100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

9th December 1920

Michael Hainisch is sworn in as the first President of Austria after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.


U.S. Army General Peter C. Harris receiving decoration from visiting French delegation.


Miss Marian K. Paine, sponsor of submarine S-10, poses with dignitaries during S-10's launch at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine.

[Jimbuna]

10th December 1920

President Wilson is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for establishing the League of Nations. No prize was awarded in 1919, so Wilson receives the 1919 prize a year later in 1920


Martial law is proclaimed in the Irish counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary as British civilian control in Ireland begin to collapse. British forces near Limerick.


Ship Losses:

Yellowstone (United States) The cargo ship dragged her anchor and ran hard aground off Ponta Delgada in the Azores and was declared a total loss. All 45 of her crew were saved.

[Jimbuna]

11th December 1920

Testing of a “helicopter parachute” on a car.


"Wrangel Volunteers and the Civil Population Fleeing Before the Bolshevik Advance in the Crimea" (from "The Sphere")

[Jimbuna]

12th December 1920

British forces loot and burn several buildings in Cork, Ireland as retaliation for an IRA ambush earlier today. Hundreds of buildings are burned and several thousand residents are left homeless.




Wreckage of the Zeppelin LZ 69, given to Japan, in Stolpe Hangar, Germany.

[Jimbuna]

13th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Mabel A (United States) After her gasoline engine broke down, the 32-ton fishing vessel drifted onto the coast of "Noise Island" – apparently Noyes Island – in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska and was stranded, breaking up in the surf in about two hours. Her crew of three survived.
Nikolaos Stathatos (Greece) The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean 40 nautical miles (74 km) off Cape Ortegal, Galicia, Spain. All 25 crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

14th December 1920

Turkish Nationalist soldiers under the command of Mustapha Kemel Pasha who are waging war against the Allies in Asia Minor.

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15th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Limehouse (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground on the East Barrow Sands in the Thames Estuary. She was refloated on 21 December.

[Jimbuna]

16th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Anna G. Lord (United States) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maryland. Her crew were rescued.
Emma Belliveau (United Kingdom) The schooner foundered off Saint Michael, Barbados.
Inca (United States) The five-masted schooner was abandoned in the Pacific Ocean (approximately 34°S 154°E). Her crew were rescued by Cosmos ( United Kingdom). She was towed into Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, arriving on 18 December.
Monnow (United Kingdom) The four-masted auxiliary schooner was destroyed by fire off Southend, Essex. All nineteen crew survived.
Perry Setzer (United States) The four-masted schooner was beached at Jacksonville, Florida.
St. Louis (United States) The ocean liner was severely damaged by fire at New York.
Yellowstone (United States) The cargo ship was driven ashore at Saint Michael, Barbados and was wrecked.

[Jimbuna]

17th December 1920

Former German colonies of New Guinea, Nauru, Western Samoa, Southwest Africa, and the “South Seas" territories are given to the Allied Powers as Class C Mandates.


South Africa is granted a League of Nations Class C mandate over South West Africa.


Ship Losses:

Bar-le-Duc (French Navy) The despatch boat was wrecked off Euboea, Greece with the loss of 26 of her 105 crew.

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18th December 1920

A measure to adopt Esperanto as an international language at the League of Nations is defeated by the sole vote of the French delegate Gabriel Hanotaux.


Ship Losses:

Elisabeth (Denmark) The schooner came ashore on the south coast of Iceland and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.
Joseph Pulitzer (United States) During a mail voyage from Seward, Territory of Alaska, to the Aleutian Islands, the 73-gross register ton, 75-foot (22.9 m) two-masted motor schooner sank in Aniakchak Bay (56°42′N 157°22′W) on the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula. All eight people on board survived. Joseph Pulitzer's wreck later was salvaged, taken to Chignik, Territory of Alaska, and stripped.

[Jimbuna]

19th December 1920

Military Decorate Dublin for Christmas - But Not With Holly.


King Constantine of Greece returns as monarch after three years of exile. 99% of Greeks voted to have the king return after the death of his son King Alexander.


Ship Losses:

Jane Palmer (United States) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean (35°04′N 65°25′W). Her crew were rescued by Cotati ( United States).

[Jimbuna]

20th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Dora (United States) During a voyage from Seattle, Washington, to Unga, Territory of Alaska, and way ports with a cargo of general merchandise and a crew of 29 aboard, the 320-gross register ton steamer was wrecked without loss of life on the coast of Noble Island in British Columbia, Canada.
Spyros (Greece) The cargo ship foundered in the English Channel 11 nautical miles (20 km) south of St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. All eleven crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

21st December 1920

Ship Losses:

Ferdenborg (Denmark) The schooner was driven ashore 6 nautical miles (11 km) south of Johnshaven, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued by the Johnshaven Lifeboat, which later capsized with the loss of two of her crew and a lifeboatman.
Robert H. McCurdy (United States) The schooner foundered in the Atlantic Ocean.

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22nd December 1920

Soviet Russia enacts the GOELRO plan, the first Soviet plan for economic development and recovery through the electrification of the country.



Ship Losses:

Kaes Samud (flag unknown) The ship sank off Bangkok, Thailand.

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23rd December 1920

Irish nationalist Éamon de Valera (later first president of the Irish Free State) secretly returns to Ireland after a tour of the United States.


The Duke of Connaught inspecting an honor guard at Port Said, Egypt.


Ship Losses:

Curieuse (France) The schooner departed Fogo, Newfoundland for Alicante, Spain. No further trace, presumed foundered in the Atlantic Ocean with the loss of all hands.
Vlassios (Greece) The cargo ship foundered in the Aegean Sea off Leipsoi with the loss of six of her fifteen crew.