Directory

1914 CE

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip triggers the July Crisis, leading to the outbreak of World War I; The Serbian campaign begins as Austria-Hungary invades Serbia, facing fierce resistance; The Battle of Liège sees German forces delayed by Belgian defenders, disrupting the Schlieffen Plan; The Battle of Tannenberg results in a decisive German victory over the Russian Second Army on the Eastern Front; The Siege of Tsingtao marks Japan’s entry into the war as Allied forces capture the German port in China; The First Battle of the Marne halts the German advance into France, beginning the prolonged stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 29 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia dismisses his 4th Prime Minister, Vladimir Kokovtsov due to his "lack of control over the press", he is succeeded by Ivan Goremykin for his second termsource
  • February 28 – The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus is proclaimed by ethnic Greeks.source
  • May 17 – The Protocol of Corfu provides for the provinces of Korçë and Gjirokastër, constituting Northern Epirus, to be granted autonomy under the nominal sovereignty of Albania.source
  • May 25 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Government of Ireland Act 1914, the "Irish Home Rule Bill".source
  • June 1 – Woodrow Wilson's envoy, Edward Mandell House, meets Kaiser Wilhelm II.source
  • July 5 – A council is held at Potsdam: leaders within Austria-Hungary and Germany meet to discuss the possibilities of war with Serbia, Russia and France.source
  • July 15 – Mexican Revolution: Victoriano Huerta resigns from the presidency of Mexico.source
  • July 19 – George V summons a conference to discuss the Irish Home Rule problem. It meets from July 21–24, without reaching consensus.source
  • July 23 – July Ultimatum: Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.source
  • August 2 – A secret treaty between the Ottoman Empire and German Empires secures Ottoman neutrality.source
  • August 13 – The Teoloyucan Treaties are signed in the State of Mexico.source
  • The Togoland Campaign ends with the German West African colony of Togoland (Togo from 1960) surrendering to Britain and France.source
  • London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.source

Conflict & Security

  • April 20 – Colorado Coalfield War: Ludlow Massacre – The Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 21 people.source
  • April 24–25 – Larne Gun Running: 35,000 rifles and over 3 million rounds of ammunition from a German dealer are landed at Larne, Bangor and Donaghadee in Ulster for the Unionist Ulster Volunteers.source
  • June 12–18 – Greek genocide: Ottoman Greeks in Phocaea are massacred by Turkish irregular troops.source
  • June 28 – Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria: Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, 19, assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Duchess Sophie, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering the July Crisis overnight and eventually World War I. Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo and Zagreb break out.source
  • June 29 – Khioniya Guseva attempts and fails to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his hometown in Siberia.source
  • July 29 – World War I: Austro-Hungarian Navy river monitor fires the first shots of the war, opening the bombardment of the defenses of Belgrade, Serbia's capital.source
  • August 1 – The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire, following Russia's military mobilisation in support of Serbia; Germany also begins mobilisation.source
  • August 2 – German troops occupy Luxembourg, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan.source
  • August 4 – World War I: German invasion of Belgium – At 08:02 (local time) Imperial German Army troops enter Belgium, bringing the July Crisis to a climax. At 23:00 (GMT) the British entry into World War I takes place when King George V in London declares war on Germany for this violation of Belgian neutrality (protected by the Treaty of London (1839)) and especially to defend France. This means a declaration of war by the whole British Empire against the German Empire. The United States declares neutrality.source
  • Battle of Mulhouse: France launches its first attack of the war, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from Germany, beginning the Battle of the Frontiers.source
  • German warships and (both commissioned in 1912), which reached Constantinople on August 10, are transferred to the Ottoman Navy, Goeben becoming its flagship, Yavuz Sultan Selim.source
  • September 17 – World War I: The Race to the Sea, by opposing forces on the Western Front, begins.source
  • German light cruiser SMS Emden bombards Madras, the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers in the War.source
  • The conclusion of the Battle of Grand Couronné ends the Battle of the Frontiers, with the north-east segment of the Western Front stabilising.source
  • October 9 – World War I: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp (Belgium) falls to German troops.source
  • The Greek army occupies Northern Epirus with the approval of the Allies.source
  • The Race to the Sea effectively ends, with the Western Front reaching the Belgian coast.source
  • November 9 – World War I: Battle of Cocos – The German cruiser Emden, the last active warship of the Central Powers in the Indian Ocean, is sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney.source
  • November 13 – Zaian War: Battle of El Herri – Zayanes (Berbers) in Morocco overpower French forces.source
  • November 23 – Mexican Revolution: The last U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair; Venustiano Carranza's troops take over, and Carranza makes the town his headquarters.source
  • The Battle of Tanga ends, with the British Indian Expeditionary Force B failing to capture German East Africa defences.source
  • December 8 – World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands: A superior British Royal Navy squadron under Doveton Sturdee defeats ships of the Imperial German Navy under Maximilian von Spee (who goes down with his ship).source
  • December 19 – Serbian Campaign (World War I): The Battle of Kolubara ends, resulting in a decisive Serbian victory over Austria-Hungary.source
  • December 24 – World War I: An unofficial and temporary Christmas truce begins between British and German soldiers on the Western Front.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 1 – The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the United States starts services between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, becoming the first airline to provide scheduled regular commercial passenger services with heavier-than-air aircraft.source
  • March 29 – Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive on Easter Island, to make the first true study of it (they depart in August 1915).source
  • May 1–November 1 – The Exposition Internationale is held at Lyon, France.source
  • May 30 – Ocean liner makes her maiden voyage.source
  • June 29 – The International Exhibition opens at the "White City", Ashton Gate, Bristol. It closes on August 15, and the site is used as a military depot.source
  • July 18 – Mahatma Gandhi leaves South Africa for the last time, sailing out of Cape Town for England, on board the S.S. Kinfauns Castle.source
  • August 8 – Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition sets sail on the Endurance from Britain, in an attempt to cross Antarctica.source
  • December 5 – The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins its attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.source
  • December 19 – Mohandas Gandhi leaves England, sailing for India on this date (accompanied by his wife Kasturba). He begins to learn the Bengali language whilst on board.source

