1914

1914 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar	1914; MCMXIV
Ab urbe condita	2667
Armenian calendar	1363; ԹՎ ՌՅԿԳ
Assyrian calendar	6664
Bahá'í calendar	70–71
Bengali calendar	1321
Berber calendar	2864
British Regnal year	3 Geo. 5 – 4 Geo. 5
Buddhist calendar	2458
Burmese calendar	1276
Byzantine calendar	7422–7423
Chinese calendar	癸丑年十二月初六日; (4550/4610-12-6) — to — 甲寅年十一月十五日; (4551/4611-11-15)
Coptic calendar	1630–1631
Ethiopian calendar	1906–1907
Hebrew calendar	5674–5675
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1970–1971
- Shaka Samvat	1836–1837
- Kali Yuga	5015–5016
Holocene calendar	11914
Iranian calendar	1292–1293
Islamic calendar	1332–1333
Japanese calendar	Taishō 3; (大正3年)
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4247
Minguo calendar	ROC 3; 民國3年
Thai solar calendar	2457
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Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s – 1910s – 1920s 1930s 1940s
Years:	1911 1912 1913 – 1914 – 1915 1916 1917

This article is about the year 1914. For the board game, see 1914 (game).

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Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) in the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. It was the year that saw the beginning of what became known as World War I.

[edit] Events

[edit] January

January – Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, disappears while traveling with Pancho Villa, documenting the Mexican Civil War, and is never seen again.
January 5 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
January 9 – The Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
January 10 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa's troops take Ojinaga in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

[edit] February

February 2 – Charles Chaplin makes his film debut in the comedy short Making a Living.
February 10 – Release of the film Hearts Adrift; the name of Mary Pickford, the star, is displayed above the title on movie marquees.
February 11 – Clarence Mackay, president of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and his wife Katherine are granted a divorce in Paris, France.
February 13 – Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
February 26 – The Britannic, sister to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff Shipyards in Belfast.

[edit] March

March 1 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
March 7 – Prince William of Wied arrives in Albania to begin his reign.
March 10 – Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velázquez' painting Rokeby Venus in London's National Gallery with a meat chopper.
March 16 – Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux, murders Gaston Calmette, editor of Le Figaro, fearing publication of letters showing she and Caillaux were romantically involved during his first marriage. (She is later acquitted).
March 25 – The Greek multisport club Aris Thessaloniki is founded.
March 27 – Belgian surgeon Albert Hustin makes the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.
March 29 – Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive in Easter Island to make the first true study of it (they depart August 1915)

[edit] April

April 6 – The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is begun in Hartford, CT by Hiram Maxim and Clarence Tuska.
April 9 – The Tampico Affair results in the occupation of the Mexican port city of Veracruz for over 6 months.
April 11
- Alpha Rho Chi, a professional architecture fraternity, is founded in the Hotel Sherman in Chicago.
- Canadian Margaret C. MacDonald is appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing service band and becomes the first woman in the British Empire to reach the rank of major.
April 14 – The city of Irving, Texas is incorporated.
April 14–April 18 – First International Criminal Police Congress held in Monaco.
April 20 – Colorado coalfield Massacre or Ludlow Massacre: The Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 24 people.
April 21 – 3,000 U.S. Marines land in Vera Cruz, Mexico.

[edit] May

May 9 – J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets.
May 14 – Woodrow Wilson signs a Mother's Day proclamation.
May 24 – PFC Levski Sofia is founded at 1st men's school in Sofia (today 22nd gymnasium)
May 25 – The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
May 29 – The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,012 lives are lost.
May 30 – The ocean liner RMS Aquitania makes her maiden voyage.

[edit] June

June 1 – Woodrow Wilson's envoy Edward Mandell House meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II.
June 18 – Mexican Revolution: The Constitutionals take San Luis Potosí; Venustiano Carranza demands Victoriano Huerta's surrender.
June 23 – After it had been closed so that it could be deepened, the Kiel Canal is reopened by the Kaiser; the British Fleet under Sir G. Warrender visits; the Kaiser inspects the dreadnought HMS King George V.
June 24 – In Manchester NH, a downtown fire causes $400,000 damage and injures 19 firemen.
June 28 – Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinates Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Duchess Sophie, in Sarajevo.
June 29
- Austria-Hungary: The Secretary of the Legation at Belgrade sends a dispatch to Vienna suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo. Anti-Serb riots erupt in Sarajevo and throughout Bosnia generally.
- Chionya Gusyeva attempts and fails to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.
June 30 – Among those addressing the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the murdered Archduke are Lords Crewe and Lansdowne in the House of Lords and Messrs Asquith and Law in the Commons.

