Thursday, August 17, 2000

Tuesday, August 17, 1915. The hurricane hits Galveston.

Waves hitting the seawall.

The 1915 Galveston Hurricane made landfall.  Atmospheric pressure was recorded at 27.76 inHg (940 mb) with wind speeds of 135 mph (217 km/h) leading to $921 million in damage, but the construction of the seawall in the city following the 1900 Hurricane prevented large scale loss of life. 

The German battleships SMS Nassau and Posen dueled with the Russian battleship Slava at Riga.

Jewish American Leo Frank was abducted from his prison cell in Milledgeville, Georgia and lynched for the alleged murder of former employee of the plant he supervised, the impoverished 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta.  The mob included a former Governor.

While Frank was convicted of the crime of rape and murder, there are significant doubts about his guilt, which is why the original sentence of death was commented to life in prison.

Charles Kettering patented the electric starter for automobiles.

Last edition:

Monday, August 16, 1915. Entering Texas.

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