100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

23rd May 1921

USS Granite State (formerly USS New Hampshire), a 74-gun ship of the line which served as a storeship during the American Civil War, suffers a fire and sinks.


The Leipzig War Crimes Trials begin in Germany as part of the Versailles Treaty, starting with the trial of Sergeant Karl Heynen, who is accused of mistreating Allied POWs. British witnesses at Leipzig.


Ship Losses:

USS Granite State (United States Navy) The stores ship, a former ship of the line, caught fire and sank in the Hudson River. She was refloated in July 1922.

[Jimbuna]

24th May 1921

The 1921 Irish elections are held. In Southern Ireland, Sinn Féin led by Éamon de Valera takes 124 out of 130 seats unopposed. In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party led by James Craig wins 40 out of 52 seats.


President Harding giving a speech at the Port of Hoboken for a memorial of returned American war dead from Europe.


Crown Prince Hirohito being received by French troops at the Élysée Palace, France during his tour of Europe.


Ship Losses:

Atua (United Kingdom) The cargo ship struck rocks and was beached at Naitonitoni, Fiji. She was refloated on 6 June.

[Jimbuna]

25th May 1921

The IRA attacks and burns the Custom House in Dublin, which serves as the HQ of the Local Government Board for Ireland. While the attack is a propaganda success, the IRA suffers 5 dead and 70-80 captured.


Captured IRA members after the attack against the Custom House in Dublin.

[Jimbuna]

26th May 1921

Burned out remains of the Custom House in Dublin after the IRA attack yesterday.


Greek troops crossing the River Gallus of Turkey during the Greco-Turkish War.


Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I ace, crashes his plane during a foggy night landing in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Crawling out from the wreckage, Eddie merely smiled and said: "It's nothing."


Ship Losses:

Esperanto (United States) The schooner struck a submerged wreck in the Atlantic Ocean off Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada and foundered.

[Jimbuna]

27th May 1921

Suspected IRA members being interrogated by the Royal Irish Constabulary at the Wicklow Hills.


The Provisional Priamurye Government is established in eastern Siberia by remnant White forces after an anti-Bolshevik coup takes place in Vladivostok. Leaders of the government: N.D. Merkulov, G.K. Stark, and S.D. Merkulov.


Ship Losses:

Dannedaike (United States) The cargo ship sank at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[Jimbuna]

28th May 1921

Ship Losses:

Antiope (United Kingdom) The tanker caught fire at Sourabaya, Netherlands East Indies, and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.
William Finglay (United Kingdom) The cargo ship sank in the North Sea 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) south east of Tod Point, Yorkshire, UK.

[Jimbuna]

29th May 1921

Italian and French officials visiting the military cemetery at Bligny, which hosts the graves of Italian volunteers who fought for France during the Great War.


Armed Polish insurgents with a machine gun in Upper Silesia.


Germans demonstrate in Berlin in support of retaining Upper Silesia, which is currently contested between Germany and Poland.

[Jimbuna]

30th May 1921

Memorial Day is commemorated in the United States. Naval veterans from the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Great War parade in Detroit.


Refugees fleeing Upper Silesia as Polish forces revolt against German rule.


France, May 30, 1921, Prince Hirohito of Japan visiting France, The prince, disembarking in Le Havre, is saluted, before his departure for Paris, by the French commanding officer of the honour detachment.


Ship Losses:

Ise Maru (Japan) The cargo ship was wrecked at Nossaenpu, Hokkaidō.

[Jimbuna]

31st May 1921

Scene of a D.H.4 biplane that crashed landed at High River, Alberta.


Ship Losses:

Riojun Maru (Japan) The cargo ship ran aground on a reef in the Gaspar Straits and was wrecked.

[Jimbuna]

1st June 1921

Ship Losses:

Laura A. Barnes (United States) The four-masted schooner was wrecked on Bod's Island, Virginia.

[Jimbuna]

2nd June 1921

The IRA led by Michael Kilroy ambush a patrol of the Royal Irish Constabulary and Black and Tans at Carrowkennedy, Ireland. For no IRA losses, 8 British forces are killed and 16 are captured.


Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan visiting the French Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris.


Ship Losses:

Mount Rainier (United States) The four-masted schooner was destroyed by fire at Santa Fe, Argentina.

[Jimbuna]

3rd June 1921

Ship Losses:

Royetsu Maru No.2 (Japan) The cargo ship foundered 33 nautical miles (61 km)) off Wakamatsu. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

4th June 1921

Ship Losses:

Burma Maru (Japan) The cargo ship arrived at Gibraltar on fire. She was beached, but was refloated on 7 June.
Matilde (Italy) The cargo ship caught fire in the Bosporus and was beached at Büyükdere, Koçarlı, Turkey.

[Jimbuna]

5th June 1921

17-year-old Eliasz Gitman arrives in New York from Poland. 20 years later, he became father to a certain Bernie Sanders.

American aviator Laura Bromwell who held the women’s loop-the-loop record (87 loops in 1 hour and 15 minutes) is killed in an aviation accident at the age of 24

[Jimbuna]

6th June 1921

French General Humbert commemorating a monument for fallen soldiers of the French 53rd Division.


Ship Losses:

Ramon Mumbru (Spain) The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Cavalaire-sur-Mer, Var, France.