March 1913

March 1, 1913 (Saturday)

• Former members of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society released a memorandum to the European powers advocating for the independence of the historic region of Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire.
• The German Navy dreadnought, first of a new line of ships with the capacity to fire 30.5cm shells, was launched by Wilhelmshaven Imperial Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
• The British steamer Calvados, with 200 passengers and crew, was lost in the Sea of Marmara off of the coast of Turkey, while traveling in a blizzard between Istanbul and Panderma.
• New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson resigned three days before his scheduled inauguration as President of the United States. Wilson was succeeded by State Senate President James Fairman Fielder.
• The Vermont Square Branch Library opened in Los Angeles thanks to funding from the Carnegie Foundation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
• Sports club AHC Quick was established in Amsterdam, and became known as one of the oldest running baseball and softball clubs in all of Europe.
• Born:
• *Ralph Ellison, African-American writer, author of Invisible Man and Shadow and Act; in Oklahoma City, United States
• *R. S. R. Fitter, British naturalist, leading expert and author on wildflowers; as Richard Sidney Richmond Fitter, in London, England
• *Helmut Gernsheim, German photographer, known for his wartime and postwar photo work; in Munich, German Empire
• Died: Mario Pieri, 52, Italian mathematician, known for his work on foundations of geometry, died from cancer

  March 2, 1913 (Sunday)

• Soldiers of the 9th U.S. Cavalry, stationed in Douglas, Arizona, traded gunfire with Mexican Army troops who were across the border in Agua Prieta, in a skirmish between the border patrols of both nations. Reportedly, four Mexican federal soldiers were killed, and some of the U.S. Army soldiers charged across the border into Mexico to pursue the retreating Mexican troops.

  March 3, 1913 (Monday)

• The Woman Suffrage Procession took place in Washington D.C. with a group of 8,000 marchers organized by Alice Paul of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The marchers, mostly women led by suffragist Inez Milholland on horseback, paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue on the eve of the U.S. presidential inauguration, to rally in support of granting women the right to vote in the United States.
• A statue of American historian Edward Everett Hale was installed in the Public Garden of Boston.
• The Bulgarian soccer football club Cherno More Varna was established in Varna, Bulgaria.

  March 4, 1913 (Tuesday)

• Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as the 28th President of the United States at 1:34 pm, 94 minutes after the expiration of the term of President William Howard Taft.
• Hours before leaving office, outgoing U.S. President William Howard Taft signed legislation creating the United States Department of Labor. The former Department of Commerce and Labor was renamed as the United States Department of Commerce. Taft's signing came with a statement: "I think that nine departments are enough for the proper administration of the government."
• The opera Pénélope by composer Gabriel Fauré premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monte Carlo, and then over a month later at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
• Born: John Garfield, American film actor, known for his film roles in Four Daughters, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Gentleman's Agreement; as Jacob Garfinkle, in New York City, United States

  March 5, 1913 (Wednesday)

• Seventy-one men were drowned when the German destroyer S-178 was rammed by the German cruiser Yorck in the North Sea off of Heligoland.
• Cyril Jackson and the Municipal Reform Party defeated John Benn and the Progressive Party in elections for the London County Council, the last municipal election to be held before the outbreak of World War I suspended all such elections.
• The United States Army established the first American air military unit, then known as 1st Aero Squadron. It is now the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron of the United States Air Force.
• The rail line between Vredenburg and Saldanha, South Africa began operating.
• The daily Sri Lankan newspaper The Ceylonese began publication in Colombo.

  March 6, 1913 (Thursday)

• The tercentenary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty was celebrated across the Russian Empire. The date of the celebration was February 21, 1913, according to the Julian calendar. The Russian Empire had not yet adopted the Gregorian calendar, which was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar. Tsar Nicholas, the last reigning member of the dynasty, would be deposed less than five years later.
• Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, who had been living at the Hotel Roma in El Paso, Texas under the alias "Doroteo Arango," crossed the Rio Grande back into Mexico, along with eight companions, to rebuild his army and to overthrow Mexican President Victoriano Huerta. By year's end, Villa would have control of the state of Chihuahua, which served as his base for anti-government raids.
• William Bauchop Wilson, no relation to newly inaugurated U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, took office as the first United States Secretary of Labor. On the same day, William C. Redfield was sworn in as the first United States Secretary of Commerce, moving into the offices of Charles Nagel, the last Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
• As part of the commemoration of the Romanov dynasty, Tsar Nicholas established the Insignia of Saint Olga as a decoration specifically for women who made contributions to the Russian Empire. It was only awarded once before the monarchy was toppled by the Russian Revolution.
• The Sioux City Free Public Library was opened in Sioux City, Iowa thanks to funding from the Carnegie Foundation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
• The protest song, "The Tramp" by labor activist Joe Hill, was published in the Little Red Songbook of the Industrial Workers of the World, one of the 25 songs Hill had written over his life and career.

