100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

21st August 1921

Foreign volunteers who fought in France during the Great War visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Les Invalides.


German police arrest serial killer Carl Großmann in his Berlin apartment. The number of his victims is unknown, but some estimate up to 100 women and girls. It is suspected he sold remains of his victims in the hotdog stand he ran.

[Jimbuna]

22nd August 1921

Greek forces with artillery as they approach Turkish defenses on the Sakarya River.


Ship Losses:

Cordillère (France) The passenger ship was driven ashore on the Tungsha Spit, at the mouth of the Yangtze, China in a typhoon. Her passengers and some of the crew were taken off on 24 August. She was refloated on 5 September.
Glaucus (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was driven ashore on the Tungsha Spit during a typhoon. She was refloated on 5 September.
Guenowle (United Kingdom) The schooner came ashore at Blakeney, Norfolk. She broke her back and was a total loss.
Henrik (Norway) The cargo ship was driven ashore at the mouth of the Yangtze during a typhoon. She was refloated on 5 September.

[Jimbuna]

23rd August 1921

Faisal bin Hussein, one of the leaders of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, is coronated as the King of Iraq with support from the British.


Battle of the Sakarya begins as Greek forces attack Turkish positions on the Sakarya River in an attempt to capture the Turkish capital Ankara. Greek Evzones (elite light/mountain infantry) on the attack.


Ship Losses:

ML498 (United Kingdom) The ex Naval patrol vessel stranded on rocks at Gurnard's Head, Cornwall.

[Jimbuna]

24th August 1921

U.S. and Austria sign a separate peace treaty officially ending the war between the two nations. Other Allied nations concluded peace with Austria in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, but the U.S. did not ratify that treaty due to its refusal to join the League of Nations.

R.38-class airship (SR-2), the largest airship in the world, suffers a structural failure during flight trials and crashes into the Humber Estuary in northern England, killing 44 of its 49 crew.

[Jimbuna]

25th August 1921

U.S. and Germany sign a separate peace treaty to end the state of war. The U.S. did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles with the other Allied powers due to its refusal to join the League of Nations.

[Jimbuna]

26th August 1921

Matthias Erzberger, the former Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance of Weimer Germany, is assassinated by the right-wing terrorist group Organisation Consul. Erzberger was widely hated by the right wing for signing the Armistice ending the Great War.


Eamon de Valera is formally named the President of the Irish Republic by the Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of Ireland.


Ship Losses:

Caddo (United States) The barge sank in 65 feet (20 m) of water in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey southeast of Barnegat Inlet.
City of Brunswick (United States) On passage from Mobile, Alabama, to Antwerp, Belgium, with a cargo of grain and lumber, the cargo ship ran aground off Sambro Island, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and subsequently was wrecked.

[Jimbuna]

27th August 1921

Ship Losses:

Dagmar (Norway) The barque was wrecked off Providence Atoll, Seychelles. Her twelve crew were rescued by Louqsor ( France)

[Jimbuna]

28th August 1921

Ship Losses:

Brae Lossie (United Kingdom) The cargo ship came ashore at Roscoff, Finistère, France and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

29th August 1921

Ship Losses:

Monte Bianco (Italy) The cargo ship was destroyed by fire in the Pacific Ocean (approximately 29°S 151°W). Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

30th August 1921

A floating crane is used to salvage remains of the R38 airship, the largest dirigible in the world that exploded over the town of Hull, England.


A Rifian Berber cavalryman in Morocco. Rifian forces continue to harass and attack retreating Spanish troops following the Battle of Annual.


Camels and trucks at the Greek Army headquarters in Turkey, as Greek and Turkish troops clash deep in Anatolia.

[Jimbuna]

31st August 1921

Large demonstrations are held outside of the Berlin Palace in response to the assassination of politician Matthias Erzberger by a right-wing group.

[Jimbuna]

1st September 1921

Battleship USS Washington is launched from Camden, New Jersey (construction of the ship is halted in 1922, and it is sunk in 1924 for gunnery practice)

[Jimbuna]

2nd September 1921

U.S. Federal troops begin arriving in West Virginia to halt the fighting at the Battle of Blair Mountain between striking miners and strikebreakers.


Ship Losses:

Tornado (United States) The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank at New Orleans, Louisiana.

[Jimbuna]

3rd September 1921

At the Battle of Blair Mountain, hundreds of armed miners surrender their weapons to federal troops, bringing an end to active fighting between the miners and strikebreakers.


Ship Losses:

Abessinia (Germany) The cargo ship struck the Knivestone Rock and sank in the North Sea off the Farne Islands, Northumberland, United Kingdom (55°38′46″N 1°36′16″W).

[Jimbuna]

4th September 1921

Ship Losses:

J. E. Backman (United Kingdom) The schooner was destroyed by fire off Watlings Island, Bahamas.