Events 1 - 200 of 392
- Jan 1 1st scheduled airline flight, St Petersburg-Tampa (Tony Jannus pilot)
- Jan 1 Klaas ter Laan becomes The Netherlands 1st socialist mayor (Zaandam)
- Jan 1 Northern & Southern Nigeria united in British colony of Nigeria
- Jan 1 The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line becomes the world's first scheduled airline, covering the 18 mile distance 23 minutes. Service ceased after three months.
- Jan 2 Philips installs research department in Eindhoven
Ford's $5 Day
Jan 5 Industrialist Henry Ford announces his $5 minimum per-day wage, doubling most workers pay from $2.40 for a 9hr day to $5 for an 8hr day
- Jan 6 Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded
- Jan 10 1st edition of Hague's Post under SF van Oss, published
- Jan 10 Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen skates world 500m record in 43.7s in Oslo, Norway
- Jan 10 Yuan Shih-k'ai, president of the new Chinese republic, dissolves parliament and prepares a constitution of his own design: he will set himself up as dictator, preparatory to an attempt to make himself emperor
- Jan 13 Industrial Workers of the World leader and songwriter Joe Hill arrested for murder during a robbery
Gandhi-Smuts Agreement
Jan 14 The Gandhi-Smuts Agreement is reached between General Jan Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi, regarding voluntary registration, poll tax, recognition of Indian marriages and other matters in South Africa
Gorky's Russian Return
Jan 16 Writer Maxim Gorky returns to Russia from Capri after being granted an amnesty
"Der Bogen des Odysseus"
Jan 17 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Der Bogen des Odysseus" premieres in Berlin
- Jan 20 The first group of Transvaal Indian women satyagrahis are released from Pietermaritzburg Prison in South Africa after three months imprisonment
- Jan 22 Paul Claudel's play "L'échange" premieres in Paris
- Jan 24 Victor Herbert's second opera "Madeleine" premieres at the Metropolitan Opera, NYC, with Frances Alda in the title role
- Jan 25 An Indian mass meeting in Durban, South Africa unanimously endorses the agreement between General Jan Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi regarding voluntary registration, poll tax, recognition of Indian marriages and other matters
- Jan 26 600 Dutch textile workers go on strike
- Jan 26 Vatican puts Belgian Nobel winner Maeterlinck's works in their index
- Jan 27 A petition is written and submitted by the black and coloured women of the Orange Free State, an independent Boer sovereign republic in southern Africa, against the carrying of passes by women
- Jan 28 Beverly Hills, California, is incorporated
- Feb 1 Chicago White Sox and New York Giants play a 10-inning, 3-3 tie in Cairo, Egypt in an exhibition MLB game; part of special 56-game world tour
- Feb 1 Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] censors appointed
- Feb 1 Tanganyika Railway opens
- Feb 2 James Royce Shannon's musical "Shameen Dhu" premieres in NYC
- Feb 4 US Congress approves Burnett-anti-immigration law
The Tramp
Feb 7 Charlie Chaplin debuts silent film character The Tramp in "Kid Auto Races at Venice"
- Feb 7 Steel work completed on Exposition (Civic) Auditorium, San Francisco
- Feb 8 General Zamon becomes President of Haiti
- Feb 10 In accordance with the understanding reached by General Jan Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi, 60 passive resistance prisoners are released from Pietermaritzburg Prison; 40 passive resisters released in Durban, 8 in Newcastle, 11 in Port Elizabeth
The Squaw Man
Feb 12 "The Squaw Man", 1st feature-length film shot in Hollywood, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar Apfel, is released in the US
Lincoln Memorial Dedicated
Feb 12 Dedication ceremony for the about to be constructed Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
No Babies Please!
Feb 19 Four-year old Charlotte May Pierstorff mailed by train from Grangeville, Idaho to her grandparents’ house 73 miles away in most famous 'child in the post' instance
- Feb 19 Riccardo Zandonai's opera "Francesco da Rimini" premieres in Turin
- Feb 21 Bai Lang ("White Wolf") troops attack Zhanjiang, China
- Feb 21 In a secret meeting of civil and military leaders, Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov convinces them to support a plan for seizing the straits, controlled by Turkey, that block access to the Mediterranean
- Feb 24 Frank Craven's "Too Many Cooks" premieres in NYC
- Feb 26 HMHS Britannic, sister to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast
- Feb 26 New York Museum of Science & Industry incorporated
- Feb 28 Construction begins on Tower of Jewels for the San Francisco Exposition
- Mar 1 Dutch Minister of War Hendrikus Colijn named director of British Petroleum
- Mar 1 The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
- Mar 7 Prince Wilhelm von Wied becomes King of Albania
- Mar 9 Hendrikus Colijn appointed as director of Bataafsche Petroleum Co
Cubanization of Mexico
Mar 9 US Senator Albert B. Fall demands the "Cubanization of Mexico"
- Mar 10 Suffragettes in London damage Rokeby's painting Venus of Velasquez
The Dead
Mar 11 Rupert Brooke's poems "The Dead" and "The Soldier" are published in The Times Literary Supplement
- Mar 14 Serbia & Turkey sign peace treaty
- Mar 18 White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen, China
- Mar 19 Stanley Cup, Arena Gardens, Toronto ON: Toronto HC (NHA) defeat Victoria Aristocrats (PCHA), 2-1 for a 3-0 series sweep; final series of the "challenge" era
- Mar 20 1st international figure-skating tournament held in US, New Haven
- Mar 27 First successful non-direct blood transfusion is performed by Dr. Albert Hustin in Brussels
- Apr 4 Film serial "Perils of Pauline" shown for the first time in Los Angeles, California
- Apr 6 American Radio Relay League (organization for hams) founded
- Apr 8 US & Colombia sign a treaty concerning Panama Canal Zone
- Apr 9 "World, the Flesh & the Devil", 1st color film, shown in London
- Apr 9 Tampico incident - US ship crew arrested in Mexico
US Refuses to Recognize Huerta
Apr 9 US President Woodrow Wilson refuses to recognize Victoriano Huerta as President of Mexico on the ground that the dictator has not been elected by the people
Huerta Breaks with US
Apr 11 Mexican President Victoriano Huerta breaks off diplomatic relations with the US
- Apr 20 Ludlow Massacre: Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) security team and Colorado National Guard soldiers kill 21 workers, women and children during mine strike in Ludlow, Colorado
- Apr 20 US President W Wilson, having dispatched more naval ships to Mexico, asks a joint session of Congress to approve armed force if necessary; Congress approves
- Apr 21 US marines occupy Vera Cruz, a major Mexican port; they will stay for 6 months
- Apr 23 MLB Chicago Federals host the Kansas City Packers in the 1st game played at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field)
- Apr 24 A shipment of 35,000 rifles and 5 million rounds of ammunition are landed at Larne for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland
- Apr 25 US President Woodrow Wilson is persuaded by Argentina, Brazil, and Chile to accept mediation in the conflict with Mexico
- Apr 27 Honduras becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
- Apr 28 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles, West Virginia
Dictator Yuan Shikai
May 1 Yuan Shikai's cabinet replaces China's provisional constitution with a constitutional compact granting the President dictatorial powers over China's military, finances, foreign policy, and the rights of Chinese citizens
- May 6 British House of Lords rejects women's suffrage
- May 7 US Congress establishes Mother's Day
- May 9 J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.
- May 9 US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother's Day
- May 14 Chic Jim Scott no-hits Cleve, gives up 2 hits in 10th & loses 1-0
- May 15 Bolivia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- May 15 Henri Rabaud's opera "Marouf, savetier de Caire" premieres in Paris
- May 15 US Colonel Edward House sails for Europe to persuade major powers to reduce armies and navies; from Germany, House reports: 'Everybody's nerves are tense; it only needs a spark to set the whole thing off'
- May 16 American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City
- May 16 Ewing Field baseball park opens near Masonic Street, San Francisco. Relocated a year later.
