Then, as now, it was the 4th of July holiday, and all the usual events occured, including parades and events of all sorts.
This event happened at Takoma Park, Maryland.
In the West, numerous rodeos were held, but in Shelby, Montana, something else was tried Jack Dempsey fought Tommy Gibbons.
Shelby was a small oil town and only about 7,000 of the 20,000 spectators paid to see the fight, causing a large financial loss to the promoters. Some of the deficit, like that of the much later major event of Woodstock, would be made up by promoting a movie of the event.
A crowd of up to 200,000 attended a Ku Klux Klan rally in Kokomo, Indiana in what may have been the largest rally in its history.
The Klan was very strong in Indiana at the time.
Stunt pilot B. H. DeLay died when his plane, later thought to be sabotaged, crashed. Passenger R. I. Short also died in the event, which occured at Venice, California.. DeLay had been involved in a heated dispute over an airport, but no suspects were ever arrested for sabotage to his plane.
North and South Korea announced that they had agreed to discuss reunification. Their joint statement held:
The July 4 South-North Joint Communiqué
4 July 1972
Recently, talks were held in Pyongyang and Seoul to discuss the problems of improving SouthNorth relations and of unifying the divided country.
Lee Hu-rak, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in Seoul, visited Pyongyang from May 2
- 5, 1972, and held talks with Kim Young-joo of the Organization and Guidance Department of
Pyongyang; Vice Premier Park Sung-chul, acting on behalf of Director Kim Young-joo visited
Seoul from May 29 - June 1, 1972, and held further talks with Director Lee Hu-rak.
With the common desire of achieving the peaceful unification of the nation as early as possible,
the two sides engaged in a frank and openhearted exchange of views during these talks, and
made great progress towards promoting mutual understanding.
In an effort to remove the misunderstandings and mistrust, and mitigate the heightened tensions
that have arisen between the South and the North as a consequence of their long period of
division and moreover, to expedite unification, the two sides reached full agreement on the
following points.
1. The two sides agreed on the following principles as a basis of achieving unification:
First, unification shall be achieved independently, without depending on foreign powers and
without foreign interference.
Second, unification shall be achieved through peaceful means, without resorting to the use of
force against each other.
Third, a great national unity as one people shall be sought first, transcending differences in ideas,
ideologies, and systems.
2. In order to ease tensions and foster an atmosphere of mutual trust between the South and the
North, the two sides have agreed not to slander or defame each other, not to undertake military
provocations whether on a large or small scale, and to take positive measures to prevent
inadvertent military incidents.
3. In order to restore severed national ties, promote mutual understanding and to expedite
independent peaceful unification, the two sides have agreed to carry out numerous exchanges in
various fields.
4. The two sides have agreed to actively cooperate in seeking the early success of the SouthNorth Red Cross talks, which are currently in progress with the fervent support of the entire
people of Korea.
5. In order to prevent the outbreak of unexpected military incidents, and to deal directly,
promptly, and accurately with problems arising between the South and the North, the two sides
have agreed to install a direct telephone line between Seoul and Pyongyang.
6. In order to implement the above items, to solve various problems existing between the South
and the North, and to settle the unification problem on the basis of the agreed principles for
unification, the two sides have agreed to establish and operate a South-North Coordinating
Committee co-chaired by Director Lee Hu-rak and Director Kim Young-joo.
7. Firmly convinced that the above items of agreement correspond with the common aspirations
of the entire Korean people, all of whom are anxious for an early unification, the two sides
hereby solemnly pledge before the entire Korean people to faithfully carry out these agreed
items.
Upholding the instructions of their respective superiors
S
Lee Hu-rak
Kim Young-joo
A similar communiqué has been issued at least one additional time.
Today, in 2022, prospects for reunification are dim, and frankly they may well be moving further, even permanently, apart. In 1973 when this statement was issued, many Korean had lived in a unified state. Now, many fewer have, and its becoming fewer every day. South Korea is a modern, capitalist, democracy, and younger South Koreans have waning interest in reuniting with the communized backwards north.
The National Publishers Association orchestrated United We Stand Campaign basically hit the newsstands today as the country's weekly magazines all featured patriotic covers.
The country also engaged in the usual 4th of July festivities, such as this gathering in Saint Mary's County, Maryland. Having said that, the 4th was dampened both by the war, and by President Roosevelt's directive that fighting the war should be the focus of the day, rather than celebration.
