100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

28th June 1920

Ship Losses:

Charles E. Moody (United States) The 2,003-gross register ton, 233.9-foot (71.3 m) wooden ship was destroyed by fire while anchored in the roadstead at Naknek, Territory of Alaska. The only person aboard survived.

[Jimbuna]

29th June 1920

Princess Ileana of Romania with her dog.


Ship Losses:

Gladys and Nellie (United Kingdom) The schooner was destroyed by fire at Antilla, Cuba.
Independent (United States) The 17-gross register ton motor vessel was wrecked on the eastern spit at the entrance to Dry Bay – most likely the body of water of that name located at 59°08′N 138°25′W – on the south-central coast of the Territory of Alaska after her gasoline engine broke down and her anchors failed to hold in strong currents.
Koyo Maru (Japan) The cargo ship ran aground on the Serrana Bank, Columbia. She was refloated on 1 August.

[Jimbuna]

30th June 1920

Herbert Samuel arrives in the British Mandate of Palestine to act as its first High Commissioner. He is the first Jewish person to govern the region in almost 2000 years.


The Turkish delegation to the Paris peace conference announced that it would recognize the independence of Armenia, Hedjaz (now Saudi Arabia), Syria (now Syria and Lebanon), Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Palestine (now Israel and Jordan).

[Jimbuna]

1st July 1920

The Union Jack flies over the Government House in Jerusalem, as the British begin the administration of the Mandate of Palestine.


Howitzer platforms and tanks at the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts.


The Polish Volunteer Army is established to defend against the Soviet offensive against the country. Due to the lack of armaments, many are equipped with only melee weapons.


[July 1st, 1920] A portrait of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilich Ulianov (Lenin)

[Jimbuna]

2nd July 1920

General Tukhachevsky, leading the Soviet offensive against Poland, orders: “To the West! Over the corpse of White Poland lies the road to worldwide conflagration. March on Vilno, Minsk, Warsaw!...onward to Berlin over the corpse of Poland!"


Ship Losses:

Grayson (United States) The cargo ship ran aground on Stroma, Caithness, United Kingdom. She was declared a total loss on 7 July.

[Jimbuna]

3rd July 1920

William C. Gorgas, the U.S. Surgeon General of the U.S. Army during the Great War, has passed away.


The Royal Air Force at Hendon demonstrates bombings and incendiary attacks on balloon targets.


Ship Losses:

Chas E. Moody (United States) The ship was destroyed by fire in Bristol Bay.

[Jimbuna]

4th July 1920

July 4th Parade in Washington D.C.


Ship Losses:

Metkiy (Soviet Navy Red Movement) Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Loyev: The paddle gunboat was wrecked at Loyev with its paddle wheels broken. The ship was abandoned and later shelled by Polish artillery.

[Jimbuna]

5th July 1920

The Spa Conference begins in Spa, Belgium between the Allied Supreme War Council and the Weimar German government to discuss German disarmament and reparation payments.


The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), right, escapes unhurt from a train crash, south of Perth.

[Jimbuna]

6th July 1920

The first aerial navigation using radio is conducted by the U.S. Navy with a Felixstowe F5L flying boat.


Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt is nominated as the Democratic Vice President nominee.


Sketch of the Imperial War Museum at the Crystal Palace in London, made by Ernest Blaikley.


A captured Turkish soldier as Greek troops supported by the British Royal Navy launch an offensive in western Anatolia.


Ship Losses:

Standard #1 (United States) While anchored in Norton Sound off the Bering Sea coast of the Territory of Alaska 0.5 nautical miles (0.93 km; 0.58 mi) south of the Egavik River (64°02′N 160°55′W) with no people or cargo aboard, the 15-gross register ton scow was blown ashore by a sudden storm and broke up in the surf without loss of life.

[Jimbuna]

7th July 1920

A 3-inch anti-aircraft gun being studied at the Aviation Mechanics Trade School in Chicago.


Allied troops march in Batumi, Georgia as they prepare to leave the country.


Ship Losses:

Britannia (United Kingdom) The barque foundered in the North Sea 125 nautical miles (232 km) east by north of Spurn Point, Yorkshire with the loss of a crew member. Survivors were rescued by the trawler Dragon ( United Kingdom).
Irmgard (United States) The schooner was wrecked at Suva, Fiji.
Pak Ling (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground on Button Island, East China Sea. She was refloated on 15 June.

[Jimbuna]

8th July 1020

Opening ceremony at the Peace Palace of the commission for a Permanent Court of International Justice.

[Jimbuna]

9th July 1920

Ship Losses:

Primrose (United Kingdom) The skiff was driven ashore at Oxwich Point, Glamorgan with the loss of the only crew member on board.

[Jimbuna]

10th July 1920

John Fisher, the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy during the first years of the Great War, has passed away. He is known for his naval reforms, including the introduction of the Dreadnought battleships.

[Jimbuna]

11th July 1920

Yul Brynner (the future actor) is born in Vladivostok in the Far Eastern republic, a puppet state of Soviet Russia.


Empress Eugénie de Montijo of France, wife of Emperor Napoleon III, has passed away at the age of 94.


Plebiscite in East Prussia is conducted as residents in Allenstein and Marienwerder vote to stay in the German Reich or join Poland. Due to the Soviet offensive against Poland, many residents including those with Polish ethnicity vote overwhelmingly to stay in Germany.

[Jimbuna]

12th July 1920

Royal Navy greeting the Royal family’s visit to Rothesay, Scotland on their yacht.


Edward, Prince of Wales, arriving in Gawler, South Africa as part of his royal tour.


The Soviet-Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, ending the Lithuanian-Soviet War and securing the independence of Lithuania. Lithuanian soldiers with an armored train.


Ship Losses:

Fort de Troyon (France) The cargo ship ran aground at Rio Grande, Brazil. She was refloated on 16 July.
Lake Frampton (United States) The cargo ship collided with Comus ( United States) off Atlantic City and sank with the loss of two of her crew.