[edit] July

The central temple of the Iglesia ni Cristo.

July 2 – The German Kaiser announces that he will not attend the Archduke's funeral.
July 4 – The Archduke's funeral takes place at Artstetten (50 miles west of Vienna), Austria-Hungary.
July 5 – A council is held at Potsdam.
July 6 – The German Kaiser leaves Kiel for a cruise in northern German waters.
July 7 – Austria-Hungary convenes a Council of Ministers, including Ministers for Foreign Affairs and War, the Chief of the General Staff and Naval Commander-in-Chief; the Council lasts from 11.30 a.m. to 6.15 p.m.
July 9
- The House of Lords completes the recasting of the Amendment Bill.
- The Emperor of Austria-Hungary receives the report of Austro-Hungarian investigation into the Sarajevo crime. The Times publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
July 10 – Mr. Hartwig, Russian Minister to Serbia, dies suddenly at the Austrian Legation in Belgrade.
July 11 – Baseball legend Babe Ruth makes his major league debut with the Red Sox.
July 12 – Demonstrations in Ulster suggest civil war.
July 12 – U.S. Supreme Court justice Horace H. Lurton succumbs to a heart attack at age 70.
July 13 – Reports surface of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belgrade.
July 14 – The Government of Ireland Amending Bill is passed by the House of Lords.
July 15
- Mexican Revolution: Victoriano Huerta resigns the presidency of Mexico and leaves for Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
- Count István Tisza makes a statement in the Hungarian chamber regarding relations with Serbia: "They must be cleared up."
July 18
- The Signal Corps of the United States Army is formed, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.
- The British Fleet at Spithead is reviewed by the King.
July 19
- Austria-Hungary – A press scare concerning an alleged "Greater Serbia" conspiracy occurs.
- King George V of the United Kingdom summons a conference to discuss the Irish Home Rule problem.
July 23 – Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.
July 27 – Brother Felix Ysagun Manalo registered the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippine islands.
July 28
- Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and its army bombards Belgrade.
- Tsar Nicholas II of Russia orders a partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary.
July 29 – Russia orders full mobilization.
July 29 – In Massachusetts, the new Cape Cod Canal opens; it will shorten the trip between New York and Boston by 66 miles, but it also turns Cape Cod into an island.

[edit] August

August 1 – The First World War begins.
- Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica.
- Germany declares war on Russia, following Russia's military mobilization in support of Serbia; Germany also begins mobilization.
- France orders general mobilization.
- New York Stock Exchange closed due to war in Europe, where nearly all stock exchanges were already closed.
August 2
- German troops occupy Luxembourg in accordance with its Schlieffen Plan.
- A secret treaty between Turkey and Germany secures Turkish neutrality.
- At 7:00 pm (local time) Germany issues a 12-hour ultimatum to Belgium to allow German passage into France.
August 3
- Germany declares war on Russia's ally, France.
- At 7:00 am (local time) Belgium declines to accept Germany's ultimatum of August 2.
August 4 – German troops invade neutral Belgium at 8:02 am (local time). Britain declares war on Germany for this violation of Belgian neutrality. This move effectively means a declaration of war by the whole British Commonwealth and Empire against Germany. The United States declares neutrality.
August 5
- The German minelayer Königin Luise lays a minefield about 40 miles (64 km) off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion.
- Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- German zeppelins drop bombs on Liège, killing 9 civilians.
August 5 – 16 – Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians.
August 6 – Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
August 8
- German colonial forces execute Martin-Paul Samba for high treason.
- Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition leaves British waters.
August 12 – Battle of Haelen: Belgian troops repulse the Germans.
August 15
- The Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the steamship USS Ancon.
- Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza's troops under general Alvaro Obregon enter Mexico City.
- Edward Elgar's Sospiri, a moving adagio for strings and harp, is first performed in London.
August 16–August 19 – Battle of Cer: Serbian troops defeat the Austro-Hungarian armies, in the first Entente victory in World War I.
August 17–September 2 – World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg begins between German and Russian forces.
August 20 – World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
August 23 – Japan declares war on Germany.
August 26 – Founding date of the Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras.
August 26–August 27 – Battle of Le Cateau: British, French and Belgian forces make a successful tactical retreat from the German advance.
August 26–August 30 – The Russian Second Army is surrounded and defeated in the Battle of Tannenberg.
August 28 – Battle of Heligoland: British cruisers under Admiral Beatty sink 3 German cruisers.
August 29–August 30 – The Battle of St. Quentin: French forces hold back the German advance.
August 31 – Australia enters the First World War.