- May 21 Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota
- May 23 Dutch socialist Henk Sneevliet co-founds The Indies Social Democratic Association (Communist Party) in Dutch Indonesia
- May 25 British House of Commons passes the Irish Home Rule Bill
- May 29 Norwegian ship Storstad collides with Canadian ship Empress of Ireland on St Lawrence River; 1,024 die
- May 30 The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
- May 31 Chicago White Sox Joe Benz no-hits Cleveland Indians, 6-1
- Jun 2 Glenn Curtiss flies his Langley Aerodrome
- Jun 6 1st air flight out of sight of land (Scotland to Norway)
- Jun 8 34.7°F (1.5°C) in De Bilt, Netherlands
Wagner 2nd to 3,000
Jun 9 Pittsburgh Pirate baseball shortstop Honus Wagner is 2nd player to get 3,000 hits
Plan to Annex Islands
Jun 13 Eleftherios Venizelos announces that Greece intends to annex Chios and Mytilene, two large islands off the Turkish coast; Greece and Turkey have been heading towards conflict for months over claims to Aegean islands
- Jun 19 Hillcrest Mine Disaster: explosion at Hillcrest mine, Alberta, kills 189 men in Canada's worst mining disaster [1]
- Jun 23 Battle of Zacatecas: Pancho Villa's División del Norte attacks and takes the strategic city of Zacatecas, held by President Victoriano Huerta's Constitutionalist forces
- Jun 24 King Peter I of Serbia names son Alexander the Prince-regent
- Jun 26 The Indian Relief Act, passes after a protracted period of Passive Resistance led by Gandhi; it abolishes a £3 tax imposed on Indians who had not renewed their indentures and recognizes "the validity of Indian customary marriages"
Johnson vs Moran
Jun 27 Defending champion Jack Johnson beats fellow American Frank Moran on points in 20 rounds in Paris, France to retain his lineal heavyweight boxing title
- Jun 27 US signs treaty of commerce with Ethiopia
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Jun 28 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated by Bosnian-Serb assassin Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, setting off a chain of alliances and events that lead to World War I
Attempt to Assassinate Rasputin
Jun 29 Jina Guseva attempts to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia
- Jun 30 Mahatma Gandhi's 1st arrest after campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa
Free State National Party
Jul 1 General J. B. M. Hertzog founds the Free State National Party
- Jul 5 Germany offers Austria war aid to fight against Russia in Serbia
Babe Ruth's Almost Trade
Jul 7 Baltimore Orioles owner Jack Dunn offers future baseball legend Babe Ruth, Ernie Shore & Ben Egan for $10k to Connie Mack (Philadelphia A's); refuses pleading lack of finance
- Jul 9 1st US duplicate auction bridge championship held, Lake Placid, NY
- Jul 9 Boston Red Sox purchase future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth's contract from minor league Baltimore Orioles
- Jul 11 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth makes his MLB debut as a pitcher for Boston Red Sox; earns 4-3 win against the Cleveland Naps at Fenway Park
Liquid-Fueled Rocket Patented
Jul 14 American engineer Robert Goddard is granted the first patent for liquid-fueled rocket design
- Jul 14 Rolex receives the first wristwatch Class 'A' certificate from Kew Observatory
- Jul 15 Mexican President Victoriano Huerta flees with 2 million pesos to Europe
- Jul 16 Socialist conference in Brussels (Kautsky, Trotski & Rosa Luxemburg)
- Jul 18 Gandhi leaves South Africa after successfully leading campaigns of Passive Resistance
- Jul 18 US army air service 1st comes into being, in Signal Corps
- Jul 19 Boston Braves begin drive from last to the NL pennant with a 3-2 win against the 2nd placed Cincinnati Reds
- Jul 20 Armed resistance against British rule begins in Ulster
- Jul 23 Austria-Hungary presents an ultimatum to Serbia; demanding acceptance within 48 hours making peacekeeping difficult
- Jul 25 Germany Socialist-Democrat Party declares: "No German blood for Austrian tyrant" in response to German support of Austria-Hungary
W. G. Grace Retires
Jul 25 Last day of club cricket for English legend W. G. Grace at age 66: makes unbeaten 69 runs for Eltham against Grove Park
- Jul 25 Serbia meets the deadlines of Austria-Hungary's ultimatum and gives a conciliatory reply, though Serbia is mobilizing
- Jul 26 Britain attempts to organize a conference among major European powers to resolve dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia; France, Italy, and eventually Russia agree to participate. but Germany refuses
Churchill Orders British Fleet Ready
Jul 26 First Lord of the Admiralty (British Minister of Navy) Winston Churchill orders British fleet to remain in state of readiness as threat of war in Europe grows
- Jul 26 Irish Volunteers unload a shipment of 1,500 rifles and 45,000 rounds of ammunition arrive from Germany aboard Erskine Childers' yacht the Asgard; British troops fire on jeering crowd on Bachelors Walk, Dublin, killing three citizens
- Jul 27 Felix Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo with the Filipino government.
- Jul 27 Roda JC soccer team forms in Kerkrade
- Jul 28 Austria-Hungary decides against mediation and declares war on Serbia - first declaration of war of WWI
- Jul 28 First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill orders British Grand Fleet to Scapa Flow
- Jul 28 Foxtrot 1st danced at New Amsterdam Roof Garden, in NYC, by Harry Fox
- Jul 29 1st transcontinental phone link made between New York City and San Francisco
- Jul 29 Austrian-Hungary bombs Belgrade
- Jul 29 British fleet leaves Portland/passes Straits of Dover
- Jul 29 In response to Austria's declaration of war on Serbia, Russian diplomats and general urge general mobilization, but the Tsar calls for partial mobilization
General Mobilization
Jul 30 After initial reluctance, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia is persuaded to decree a general mobilization in response to Austria-Hungary's mobilization a few days earlier; 'Think of the thousands and thousands of men who will be sent to their deaths!' he claims
- Jul 30 French troops withdraw 10 km from German border
John French Takes Command
Jul 30 John French appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force
Wilhelm II's War Threat
Jul 31 German Emperor Wilhelm II threatens war, orders Russia to demobilize
- Jul 31 Oil discovered in Lake Maracaibo, northwestern Venezuela - the largest lake in South America
- Aug 1 British Grand Fleet reaches Scapa Flow
- Aug 1 Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany declares war on his nephew Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in WWI
- Aug 1 France and Germany mobilize their troops at outbreak of WWI
Universal Negro Improvement Assoc.
