100 Years Ago Today

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13th December 1923

London: Lord Alfred Douglas is sentenced to six months in prison for libelling Winston Churchill.


Lawrence Sperry, 30, American aviation pioneer who invented the autopilot and the artificial horizon for airplanes, was killed when his Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger crashed into the English Channel.


Ship Losses:

Bankdale (United Kingdom) The cargo ship caught fire at Barcelona, Spain and sank.

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14th December 1923

"1940 Poison Gas War. When London Will Be Desolated by Deadly Fumes from Aeroplanes. "There was no impossibility in killing by hundreds of thousands men, women and children in the City of London by poisonous gases from fleets of aeroplanes.""

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15th December 1923

Joe Pullen, 40, African-American tenant farmer, was lynched by white citizens of Drew, Mississippi, but not before he killed at least three members of the lynch mob and wounded several others.


The Grootendijk, a new ship servicing the Holland-America Line, departs from Rotterdam for New York City. It will arrive safely on January 1st.


Ship Losses:

Runa (Norway) The cargo ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Her crew were rescued by W. W. Mills ( United States).

[Jimbuna]

16th December 1923

"To Make the Next War More Horrible Than the Last. Artificial Lightning Bolts, Mysterious Wireless Rays and Other Plans for Slaughtering Women and Children as Cruelly as the Fighting Men".


Ship Losses:

Armagh (United Kingdom) The ocean liner ran aground in the River Mersey at Liverpool, Lancashire. All 106 people on board were rescued by the New Brighton Lifeboat and a number of tugs. Armagh later broke her back and was a total loss.
C. A. Smith (United States) The steamer grounded on the submerged breakwater while crossing the Bar at Coos Bay, a total loss. Four to nine crew killed.
Martha (United Kingdom) The schooner was destroyed by fire at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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17th December 1923

Moscow: A Regiment Of Children In Soviet Russia's Army. In photo is shown the first Russian Children's Regiment called "Young Spartakus," which is attached to the regular Army, where boys from six years and upwards are trained for soldiers.


Ship Losses:

Algora (United Kingdom) The cargo ship departed Hamburg, Germany for Rochester, Kent. No further trace, presumed foundered in the North Sea with the loss of all hands.
C. A. Smith (United States) The auxiliary schooner was wrecked in Coos Bay with the loss of ten crew.
Demerara Lightship (United Kingdom) The lightship sank off Georgetown, British Guiana.
Ravn (Norway) The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea. Her eighteen crew were rescued by the trawler Flow ( United Kingdom).

[Jimbuna]

18th December 1923

Ship Losses:

Asama Maro (Japan) The cargo ship collided with Paul Lecat ( France) in the Inland Sea of Japan and was beached.

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19th December 1923

The king and queen of Greece leave Piraeus, Athens, to go into exile in Romania.


Ship Losses:

Alesia (United Kingdom) The cargo ship, which was to be scrapped, broke free from her tow and came ashore on Terschelling, Netherlands. She was still there in April 1924.

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20th December 1923

Ship Losses:

Limburg (Netherlands) The tug came ashore at Maasvlakte, South Holland. Her crew were rescued.

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21st December 1923

Ship Losses:

Demerara Lightship (United Kingdom) The lightship sank off Georgetown, British Guiana.

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22nd December 1923

Turkeys hang above the bar of a London pub where customers relax with a drink and a smoke.


Ship Losses:

Gotha (Sweden) The schooner ran aground on the Haisbro Sands. She was refloated but sank in the North Sea off the Wold Lightship ( United Kingdom). Her crew were rescued by a Swedish steamship.

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23rd December 1923

United States Navy vice admiral, aviator and candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, James Stockdale, is born in Abingdon, Illinois, U.S.

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24th December 1923

At Washington, D.C., the tradition of the National Christmas Tree was inaugurated. At 5:00 in the evening, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge pressed a button and turned on 2,500 electric bulbs.

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27th December 1923

Died: Gustave Eiffel, 91, French engineer and architect best known for his design (in 1889) the Eiffel Tower.


"Police officers seize Daisuke Namba (obscured), who attempts to assassinate Crown Prince Hirohito at the Toranomon intersection, on December 27, 1923 in Tokyo, Japan."


Ship Losses:

Gunlog (Sweden) The cargo ship was driven ashore on Fehmarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She was refloated on 31 December.
Kong Haakon (Denmark) The cargo liner ran aground north of Fanø. Forty passengers were taken off by a tug. She was refloated the next day.

[Jimbuna]

3rd January 1924

Ship Losses:

Bertha (Germany) The cargo ship departed Jacksonville, Florida for Hamburg. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.
Florence (United Kingdom) The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland.

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4th January 1924

Archaeologist Howard Carter looking through the doors of the second shrine in the tomb of King Tutankhamen, Luxor, Egypt.


Ship Losses:

Annemarie (Germany) The cargo ship ran aground at Dragør, Denmark. She was refloated on 7 January.
Donald Silver (United Kingdom) The schooner was driven ashore at Fischells, Newfoundland and was wrecked with the loss of five lives.