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October 26, 1905: The Kingdom of Norway becomes a separate nation as Union of Sweden and Norway is dissolvedOctober 5, 1905: Wilbur Wright pilots the improved Wright Flyer III to an unprecedented 30 minute heavier-than-air flight
The following events occurred in October 1905:
October 1, 1905 (Sunday)
Lieutenant Commander Pyotr Schmidt of the Imperial Russian Navy incited a crowd of people in Sevastopol to march toward the city's prison and to demand the freedom of political prisoners there. Police fired in the crowd and killed and wounded an undetermined number of people.
The luxurious Gotham Hotel, with 400 guestrooms, was opened on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan in New York City. The original owners would be forced to sell less than three years later, after repeated rejections for a liquor license. More than a century later, it operates (as of 2023) as "The Peninsula".
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Taft returned to his job as Secretary of War, and Elihu Root took permanent charge of the State Department.
The Garfinckel's department store chain was started by the opening of a luxury store at Washington D.C. by Julius Garfinkle. After growing to a conglomerate of 190 stores in seven chains, Garfinckel's would file bankruptcy in 1990.
Canada allowed the extradition of two fugitives, Gaynor and Greene, to the U.S. to face criminal charges.
Several members of the Hungarian cabinet met in Vienna to discuss universal suffrage with Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, as well as demanding why the Austrian premier was interfering with Hungarian electoral reforms.
The G-Lader, a scroll-type supercharger to increase engine power, was patented by Leon Creux of France, who received U.S. Patent No. 801,182 for the invention, although production of the device would not become feasible until more than 75 years later.
October 4, 1905 (Wednesday)
Japan and Russia agreed to the exchange of prisoners of war from the Russo-Japanese War.
The Alamo was conveyed to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) in return for their agreement to provide maintenance and upkeep for the historic San Antonio mission and fortress. The DRT ownership of The Alamo would last almost 110 years, until the landmark's return to the Texas General Land Office in 2015.
Wilbur Wright made a breakthrough in aviation by keeping an airplane aloft for more than half an hour, piloting the Wright Flyer III for 39 minutes and 23 seconds over Huffman Prairie near Fairborn, Ohio, traveling 24 miles (39 km) in a circular course. The longest time aloft in an airplane before the creation of the Wright Flyer III had been five minutes. Orville and Wilbur Wright disassembled the revolutionary airplane on November 5 to prevent the technology from being duplicated by competitors.
More than three years after the deadly eruption of the Mount Pelée volcano on the Caribbean island of Martinique, all volcanic activity ceased. On April 23, 1902, the explosive blast had killed more than 29,000 people.
October 6, 1905 (Friday)
Japanese and Russian commanders in northern Korea were unable to agree on terms of an armistice.
The first issue of the popular children's magazine Fame and Fortune Weekly (subtitled "Stories of Boys Who Make Money") was published by the Frank Tousey Company. It would continue as a weekly until 1928, and cease publication after the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
Born:
Helen Wills, American tennis player; 8-time winner of Wimbledon, 7-time winner of the U.S. Open and 4-time winner of the French Open women's singles between 1923 and 1938; in Centerville, California (d. 1998)
Jarvis Catoe, American serial killer known as the "D.C. Strangler" for his murders of at least eight women in Washington D.C.; in South Carolina (executed, 1943)
Argentina's National Congress voted to declare 90 days of martial law throughout the South American nation after the Argentine Workmen's Federation called a general strike.
Sergei Witte attended a meeting with Russia's Tsar Nicholas II at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg to warn the monarch that the Russian Empire was on the verge of a revolution, and advised that major reforms should be made or that a military dictator should rule the nation.
By a vote of 101 to 16, Norway's Parliament, the Storting, agreed to accept the terms of dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Union in order to become a separate nation. On the same day, 10 Storting members from the Liberal Party proposed that Norway become a republic, with a president, rather than a monarchy.
Born: Jack Parker British motorcycle speedway rider honored as the British Riders' Champion in 1947, and winner of the National Trophy 1946, 1947, and 1949; in Birmingham (d. 1989)
October 10, 1905 (Tuesday)
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest electricity and natural gas utility companies in the United States, was created in California by the merger of the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company and the California Gas and Electric Corporation.
In his role as King of Hungary, Franz Joseph dissolved the Hungarian parliament.
The popular weekly Brazilian children's magazine, O Tico-Tico, published its first issue. It would operate until 1957, until being driven out of circulation by competing magazines.