  March 7, 1913 (Friday)

• More than 40 people were killed in Baltimore when 340 tons of dynamite on the steamship Alum Chine exploded. Most of the dead were on the tugboat Atlantic, which had returned to the ship to rescue two sailors who had not been evacuated.
• The city of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia was established.
• Born: Elmer Lower, American television news executive, president of ABC News from 1963 to 1974; in Kansas City, Missouri, United States
• Died: E. Pauline Johnson, 51, Canadian poet, known for poetry collections on indigenous culture including The White Wampum and Flint and Feather, died of breast cancer.

  March 8, 1913 (Saturday)

• The second criminal trial of renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow, on charges of attempted bribery, ended in a hung jury, with 8 of the 12 jurors in favor of conviction, less than the unanimous vote necessary. After the first two trials failed to reach a verdict, a third trial was not attempted and Darrow would return to practice.
• The Federal League, intended as a third major baseball league to challenge the existing National and American Leagues, was founded in Indianapolis by John T. Powers. It would last for two seasons, 1914 and 1915.
• The museum and library branch of the opera house La Scala in Milan was established.
• The village of Youngstown, Alberta was established.
• Died: Louis Saint-Gaudens, 57, American sculptor, member of the Beaux-Art movement, brother to Augustus Saint-Gaudens

  March 9, 1913 (Sunday)

• Dr. Friedrich Friedmann of Germany, who had announced that he had developed a cure for tuberculosis that he would sell for one million dollars, gave the first demonstration of his treatment before U.S. government officials. Seven patients were injected with the Friedmann vaccine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, in the presence of more than 30 physicians and surgeons.

  March 10, 1913 (Monday)

• The Quebec Bulldogs, champions of the National Hockey Association, kept the Stanley Cup in a two-game sweep in a challenge by the Sydney Millionaires of the Maritime Professional Hockey League. After winning the first game 14-3, the Bulldogs won the second one, 6-2.
• French sculptor Camille Claudel was committed to a mental hospital at Ville-Evrard near Paris, where she would spend the remaining 30 years of her life.
• Died: Harriet Tubman, 90–91, American abolitionist, social activist, Civil War scout and spy, former slave who rescued enslaved African Americans as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She was given a burial with full military honors at Auburn, New York.

  March 11, 1913 (Tuesday)

• Edmond Perreyon of France set a new record for highest altitude in an airplane, reaching 19,281 feet.
• The last civil suits arising from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of March 25, 1911 were settled. Building owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris paid $75 apiece for each dead woman or girl whose family had brought a wrongful death suit.
• Died:
• *Godfrey Morgan, Viscount Tredegar, 81, Welsh officer in the British Army. Tredegar was a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade as captain of a unit in the 17th Lancers that rode "into the Valley of Death" during the Crimean War in 1854.
• *John Shaw Billings, 74, American librarian, first director of the New York Public Library

  March 12, 1913 (Wednesday)

• The new capital of Australia was christened in a ceremony that saw the unveiling of three pillars of a memorial column by Baron Denman, Governor-General of Australia, Andrew Fisher, Prime Minister of Australia, and Minister for Home Affairs King O'Malley. At noon, Lady Denman opened a gold cigarette case, withdrew the paper inside, and announced "I name the Capital of Australia 'Canberra.'" Canberra, which was among almost 1,000 suggestions submitted to the federal government, had first been used in 1826 by J. J. Moore in an application to purchase land in what would become the Australian Capital Territory. Other suggestions had been Kangaremu, Blueducks, Eucalypta, Myola, Gonebroke, Swindleville and Cooeeoomoo, and the second most popular proposal had been Shakespeare.
• Plans were announced by the British Prime Minister's Office to reform the House of Lords, taking away its veto power and abolishing the hereditary succession.
• The football club Dornbirn was established in Dornbirn, Austria.