- Aug 1 British Grand Fleet reaches Scapa Flow
Germany Declares War on Russia
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
Why The World Went To War in 1914
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
British Expeditionary Force Lands
Aug 14 British Expeditionary Force led by Field Marshal John French and General Henry Wilson lands in France
Battle of Dinant
Aug 15 Dinant, Belgium, destroyed by German bombs. Lt Charles de Gaulle (24), injured
International Lawn Tennis Challenge
Aug 15 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, New York: Norman Brookes beats American Dick Norris Williams 6-1, 6-2, 8-10, 6-3 to give Australasia unassailable 3-1 lead; win 3-2
- Aug 15 Japan joins the side of the allies
- Aug 15 Panama Canal opens (under cost) with the SS Ancon making the 1st official steamship through the canal
Taliesian Massacre
Aug 15 Taliesian Massacre (Spring Green, Wisconsin): Julian Carlton, a disgruntled employee, kills architect Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress Martha Borthwick, her 2 children, and 4 others with a hatchet and burns the architect's home to the ground while Wright is away on business
- Aug 15 The first large public gathering of Boers in South Africa who do not want to support Britain in a war against Germany; British authorities will try to repress this movement, but discontent spreads
US Neutrality
Aug 15 US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, in a letter to J P Morgan, Jr., declares that loans to any of the belligerents go against US neutrality
- Aug 16 German army occupies last fort at Liege, Belgian general Leman caught
- Aug 16 World War I: Battle of Cer begins.
- Aug 16 Zapata & Pancho Villa over run Mexico
- Aug 17 French troops under General de Castelnau occupy Chateau Salins
- Aug 18 -20] Belgian army withdraws to Antwerp
- Aug 18 French troops under general Dubail occupy Sarrebourg
- Aug 18 Swiss track and road bicycle racer Oscar Egg sets new hour world record of 44.247 km at the outdoor Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris; record stands until 1933
Proclamation of Neutrality
Aug 18 US President Woodrow Wilson issues "Proclamation of Neutrality"
On Trial
Aug 19 Elmer Rice's play "On Trial" premieres in NYC
- Aug 19 German army executes 150 Belgians by firing squad
- Aug 19 German fleet bombs the English coast
- Aug 19 Harris Theater (Candler, Coan & Harris) opens at 226 W 42nd St NYC
- Aug 19 In a message to the Senate, US President Woodrow Wilson urges the American people to be 'neutral in fact as well as name'
- Aug 20 Battle at Gumbinnen, East-Prussia: Russians beat Germans
- Aug 20 Battle at Morhange: German troops chase French, killing thousands
- Aug 20 Bavarian troops kill 50 inhabitants of Nomeny, France
- Aug 20 German army captured Brussels as the Belgian army retreated to Antwerp
- Aug 20 German General von Bulow executes 211 Belgians
- Aug 21 Belgium: German troops occupy Tamines
- Aug 21 French offensive in the Ardennen/Sambre
US Men's Golf Open
Aug 21 US Open Men's Golf, Midlothian CC: 21-year old Walter Hagen holds off amateur Chick Evans by 1 stroke to win the first of his 2 Open titles; first of 11 major championships
- Aug 22 1st encounter between British & German troops (in Belgium)
- Aug 22 Battle at Charleroi begins: Gen von Bulows troops beat French
- Aug 22 Battle in Ardennen: Neufchateau, Rossignal, Tintigny & Virton
- Aug 22 Canada's Finance Act, 1914, receives assent
- Aug 22 General Martos' troops occupy Soldau/Neidenburg, East Prussia
- Aug 22 German troops execute 384 inhabitants of Tamines, Belgium
Hindenburg Commands Eastern Front
Aug 22 WW1: Paul von Hindenburg named commander of the German Eighth Army on the Eastern Front against Russia, Erich Ludendorff his Chief of Staff
- Aug 23 -24] German troops plunder Belgium
- Aug 23 Battle of Mons: General Alexander von Kluck's troops forced a British withdrawal.
- Aug 23 Gen von Hausen executes 612 inhabitants of Dinant, Belgium
- Aug 23 Japan declares war on Germany in World War I
- Aug 24 Battle of Bergen: Germans defeat Belgian/British troops
- Aug 24 German troops occupy Namur, Belgium
The Girl from Utah
Aug 24 Paul Rubens and Sidney Green's musical (with additional songs by Jerome Kern and Herbert Reynolds) "The Girl from Utah" premieres at the Knickerbocker Theatre, NYC
- Aug 25 -26] Belgian offensive at Antwerp
- Aug 25 German troops in occupied Belgium begin the 6 week "Sack of Louvain," destroying historical buildings and killing hundreds of civilians
- Aug 25 German troops march into France and push French army to the Sedan
- Aug 25 German Zeppelins bomb Antwerp, Belgium, 10 die
- Aug 26 -9/10] Russian army attacks Austrian army in Galicia
- Aug 26 Battle of Tannenberg begins (WWI): 8th German army defeats Russian Second army
- Aug 27 Second day of Battle of Tannenberg (WWI): Germans bombard Usdau
- Aug 27 US war reporter Richard H Davis visits Leuven
- Aug 28 World War I: Battle of Helgoland Bight (North Sea); British fleet decisively beats Germans, nearly 800 die, and over 200 wounded
- Aug 28 World War I: British General John French orders civilian evacuation of Amiens, France as German forces push in from Belgium
- Aug 28 World War I: Third day of Battle of Tannenberg, near Allenstein, East Prussia (present-day Poland); violent German vs. Russian battles
- Aug 29 4th day of Battle of Tannenberg (WWI): Russian Second Army panics, General Martos caught
- Aug 29 Arizonian is 1st vessel to arrive in San Francisco via Panama Canal
- Aug 29 Battle of St Quentin: French counterattack under General Lanrezac
- Aug 29 New Zealand forces capture German Samoa
- Aug 30 1st German plane bombs Paris, 2 killed
- Aug 30 Battle of Tannenberg (WWI) in East Prussia ends in destruction of the Russian Second Army with 122,000-170,000 killed, injured or captured by the German 8th Army led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff
- Aug 31 24.8 cm rainfall at Bloomingdale, Michigan (state record)
- Aug 31 Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
- Aug 31 General von Kluck decides not to attack Paris
- Aug 31 German troops reconquer Soldau/Neidenburg East-Prussia
Admirals
Aviators
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Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists