1913

Events from the year **1913 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: William Howard Taft (R-OH) (until March 4), Woodrow Wilson (D-NJ) (starting March 4)
* Vice President: *vacant* (until March 4), Thomas R. Marshall (D-IN) (starting March 4)
* Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White (LA)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Champ Clark (D-MO)
* Congress: 62nd (until March 4), 63rd (starting March 4)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Emmet O'Neal (Democratic)
* Governor of Arizona: George W. P. Hunt (Democratic)
* Governor of Arkansas:
	+ until January 16: George Washington Donaghey (Democratic)
	+ January 16-March 8: Joseph Taylor Robinson (Democratic)
	+ March 8-March 13: William K. Oldham (Democratic)
	+ March 13-August 6: Junius Marion Futrell (Democratic)
	+ starting August 6: George Washington Hays (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Hiram Johnson (Republican)
* Governor of Colorado: John F. Shafroth (Democratic) (until January 14), Elias M. Ammons (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Connecticut: Simeon E. Baldwin (Democratic)
* Governor of Delaware: Simeon S. Pennewill (Republican) (until January 21), Charles R. Miller (Republican) (starting January 21)
* Governor of Florida: Albert W. Gilchrist (Democratic) (until January 7), Park Trammell (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Georgia: Joseph M. Brown (Democratic) (until June 28), John M. Slaton (Democratic) (starting June 28)
* Governor of Idaho: James H. Hawley (Democratic) (until January 6), John M. Haines (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Illinois: Charles S. Deneen (Republican) (until February 3), Edward F. Dunne (Democratic) (starting February 3)
* Governor of Indiana: Thomas R. Marshall (Democratic) (until January 13), Samuel M. Ralston (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Iowa: Beryl F. Carroll (Republican) (until January 16), George W. Clarke (Republican) (starting January 16)
* Governor of Kansas: Walter R. Stubbs (Republican) (until January 13), George H. Hodges (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Kentucky: James B. McCreary (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Luther Egbert Hall (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Frederick W. Plaisted (Democratic) (until January 1), William T. Haines (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Maryland: Phillips Lee Goldsborough (Republican)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Eugene Noble Foss (Democratic)
* Governor of Michigan: Chase Osborn (Republican) (until January 1), Woodbridge N. Ferris (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Minnesota: Adolph O. Eberhart (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: Earl L. Brewer (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Herbert S. Hadley (Republican) (until January 13), Elliot Woolfolk Major (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Montana: Edwin L. Norris (Democratic) (until January 5), Sam V. Stewart (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Nebraska: Chester Hardy Aldrich (Republican) (until January 9), John H. Morehead (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Nevada: Tasker L. Oddie (Republican)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Robert P. Bass (Republican) (until January 2), Samuel D. Felker (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Governor of New Jersey:
	+ until March 1: Woodrow Wilson (Democratic)
	+ March 1-October 28: James Fairman Fielder (Democratic)
	+ starting October 28: Leon R. Taylor (Democratic)
* Governor of New Mexico: William C. McDonald (Democratic)
* Governor of New York: William Sulzer (Democratic) (until October 17); Martin H. Glynn (Democratic) (starting October 17)
* Governor of North Carolina: William Walton Kitchin (Democratic) (until January 15), Locke Craig (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Governor of North Dakota: John Burke (Democratic) (until January 8), L. B. Hanna (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Ohio: Judson Harmon (Democratic) (until January 13), James M. Cox (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Oklahoma: Lee Cruce (Democratic)
* Governor of Oregon: Oswald West (Democratic)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: John K. Tener (Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Aram J. Pothier (Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: Coleman Livingston Blease (Democratic)
* Governor of South Dakota: Robert S. Vessey (Republican) (until January 7), Frank M. Byrne (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Tennessee: Ben W. Hooper (Republican)
* Governor of Texas: Oscar Branch Colquitt (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: William Spry (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Allen M. Fletcher (Republican)
* Governor of Virginia: William Hodges Mann (Democratic) (until February 1), Henry Carter Stuart (Democratic) (starting February 1)
* Governor of Washington: Marion E. Hay (Republican) (until January 11), Ernest Lister (Democratic) (starting January 11)
* Governor of West Virginia: William E. Glasscock (Republican) (until March 14), Henry D. Hatfield (Republican) (starting March 14)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Francis E. McGovern (Republican)
* Governor of Wyoming: Joseph M. Carey (Democratic)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Walter D. Seed Sr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: A. J. Wallace (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Stephen R. Fitzgarrald (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Dennis A. Blakeslee (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Lyman T. Tingier (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: John M. Mendinhall (Republican) (until January 21), Colen Ferguson (Democratic) (starting January 21)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Lewis H. Sweetser (Republican) (until January 6), Herman H. Taylor (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: John G. Oglesby (Republican) (until February 3), Barratt O'Hara (Democratic) (starting February 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Frank J. Hall (Democratic) (until January 13), William P. O'Neill (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: George W. Clarke (Republican) (until January 16), William L. Harding (Republican) (starting January 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Richard Joseph Hopkins (Republican) (until January 13), Sheffield Ingalls (Republican) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Edward J. McDermott (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Thomas C. Barret (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Robert Luce (Republican) (until month and day unknown), David I. Walsh (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: John Q. Ross (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Samuel Y. Gordon (Republican) (until January 7), Joseph A. A. Burnquist (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Jacob Friedrich Gmelich (Republican) (until January 13), William Rock Painter (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: William R. Allen (Republican) (until month and day unknown), W. W. McDowell (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: vacant (until January 9), Samuel R. McKelvie (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Gilbert C. Ross (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Martin H. Glynn (Democratic) (until October 17), Robert F. Wagner (Democratic) (starting October 17)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: William C. Newland (Democratic) (until January 15), Elijah L. Daughtridge (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Usher L. Burdick (Republican) (until January 8), Anton T. Kraabel (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Hugh L. Nichols (Democratic) (until January 13), W. A. Greenlund (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: J. J. McAlester (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: John Merriman Reynolds (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Zenas Work Bliss (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Rosewell Burchard (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Charles Aurelius Smith (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Frank M. Byrne (Republican) (until January 8), Edward Lincoln Abel (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Nathaniel Baxter Jr. (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Newton H. White (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Asbury Bascom Davidson (Democratic) (until January 20), William Harding Mayes (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Frank E. Howe (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: James Taylor Ellyson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: vacant (until January 11), Louis Folwell Hart (Republican) (starting January 11)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Thomas Morris (Republican)