Victor Kravchenko, Soviet Ukrainian defector to the U.S. and author of the bestseller I Chose Freedom; in Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now Dnipro, Ukraine) (committed suicide 1966)
Fred Trump, American real estate developer, father of U.S. President Donald J. Trump; in New York City (d. 1999)
After recovering the battleship Potemkin following its abandonment by mutineers, the Imperial Russian Navy renamed the ship the Panteleimon, in honor of the Eastern Orthodox Saint Pantaleon.
Sir Henry Irving, prominent in England as both a stage actor and the manager of the manager of the Lyceum Theatre on London's West End, suffered a fatal stroke shortly after returning to the Midland Hotel in Bradford/ Earlier in the evening, he had performed in the title role of Tennyson's play Becket. A fanciful, but invented, story would later be told by Thomas Anstey Guthrie that Irving had been stricken on stage while reciting Becket's dying words, "Into thy hands, O Lord, into thy hands" when he was stricken.
Died: Lyman Bloomingdale, 64, U.S. businessman, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Bloomingdale's luxury department store in New York City.
Both Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Emperor Meiji of Japan signed the instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Portsmouth in their respective capitals. The U.S. Department of State was informed later in the day by the Russian Ambassador, Roman Rosen, and the Japanese Minister, Takahira Kogorō.
Oregon U.S. Congressman John N. Williamson was found guilty of subornation of perjury (persuading or another person to give false testimony under oath) in connection with testimony concerning charges regarding land fraud, and sentenced to 10 months in prison. Williamson's conviction would be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908, after he was no longer in office.
Claude Debussy's La mer ("The Sea"), a set of three symphonic sketches, was performed for the first time, with a concert in Paris by the Orchestre Lamoureux under the direction of conductor Camille Chevillard. Although it would later be considered one of Debussy's most popular works, it was poorly received at the time by the audience and by critics.
Russian Communist agitator Leon Trotsky sneaked into Saint Petersburg after having been in hiding in Finland, and addressed the Soviet Council of Workers Deputies there, while another 200,000 people were gathered outside to hear the speeches.
Died: Nevins Armstrong, 70, Hawaiian-born American lawyer, Attorney General for the Kingdom of Hawaii for King Kalakaua during the King's world tour
October 17, 1905 (Tuesday)
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt issued an Executive Order allowing heads of government departments to fire civil service employees without filing a charge or providing a hearing.
Born: Leopoldo Benites, Ecuadorian ambassador to the United Nations who served as President of the UN General Assembly in 1973 and 1974; in Guayaquil (d. 1996)
Died: John Rooney, 25, convicted murderer became the last person to be executed in the U.S. state of North Dakota, and the first and only prisoner to be legally executed privately, rather than in public. All previous hangings had been open to the public, and North Dakota abolished the death penalty 10 years after Rooney's hanging.
Through treachery, British Army intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen assassinated Koitalel Arap Samoei, leader of the Nandi people of Kenya. On the pretext of negotiating terms of a settlement between British colonial authorities and the Nandi kingdom to end the Nandi Resistance against British rule, Meinertzhagen came to a meeting at Koitalel's home, reached forward to shake hands with the Nandi leader, and then shot him at point-blank range. At the same time, Meinhartzhagen's men shot and killed all of the advisers who had accompanied Koitalel to the meeting.
Born: Mary Clem, American mathematician credited with inventing the "zero check" technique for verifying accuracy on calculations; in Nevada, Iowa (d. 1979)
All nine people aboard the Canadian schooner Minnedosa died when the four-masted schooner sank in a storm in Lake Huron. The ship was being towed by another ship, the Melrose, when the tow cable broke and the Minnedosa "abruptly disappeared."
October 21, 1905 (Saturday)
A nationwide railway strike tied up all rail lines that were entering and leaving Moscow, and spread to the rest of the Empire within a few days, extending closures as far west as Warsaw.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, making a tour of the Deep South, took the unprecedented step of addressing a gathering of African-Americans while he was in Jacksonville, Florida. Roosevelt insisted on the meeting at the Third Baptist Church Academy after the local organizing committee had refused to grant a request by black leaders for a public event. In part, Roosevelt said, "If we do our duties faithfully in spite of the difficulties that come, then sooner or later the rights will take care of themselves. What I say to this body of my colored fellow-citizens is just exactly what I would say to any body of my white fellow-citizens."
October 22, 1905 (Sunday)
Police in Santiago fired into a crowd of more than 25,000 protesters in Chile who had marched to the presidential office building, La Moneda and were demanding to see President Germán Riesco. The crowd, which was demonstrating against the high prices, caused by government tariffs on cattle imports from Argentina, was unaware that the president was unwell and was at his residence in another part of the city. After the protesters grew impatient over waiting, some tried to storm the building. The police response led to the "Meat Riot" (la huelga de la carne) that killed 230 civilians and 20 soldiers in over the next three days.