Religion & Belief

  • April 23 – The Afrikaans language receives official recognition, when Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven addresses the English caucus of the Cape Provincial Council.source
  • July 2 – The German Kaiser announces that he will not attend the funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.source
  • 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 am until 6:15 pm.source
  • July 27 – Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.source
  • Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) succeeds Pope Pius X.source

Economy & Finance

  • August 1 – The New York Stock Exchange is closed because of the outbreak of the war in Europe, where nearly all stock exchanges are already closed.source
  • September 26 – The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established, by the Federal Trade Commission Act.source
  • November 24 – Benito Mussolini is expelled from the Italian Socialist Party.source
  • November 28 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.source
  • December 12 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opens fully, having been closed since August 1, except for bond trading.source
  • Fashion and perfumes company Puig is founded in Barcelona.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • May 9 – J. T. Hearne in England becomes the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets.source
  • June 9 – Pittsburgh Pirate Honus Wagner becomes the first baseball player in the twentieth century with 3,000 career hits.source
  • June 23 – After it had been closed so that it could be deepened, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal is reopened by the Kaiser; the British Fleet under Sir George Warrender visits; the Kaiser inspects the Dreadnought HMS King George V.source
  • July 1 – The Royal Naval Air Service, a forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom.source
  • July 18 – The Signal Corps of the United States Army establishes an Aviation Section, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.source
  • August 5 – The first electric traffic light is installed between Euclid Avenue and East 105 Street, in Cleveland, Ohio.source
  • August 15 – The Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the .source
  • 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.source
  • December 20 – Tokyo Station officially opens in Japan, replacing Shinbashi Station as Tokyo's main terminal.source
  • The first everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.source
  • The Port of Orange, Texas, is dredged for the fabrication of vessels for the United States Navy.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 26 – The ocean liner that will become HMHS Britannic, sister to the , is launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.source
  • Watchmaker Glycine Watch SA is founded by Eugène Meylan in Switzerland.source

Health & Medicine

  • March 27 – Belgian surgeon Albert Hustin makes the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.source
  • July 14 – The Government of Ireland Bill completes its passage through the House of Lords in the U.K. It allows Ulster counties to vote on whether or not they wish to participate in Home Rule from Dublin. Because of the outbreak of war in Europe and later developments in Ireland, the Act is never implemented in its original form.source
  • August 5 – German zeppelins drop bombs on Liège, Belgium, killing 9 civilians.source
  • December 17 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. This begins the ongoing international war on drugs.source
  • Oxymorphone, a powerful narcotic analgesic closely related to morphine, is first developed in Germany.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 10 – Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velázquez's painting Rokeby Venus in London's National Gallery, with a meat chopper.source
  • April 14–18 – The first International Criminal Police Congress is held in Monaco; 24 countries are represented, including some from Asia, Europe, and the Americas; the Dean of the Paris Law School is president.source
  • July 25 – Serbia responds to the ultimatum from the 23rd accepting some but not all of Austria-Hungary's demands. In response Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic ties with Serbia and begins to mobilise its own forces. Radomir Putnik, Chief of the Serbian General Staff, is arrested in Budapest, but subsequently allowed to return to Serbia.source
  • August 8 – German colonial forces execute Martin-Paul Samba, for high treason.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 11 – The Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sinks after being crushed by ice.source
  • April 4–September 27 – Komagata Maru incident: The sails from India to Canada. Canadian regulations, designed to exclude Asian immigrants, prevent the boat from docking in Vancouver, and it is forced to return to Calcutta with all its passengers.source
  • August 9 – World War I: British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Birmingham rams and sinks German submarine U-15 off Fair Isle, the first U-boat lost in action.source
  • British Royal Navy scout cruiser HMS Pathfinder is sunk by German submarine U-21 in the Firth of Forth (Scotland), the first ship ever to be sunk by a locomotive torpedo fired from a submarine.source
  • Battle of Penang, Malaya: German cruiser Emden sinks a Russian cruiser and French destroyer, before escaping.source
  • December 15 – Hōjō Coal Mine Disaster: A gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hōjō mine in Kyūshū, Japan, kills 687 people (the worst coal mine disaster in Japanese history).source
  • December 16 – World War I: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby: Imperial German Navy battlecruisers bombard British North Sea ports, resulting in 137 deaths, mostly civilians.source

