100 Years Ago Today

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22nd June 1921

In his speech, King George hopes, “the Irish people, north and south, under one Parliament or two, as those Parliaments may themselves decide, shall work together in common love for Ireland upon the sure foundation of mutual justice and respect.”


King George V opens the new Parliament of Northern Ireland in Belfast. Scenes of the King’s procession in the city.


Ship Losses:

USS U-117 (United States Navy) The Type UE II submarine was bombed and sunk as a target in the Atlantic Ocean 50 nautical miles (93 km) east of the Cape Charles Lightship (Ensign of the United States Coast Guard (1915–1953).png United States Coast Guard) by three Felixstowe F5L aircraft of the United States Navy.

[Jimbuna]

23rd June 1921

U.S. Battleships Pennsylvania, Florida, North Dakota, and Delaware sailing in formation.


Maginot, Poincaré, and Nivelle giving speeches at the site of the Battle of Verdun.


Ship Losses:

Monte Bianco (Italy) The vessel caught fire in the Pacific Ocean (29°S 151°W) and was abandoned.

[Jimbuna]

24th June 1921

The U.S. Navy airship R-38, the world’s largest airship originally built for the British Royal Navy, makes its maiden voyage at Cardington, England.


400 vehicles of the 11th Field Artillery Brigade at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii are massed in formation. The caption reads “No motor failed and formation remained intact, a record that will rarely be equaled and never surpassed”


Ship Losses:

Helen Mathers (United Kingdom) The schooner came ashore at Galveston, Texas, United States and was wrecked.
HMS K15 (Royal Navy) The K-class submarine sank at Portsmouth, Hampshire. She was refloated on 7 July.

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25th June 1921

British Prime Minister David Lloyd George invites Irish nationalist Éamon de Valera and unionist James Craig to a peace conference to seek an end to the Irish War of Independence.

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26th June 1921

Steamship Fitzroy sinks due to heavy storms off Cape Hawke, New South Wales, resulting in the deaths of 31 out of 35 crew and passengers.


Ship Losses:

Fitzroy (Australia) The passenger ship foundered off the coast of New South Wales with the loss of 31 of the 35 people on board.

[Jimbuna]

27th June 1921

The Italian Cabinet, headed by Premier Giolitti, resigns after receiving a majority of only 34 upon a Socialist resolution opposing the Government's entire policy.


Ship Losses:

Ferrum (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was driven ashore at Tréguier, Côtes-du-Nord, France. She was refloated on 4 July.
Stella (Sweden) The auxiliary sailing ship sprang a leak and foundered in the North Sea 240 nautical miles (440 km) north north east of Spurn Point, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. All five crew were rescued by the trawler Romilly ( United Kingdom).

[Jimbuna]

28th June 1921

Parliament of Southern Ireland meets for the first time in Dublin. Due to the Sinn Féin boycott, only four Unionist members are present out of the 128 seats of the House of Commons.


Vladimir Lenin addresses delegates in the Kremlin at the 3rd World Congress of the Comintern.


General Pershing and General Harford.


Ship Losses:

Brae Lossie (United Kingdom) The cargo ship came ashore at Roscoff, Finistère, France and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued.
Isla de Cabrera (Spain) The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank in the Mediterranean Sea 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) south east of the Medes Islands. Her crew were rescued by a Spanish fishing vessel.
Sabine (United States) The dredger caught fire and sank at Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. She was a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

29th June 1921

Jennie Spencer-Churchill, known as Lady Randolph Churchill and the mother of Winston Churchill, has passed away.

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30th June 1921

Former U.S. President William Howard Taft is nominated as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and confirmed by the Senate on the same day, becoming the first and only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice.


The UK releases Irish nationalists Arthur Griffith and Eoin MacNeill from prison as the British government prepares to negotiate an end to the Irish War of Independence.


FT-17 tanks at a tank competition in Satory, France.


Ship Losses:

Edward A. Cohan (United Kingdom) The schooner was destroyed by fire at Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States.
Mopang (United States) The EFC Design 1023 cargo ship was sunk by a mine in the Black Sea at the entrance to Burgas Bay.
U-152 (United Kingdom) The Type U 151 submarine was sunk as a target in the English Channel off the Isle of Wight by the Royal Navy.
U-153 (United Kingdom) The Type U 151 submarine was scuttled in the English Channel off the Isle of Wight.
U-161 (United Kingdom) The Type U 93 submarine was expended as a target.

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1st July 1921

Communist Party of China Founded.


Ship Losses:

U-121 (French Navy) The Type UE II submarine was sunk as a target in the English Channel off Cherbourg, Manche.

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2nd July 1921

World heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey fight the world light-heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier in a match nicknamed the “Fight of the Century.” It is the first fight to generate more than $1 million in revenue.


German Lieutenant-General Karl Stenger at the Leipzig War Crimes Trial, where he is accused of ordering the massacre of French POWs during the Great War (he is found not guilty)


President Harding signs the joint Congressional peace resolution, thus ending the technical state of war with Germany and Austria-Hungary which has continued for two and a half years since the armistice.

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3rd July 1921

Monument to Canadian soldiers who fought in the Great War is unveiled at Thélus, France.

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4th July 1921

Independence Day is celebrated across the United States.


Ivanoe Bonomi becomes the first socialist Prime Minister of Italy (he becomes Prime Minister again during WWII after Italy switched sides to the Allies)


Ship Losses:

Cambrai (United Kingdom) The schooner was destroyed by fire at Galveston, Texas, United States.
Gertrude (United States) During a voyage from Nome, Territory of Alaska, to Siberia with a crew of five and a cargo of 15 tons of general merchandise, the 17-gross register ton motor schooner was beached in a sinking condition after colliding with ice and becoming trapped in it for seven hours approximately 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) southwest of a location identified in the wreck report as "East Cape," probably Cape Dezhnev on the coast of Siberia but possibly Apavawook Cape (63.1442°N 168.8711°W) on the coast of Saint Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. Her crew survived, but the surf pounded her to pieces.

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5th July 1921

King Albert of Belgium visits the United Kingdom. King Albert and King George V heading towards Buckingham Palace.


King and Queen of Belgium in London.

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6th July 1921

Philip de László painting his portrait of General Pershing.


Anne Frances Robbins (Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the United States) is born in Uptown Manhattan. Nancy with her mother, actress Edith Luckett.


Ship Losses:

Margaret (United States) The 55-gross register ton motor vessel was destroyed by an explosion and fire while loading distillate oil at a dock at Katalla, Territory of Alaska. All three crewmen aboard her at the time suffered burns but survived.