The following events occurred in May 1911:
May 1, 1911 (Monday) The United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government, rather than the individual states, had the right to set apart lands for public use. The ruling, in Light v. United States (220 U.S. 523) initially applied to forest preserves, but would be extended to other federal use of land."Nation Has a Right to Reserve Its Land", New York Times, May 2, 1911, p. 1. Gordon Morris Bakken, Law in the Western United States (University of Oklahoma Press, 2000) p. 76.
May 2, 1911 (Tuesday) The British House of Commons approved amendments to the Parliament Bill, a provision for veto of House of Lords power, with the first reading passing 299 to 193."Lords' Veto Bill Passed by Commons", New York Times, May 3, 1911. Professor Horatio W. Parker of Yale University, and former Yale professor Brian Hooker won the $10,000 prize from New York's Metropolitan Opera for an opera written and composed entirely by Americans, with Mona receiving the grand prize."$10,000 Opera Prize Won by Yale Men", New York Times, May 3, 1911.
May 3, 1911 (Wednesday) The German Antarctic Expedition, organized by Wilhelm Filchner, departed from Bremerhaven on the ship Deutschland. Sailing into the Weddell Sea and getting trapped by the ice there for eight months, the expedition would discover the Filchner Ice Shelf."Flichner, Wilhelm", in Exploring Polar frontiers: A – M, Volume 1 (William J. Mills, ed.) (ABC-CLIO, 2003).
May 4, 1911 (Thursday) The British National Insurance Bill, providing for both health insurance and unemployment insurance, was introduced by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George."Millions in Plan of State Insurance", New York Times, May 5, 1911. With workers paying 4d, employers 3d and the government 2d per worker per week, the system became operational on January 15, 1913, and provided sickness payments of up to 10 shillings per week during illness.Keith Laybourn, Modern Britain since 1906: A Reader (I.B.Tauris, 1999) p. 17.
May 5, 1911 (Friday) Sir George Kemp's suffrage bill passed its second reading, 255–88. The right to vote was proposed for every woman "possessed of the household qualification," excluding women servants and lodgers, and prohibited women from voting in the same constituency as their husbands."English Suffrage Near?", New York Times, May 6, 1911. A report on the Haram al-Sharif incident was published, in which it revealed British excavations within the sacred compound. Born: Andor Lilienthal, Hungarian and Soviet chess grandmaster; in Moscow (d. 2010).
May 6, 1911 (Saturday) The first International Hygiene Exhibition opened in Dresden, and attracted five million visitors to the German city.Robert Bud, Manifesting Medicine: Bodies and Machines (Taylor & Francis, 1999), p. 36. The Colorado Senate adjourned after seven ballots with no replacement for the late Senator Charles J. Hughes Jr., who had died on January 11."No New Colorado Senator", New York Times, May 7, 1911. Colorado had only one U.S. Senator for more than two years, until Charles S. Thomas took office on January 20, 1913."Colorado Now Has Two U.S. Senators", Hartford Courant, January 21, 1913, p. 2. Died: George Maledon, 80, nicknamed "The Prince of Hangmen", for carrying out most of the 79 executions at Fort Smith, Arkansas, as ordered by "The Hanging Judge", Isaac C. Parker.
May 7, 1911 (Sunday) Porfirio Díaz issued a "manifesto" declaring that he would eventually resign as President of Mexico, but not until hostilities by Francisco I. Madero's rebel armies ceased, declaring that he would step down "when, according to the dictates of my conscience, I am sure my resignation will not be followed by anarchy.""Diaz Issues Manifesto; To Resign", Milwaukee Sentinel, May 8, 1911, p. 1. Born: Ishirō Honda, Japanese film director, in Yamagata Prefecture (d. 1993).
May 8, 1911 (Monday) In what has been described as the birth of naval aviation, Captain Washington Irving Chambers of the United States Navy awarded a contract to Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the Curtiss A-1 Triad.William Neufeld, Slingshot Warbirds: World War II U.S. Navy Scout-observation Airmen (McFarland, 2003) pp. 4-5. Chester G. Hearn,Navy: An Illustrated History: The U.S. Navy from 1775 to the 21st Century (Zenith Imprint, 2007) p. 51. The Chinese Grand Council was abolished, replaced by ten member constitutional cabinet, with Yikuang (Prince Qing) becoming the first Premier in China's history."Two Reforms for China", New York Times, May 9, 1911. China and the United Kingdom signed an agreement whereby the Chinese would phase out production of opium over a 7-year period, and the British would phase out exports of opium from India to China at the same rate.Yongming Zhou, Anti-Drug Crusades in Twentieth-century China: Nationalism, History, and State Building (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999) p. 29. The House of Lords approved Lord Lansdowne's proposal for reconstitution of the House of Lords on its first reading."Lansdowne Plan Presented", New York Times, May 9, 1911. Germany issued a warning to France that an attempted occupation of the Moroccan city of Fes would be considered a violation of a treaty between the two nations."Warning to France Given by Germany", New York Times, May 9, 1911. Born: Robert Johnson, American blues musician, and one of the original inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; ranked by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008 as fifth greatest guitarist of all time; in Hazlehurst, Mississippi (poisoned 1938). Rudolf Flesch, American educator whose 1955 book Why Johnny Can't Read successfully advocated a change from sight-word reading back to phonics; in Vienna, Austria (d. 1986).
