BORN TODAY: In Florence, Italy – Cesar Bresgen – Austro-Hungarian composer and organist.
http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/az/cesar-bresgen/
Arms Race: At Portsmouth, Hampshire the British Royal Navy launches HMS Queen Elizabeth, a “super dreadnought” class battleship, first of a new generation of warships to be fuelled by oil instead of coal, which will mark a turning point in British geo-political strategy as its focus moves from coaling stations (Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Aden etc) towards oil producing territory, most especially in Persia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Queen_Elizabeth_(1913)
Labour Relations: In South Africa railway workers and miners go out on strike in support of the Satyagraha campaign for Indian and Tamil rights.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/1913-satyagraha-campaign-resumes
Society and culture: The Cornell Daily Sun reports a ruling from the Board of Student Representatives of Columbia University rejecting a petition from its journalism students claiming exemptions from its rules for freshers. “Freshmen must conform”. For the disappointed wannabe journalist this means that he will have to…
“wear a small skull cap with a white pearl button all year; he cannot walk on the grass; I he must not have cuffs on his trousers; he may not wear flashy ties or socks and he cannot smoke”
http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19131016.2.43.4
onehundredyearsagotoday 