BORN TODAY, in Steuben County, Indiana, USA – Edgar “Pop” Buell, who gave up farming in Indiana at the age of 47, leaving the US for the first time to become an agricultural advisor in Laos, where he worked for 14 years before having to be “smuggled out” for his own safety after a regime change.
Arms Race: The US Navy launches USS Nereus, a collier (coal transportation) vessel. She will be lost at sea sometime in December 1941, presumed torpedo’ed by a german submarine, but neither the cause nor the location of the wreckage have ever been confirmed.
Society and Culture: The 28th world exposition opens in Ghent in Belgium, with a “floral palace” as its main attraction.
Crime and punishment: In the basement of a pencil factory where she worked, in Atlanta, Georgia, 13 year old Mary Phagan is found sexually molested and murdered. In response, the innocent Jewish factory owner, Leo Frank, is lynched by a Georgia mob led by the “Knights of Mary Phagan”.
Sport: UK soccer team Woolwich Arsenal play their last fixture at their south London ground (Manor Ground, Plumstead) , drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough, resulting in the home team’s relegation from the english first division. Their next match will be at their new ground at Highbury, North London, where they will be known simply as “Arsenal”.
onehundredyearsagotoday 