June 7, 1929: Vatican City becomes a sovereign nationJune 5, 1929: Ramsay MacDonald becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a second timeJune 1, 1929: Sun Yat-sen interred in special mausoleum [1]
Eighteen nations signed a pact in London providing for uniform safety regulations of passenger ships at sea, including the requirement that ships carry enough lifeboats for all passengers.[3][4]
The Young Brothers shot and killed Town Marshal Mark Seworth Noe of the Republic, Missouri Police Department. They would kill six more law enforcement officers in the Young Brothers massacre on January 2, 1932.[5]
In a written letter, Pope Pius XI criticized recent statements by Benito Mussolini as "heretical, modernistic, ponderously erudite, full of errors and inexact." The pope was particularly angered by a statement in which Mussolini said that Christianity gained its worldwide influence by attaching itself to the pagan Roman Empire.[7]
The Young Plan report was submitted to all governments concerned.[10]
During the Loray Mill StrikeinGastonia, North Carolina, 150 workers marched to the mill to call out the night shift, but were dispersed by police. Later that night, police confronted the nearby tent city and ordered its guards to hand over their weapons, causing another fight to break out. Chief of Police Orville Frank Aderholt was killed and several wounded.[11][12]
Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald made his first radio address to the British public, saying that international disarmament was a matter of "overshadowing importance" and stressing the need for dialogue with foreign powers.[3][13]
Pope Pius XI promulgated 21 articles laying out the basic laws of Vatican City. The laws gave extensive powers to the pope that were transferred to the College of Cardinals during times when the papacy was vacant.[17]
Prince Charles of Belgium was fined 100 francs for failing to vote in provincial elections the previous day, in violation of the country's compulsory voting law.[18]
Ten German communists were sentenced to prison terms of three to twelve months for their participation in the Berlin May Day riots; three defendants were acquitted.[20]
Born:Anne Frank, whose book The Diary of Anne Frank brought her worldwide fame after her death in a Nazi concentration camp; in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1945)
Soviet troops crossed the Chinese border in retaliation for raids on Soviet consulates.[3]
Ohio State University professor of veterinary medicineJames H. Snook killed a student with whom he had been having an affair for the past three years. The sensational murder trial that followed would become the subject of national media attention.[22]
Johnny Salo, a Finnish-born police officer from Passaic, New Jersey, won the second Trans-American Footrace from New York City to Los Angeles by just 2 minutes and 47 seconds, claiming a $25,000 prize. The race began on March 31 and covered 3,635 miles.[23]
Gibraltar switched to driving on the right side of the road rather than the left, with the change going into effect at 5:00 in the morning.
A brawl broke out in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies during a debate over the recent dismissal of government employees. Deputies hurled inkwells and other objects, and two agreed to a pistol duel the next day.[30]
The Mexican government made peace with the Vatican, signing an accord in which Mexico agreed to revise its anti-clerical policies to allow churches to reopen while maintaining separation of church and state.[33]
In Italy, official census figures reported a population of 41,173,000 in 1928, an increase of 406,000 over the previous year. That increase in population was promoted by Benito Mussolini's government as a sign that his campaign to increase the Italian birth rate was succeeding.[40]
On the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany observed a day of mourning as government buildings flew their flags at half-mast, while Der Stahlhelm and other nationalist groups staged massive demonstrations.[43] A proclamation signed by President Paul von Hindenburg and the entire cabinet was published denouncing the treaty. Referring to Article 231, it stated that "Germany signed the treaty without acknowledging thereby that the German people were responsible for the war. This reproach haunts our people and disturbs mutual confidence among nations. We know we are expressing the unanimous views of the Germans in casting from us the charge that Germany was solely to blame for the war, and are expressing their firm confidence in the idea that the future belongs to real peace resting not on the dictates of force, but on agreements and honest understandings among free and equal nations."[44]
At 12:00 a.m., Town Sergeant Harry Valentine Smeeman of the Ashland, Virginia Police Department was shot and killed on duty. Of the two suspects identified by the investigation, one was acquitted and the other was never found.[45]
Ramón Franco and three companions, missing for a week, were found alive floating off the Azores by a British plane.[35]