Closer to home, I don't know what occurred on this Saturday of 1942, other than that the day would have been observed somehow.
President Roosevelt had issued a desire to see U.S. forces in action on this day, if at all possible. As a result, the 15th Bombardment Squadron participated in a raid on the Netherlands, thereby making it the first US Air unit to bomb occupied territory in Europe. The low level daytime raid was conducted with British DB7 bombers (A-20s), with the American crewmen borrowing British aircraft.
The A-20 was the most produced attack bomber of the war, even though to a large degree its forgotten now. It served in multiple air forces, including the US, the British, and the Soviet air arms.
The American Volunteer Group, the "Flying Tigers", were converted from a mercenary bad serving Nationalist China in the war against Japan, to the China Air Task Force of the United States Army Air Corps. Almost all of the pilots chose to be released, however, so they could go on and return to their prewar service, or join the service, and fly elsewhere.
A debate between Hitler and General von Bock results in Von Bock prevailing in his desire to commit the 4th Panzer Army to an assault on Voronezh, but the infantry is sent south without support towards Stalingrad.
The gas chambers commenced operation at Auschwitz. This was in part a result of recent German battlefield successes, as the Germans had now taken in so many Eastern European Jews that they could not kill them efficiently enough.
Torpedo bombers harass Convoy PQ17 in the Barents Sea all day, sinking three of the cargo ships in the embattled convoy.
It was, of course, Independence Day, and parades and celebrations took place in communities across the country, such as this one at Takoma Park, Maryland.
Sybil Bauer shattered a series of female swimming records on this day in 1922, swimming at Brighton Beach.
Bauer, who became engaged in college to future television host Ed Sullivan, went on to swim in the 1924 Olympics. The marriage did not take place, however, as she died at age 23 of cancer.
At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Marines reenacted the pivotal day of the battle.
Saturday weekly's were predictably patriotic on this July 1 Saturday of 1922.
The Saturday Evening Post went to press with what would have been a gender bending cover, women being an enduringly popular illustration topic then and now.
The Country Gentleman chose children as the theme, which they often did.
President Harding traveled to Gettysburg.
A group of Miners and Operators visited Harding at the White House.
Herbert Lord was sworn in as Director of the United States Agency of the Budget.
Lord had served in similar roles in the U.S. Army, from which he had just retired, and had proven very adept at it.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 commenced, with any major railroad strike being a national disaster at the time. It would run into August.
In Wexford, the IRA derailed a train, that somehow being a revolutionary act that made sense, somehow.
Construction commenced on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the first planned regional shopping center. It is still in operation.
It would be the last peacetime Independence Day in the US until 1946.
Vale Oregon held a large Independence Day celebration that year.
Vale is a small town in Eastern Oregon with a population of less than 2,000 people. In 1941 it had about 700 fewer people than it does now. It's the county seat, and the county presently has about 30,000 residents. It had about 20,000 then. The population of the county and the town have actually decreased slightly over the past decade.
I wonder if they still have a big 4th of July celebration. They do have a rodeo.
In another rural location, Hot Springs County Wyoming, a museum opened.
Franklin Roosevelt delivered a speech in which he warned that the country couldn't survive as an oasis of democracy in a desert of dictatorship.
In the United Kingdom, the British Communist Party, formerly against the war, decided it was for it.
Communist parties all over the globe had opposed their nations entering the war against Germany right up until Operation Barbarossa. They changed their minds at that point virtually overnight, making it fairly clear that they danced to the tune Moscow was calling.
In Yugoslavia Communist leader Tito called for a revolt against German occupation.
July 4, 1921, was a Monday, and a day of celebratory parades across the nation.
There were some protests too, including this protesting parade float from that day, protesting Prohibition.
Source: Reddit's 100 Years Ago Today Subreddit.
Walter Reed Hospital had a parade.
And in the Petworth District of Washington D. C. there was also a cebration.
Events in Vienna Virginia featured a horse race.
In Ireland, Eamon de Valera held a peace conference in Dublin. Various southern Unionist attended, but James Craig, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, refused as his invitation was wrongly addressed.
The U.S. Navy took stations off of Tampico in anticipation of rioting due to refineries being shut down as a result of the recent Mexican tariff on oil exports increase.
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