Alexander Bulygin was dismissed from his position as Minister of the Interior of the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II. As Interior Minister, Bulygin had been in charge of state security.
October 23, 1905 (Monday)
1929 painting by Tōjō Shōtarō of the review
With Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, Japan's Emperor Meiji reviewed 308 warships, mostly of the Imperial Japanese Navy but some Russian Navy ships captured in the Russo-Japanese War. The emperor and the admiral sailed between the lines of the docked vessels.
Felix Bloch, Swiss-born American physicist, 1952 Nobel Prize laureate and the first Director-General of CERN (d. 1983)
Yen Chia-kan (C. K. Yen), President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1975 to 1978, Prime Minister 1963-1972; in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, Chinese Empire (d. 1993)
The U.S. Board of Ordnance and Fortification, a division of the U.S. War Department, rejected an October 19 offer by Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright to sell the technology of the Wright Flyer III airplane to the government, despite the airplane's proven ability to stay airborne for substantial periods of time. The government reply stated that the Board would take no further action "until a machine is produced which by actual operation is shown to be able to produce horizontal flight and to carry an operator."
October 25, 1905 (Wednesday)
The Staten Island Ferry was officially opened in New York City.
Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld was awarded the throne of the Principality of Lippe in Germany, after a German arbitration commission ruled in his favor on the question of a successor to Leopold's father, Prince Alexander, who had died on January 13. At the capital at Detmold, the Count took the regnal name of Prince Leopold IV for the tiny 470 square miles (1,200 km) principality, which would be abolished in 1918 after Germany's defeat in World War One.
October 26, 1905 (Thursday)
The former Sweden-Norway naval flag
The dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden was completed with the signing of multiple treaties at Stockholm by representatives of the governments of both Sweden and of Norway, and by King Oscar II, who renounced all claims to the Norwegian throne on behalf of himself and his descendants.
Greek guerrillas burned down the buildings in the village of Avdella in the Pindus mountains, at the time under Ottoman Empire control, with a large settlement of Aromanians.
Frederick Hutton, 68, English-born New Zealand biologist, author of catalogs of the birds, fish and mollusks of that nation's islands, died onboard the SS Rimutaka while on his way home from a visit to England. He was buried at sea off of the coast of South Africa.
Rudolf Lehmann, 86, German-English portrait painter and author
October 28, 1905 (Saturday)
After more than seven years of fighting in the Philippines at the island of Mindanao, the chief of the Moro insurgents, Datto Ali, was killed by a U.S. attack on his headquarters.
The Prime Minister Christian Lundeberg of Sweden and his cabinet resigned after having concluded the settlement with Norway dissolving the union between the two nations.
Giuseppe Alessi, Italian politician and president of the Sicilian Regional government 1947-1949 and 1955-1956, known for his co-operation with the Sicilian Mafia during the Cold War; in San Cataldo (d. 2009)
Reg Bunn, English comic book artist known for creating "The Spider" (d. 1971)
Frank Bompensiero, American Mafia hitman in the Los Angeles mob, known for carrying out at least five "hits"; in Milwaukee (murdered, 1977)
Died: Hendrik Witbooi, 75, chief of the Khowesin clan of the Namibian Oorlam people, was killed in battle while leading the native resistance to German colonial rule in what is now Namibia. He would be celebrated as a Namibian national hero a century after his death, with his image on Namibia's currency.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issued the October Manifesto, also referred to as the "Manifest 17 October" because the Julian calendar still in use at Russia had the "old style" date of October 17. The decree guaranteed civil liberties, extending voting rights, and providing more power to the Duma to have a say in the enforcement of royal decrees. Referring to himself in the plural, the Tsar began, "We, Nicholas the Second, by the Grace of God Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias... declare to all our faithful subjects that the troubles and agitations in our capitals and in numerous other places fill our heart with excessive pain and sorrow," and then added, "The supreme duty imposed upon us by our sovereign office requires us to efface ourself and to use all the force and reason at our command... to assure the success of measures for pacification in all circles of public life, which are essential to the well being of our people. We, therefore, direct our government to carry out our inflexible will in the following manner..." the Tsar went on to guarantee "freedom of conscience, speech, union and association", to invite participation in the Duma to "those classes of the population now completely deprived of electoral rights", and finally "to establish as an unchangeable rule that no law shall be enforceable with out the approval of the State Duma."
William Chadeayne at his arrival
American motorcyclist William Chadeayne arrived in San Francisco, 47 days after his September 13 departure from New York City, setting a record by crossing North America by motor vehicle, four days faster than George A. Wyman's trip in 1903. At the time, most of the roads in the United States were difficult to traverse, with some described by Chadeayne later as "unspeakably vile seas of mud or oceans of sand."
