Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Thursday, April 2, 1914 Villista victory at Torreón, Disaster on the ice, Cumann na mBan, birth of Alec Guiness.


It was opening day.

Pancho Villa telegraphed the head of the Mexican opposition,Venustiano Carranza, to report he had retaken Torreón.  He noted his losses as 2,000 killed or wounded, and the Federal dead at 12,000 killed, wounded or captured.

Effectively, he had taken control of northern Mexico.

The U.S. Navy gunboat, Dolphin, entered Tampico harbor in Mexico and presented a 3x21-gun salute to the Mexican flag in remembrance of the April 2, 1867, Battle of Puebla.

It would be the last peaceful diplomatic exchange between the United States Government and the Mexican government of Victoriano Huerta.


Wes Kean, captain of the SS Newfoundland, spotted survivors from his ship that had been trapped on ice floes off Newfoundland for three days during a blizzard. The men had been set out for seals on April 1, with the expectation that if the weather worsened, they could stay aboard the nearby Stephano.  Instead, Wes' father, Adam, gave the men lunch at that point and ordered them back out on the ice.  This left the captains of both vessels under the belief that the men were safe.  While equipped originally with primitive radios, they had been removed prior to the voyage as a cost savings measure, which compounded the error..

Kean, upon spotting the men, alerted the nearby SS Bellaventure.  77 of 132 men who had been lost, died.

The same weather sank the Southern Cross with the loss of all hands.

The Cumann na mBan, or Irishwomen's Council, an Irish Republican paramilitary organization, was founded.  It apparently still exists.

300 Pentecostal preachers and laymen gathered in a general council in Hot Springs, Arkansas to discuss preservation of Pentecostal revivalism.

A train derailment near Tanjung Priok, Indonesia caused by buffalo crossing the tracks resulted in the death of 20 people and 50 more being injured.

Great British actor Alec Guinness was born in Maida Vale, London, England.  One of the greatest actors of all time, he appeared in 62 films, many of which are remembered at least in part for his performance. They include such varied classics as Lawrence of Arabia, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Bridge On The River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and Star Wars.  His career was interrupted by World War Two, during which he served in the Royal Navy, and during which he formed the intent to become an Anglican Priest.  An experience on a movie set impacted him deeply, and he converted to Catholicism, as did his wife, who only informed him after the fact, in later years, from Judaism.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 1, 1914. Villa at Torreón

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