Climate & Environment

  • January 11 – The Sakurajima volcano in Japan begins to erupt, becoming effusive after a large earthquake on January 13. The lava flow causes the island which it forms to be linked to the Ōsumi Peninsula.source
  • February 17 – Karl Staaff steps down as Prime Minister of Sweden in the aftermath of the Courtyard Crisis. He is replaced by Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, father of Dag Hammarskjöld.source
  • October 4 – The 1914 Burdur earthquake occurs in Turkey.source

Culture & Society

  • February 12 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.source
  • April 23 – MLB Chicago Federals host the Kansas City Packers in the first baseball game played at Weeghman Park (the later Wrigley Field).source
  • May 5–October 11 – The Jubilee Exhibition (Jubilæumsutstillingen) is held at Kristiania, Norway, to mark the centennial of the country's constitution.source
  • June 8 – The Brazilian Football Confederation is founded, with Álvaro Zamith as its first president. The Brazilian Olympic Committee is founded on the same day.source
  • July 4 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria takes place at Artstetten Castle, 50 miles west of Vienna.source
  • July 11 – Baseball legend Babe Ruth makes his major league debut, with the Boston Red Sox.source
  • August 1 – Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica.source
  • August 4 – Ittihad Alexandria sports club is founded in Alexandria, Egypt.source
  • October 4 – The Manifesto of the Ninety-Three is signed by prominent academics supporting the early German war effort.source

Births

  • January 1 – Noor Inayat Khan (aka Nora Baker), World War II heroine (executed 1944)source
  • February 5 – Alan Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)source
  • February 22 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)source
  • March 25 – Norman Borlaug, American agricultural scientist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2009)source
  • March 26 – William Westmoreland, American Vietnam War general (d. 2005)source
  • March 31 – Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)source
  • April 25 – Marcos Pérez Jiménez, 51st President of Venezuela (d. 2001)source
  • May 19 – Max Perutz, Austrian-born British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)source
  • July 8 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician (d. 2010)source
  • July 9 – Willi Stoph, Prime Minister (1964–1973, 1976–1989) and Chairman of the Council of State (1973–1976) of the GDR (d. 1999)source
  • September 5 – Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Roman Catholic nun (d. 2000)source
  • September 24 – John Kerr, 18th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1991)source
  • November 1 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (d. 2006)source
  • November 8 – Norman Lloyd, American actor, producer and director (d. 2021)source

Deaths

  • April 1 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1876)source
  • May 23 – William O'Connell Bradley, American politician from Kentucky (b. 1847)source
  • June 14 – Adlai E. Stevenson I, 23rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)source
  • June 21 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)source
  • June 28 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand (b. 1863) and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (b. 1868), both assassinatedsource
  • July 10 – Nicholas Hartwig, Russian Minister to Serbia, dies of a heart attack while visiting Austrian minister Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen at the Austrian Legation in Belgrade.source
  • July 26 – Howth gun-running: former British civil servant and novelist Erskine Childers and his wife Molly sail into Howth in Ireland and land 2,500 guns for the nationalist Irish Volunteers from a German dealer. British Army troops of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, returning to Dublin having been called out to assist police in attempting to prevent the Volunteers from moving the arms to the city, perpetrate the Bachelor's Walk massacre, firing on a crowd of protestors at Bachelors Walk, killing three; a fourth man dies later from bayonet wounds and more than 37 others are injured.source
  • August 23 – Robert Strange, American Episcopal bishop (b. 1857)source
  • September 1 – The last known passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in the Cincinnati Zoo from old age.source
  • September 1 - Martha, the last Passenger pigeon died marking a Endling (b. 1885)source
  • September 14 – Nicolás Zamora, Filipino Methodist minister and bishop (b. 1875)source
  • September 28 – Richard Warren Sears, American founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company (b. 1863)source
  • Action of 22 September 1914: German submarine U-9 torpedoes three British Royal Navy armoured cruisers, , and , with the death of more than 1,400 men, in the North Sea.source
  • October 19 – Julio Argentino Roca, Argentine general and statesman, 2-time President of Argentina (b. 1843)source