February 2, 1913: Grand Central Station opens in New YorkFebruary 20, 1913: O'Malley drives the first stake for the new city of Canberra
The following events occurred in February 1913:
February 1, 1913 (Saturday)
The United States Senate voted, 47-23, in favor of amending Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution to limit American presidents to a single, six-year term. The measure for an Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed "by the necessary two-thirds vote and one to spare," and sent to the House for consideration.[1]
Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber, employees with Westinghouse Electric, filed a patent grant for a laminate as a substitute for mica used as electrical insulation. U.S. Patent No. 1,284,432 was granted on November 12, 1918.[3] The material evolved to become Formica which is now used for many applications.[4]
February 2, 1913 (Sunday)
The first train departed from New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, opened a moment after midnight as the world's largest train station. At 12:01 am, the Boston Express No. 2 became the first train to depart, with a Mr. F. M. Lamh of Yonkers, New York credited as the first person to buy a ticket in the new terminal. On its first day, between 12:01 am and 7:00 pm, the new station attracted 150,000 visitors.[5] "At the height of its activity, in the years just after the Second World War", one historian noted,[who?] "Grand Central served about the same number of passengers as the world's busiest airport does today, even though Grand Central uses only 1 percent as much land as the airport does."[6]
At 11:00 am local time, five minutes after the Delaware House of Representatives had received the state Senate resolution for ratification, Delaware became the 36th state to vote in favor of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing Congress to create a federal income tax. The vote in both state houses was unanimous.[12] With three-fourths of the 48 U.S. states having ratified the amendment, "The first change in the Federal Constitution in forty-three years was made certain."[This quote needs a citation]Wyoming and New Mexico voted their approval later in the day.[13]
The German railroad car manufacturer Gothaer Waggonfabrik began an aviation division, which would create one of the first heavy bombers used in war: the Gotha twin-engine bomber that was used for bombing raids on England during World War I.[14]
The Hippodrome opened in Aldershot, England with a billing to show variety shows twice a night. The building was eventually demolished in 1961.[17]
February 4, 1913 (Tuesday)
President Manuel Erique Araujo
The President of El Salvador, Manuel Enrique Araujo, was fatally wounded by assassins, despite the initial report that none of his wounds were considered to be serious.[18] Araujo died five days later.[19] American warships were dispatched to Central America to stop the threat of a revolution.[citation needed]
The wife of British Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott departed from Los Angeles on the way to meet her husband in New Zealand. Mrs. Scott, unaware that her husband had died in Antarctica, told reporters, "I expect to meet Capt. Scott in Lytleton in March... I have not heard from my husband for about eighteen months, but I have no doubt whatsoever that he will arrive in New Zealand safely."[This quote needs a citation] The next day, she set off from San Francisco on the steamer Aorangi.[20]
First Lieutenant Michael Moutoussis and Ensign Aristeidis Moraitinis of the Greek Navy conducted the first aerial attack on a warship in history, dropping four bombs on Turkish ships in the Dardanelles, albeit without inflicting any casualties.[21]
Spain resumed diplomatic relations with the Vatican after a nearly three-year break. Fermin Calbeton y Planchon presented his credentials to the Pope, and then spoke with the Pontiff in the latter's private residence.[26]
Opera singer Vanni Marcoux, baritone and star of the Boston Opera Company, was hospitalized with a concussion sustained while he had been taking his bows. Marcoux had been enjoying the thunderous applause of the audience and did not realize that he was standing directly below the heavy stage curtain as it was being lowered, and was struck on the head.[31]
Russian pilot N. de Sackoff becomes the first pilot shot down in combat when his biplane was hit by ground fire following a bombing run on the walls of Fort Bezhani during the First Balkan War. Flying for Greece, he came down near Preveza, on the coast north of the Ionian island of Lefkada, where he secured local Greek assistance, repaired his airplane, and flew back to base.[32]
For the first time in more than 110 years, an incumbent U.S. President personally spoke before a house of the United States Congress. U.S. President William Howard Taft appeared before a session of the United States Senate to deliver a eulogy for the late Vice-President, James S. Sherman, who had died in November of 1912. "Not since 1801," the New York Times observed, "has the President spoken directly to either house of Congress." Thomas Jefferson had set the precedent of communicating to Congress by written message only, which in turn had broken the tradition set by Presidents George Washington and John Adams in speaking at the opening of Congress.[33]
