100 Years Ago Today

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28th July 1920

Funeral cortege at Brandon Barracks, probably of Lance Corporal Thomas Maddox who was shot while investigating the IRA.


Pancho Villa and his troops surrender to the Mexican government after recognizing the Presidency of De la Huerta. In return, Pancho Villa is given amnesty, a pension, and a hacienda to retire to.


Ship Losses:

Niki (Greece) The cargo ship arrived at Liverpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom leaking. She was beached at Tranmere, Cheshire.

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29th July 1920

The launch of the destroyer USS Edsall (the ship is sunk in 1942 by the Japanese during WWII)

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30th July 1920

British troops execute a man accused of working for the Turkish Nationalists in Izmit.


German zeppelin L 72 being delivered to Maubeuge, France as war reparations.

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31st July 1920

U.S. Presidential Yacht USS Mayflower docked at the Washington Naval Yard.


The Communist Party of Great Britain is founded with Albert Inkpin as its first General Secretary.

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1st August 1920

American athletes train onboard the USS Cruiser Frederick as they head to the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.


Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian independence activist who Mahatma Gandhi named as “The Maker of Modern India,” has passed away. Gandhi announces the launch of the non-cooperation movement against British rule.


Ship Losses:

Emanuel Repoulis (Greece) The cargo ship departed Salonica for Beirut, Greater Lebanon. No further trace, presumed foundered in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of all hands.

[Jimbuna]

2nd August 1920

The Italian Protectorate over Albania comes to an end, as Italy agrees to withdraw its troops from the country after months of fighting with Albanian nationalists. Italian soldiers in Vlorë, Albania.


A damaged U.S. Army Air Force VCP-R plane after it collided with an automobile during landing.


Actress Mildred Harris files for divorce from Charlie Chaplin on the grounds of cruelty. Chaplin married her in 1918 when she was 16.

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3rd August 1920

In the town of Center, Texas, a mob of over 1000 lynch a Black teenager Lige Daniels, either 16 or 18 years old, outside the courthouse lawn.


Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast, in protest at the continuing British Army presence.


Ship Losses:

Bitche (France) The cargo ship caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Tiñoso, Spain and was abandoned.

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4th August 1920

At the Evergreen Institute for the Blind, Great War veterans who were blinded by gas attacks learn how to service tires despite their condition, allowing them to hold gainful employment for the rest of their days.


Ship Losses:

Gjoa (United States) With nine members of her crew ashore and only her captain on board, the 20-gross register ton motor vessel was wrecked without loss of life on the south-central coast of the Territory of Alaska 34 nautical miles (63 km; 39 mi) east of Cape Suckling (59°59′30″N 143°19′00″W) after her anchor cable parted during a storm.
H. C. Grube (Denmark) The schooner was driven ashore at Casablanca, French Morocco and was wrecked.

[Jimbuna]

5th August 1920

Amos Whitney, co-founder of the Pratt & Whitney company, has passed away.


A curfew is imposed across Munster, Ireland after Sinn Fein radicals cause trouble across the region, disrupting British Army operations there.


The situation in the Polish-Soviet War has grown desperate for the Poles as the Red Army reaches the gates of Warsaw and begins shelling the city proper.

Ship Losses:

Adramantis (Greece) The cargo ship sank in the Ionian Sea off Cerigo.
Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) The cargo ship was destroyed by fire.

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6th August 1920

Franklin D. Roosevelt writing a farewell address to the officers and men of the U.S. Navy as he resigns as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to run as Vice Presidential candidate for the 1920 election.


Popular music star Al Jolson releases a campaign song for Republican Presidential candidate Warren G. Harding: “Harding, You’re The Man For Us.”

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7th August 1920

At the 1920 Salzburg Conference, the Nazi Party adopts the swastika as its official emblem.

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8th August 1920

Thousands flee Warsaw as the Russian Red Army approaches the Polish capital. Polish refugees in Warsaw.


State of the front in the Polish-Soviet War.

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9th August 1920

Red Army troops heading from Petrograd (St. Petersburg) to the Polish front.


The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act is given royal assent in the UK, suspending jury trials and allowing for the court martial of those suspected of IRA activity. British soldiers in Dublin earlier this year.

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10th August 1920

Polish infantry heading to the front as Soviet forces approach the capital of Warsaw.


Queen Marie of Romania with war orphans in Bucharest.

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11th August 1920

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series, claims he spoke with his dead relatives. In recent years, the author of the famous detective has become a public proponent of spiritualism.


Bolshevik cavalry in northern Poland during their offensive against Warsaw.


Latvian-Soviet Peace Treaty is signed in Riga, ending the Latvian War of Independence as Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Latvia.