row Wilson’s administration was split between the hawks and doves, and it was another 2 years before America entered the war.
6/5/1915, Orson Wells, American actor and film director, was born,
20/4/1915. President Wilson declared the USA to be strictly neutral in the Great War.
2/1/1915, John Hope Franklin, US historian, was born.
15/3/1915, US soldiers under General Pershing entered Mexico to hunt down the revolutionary Pancho Villa.
15/8/1914, The 40-mile long Panama Canal opened; construction work had begun on 4/7/1914. The first ship to pass through the canal, this day, was the SS Ancon.
31/7/1914. The New York stock exchange closed with the outbreak of World War One.
8/5/1914, The US Congress officially recognised Mothers’ Day, setting it as the second Sunday in May thereafter.
21/4/1914, US troops occupied the Mexican city of Vera Cruz to prevent German weaponry reaching the Mexican military.
1913, The United States Department of Labor was created, to promote the welfare of US workers.
1913, The Woolworth Building, designed by Cass Gilbert, was completed. Until 1930 it was the highest skyscraper in the city.
24/12/1913, The Italian Hall Disaster. A stampede at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan killed 73 people (59 of them children) during a Christmas Eve celebration for over 400 striking miners and their families. An unknown person had yelled "Fire!" (even though there wasn't one). Speculation included the theory that an anti-union ally of mine management had yelled out the false alarm in order to disrupt the party.
23/12/1913, The Federal Reserve, the Central Banking system of the USA, was established.
17/11/1913. The steamship Louise became the first ship through the Panama Canal.
10/10/1913. The Panama Canal was completed.
8/4/1913, The 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This provided for the election of US Senators by direct popular vote, so ending the ‘millionaire’s club’ that had dominated the US Senate.
31/3/1913, New York’s Ellis Island, where new migrants were processed, received a record 6,745 admissions.
27/3/1913, The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Futrell v. Oldham that Junius Futrell was the Governor of Arkansas, after Futrell and former President William Kavanaugh Oldham had both claimed the office
25/2/1913. In the USA, Federal income tax was introduced. By the 16th Amendment the US Government was authorised to raise a tax of between 1% and 6% on incomes of more than US$ 4,000 (US$ 3,000 for bachelors) without having to share this tax revenue between the States of the Union according to their population.
3/2/1913. In the USA, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This authorised the imposition of income tax.
1912, US President Taft passed an Act stipulating how the US flag should look (see 1818). It then had 48 stars.
2/11/1912, An explosion on the battleship USS Vermont near Norfolk, Virginia killed 2 and injured 4.
14/10/1912. President Roosevelt was shot and seriously wounded by a demented man in Milwaukee.
5/8/1912, In Chicago, the Progressive Party, nicknamed the "Bull Moose" Party to rival the Republican elephant and Democrat donkey, called itself to order as its founding convention opened at noon.
23/6/1912, A bridge over the Niagara Falls collapsed, killing 47.
27/5/1912, Sam Snead, US golfer, was born.
12/4/1912, Clara Barton (born 25/12/1812 near Oxford, Massachusetts) died at Glen Echo, Maryland. She founded the American Red Cross in 1881, having worked in Europe with the Red Cross there to alleviate the suffering caused by the Franco-Prussian War.
14/2/1912. Arizona became the 48th State of the USA.
6/1/1912. New Mexico became the 47th State of the USA.
29/11/1911, The US journalist Joseph Pulitzer died.
3/11/1911, Death of Norman Jay Colman, the first US Secretary of Agriculture (born 16/5/1827).
27/5/1911, Hubert Humphrey, US politician, was born (died 1978).
25/3/1911, Jack Ruby, American nightclub owner, and killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, was born as Jack Rubenstein in Chicago (died 1967).
23/2/1911, Quanah Parker, 65, Principal Chief of th