The United States and Nicaragua signed the Wertzel-Chamorro Treaty, with the U.S. paying $3 million to Nicaragua for the option to build a canal across the nation to link the Atlantic and Pacific, and the right to set up bases on Corn Island and the Gulf of Fonseca. Construction of the Panama Canal was almost complete; the U.S. Senate's session ended before the treaty could be voted on.[34]
What would later be called the Ten Tragic Days ("La Decena Trágica") began when Mexican Army cadets loyal to Generals Felix Diaz and Bernardo Reyes violently freed them from prison in Mexico City where they had been jailed for leading government revolts last November.[35]
Explorer Douglas Mawson, the last surviving member of a three member party of explorers on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, made it back to the expedition's base at Cape Denison. Mawson, who had suffered frostbite and illness during his trek to the base, was informed upon his arrival that the expedition ship Aurora had departed a few hours earlier, and that another ship would not relieve the base for another year.[36][37]
At Mansfield, England, thirteen coal miners at the Bolsover Colliery were killed when a bucket with 800 gallons of water fell from a chain, and crashed into the workers 500 feet below.[38]
The Ottoman Navy warship Asar-i Tevfik ran aground while on raid on Bulgarian ports during the First Balkan War. Despite attempts to salvage her, the ship was considered a total loss.[39]
Former General Bernardo Reyesattempted to lay siege on the presidential palace in Mexico City but Palace Guard commander Lauro Villar Ochoa, who was dressed in civilian clothes on his way to the palace, observed Reyes troops mobilizing to attack and was able to alert the guards in time. The resulting gun battle killed 400 soldiers and civilians and injured 1,000, including Reyes who was shot off his mount as he led the attack on horse. PresidentFrancisco I. Madero heard of the attack from his residence three miles away and tried to get to the presidential palace, but was stopped short. He then met with General Victoriano Huerta and appointed him commander of the federal army in the nation's capital. Meanwhile, Felix Diaz took control of the main armory outside Mexico City.[41][42][43]
At 9:05 pm, hundreds of people in Toronto observed a series of brilliant meteors streaking across the sky. The procession, first visible in the skies above Mortlach, Saskatchewan, moved south-easterly across North America. It was observed by Col. W. R. Winter from a position on Bermuda.[citation needed] It was reported by seven ships at sea, and then last reported off the eastern tip of Brazil near Cape Sao Roque.[citation needed] The procession was not observed by Professor Clarence Chant, of the Astronomy Department of the University of Toronto, but on the following day he was inundated with phone calls and letters from witnesses to the event. He systematically plotted the path of the procession, and reported his findings in a 73-page report tabled in the May–June 1913 edition of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.[citation needed] A witness to the event was Toronto artist Gustav Hahn who made a painting following his observation.[citation needed] This event is also known as the "Cyrillids" because the event happened on St. Cyril's Day.[citation needed] In 2000, author Patrick Moore would write, "Nothing similar had ever been seen before, and nothing similar has been seen since."[44]
The world learned the fate of Robert Falcon Scott and the other members of his Antarctic exploration team who had perished after reaching the South Pole. The news was brought with the return of the Terra Nova.[47]
The Taishō political crisis began in Japan, when Prime Minister Katsura Tarō and his cabinet resigned, the day after tens of thousands of protesters surrounded the Parliament Building.[54][55]
Five West Virginia state legislators were arrested on charges of accepting bribes in advance of a vote on the state's U.S. Senator. The six were charged with receiving a total of $20,000 to vote in favor of Senate candidate William Seymour Edwards.[57] Two days later, another six were indicted and "Every member of the West Virginia Legislature, save those against whom indictments have been returned" was issued a summons to appear before a special grand jury.[58]
Franz Schuhmeier, a Socialist member of the Austrian parliament, was assassinated at a railway station in Vienna. His killer, Paul Kunschak, was the brother of one of Schuhmeier's opponents in the Chamber of Deputies, a member of the Christian Socialist Party. Schuhmeier, who had led the fight for universal suffrage in Austria, was mourned by 250,000 people.[59]
The electoral votes were canvassed in a joint session of the United States Congress, and Woodrow Wilson was officially proclaimed as the winner of the election.[64]
Mary Harris Jones, the 83-year-old labor activist remembered as "Mother Jones", was arrested in Charleston, West Virginia after leading a group of miners to confront GovernorWilliam E. Glasscock.[67] Transported to an area of Charleston that was under martial law because of confrontations between striking coal miners and company police, Jones would be tried by a military court in March, on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Convicted on the charges, she would be sentenced to three years imprisonment, but released by the new Governor after 85 days.[68]
