italy for refusing to alter the tone of his dispatches which displeased the Fascist government of premier Benito Mussolini government.

July 28, 1925 (Tuesday)

July 29, 1925 (Wednesday)

July 30, 1925 (Thursday)

July 31, 1925 (Friday)

  • In what would become known in Britain as "Red Friday" as a positive opposite to a previous "Black Friday", the government of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin averted a coal miners' strike by agreeing to provide a subsidy to maintain the miners' wages until a commission could study the situation.
  • With the Giacomo Matteotti murder trial still pending, the Italian government issued a decree granting amnesty for those arraigned on charges of "premeditated political murder" in the event that it could not be proven whether the murder was premeditated or had happened under "unforeseen circumstances".
  • Born: Carmel Quinn, Irish singer and performer; in Dublin, Irish Free State