The following events occurred in August 1911:
August 1, 1911 (Tuesday) Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to receive an airplane pilot's license, and only the second in the world (after Raymonde de Laroche). She was one of only 37 certified pilots in the world at that time.Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly, Women Who Fly (Pelican Publishing, 2004). p. 16.
August 2, 1911 (Wednesday) President François C. Antoine Simon of Haiti fled from his palace at Port-au-Prince as rebels approached, and took refuge on the Haitian cruiser 17 Decembre. The next day, he and 43 relatives and associates departed on the Dutch steamer Prinz Nederlanden bound for Jamaica. Born: Ann Dvorak, American stage and film actress; as Annabelle McKim in New York City (d. 1979). Rusty Wescoatt, American character actor; on the island of Maui, in Hawaii Territory (d. 1987) Died: Arabella Mansfield, 65, the first female lawyer in the United States."Arabella Mansfield", Encyclopædia Britannica Bob Cole, 43, African-American composer and comedian, by suicide. Ioryi Mucitano, 29, Aromanian revolutionary within the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in the Ottoman Empire and Apostol Petkov, 42, Bulgarian Macedonian revolutionary within IMRO. Both Mucitano and Petkov were poisoned along with Vasa Pufkata.
August 3, 1911 (Thursday) The United States signed arbitration treaties with both the United Kingdom and France in separate ceremonies at the White House office of U.S. President William Taft. At 3:10 pm, British Ambassador James Bryce and U.S. Secretary of State Philander Knox signed the first pact. French Ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand and Knox signed the second treaty."Taft Arbitration Treaties Signed". The New York Times, August 4, 1911, p. 1. Based on the concept of "unlimited arbitration" of disputes between these three great powers, the "Taft-Knox Treaties" were favored by the American public, but the U.S. Senate amended both agreements beyond recognition. Taft refused to renegotiate the terms with the other nations.Samuel F. Wells, The Challenges of Power: American Diplomacy, 1900–1921 (University Press of America, 1990). pp. 73-74. Allvar Gullstrand first demonstrated the slit lamp. His invention's introduction has been described as "an occasion of tremendous significance to ophthalmology."Edward J. Holland, Cornea: Fundamentals, Diagnosis and Management (Gulf Professional Publishing, 2005). p. 191. Born: Manuel Esperon, Mexican composer and songwriter, in Mexico City (d. 2011). Died: Edward Murphy Jr., former U.S. Senator from New York.
August 4, 1911 (Friday) Japan's Admiral Count Tōgō Heihachirō, commander of the Japanese fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, was welcomed to New York City as a guest of the United States. After arriving the night before on the Lusitania at 11:40 pm, he transferred to two smaller boats and stayed at the Hotel Knickerbocker. Meeting Mayor William J. Gaynor later in the day, he departed on a train for Washington, D.C. that afternoon, where he was hosted at a state dinner by President Taft."Admiral Togo Here as Nation's Guest". The New York Times, August 4, 1911, p. 1.
August 5, 1911 (Saturday) Colombian and Peruvian troops fought a battle in Caquetá Department, with the Colombian forces being defeated and reportedly sustaining large losses."Peru and Colombia Clash". The New York Times, August 6, 1911, p. 1. The sinking of an overcrowded passenger boat on the Nile River killed 100 people. Most of the victims were on their way to a festival in Desouk.The Britannica Year-Book 1913: A Survey of the World's Progress Since the Completion in 1910 of the Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, 1913). p. xi."One Hundred Native Africans Drawn to Death in the Nile". Spokane Daily Chronicle, August 8, 1911, p. 1. Born: Robert Taylor (stage name for Spangler Brugh), American film and TV actor known for the title role of the 1952 film Ivanhoe and as the star of The Detectives and as the second host of Death Valley Days; in Filley, Nebraska (d. 1969).Wagner, Laura. "Robert Taylor: Matinee Idol." Films of the Golden Age. Retrieved: November 18, 2011.Wayne 2005, p. 165.
August 6, 1911 (Sunday) General Cincinnatus Leconte was proclaimed as President of Haiti, rather than General Anténor Firmin, who had also led an attack on the capital, replacing President Simon. Leconte was formally elected on August 14."Army Proclaims Leconte President". The New York Times, August 7, 1911, p. 1. Born: Lucille Ball, American comedian and television executive (I Love Lucy); in Celoron, New York (a suburb of Jamestown) (d. 1989).
August 7, 1911 (Monday) Leader of the Opposition Arthur Balfour's vote of censure on the government of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith failed to pass in the House of Commons, by a margin of 246 to 365. A similar measure in the House of Lords had passed 282-68."Commons Rejects Vote of Censure". The New York Times, August 8, 1911, p. 1. Born: Nicholas Ray (stage name for Raymond Nicholas Kienzle), American film director known for Rebel Without a Cause); in Galesville, Wisconsin (d. 1979). Died: Elizabeth Akers Allen, 78, American poet."Elizabeth Anne Chase Akers Allen". Encyclopædia Britannica, Nov. 24, 1999.