Outgoing U.S. President William Howard Taft vetoed the Burnett-Dillingham Immigration Bill, that would have turned away immigrant heads of families who were unable to pass a literacy test.[74] The veto would survive an attempt at an override; a historian[who?] would note later that, "Following his conscience and the advice of Charles Nagel, [Taft] defended his long-standing belief that immigration was an economic boon to the country and that Southern and Eastern Europeans could assimilate as readily as Northern and Western Europeans... Taft left the gates of America open for many immigrants as he left the White House."[75]
China's Minister of Education opened the Conference on Unification of Pronunciation, the first attempt to create common standards for the Chinese language, with 44 delegates meeting in Beijing.[78][page needed]
Emilio Vasquez Gomez crossed the U.S.-Mexican border at Columbus, New Mexico, into Palomas, and proclaimed himself as President of Mexico, with plans to journey to the capital to take office.[80]
Former Venezuelan President Cipriano Castro was permitted entry into the United States by federal court order.[81]
West of Pierre, South Dakota, Hattie May Foster, a 14-year-old student, spotted the corner of a lead marker sticking out of the ground and unearthed it.[84] What Foster had located was a marker that had been set 170 years earlier by a team of French explorers under the command of Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye and François de La Vérendrye, who had marked the furthest point explored by them before they began their journey home. Inscribed on one side was "Anno XXVI Regni Ludovici XV Prorege; Illustrissimo Domino Domino Marchione; De Beauharnois M D CC XXXXI; Petrus Gaultier de Laverendrie Posvit", and on the other "Pose par le Chevalier de Lavr to jo Louy la Londette Amiotte, Le 30 de mars 1743" (March 30, 1743).[85]
Relief forces under command of Aureliano Blanquetarrived in Mexico City but refused to fight for the Mexican government, allowing a nine-hour armistice to go into effect in Mexico City.[86]
Joseph Hertz of New York City was elected as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire. He received 298 votes against 39 for Moses Hyamson.[87]
Joaquin Miller, 75, American poet, known for poems about his experiences in the frontier including his book, Songs of the Sierras (b. 1837)[citation needed]
Gustavo A. Madero, brother of the deposed President, was executed on orders of General Félix Díaz. Gustavo was "subjected to the 'fugitive law'," where prisoners were released and given a chance to flee while guns were fired at them.[94]
An attempt to override U.S. President William Howard Taft's veto of the Immigration Bill failed in the House by five votes, after having passed the Senate, 72–18, the day before. Although the vote was 213–114 in favor of overcoming the President's veto, two-thirds (218) of the 327 representatives present were required to agree.[95]
The most destructive fire in Tokyo, in almost 60 years, broke out at a Salvation Army hall in the Kanda district, spread over one-half of a square mile, and destroyed 1,500 homes and buildings.[98]
Mexico's "Ten Tragic Days" closed as the last day of fighting against rebel forces ended when mounted police stormed the armory and were cut down by machine gun fire, resulting in 67 dead and wounded. In total, 5,500 people were killed or wounded in the ten days of fighting.[99]
Steel manufacturer Hesteel Serbia began operations as SARTID in Belgrade. The company went bankrupt and languished in the 2000s until it was purchased and revived by the Hesteel Group in 2016.[100]
Four days after their forced resignations, former Mexican President Francisco I. Madero, and Vice-President José María Pino Suárezwere shot to death after being transported from the presidential palace to a prison.[102] The official explanation by current President Victoriano Huerta was that the two men were being transported in automobiles and "two-thirds of the way to the penitentiary, they were attacked by an armed group...and the prisoners tried to escape. An exchange of shots then took place in which one of the attacking party was killed, two were wounded and both prisoners killed."[103] One account said that Major Francisco Cardenas, who was escorting the prisoners, shot both men,[104] while another account claimed that U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson told President Huerta to do "whatever he thought best for the country," after which Huerta had the two men executed in the prison.[105] The subsequent government investigation "resulted in a decision that no one could be held legally responsible."[106]
Harcourt Butler, the Secretary of State for Education in British India, specified the goals for creating 14 universities across India.[107]
U.S. District Judge Nathan Goff Jr. was elected as U.S. Senator for West Virginia by the state legislature, with 49 votes, compared to 14 votes for the three other candidates.[109]
U.S. President William Howard Taft dispatched 4,000 men to Galveston, Texas, for a possible deployment to Mexico.[110] The force was increased two days later to 10,000 people.[111]
The United States Naval Academy, which would later be ranked by the Helms Athletic Foundation as the best team of the 1912-13 men's basketball season, closed its schedule with a 67-18 win over Georgetown University and a 9-0 finish.[citation needed] The Midshipmen outscored their opponents 501-187 in nine games, defeating them by an average of 35 points per game.[citation needed]
