The Navy awarded a contract to Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the Curtiss A-1 Triad, the first U.S. Navy contract for an airplane.
China agreed to phase out production of opium in an agreement with the United Kingdom which in turn agreed to phase out export of the same drug from India.
Magonistas skirmished with Mexican Federal troops at Tijuana after the Federals refused a demand of surrender.
All but ten of the Magonista force was comprised of Americans or Europeans.
Germany warned France that occupation of the Moroccan city of Fes would be regarded as a violation of the agreement between the two nations.
Legendary and highly influential bluesman Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi.
Johnson was born illegitimately to Julia Major Dodds and Noah Johnson. She was married at the time to Charles Dodds, a semi prosperous landowner and furniture make with whom she had ten children. Charles Dodds relocated to Memphis when he was a baby to avoid lynching due to dispute with farmers and Julia took Robert to live with him, which he did for about eight years. He first attended school there. At some point the marriage fell apart, a person has to wonder if it was due to the illegitimate liaison, and the couple divorced. Julia remarried sharecropper Will "Dusty" Willis and Robert returned to his mother and to the Mississippi. Delta and he continued school there, although he may have returned to Memphis from time to time for school. He started using the last name Johnson when informed of his illegitimate birth.
Johnson took up being a bluesman early. His acquisition of guitar skills suddenly as a teenager lead to rumors that he'd sold his soul for the skill, but it's notable that he was under the tutelage of Son House at the time. He married fourteen year old Virginia Travis in 1929 and the couple lived on the farm of a half sister and her husband but the marriage did not last. He fathered a child with Vergie Mae Smith in 1931 and then in that same year married Caletta Craft. The child, Claud Johnson, would be rasied by his grandparents and be noted for his charity and religious devotion. Caletta would die in 1933, leaving Robert and two children by prior relationships.
By that time Johnson was a dedicated bluesman gaining a reputation as a very skilled artists, a friendly fellow, but extremely shy with stage fright. He had numerous romantic relationships with various women wherever he went. He was recorded in 1936 and 1937 and his first recording did well. He traveled very widely in the Eastern United States and was recognized as a major blues talent He died in 1938 under uncertain conditions with explanations ranging from congenital syphilis to being poisoned. News of his death traveled slowly and it is not actually known where he his buried. John Hammond tried to book him for a major concert in Carnegie Hall only to learn of his death, and Alan Lomax tried to record him as late as 1941.
In 1961, Columbia released King of the Delta Blues Singers, an lp I have, which had a major influence on the rock scene of the era. Rock musicians, including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Robert Plant and Johnny Winters were heavily influenced by him. Sweet Home Chicago and Crossroads have gone on to become blues and rock standards.
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