Aug 1 Marcus Garvey and others found the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica with aim of creating black-governed nation in Africa
- Aug 1 Trois Vierges: German 69th infantry regiment enters Luxembourg on outbreak of WWI
- Aug 2 Belgian government receives German ultimatum
- Aug 2 German press falsely reports that French have bombed Nuremberg
- Aug 2 German troops overthrow Luxembourg
- Aug 2 Germany and Turkey sign secret treaty of alliance
- Aug 2 Great Britain mobilizes
- Aug 2 Postdam Conference ends
- Aug 2 WWI: Russian troops invade East Prussia
- Aug 3 1st unofficial trip through the Panama Canal by the SS Christobel
- Aug 3 Belgium rejects demand to allow free crossing for German Army leading to their invasion hours later
Edward Grey's Famous Remark
Aug 3 British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey famously remarks "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our life-time."
- Aug 3 French fleet sails to North Africa
- Aug 3 German battle cruiser Goeben leaves Messina
- Aug 3 Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I
- Aug 3 NY Yankees catcher Les Nunamaker throws out 3 Tigers' runners to 2nd base during the 1st innings, only time in 20th Century
- Aug 3 World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through Churches forms
- Aug 4 German fleet under Admiral Wilhelm Souchon fire on the Algerian coast
- Aug 4 US declares neutrality on the outbreak of WWI
- Aug 4 WWI: German army shoots Belgian priests and burns down village of Battice
- Aug 4 WWI: Germany declares war on Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany
- Aug 4 WWI: King Albert I becomes Supreme Commander of Belgian army after German declaration of war
- Aug 5 1st electric traffic light installed in the USA on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio
Battle of Liège
Aug 5 Battle of Liège: first battle of WWI, massive German assault on forts around Belgium city of Liège led by Erich Ludendorff
- Aug 5 Cuba, Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina proclaim neutrality in WW I
- Aug 5 Dutch Cort Van de Linden government issues silver bonds as money
- Aug 5 Montenegro declares war against Austria-Hungary in World War I
- Aug 5 US and Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US
- Aug 5 Westerschelde leaves due to German invasion in Belgium
War Secretary Lord Kitchener
Aug 5 WWI: Field Marshal Lord Kitchener appointed Secretary of War after British declaration of war on Germany
- Aug 6 Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I
- Aug 6 WWI: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
- Aug 6 WWI: French cavalry enters Belgium
- Aug 6 WWI: German Zeppelin bombs Liege, 9 killed
- Aug 6 WWI: Serbia declares war against Germany
- Aug 7 Engagement between British cruiser HMS Gloucester and German cruisers SMS Breslau and SMS Goeben off Greece
- Aug 7 French government awards King Albert of Belgium the Great Cross
- Aug 7 French troops under Gen Bonneau occupy Altkitrch at Elzas
- Aug 7 German army occupies city of Liege, Belgium
- Aug 7 Russia invades East Prussia
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Aug 8 Ernest Shackleton's ship "Endurance" leaves Plymouth, England, on the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
- Aug 8 French troops under Gen Bonneau occupy Mulhouse at Elzas
- Aug 8 Montenegro declares war on Germany
- Aug 9 German U-15 was sunk by the British cruiser, H.M.S. Birmingham
- Aug 10 At Liege, German 12"/16.5" guns reach Belgian boundary
- Aug 10 German battle cruiser Goeben reaches Dardanellen/Turkey joins Germany
- Aug 10 German troops reconquer Mulhouse in Elzas
- Aug 10 WWI: French fall back at Alsace
- Aug 11 Jews are expelled from Mitchenick, Poland
- Aug 11 John Bray patents animation
- Aug 12 Cavalry battle at Halen, Belgium ("Battle of the Silver Helmets")
- Aug 12 France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary
- Aug 12 German 16.5"/12" guns fires on forts round Liege
- Aug 12 WWI: Russian troops take East Prussia and occupy Marggrabowa
- Aug 13 -14] German army occupies forts at Liege
- Aug 13 Carl Wickman begins Greyhound, the 1st US bus line, in Minnesota
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