## Events

### January - March

* January 1 – The magazine *Vanity Fair* is relaunched in New York City by Condé Montrose Nast.
* February 1 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the world's largest train station.
* February 3 – The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income taxes.
* February 17 – The Armory Show opens in New York City. It displays the works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early twentieth century.
* March 3 – The Woman Suffrage Procession takes place in Washington, D.C., initiated and organized by Alice Paul and led by Inez Milholland on horseback.
* March 4
	+ Woodrow Wilson is sworn in as the 28th President of the United States, and Thomas R. Marshall is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
	+ The U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Labor are established by splitting the duties of the 10-year-old Department of Commerce and Labor. The Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey form part of the Department of Commerce.
	+ The first U.S. law regulating the shooting of migratory birds is passed.
* March 7 – The British freighter *Alum Chine*, carrying 343 tons of dynamite, explodes in Baltimore harbor.
* March 13 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa returns to Mexico from his self-imposed exile in the United States.
* March 25 – Great Dayton Flood: Four days of rain in the Miami Valley flood the region and mark the worst natural disaster in Ohio's recorded history, killing over 360 people and destroying 20,000 homes, chiefly in Dayton.

### April - June

* April 5 – The United States Soccer Federation is formed.
* April 8 – The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, dictating the direct election of senators.
* April 24 – The Woolworth Building opens in New York City. Designed by Cass Gilbert, it is the tallest building in the world at this date and for more than a decade after.
* April 26 – Mary Phagan is raped and strangled on the premises of the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta. Leo Frank is tried and convicted for the crime.
* May 1 – The Sherwood Hotel opens in Greene, NY.
* May 2 – The Paul Émile Chabas painting *September Morn* provokes a charge of indecency when displayed in the window of a Chicago art gallery.
* May 14 – New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
* June 13 – An International Railway trolley and passengers are buried under the contents of an overhead garbage chute that breaks in Niagara Falls, New York.
* June 15 – Battle of Bud Bagsak in the Philippines concludes with U.S. troops under General John J. Pershing taking Bug Bagsak from defending Moro rebels, killing at least 500.

### July - September

* July 3 – The 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg draws thousands of American Civil War veterans and their families to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
* July 10 – The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134 °F (~56.7 °C), the highest recorded in the U.S. (as of 2021).
* August 3 – Strike action by agricultural workers in Wheatland, California, degenerates into the "Wheatland hop riot", one of the first major farm labor confrontations in the state.
* September 8 – The largest commercial office building in the world opens in Saint Louis, Missouri, to great fanfare. The Railroad Exchange building houses 31 acres under one roof, and its central tenant, Famous-Barr Co., becomes the world's largest department store with over 1,500,000 square feet.
* September 19 – Francis Ouimet wins the U.S. Open golf championship by five strokes, becoming the first amateur to ever win the event.

