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1914

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1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1914th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 914th year of the 2nd millennium, the 14th year of the 20th century, and the 5th year of the 1910s decade. As of the start of 1914, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide scheduled regular commercial passenger services with heavier-than-air aircraft, with the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line.

• 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, with Tony Jannus (the first federally-licensed pilot) conveying passengers in a Benoist XIV flying boat. Abram C. Pheil, mayor of St. Petersburg, is the first airline passenger, and over 3,000 people witness the first departure.^[1]
• January 11
  • The Sakurajima volcano in Japan begins to erupt, becoming effusive after a very large earthquake on January 13. The lava flow causes the island which it forms to be linked to the Ōsumi Peninsula.^[2]
  • The Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sinks after being crushed by ice.^[3]

• February 8 – The Luxembourg national football team has its first victory, beating France 5–4 in a friendly match, for the first and only time in football history.
• February 12 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.^[4]
• February 13 – Copyright: In New York City, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established, to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.^[5]
• February 17 – Karl Staaff steps down as Prime MinisterofSweden in the aftermath of the Courtyard Crisis. He is replaced by Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, father of Dag Hammarskjöld.^[6]
• February 26 – The ocean liner that will become HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.
• February 28 – The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus is proclaimed by ethnic Greeks, in Northern Epirus.^[7]

• March 7 – Prince William of Wied arrives in Albania, to begin his reign.^[8]
• March 10 – Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velázquez's painting Rokeby Venus in London's National Gallery, with a meat chopper.^[9]
• March 17 (Saint Patrick's Day) – Green beer is invented by Thomas H. Curtin, and displayed at the Schnorrer Club of Morrisania in the Bronx, New York.^[10]
• March 20
  • Curragh incident: British Army officers stationed in Ireland at the Curragh Camp resign their commissions rather than be ordered to resist action by Unionist Ulster Volunteers if the Government of Ireland Act ("Third Home Rule Bill") is passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.^[11] The government backs down and they are reinstated.
  • Film Tess of the Storm Country is released, propelling its star Mary Pickford to new levels of fame, marking the rise of the modern celebrity.
• March 27 – Belgian surgeon Albert Hustin makes the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.^[12]
• March 29 – Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive on Easter Island, to make the first true study of it (they depart in August 1915).^[13]

• April 4–September 27 – Komagata Maru incident: The SS Komagata Maru 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.^[14]
• April 9 – Tampico Affair: A misunderstanding involving United States Navy sailors in Mexico and army troops loyal to Mexican dictator Victoriano Huerta leads to a breakdown in diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico.^[15]
• April 11 – 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.^[16]
• 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.
• 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 24 people.
  • President Woodrow Wilson asks the United States Congress to use military force in Mexico, in reaction to the Tampico Affair.
• April 21 – United States occupation of Veracruz: 2,300 U.S. Navy sailors and Marines from the South Atlantic fleet land in the port city of Veracruz, Mexico, which they will occupy for over six months. The Ypiranga incident occurs when they attempt to enforce an arms embargo against Mexico, by preventing the German cargo steamer SS Ypiranga from unloading arms for the Mexican government in the port.
• April 22 – Mexico ends diplomatic relations with the United States for the time being.
• April 23
  • The Afrikaans language receives official recognition, when Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven addresses the English caucus of the Cape Provincial Council.^[17]
  • MLB Chicago Federals host the Kansas City Packers in the 1st game played at Weeghman Park (the later Wrigley Field).^[18]
• 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 DonaghadeeinUlster for the Unionist Ulster Volunteers.^[11]

• May 1–November 1 – The Exposition Internationale is held at Lyon, France.^[19]
• May 5–October 11 – The Jubilee Exhibition (Jubilæumsutstillingen) is held at Kristiania, Norway, to mark the centennial of the country's Constitution.
• May 8 – Paramount Pictures is created by W. W. Hodkinson.
• May 9 – J. T. Hearne in England becomes the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets.
• 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.^[20]
• May 25 – In the U.K., the House of Commons passes the Irish Home Rule Bill.^[21]
• May 29 – The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,012 lives are lost.^[22]
• May 30 – The ocean liner RMS Aquitania makes her maiden voyage.^[23]

• c. June – Blaise Diagne of Senegal becomes the first Black African representative in the French Parliament.
• June 1 – Woodrow Wilson's envoy, Edward Mandell House, meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II.^[24]
• 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.
• June 9 – Pittsburgh Pirate Honus Wagner becomes the first baseball player in the twentieth century with 3,000 career hits.
• June 12–18 – Greek genocide: Ottoman GreeksinPhocaea are massacredbyTurkish irregular troops.^[25]
• 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 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.^[26]
• June 24 – In Manchester, New Hampshire, a downtown fire causes $400,000 worth of damage and injures 19 firemen.

