July 1925

July 1, 1925 (Wednesday)

• The Kuomintang proclaimed a new national government for the Republic of China with a capital at its base in Guangzhou. From there, Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek led the Northern Expedition in reunifying the Republic, which had been fragmented in 1916 into various states ruled by warlords.
• Voting was held in the Netherlands for all 100 seats of the Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, the lower house of the States General. The coalition government led by Prime Minister Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck of the Algemeene Bond and its partners of the ARP and the CHU saw its majority fall from 59 seats to 54 seats, and a new government was formed.
• The first International Congress of Radiology opened in London.
• The first Ford Australia factory opened in Geelong, Victoria as a subsidiary of Ford Canada, part of the Ford Motor Company. Despite statements that the first Ford car assembled in Australia "rolled off the assembly line" on July 1, the Ford company's newsletter noted on July 15 that "The first shipment of parts to the new corporation, consisting of 1,100 cars, is on the ocean due to arrive about August 1."
• Born:
• *Art McNally, American sports official and referee, Director of Officiating for the National Football League and the first referee to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• *Farley Granger, American film actor known for Strangers on a Train, Rope and Edge of Doom; in San Jose, California
• Died:
• *Erik Satie, 59, French composer
• *George B. Churchill, 52, U.S. Representative for Massachusetts, died of a hemorrhage caused by stomach ulcers, less than three months after taking office. Elected in November 1924, Churchill had only gone to Washington to be sworn in, but the first session of the 69th U.S. Congress wasn't scheduled to open until December 7, so Churchill never cast a vote on legislation.

  July 2, 1925 (Thursday)

• The last Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, Nikolai Golitsyn, was executed by the Soviet Union on charges of participating in a "counter-revolutionary monarchist organization". Golitsyn, who had been appointed by Tsar Nicholas II, had been given an opportunity by the Bolsheviks to leave, but had elected to stay in the Soviet Union.
• Harry Greb retained the World Middleweight Title, defeating Mickey Walker by decision at the Polo Grounds in New York.
• Born:
• *Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist; in Decatur, Mississippi
• *Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician and independence activist who was the first prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; as Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; in Katakokombe, Congo-Kasaï, Belgian Congo
• *Pietro Forquet, Italian contract bridge cardplayer and part of the "Blue Team" that won 15 world titles between 1957 and 1975; in Naples
• *U.S. Army Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud Jr. who posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in the Korean War; in Hatfield, Wisconsin
• *Philip Liner, English-born New Zealand radio broadcaster on the RNZ National network for 20 years; in Northampton
• *David Webb, American jewelry designer and businessman known for creating exclusive accessories for female celebrities; in Asheville, North Carolina

  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)

• Spanish toreador Rosario Olmos was badly gored in his right thigh by a bull during a bullfight in Madrid, while American author Ernest Hemingway was present. Hemingway was doing research about bullfighting and the incident would become part of the narrative of the classic 1932 nonfiction book Death in the Afternoon, and would include a news photo of the goring without identifying Olmos.
• Arctic explorers Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth, and their four crewmates were given a heroes' welcome at Oslo after returning alive from their attempt to fly an airplane to the North Pole.
• The first performance of the American aerial daredevil team, the 13 Black Cats, was given before several thousand people at the Burdette Airfield in Los Angeles.
• Born:
• *Herbie Seneviratne, Sri Lankan filmmaker; in Kurunegala, British Ceylon
• *Fernando de Szyszlo, Peruvian sculptor; in Lima
• *Jean Raspail, French explorer and novelist; in Chemillé-sur-Dême, Indre-et-Loire département
• *Madeleine Duncan Brown, American advertising executive who claimed to have been the longtime mistress of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and alleged that he was the father of her son, Steven Mark Brown; in Dallas
• Died: Hjalmar Borgstrøm, 61, Norwegian composer

  July 6, 1925 (Monday)

• Numerous arrests were made and stolen items were recovered in the St. Peter's Basilica robbery case. Six workmen who were doing repairs in the vicinity of the treasury room were among those arrested.
• Seven children, ranging in age from 5 to 12 years old, were drowned along with one adult were killed at Pinafore Lake at a park in the Canadian city of St. Thomas, Ontario. The had been carrying 21 children and four adults when it capsized. The boat went down in water deep and from shore.
• The city of Mayfield, California came to an end as the incorporated community was absorbed into the neighboring city of Palo Alto by a 1,094 to 441 vote of citizens of both communities.
• Born:
• * Merv Griffin, American television personality and media mogul; in San Mateo, California
• *Bill Haley, American rock and roll musician known for his group Bill Haley and the Comets; in Highland Park, Michigan
• *Ruth Cracknell, Australian comic actress on stage, radio TV and film; in Maitland, New South Wales
• *Edwin A. Dawes, British biochemist known also for his books regarding the history of stage magic; in Goole, West Riding of Yorkshire
• *Kjell Aartun, Norwegian theologian and linguist known for his expertise on Semitic languages and his controversial theories on runic interpretation and on Minoan civilization; in Sjernarøy
• *Clarence Scharbauer Jr., American horse breeder, oil company owner and philanthropist, inductee to the Horse Racing Hall of Fame; in Midland, Texas

  July 7, 1925 (Tuesday)

• In the U.S., the Boeing Airplane Company test flew its first passenger aircraft, the Boeing Model 40.
• Loyola College, Chennai, a private Catholic college was founded in India in Madras by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits, with 75 undergraduates. It would have more than 10,000 students in its 100th year.
• William Jennings Bryan arrived by train in Dayton, Tennessee to a hero's welcome as national anticipation of the Scopes Trial accelerated. Bryan gave a fiery speech saying the trial would be a "duel to the death".
• Died:
• *Helen Carruthers, 33, American silent film actress who later become a socialite as the wife of a baron, was accidentally killed when she fell from the 7th floor of The Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City. Carruthers was hosting some friends on the day before she was to sail on a cruise and lost her balance when she opened a window during a hot summer day.
• *Clarence H. White, 54, American photographer, had a fatal heart attack while teaching students in Mexico City.

  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