August 8, 1911 (Tuesday) Pope Pius X lowered the age for First Communion in the Roman Catholic Church to seven years old, with the papal decree quam singulari.Alban Butler, et al., Butler's Lives of the Saints: August (Continuum International Publishing, 1998). p. 212. The first American newsreel, Pathé's Weekly, was shown in North American cinemas. Promotional material described it as "issued every Tuesday, made up of short scenes of great international events of universal interest from all over the world."Ray Gamache, A History of Sports Highlights: Replayed Plays from Edison to ESPN (McFarland, 2010). p. 49. The United States Senate approved statehood for Arizona and New Mexico, 53 to 18. Earlier a proposed amendment by Senator Nelson of Minnesota, proposing to condition Arizona statehood on removing judicial recall from its constitution, failed 26 to 43."Statehood Bill Passed". The New York Times, August 9, 1911, p. 1. Died: William P. Frye, 79, President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate since 1896; U.S. Representative from Maine 1871 to 1881) and U.S. Senator for Maine since 1911.Lawrence Kestenbaum, "Frye, William Pierce (1830–1911)." The Political Graveyard.
August 9, 1911 (Wednesday) The sinking of the French ship Emir killed 86 people. The Emir collided with the British ship Silverton while passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, five miles east of Tarifa, after sailing from Gibraltar to Tangier. Only 15 people survived from the Emir. The Silverton had been on its way from Newport to Taranto."Liner Sinks; 86 Drown". The New York Times, August 10, 1911, p. 1. The Australian ship Fifeshire wrecked at Cape Guardafui in the Gulf of Aden, killing 24 of the 99 people on board. A record for the hottest day in the history of the United Kingdom was set when a temperature of 36.7 °C (98.1 °F) was measured at Raunds, Northamptonshire, England. The record was broken on August 3, 1990 (37.1 °C) and again on August 10, 2003 (38.1 °C).Philip Eden, Great British Weather Disasters (Continuum International Publishing, 2008). p. 190. Born: William Alfred Fowler, American astrophysicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983, for his work on stellar nucleosynthesis; in Pittsburgh (d. 1995). Died: John Warne Gates, 56, American financier who went from a salesman of barbed wire to a multimillionaire. George W. Gordon, 75, Commander of the United Confederate Veterans, and, as U.S. Representative from Tennessee, the last Confederate general to serve in Congress.Political Graveyard
August 10, 1911 (Thursday) By a margin of 131-114, the House of Lords passed the Parliament Act 1911, also called the "Veto Bill" because it allowed the United Kingdom House of Commons to put limits on the Lords' power. More than 300 eligible peers declined to participate."Veto Bill Passes; No Puppet Peers". The New York Times, August 11, 1911, p. 1. However, the 88 Liberal peers were joined in voting in favor by 29 Tories and 13 of the 15 Anglican archbishops and bishops who cast votes. Conservative MP George Wyndham would later remark, "We were beaten by the bishops and the rats."W. D. Rubinstein, Twentieth-century Britain: A Political History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). p. 44. Born: A.N. Sherwin-White, British historian; in Fifield, Oxfordshire (d. 1993).
August 11, 1911 (Friday) U.S. President William H. Taft began a three-month-long stay away from Washington, D.C., starting with a monthlong vacation in Beverly, Massachusetts, where the Taft family rented Paramatta from Mrs. Lucy Peabody for use as his "Summer White House"."President Goes to Beverly". The New York Times, August 11, 1911. On September 15, he began a 15,000 mile tour of 30 of the 46 states, and did not return to the White House until November 12."President Taft Ends His 15,000 Mile Tour". The New York Times, November 12, 1911. Born: Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand in 1958, and as a military dictator from 1963 to 1973; in Mueang Tak district, Tak province (d. 2004).
August 12, 1911 (Saturday) "For a period of one year from and after the date hereof, the landing in Canada shall be, and the same is prohibited, of any immigrants belonging to the Negro race", declared an Order in Council approved by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier on this date, "which race is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada." The racist order, made in response to hundreds of African-Americans moving to the Canadian prairies from Oklahoma, was never enforced, and repealed on October 5.R. Bruce Shepard, Deemed Unsuitable: Blacks from Oklahoma Move to the Canadian Prairies in Search of Equality in the Early 20th Century, Only to Find Racism in Their New Home (Dundurn Press Ltd., 1997). p. 100. Duke Kahanamoku broke three world swimming records in his very first meet, in Honolulu. Besides taking 1.6 seconds off of the 50 yard freestyle (to 24.2), he became the first person to swim 100 yards in under a minute, swimming in 55.4 seconds, 4.6 less than the AAU record.Dan Cisco, Hawaiʻi Sports: History, Facts, and Statistics (University of Hawaii Press, 1999). Henry Percival James, British Assistant Commissioner of Nigeria, was shot and killed along with five other people while traveling along the Forcados River on government business."The Murders in Southern Nigeria". Glasgow Herald, August 14, 1911, p. 9. John Muir set off from Brooklyn to begin a voyage of exploration of the Amazon River.Sally M. Miller and Daryl Morrison, John Muir: Family, Friends, and Adventures (UNM Press, 2005). p. 256. Born: Cantinflas (stage name for Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes), Mexican film comedian; in Mexico City (d. 1993). Died: General Jules Brunet, 73, French Army officer. Jozef Israëls, 87, Dutch painter. Henry C. Loudenslager, 59, U.S. Congressman for New Jersey since 1893, died from typhoid.H.C. Loudenslager Dead; Congressman for Ten Terms from the First New Jersey District, The New York Times, August 13, 1911, p.9
August 13, 1911 (Sunday)