• 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.
• June 29
  • The Secretary of the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belgrade sends a dispatch to Vienna, suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo. Anti-Serb riots continue throughout Bosnia.
  • Khioniya Guseva attempts and fails to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his hometown in Siberia.
  • The International Exhibition opens at the "White City", Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, U.K. It closes on August 15, and the site is used as a military depot.^[29]
• June 30 – Among those addressing the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand are Lords Crewe and Lansdowne in the House of Lords, and Messrs Asquith and Law in the Commons.

• July 1 – The Royal Naval Air Service, a forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom.^[30]
• July 2 – The German Kaiser announces that he will not attend the funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• July 4
  • The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria takes place at Artstetten Castle, 50 miles west of Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
  • Lexington Avenue bombing: Four people are killed in New York City when an anarchist bomb intended to kill John D. Rockefeller explodes prematurely, in the conspirator's apartment.
• July 5 – A council is held at Potsdam: powerful leaders within Austria-Hungary and Germany meet to discuss the possibilities of war with Serbia, Russia and France.
• 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.
• July 9 – The Emperor of Austria-Hungary receives the report of the Austro-Hungarian investigation into the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo. The Times (London) publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
• 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.
• July 11
  • Baseball legend Babe Ruth makes his major league debut, with the Boston Red Sox.
  • USS Nevada, the United States Navy's first "super-dreadnought" battleship, is launched.
  • Over 5,000 people attend a rally in Union Square, Manhattan, called by the Anti-Militarist League to commemorate the anarchists killed in the July 4th Lexington Avenue bombing.^[31]
• July 13 – Reports surface of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belgrade.
• 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, this Act will never be implemented in its original form.
• July 15 – Mexican Revolution: Victoriano Huerta resigns from the presidency of Mexico and leaves for Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
• 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.^[32]
  • The British Fleet is reviewedatSpithead, by George V.
  • Mahatma Gandhi leaves South Africa for the last time, sailing out of Cape Town for England, on board the S.S. Kinfauns Castle.
• July 19 – George V summons a conference to discuss the Irish Home Rule problem. It meets from July 21–24, without reaching consensus.
• July 23 – July Ultimatum: Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.
• 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.
• July 26 – Howth gun-running: former British civil servant and novelist Erskine Childers and his wife Molly sail into HowthinIreland in his yacht Asgard 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.^[33][34]
• July 27 – Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.^[35]

• July 28
  • The official start of World War I when Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia by telegram. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia orders a partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary.
  • Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux, is acquitted of the murder of Gaston Calmette by reason of crime passionnel.^[36]
• July 28–August 10 – World War I: Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau: British and French naval forces fail to prevent the ships of the Imperial German Navy Mediterranean Division from reaching the Dardanelles.
• July 29
  • World War I: Austro-Hungarian Navy river monitor SMS Bodrog fires the first shots of the war, opening the bombardment of the defenses of Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
  • InMassachusetts, the new Cape Cod Canal opens; it shortens the trip between New York and Boston by 66 miles, but also turns Cape Cod into an island.^[37]
• July 31 – Russia orders full mobilisation.

• August 1
  • The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire, following Russia's military mobilization in support of Serbia; Germany also begins mobilisation.
  • France orders general mobilisation.
  • The New York Stock Exchange is closed because of the outbreak of the war in Europe, where nearly all stock exchanges are already closed.^[38]
  • Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement AssociationinJamaica.
• August 2
  • German troops occupy Luxembourg, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan.
  • A secret treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Germany secures Ottoman neutrality.
  • At 7:00 pm (local time) Germany issues a 12-hour ultimatum to neutral Belgium, to allow German passage into France.^[39]
• August 3
  • Germany declares war on Russia's ally, France.
  • At 7:00 a.m. (local time) Belgium declines to accept Germany's ultimatum of August 2.