Joseph Stalin was arrested by the Russian secret police agency, the Okhrana, upon his arrival at the Kalashnikov Exchange at Saint Petersburg, where International Women's Day was being celebrated. The future dictator of the Soviet Union, Stalin would be imprisoned for the next four years by the Tsarist government, until his release in 1917 a few months before the Russian Revolution.[116]
The United Synagogue of America held its initial meeting, at which time it changed to its present name from the working title of "Agudath Jeshurun- A Union for Promoting Traditional Judaism in America."[117][page needed]
The first radio transmission from Antarctica was made, with Australasian Expedition leader Douglas Mawson telegraphing a message by wireless to Australia.[121]
United States Secretary of StatePhilander C. Knox proclaimed that the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, officially making a federal income tax part of the Constitution.[124] An 1894 attempt by the U.S. government to tax incomes had been found unconstitutional, except as regards salaries and wages. The first federal income tax laws passed, after the Amendment took effect, provided for a rate of one percent for incomes of $20,000 or less[125][page needed]
Bud Fowler, 54, American baseball player, the earliest known African-American to play professional baseball for an all-white team, 2022 inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1858)[citation needed]
February 27, 1913 (Thursday)
The concept of the "isotope," referring to a variation of a chemical element containing the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons, was introduced by British radiochemistFrederick Soddy, in a February 27 address before Britain's Royal Society, when he referred to "atoms of the same chemical properties, non-separable by any known process." The term itself, suggested to Soddy by his friend, Edinburgh physician Margaret Todd, would not be introduced until December 4, when he used it in the British scientific journal Nature.[130]
Proof of the existence of the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) was demonstrated by German animal merchant Carl Hagenbeck in Liberia. After "having made sure that the species was much less rare than he had thought," Hagenbeck shot and killed one. The next day, he would capture a live pygmy hippo.[132]
The Webb-Kenyon bill, prohibiting the interstate shipment of alcohol into dry territory for purposes of resale, passed by the House and the Senate, was vetoed by U.S. President William Howard Taft. The veto would be overridden the same day by the Senate, and the next day by the House.[134][page needed]
^"Curtain Knocks Out Singer". Washington Post. February 8, 1913. p. 1.
^Baker, David, "Flight and Flying: A Chronology", Facts On File, Inc., New York, New York, 1994, Library of Congress card number 92-31491, ISBN0-8160-1854-5, p. 61
^Lawrence Lenz, Power and Policy: America's First Steps to Superpower, 1889-1922 (Algora Publishing, 2008) p. 176
^Heribert von Feilitzsch, In Plain Sight: Felix A. Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914, Henselstone Verlag LLC, Virginia, 2012, ISBN9780985031701, p. 234
^Tom Griffiths, Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica (Harvard University Press, 2007) p. 27.
^2007 Year Book Australia (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2007) p. 17
^"Falling Bucket Kills 13 Miners". New York Times. February 9, 1913.
^Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 389. ISBN0-85177-133-5.
^"MADERO AND SUAREZ SHOT TO DEATH AS GUARDS FIRE ON RESCUE PARTY". Washington Post. February 24, 1913. p. 1.
^Edward I. Bell, The Political Shame of Mexico, Volume 3 (McBride, Nast & Co., 1914) p. 318
^Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House (Yale University Press, 2006) p. 86
^Héctor Aguilar Camín and Lorenzo Meyer, In the Shadow of the Mexican Revolution: Contemporary Mexican History, 1910-1989 (University of Texas Press, 1993) p. 35
^Thomas H. Russell, Mexico In Peace and War (Reilly & Britton Syndicate, 1914) p. 86
^P. N. Chopra, A Comprehensive History of India, Volume 3 (Sterling Publishers, 2003) p. 228
^Jeannie M. Whayne, Arkansas: A Narrative History (University of Arkansas Press, 2002) p. 279
^"West Virginia Names Goff". New York Times. February 22, 1913.
^"Taft Sends Army Close to Mexico". New York Times. February 23, 1913.
^"More Troops to Galveston". New York Times. February 25, 1913.
^"Record of Current Events" April 1913, pp. 289-292
^Robert Service, Stalin: A Biography (Harvard University Press, 2005) pp. 90-91
^Michael R. Cohen, The Birth of Conservative Judaism: Solomon Schechter's Disciples and the Creation of an American Religious Movement (Columbia University Press, 2012)
^Per F. Dahl, Flash of the Cathode Rays: A History of J J Thomson's Electron (CRC Press, 1997) p. 290, n. 87, n. 90; p. 425
^"Score Die in Fire in Omaha". New York Times. March 1, 1913.
^Bernard Heuvelmans, On The Track Of Unknown Animals (Taylor & Francis, 1995) pp. 48-50 cited by Alan H. Simmons, Faunal Extinction in an Island Society: Pygmy Hippopotamus Hunters of Cyprus (Springer, 1999) p. 306
^Mark Carwardine, Natural History Museum Animal Records (Sterling Publishing Company, 2008) p. 61