### October - December

* October 3 – The United States Revenue Act of 1913 re-imposes the federal income tax and lowers basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%.
* October 7 – The Ford Motor Company starts production of the Model T on the assembly line in Detroit.
* October 10 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, ending construction on the Panama Canal.
* October 31
	+ Indianapolis Streetcar Strike of 1913: Public transport employees in Indianapolis go on strike, shutting down mass transit in the city and sparking riots when strikebreakers attempt to restart services.
	+ The Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across the United States, is dedicated.
* November 7 – The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 begins kills more than 250.
* November 10 – The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 ends.
* November 26 – Phi Sigma Sigma, the first non-sectarian sorority, is founded at Hunter College in New York.
* December 1 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line, reducing chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes (although Ford is not the first to use an assembly line, his successful adoption of one sparks an era of mass production).
* December 21 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the *New York World*.
* December 23 – The Federal Reserve is created by Woodrow Wilson.
* December 24 – Italian Hall disaster: 73 people are killed in a stampede at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan (59 of them children) during a party for over 400 miners and their families involved in the Copper Country strike of 1913–14.

## Memoriam

* January 16 – Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, aeronaut, scientist and inventor (aged 80; Pasadena, CA, USA)
* January 30 – James Henderson Berry, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1885 to 1907 (aged 71; Bentonville, AR, USA)
* February 13 – Charles Major, novelist (aged 56; Shelbyville, IN, USA)
* February 14 – Stewart L. Woodford, attorney and politician (aged 77; New York City, NY, USA)
* February 17 – Joaquin Miller, "Poet of the Sierras" (aged 75; Oakland, CA, USA)
* March 10 – Harriet Tubman, African-American abolitionist, humanitarian and Civil War Union spy (aged 91; Auburn, NY, USA)
* March 11 – John Shaw Billings, military and medical leader (aged 74; New York City, NY, USA)
* March 31 – J. P. Morgan, financier and banker (aged 75; Rome, Italy)
* May 1 – John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (aged 63; Armstrong, TX, USA)
* May 8 – Frank O. Briggs, U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1907 to 1913 (aged 61; Trenton, NJ, USA)
* June 1 – Thomas W. Palmer, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1883 to 1889 (aged 83; Detroit, MI, USA)
* June 5 – Chris von der Ahe, brewer and baseball owner (aged 61; St. Louis, MO, USA)
* June 19 – Thomas M. Norwood, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1871 to 1877 (aged 83; Savannah, GA, USA)
* July 3 – Horatio Nelson Young, Civil War Union naval hero (aged 67; St. Stephen, NB, Canada)
* July 13 – Edward Burd Grubb Jr., Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General (aged 71; Newark, NJ, USA)
* August 3
	+ Alpheus Michael Bowman, politician and businessman (aged 66; Salem, VA, USA)
	+ Josephine Cochrane, inventor of the first commercially successful dishwasher (aged 74; Chicago, IL, USA)
* August 5 – Samuel Williams, politician (aged 62; Vincennes, IN, USA)
* August 7 – Samuel Franklin Cody, aviation pioneer, dies in aircraft accident in England (aged 46; Farnborough, England, UK)
* August 8 – Joseph F. Johnston, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1907 to 1913 (aged 70; Washington, DC, USA)
* August 12 – U. M. Rose, Arkansas lawyer (aged 79; Little Rock, AR, USA)
* September 3 – John Martin, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1893 to 1895 (aged 79; Topeka, KS, USA)
* October 16 – Ralph Rose, field athlete (aged 28; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* October 24 – Cornelia Cole Fairbanks, Second Lady of the United States (aged 61; Indianapolis, IN, USA)
* November 20 – Helen Appo Cook, African American community activist (aged 76; Washington, DC, USA)
* November 28 – George B. Post, architect (aged 75; Bernardsville, NJ, USA)
* December 7 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, businessman, inventor of mail order (aged 70; Highland Park, IL, USA)
* December 19 – Gustav Oelwein, founder of Oelwein, Iowa (aged 75; Oelwein, IA, USA)
* December 25 – Letitia Stevenson, Second Lady of the United States (aged 70; Bloomington, IL, USA)