A giant in the history of Mexico, liberal Mexican general and dictator Porfirio Díaz died in exile in Paris. His wife and surviving son (his three other children died as children) were allowed to return to Mexico.
Díaz would be remembered now as a giant in the history of Mexico, and indeed to some extent he is, if he could have surrendered power democratically in 1910. He was not of a democratic mindset, but had been a moderating and liberal influence in the country's history and had been very successful as a technocratic dictator, advancing the countries economy a great deal. Time was ripe for him to surrender power in 1910, and he could be remembered today for advancing the country and bringing into democracy, rather than a man whose attachment to power sent it into radicalism and civil war.
There's also a lesson here about politicians hanging on after their time . . . and into old age. . .
An opponent of war, German-American anarchist Eric Muenter planted a time bomb in the Senate reception room of the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. It went off at midnight and didn't hurt anyone. He stated that his goal was to "make enough noise to be heard above the voices that clamor for war. This explosion is an exclamation point in my appeal for peace."
People with a similar political view would soon be amongst the revolutionary combatants in Russia, but oh well.
Parliament passed the Munitions of War Act to address the shortage of artillery shells in the UK. David Lloyd George was appointed Minister of Munitions to oversee the effort.
At Gallipoli, where a lot of shells were being used, the Ottoman 1st Division staged a second counterattack in the Battle of Gully Ravine and got within 30 metres of British trenches before losses became unbearable. Ottoman commanding officer Faik Paşa then ordered Ottoman troops to dig in, violating orders from General Otto Liman von Sanders.Paşa was relieved and replaced with Mehmet Ali Paşa, which is confusing.
The Imperial Russian Navy's Baltic Sea squadron attacked a German squadron laying mines in the Baltic Sea at the Battle of Åland Islands. The SMS Albatross was hit and ran aground, with 27 sailors dead and another 49 wounded. The SMS Prinz Adalbert and Prinz Heinrich sailed to assist the German squadron, but British submarine HMS E9 torpedoed Prinz Adalbert and forced it to struggle to shore, damaged.
The Chilean Navy took the submarine Guacolda from the Fore River Shipyard. Built for the Royal Navy, US neutrality laws precluded the British from taking delivery.
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