[edit] September

Pope Benedict XV, the new Pope

September 1
- St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd.
- The last known passenger pigeon "Martha" dies in the Cincinnati Zoo.
September 2 – Moronvilliers is occupied by the Germans.
September 3
- Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) succeeds Pope Pius X as the 258th pope.
- William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just 6 months due to opposition to his rule.
September 5
- London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.
- World War I – First Battle of the Marne: Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Maunoury attacks German forces nearing Paris. Over 2 million fight (500,000 killed/wounded) in the Allied victory.
September 6 – A French and British counterattack at the Marne ends the German advance on Paris.
September 8 – World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be excuted for desertion the during the great war
September 13 – South African troops open hostilities in German South-West Africa (today Namibia) with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.
September 13–September 28 – The First Battle of the Aisne ends indecisively.
September 17 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
September 26 – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
September 30 – The Flying Squadron is established to promote the temperance movement.

[edit] October

October 3 – World War I: 33,000 Canadian troops depart for Europe, the largest force to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean at the time.
October 7 – Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. marries Rose Fitzgerald in Boston.
October 9 – World War I – Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.
October 27 – World War I: The British super-dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious (23,400 tons), is sunk off Tory Island, north-west of Ireland, by a minefield laid by the armed German merchant-cruiser Berlin.
October 28 – World War I – Battle of Penang, Malaya: The German cruiser Emden sinks a Russian cruiser and French destroyer before escaping.
October 29 – World War I: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports; Russia, France, and Britain declare war on November 1–November 5.

[edit] November

November 1 – World War I – Battle of Coronel: A Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock is met and defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, in the first British naval defeat of the war, resulting in the loss of HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth.
November 4 – Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
November 5 – The United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
November 7 – The Japanese seize Jiaozhou Bay in China, the base of the German East Asia Squadron.
November 9 – World War I – Battle of Cocos: The German cruiser Emden is sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney.
November 16
- A year after being created by passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens for business.
- World War I – The Battle of Kolubara begins: Serbian forces engaged by Austro-Hungarian forces.
November 21 – In New Haven CT, the new Yale Bowl officially opens; Harvard defeats Yale 36-0 in the first football game held there.
November 23 – U.S. troops withdraw from Veracruz. Venustiano Carranza's troops take over and Carranza makes the town his headquarters.
November 24 – Benito Mussolini is expelled from the Italian Socialist Party.
November 28 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

[edit] December

December 5 – The Toronto Argonauts win their first Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium.
December 8 – Battle of the Falkland Islands, between Doveton Sturdee and Maximilian von Spee squadrons.
December 12 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opened, having been closed since 1 Aug 1914 except for bond trading.
December 15 – A gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine, Kyūshū, Japan, kills 687 (the worst coal mine disaster in Japanese history).
December 17 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (initially introduced by Francis Burton Harrison).
December 19 – The Battle of Kolubara ends, resulting in a decisive Serbian victory over Austria-Hungary.
December 24 – World War I:
- British and German soldiers interrupt World War I to celebrate Christmas, beginning the Christmas truce.
- German air raid on Dover, England.

[edit] Date unknown

Oxymorphone, a powerful narcotic analgesic closely related to morphine is first developed in Germany.
Blaise Diagne of Senegal becomes the first black African representative in the French parliament.
The first everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa to spearhead the Indian independence movement.
The capital of the Guangxi Province of China is moved from Guilin to Nanning.
The Port of Orange, Texas, is dredged for the fabrication of vessels for the United States Navy.
The United States Power Squadrons is formed.
Phi Sigma, a local undergraduate classical club, is founded by a group of students in the Greek Department at the University of Chicago.
Henry Ford sells 248,000 cars.
China declares its neutrality in World War I.