Twelve people were killed and 35 injured in the wreck of an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway train.
October 31, 1905 (Tuesday)
Prince Nikola of Montenegro, faced with a potential uprising in his kingdom, announced that he would change the absolute monarchy and provide a constitution for his principality.
A second New York performance of George Bernard Shaw's play, Mrs. Warren's Profession, was canceled by order of the New York City Police Department. NYPD Commissioner William McAdoo had watched the New York premiere at the Garrick Theatre the night before and pronounced the play to be "revolting, indecent, and nauseating where it was not boring." Theater manager Samuel W. Gumperts was arrested, and warrants were issued for the actors and actresses.
"Death of Lord Inverclyde; Chairman of the Cunard Line", Daily Telegraph (London), October 9, 1905, p. 6
"Roosevelt Campaign for Football Reform— Makers of Rules Present— They Are Told That Brutality Should Be Eliminated and Fair Play Be Assured", The New York Times, October 10, 1905, p. 1
"Rulers Sign; End Russo-Jap Clash— Czar and Mikado Affix Signatures to Peace Treaty, Thus Officially Terminating War", Philadelphia Inquirer, October 15, 1905, p.1
"New York Wins Championship of the World— Athletics Are Defeated in the Fifth Game of the Series by Score of 2 to 0", Philadelphia Inquirer, October 15, 1905, p.1
"Giants Champions, The Score, 2-0; Mathewson's Superb Work Ends the Inter-League Series", The New York Times, October 15, 1905, p.1
Eric Frederick Jensen, Debussy (Oxford University Press, 2014) p. 197
Isaac Deutscher, Trotsky: The Prophet Armed (Verso Books, 1954) p. 126
Okoth, Assa (2006). A History of Africa, 1800–1915. E.A.E.P. pp. 198–199. ISBN9789966253576.
"Taking and Returning Objects in a Colonial Context: Tracing the Collections Acquired during the Bone-Gowa Military Expeditions", by Hari Budiarti, in Colonial Collections Revisited, ed. by Pieter J. ter Keurs (CNWS Publications, 2007) pp. 130-131
Constance M. Jerlecki, Sailing Into Disaster: Ghost Ships and other Mysterious Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes (Inland Expressions, 2017) pp. 53-63
"Ships and Lives Lost on the Great Lakes— Fierce Storm Hurls Eleven Vessels to Destruction— At Least 12 Persons Dead", The New York Times, October 21, 1905, p.1 ("Among the vessels lost were... the schooner Minnedosa, which foundered two and one-half miles off Harbor Beach in Lake Huron, carrying down the entire crew of eight men;")
^ The American Monthly Review of Reviews (December 1905) pp. 666-669
"Moscow Almost Cut Off; Employees of Four More Railroads— Famine Is Feared", The New York Times, October 23, 1905, p.2
"Roosevelt to Negroes: Duties Before Rights— He Talks at Colored School in Jacksonville to 'My Friends'", The New York Times, October 22, 1905, p.1
Benjamin S. Orlove, "Meat and Strength: The Moral Economy of a Chilean Food Riot". Cultural Anthropology (1997), pp. 234–268
"Troops Kill Moro Chief— Ali, His Son, and Ten Followers Slain in Fight— Forty-three Prisoners", The New York Times, October 29, 1905, p.1
J.R. Arnold, The Moro War (Bloomsbury Press, 2011) pp.132-138
"Captured Warships in Japan's Review— Fleet of 308 Vessels Aligned for the Mikado's Inspection; Had Togo by His Side", The New York Times, October 24, 1905, p.1
"How The Squaw Man Is Not The Shawman— Effective Western Scenes and Noble Attitudes", The New York Times, October 24, 1905, p. 6
"Hutton", in New Zealanders and Science, by S. H. Jenkinson (New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, 1940)
Dieter Nohlen and Philip Stöver, Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook (Nomos, 2010) p. 1886
"Czar Bows to Nation's Will— Russian Aristocracy Forced to Grant the Demand of the People for Freedom; Count Witte Heads Cabinet— Signs of Cessation of Disorders in the Empire", The New York Tribune, October 31, 1905, p.1
"Text of the Emperor's Message to the People", The New York Tribune, October 31, 1905, p.1
"Chadeayne reaches 'Frisco", The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review, November 4, 1905, pp. 107-109
William Ochsenwald, Religion, Society, and the State in Arabia: The Hijaz under Ottoman Control, 1840-1908 (Ohio State University Press, 1984).
"Shaw's Play Stopped; The Manager Arrested— Warrants for the Players", The New York Times, November 1, 1905, p.1
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