May 9, 1911 (Tuesday) The American Psychoanalytic Association was founded, at an organizational meeting in Baltimore.Walter E. Barton, The History and Influence of the American Psychiatric Association (American Psychiatric Pub, 1987) p. 111. A fire broke out at the Empire Palace Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a performance of the variety and magic show of Sigmund Neuberger, who billed himself as "The Great Lafayette." The audience of 1,500 was evacuated in four minutes, but eleven members of the troupe, including Lafayette himself, died in the blaze."Edinburgh Empire Theatre Fire", Glasgow Herald, May 11, 1911, p. 7. Professor Boris Rosing of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology, assisted by his student Vladimir Zworykin, demonstrated the transmission of a scanned image-- "four luminous bands" on to a cathode ray tube. Zworykin would build upon Rosing's discoveries in the development of television.Albert Glinsky, Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage (University of Illinois Press, 2000) p. 38. Johann Orth, formerly known as Archduke John Salvator of Austria, was declared legally dead 20 years after he had disappeared."Record of Current Events", The American Monthly Review of Reviews (June 1911), pp. 673–674. The body of Elsie Paroubek, the subject of an exhaustive three-state manhunt by Chicago police over the four weeks since her disappearance in April, was found in a Lockport, Illinois drainage canal.. Her photograph was published on the front page of the Chicago Daily News"Paroubek Girl Slain: Tragic Events in Day." Chicago Daily News, May 9, 1911. and would become an inspiration to amateur artist-author Henry Darger, who would make her a central figure in his immense fantasy novel The Story of the Vivian Girls.Michael Bonesteel, Henry Darger: Art and Selected Writings. Rizzoli, 2001. Died: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 87, American minister and abolitionist who had commanded the 1st South Carolina Colored Infantry Regiment, a Union army regiment composed of African-American soldiers, during the Civil War.
May 10, 1911 (Wednesday) At 2:30 pm, General Juan Navarro surrendered the city of Ciudad Juárez to the rebel forces of Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa, who had attacked the city in defiance of Francisco Madero. The fall of Juarez was the first loss of territory to the rebels. Madero proclaimed himself President the next day."Juarez Falls, Gen. Navarro a Prisoner", New York Times, May 11, 1911 Friedrich Katz, The Life and Times of Pancho Villa (Stanford University Press, 1998) p. 111. Born: Bel Kaufman, German-born American author (Up the Down Staircase), in Berlin (d. 2014). Alexander D. Goode, U.S. Army Chaplain who was one of the Four Chaplains to give up their lives as the USAT Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943; in Columbus, Ohio.
May 11, 1911 (Thursday) The United States Senate failed, after seven ballots, to elect a replacement for the office of president pro tempore, two weeks after the death of Senator William P. Frye of Maine."Regulars Balked; Senate Deadlocked", New York Times, May 12, 1911. Senator Jacob H. Gallinger of New Hampshire failed to win majority support. The deadlock was broken by an agreement to rotate the position among five different U.S. Senators until the 62nd U.S. Congress session ended in 1913.Richard A. Baker, 200 notable days: Senate Stories, 1787 to 2002 (Government Printing Office, 2006) p. 104. Born: Phil Silvers, American TV actor and comedian, as Philip Silver in Brooklyn (d. 1985). Doodles Weaver (Winstead Dixon Weaver), American TV actor and comedian, in Los Angeles (d. 1983). Jeanne Behrend, American composer, in Philadelphia (d. 1988).
May 12, 1911 (Friday) The American steamship SS Merida sank after it was struck by another vessel, the Admiral Farragut off of the coast of Cape Charles in the U.S. state of Virginia. Although the 131-member crew and the 188 passengers were all rescued, SS Merida sank with a cargo that included 372 silver bars and a cargo worth two million dollars at the time, equivalent to $65 million more than 110 years later. Subsequent attempts to salvage the cargo would recover very little."SS Merida (+1911)", Wrecksite.eu
At the request of the parliament of Persia, William Morgan Shuster, a 34-year-old American lawyer, arrived in what is now Iran to manage the nation's economy as its Treasurer General. Shuster was forced to leave eight months later after the Russian Empire sent troops to prevent him from seizing the assets of the former royal family.Said Amir Arjomand, The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran (Oxford University Press US, 1989) p. 46.
May 13, 1911 (Saturday) An Imperial Decree was issued in China, annexing the railroad lines from Hankou to Guangzhou and Chongqing, in advance of the receipt of the first installment of a loan from foreign banks to construct a new railroad.Zhengyuan Fu, Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1993) p. 152. Born: Wayne Hays, U.S. Representative from Ohio (1949–76) and onetime chairman of the House Administration Committee until scandal forced his resignation; in Bannock, Ohio (d. 1989). Maxine Sullivan, American blues singer, in Homestead, Pennsylvania (d. 1987).
May 14, 1911 (Sunday)
Prince Lij Iyasu was proclaimed as Emperor Iyasu V of Ethiopia, referred to at the time as Abyssinia."New Ruler of Abyssinia", New York Times, May 16, 1911.
May 15, 1911 (Monday)