• August 4
  • The July Crisis ends when German troops invade Belgium at 8:02 am (local time). In London the King declares war on Germany, for this violation of Belgian neutrality and especially to defend France. This means a declaration of war by the whole British Empire against Germany. The United States declares neutrality.
  • Ittihad Alexandria sports club is founded in Alexandria, Egypt.
  • Imperial German Navy Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon bombards the French Algerian ports of Bône and Philippeville from battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau.^[40]
• August 5
  • Germany declares war on Belgium.
  • The Kingdom of Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary.
  • The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz, which is attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war, and she is detained; this is said to be the first Allied shot of the war.^[41]
  • SSKönigin Luise, taken over two days earlier by the Imperial German Navy as a minelayer, lays mines 40 miles (64 km) off the east coast of England. She is intercepted and sunk by the British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Amphion, the first German naval loss of the war. The following day, Amphion strikes mines laid by the Königin Luise and is sunk with some loss of life, in the first British casualties of the war.
  • German zeppelins drop bombs on Liège, Belgium, killing 9 civilians.
  • The first electric traffic light is installed between Euclid Avenue and East 105 Street, in Cleveland, Ohio.
• August 5–16 – Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians with the first operational use of Big Bertha.
• August 6 – World War I:
  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
  • The first engagement between capital ships (light cruisers) of the British Royal Navy and the Imperial German Navy occurs, when HMS Bristol pursues the SMS Karlsruhe (which escapes) in the West Indies.
• August 7 – World War I:
  • 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.^[42]
  • British colonial troops of the British Gold Coast Regiment, entering the German West African colony of Togoland, encounter the German-led police force at a factory in Nuatja, near Lomé, and the police open fire on the patrol.^[43] Alhaji Grunshi returns fire,^[44] the first soldier in British service to fire a shot in the war.^[43]
• August 8
  • German colonial forces execute Martin-Paul Samba, for high treason.
  • Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition sets sail on the Endurance from Britain, in an attempt to cross Antarctica.
• 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.^[45]
• August 12 – World War I:
  • Battle of Halen: Belgian troops defeat German cavalry, but the battle does little to delay the German invasion of Belgium.
  • Formal declaration of war by the United KingdomonAustria-Hungary.^[46]
• August 13 – The Teoloyucan Treaties are signed in the State of Mexico.^[47]
• August 15
  • The Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the SS Ancon.^[48]
  • Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza's troops under general Álvaro Obregón enter Mexico City.^[49]
• August 15–24 – World War I: Battle of Cer – Serbian troops defeat the Austro-Hungarian army, marking the first Entente victory of the War.
• August 16 – World War I:
  • German warships SMS Goeben and Breslau (both commissioned in 1912), which reached ConstantinopleonAugust 10, are transferred to the Ottoman Navy, Goeben becoming its flagship, Yavuz Sultan Selim.
  • Lake Nyasa is the scene of a brief naval battle, when Captain Edmund Rhoades, commander of the British steamship SS Gwendolen, hears that war has broken out, and he receives orders from the British high command to "sink, burn, or destroy" the German Empire's only ship on the lake, the Hermann von Wissmann, commanded by a Captain Berndt. Rhoades's crew finds the Hermann von Wissmann in a bay near "Sphinxhaven", in German East African territorial waters. Gwendolen disables the German vessel with a single cannon shot from a range of about 1,800 meters (2,000 yards). This very brief engagement is hailed by The Times in London as the British Empire's first naval victory of 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.
  • Pope Pius X dies.
• August 22 – World War I: Battle of Rossignol – German forces decisively defeat the French.^[50]
• August 23 – World War I:
  • Battle of Mons: In its first major action, the British Expeditionary Force holds the German forces but then begins a month-long fighting Great Retreat to the Marne.
  • Japan declares war on Germany.
• August 26 – World War I:
  • The Togoland Campaign ends with the German West African colony of Togoland (Togo from 1960) surrendering to Britain and France.
  • Battle of Río de Oro: British Royal Navy protected cruiser HMS Highflyer forces the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, sailing as an auxiliary cruiser, to scuttle off northwest Africa.^[51]
• August 26–27 – Battle of Le Cateau: British, French, and Belgian forces make a successful tactical retreat from the German advance.
• August 26–30 – Battle of Tannenberg: The Russian Second Army is surrounded and defeated.^[52]
• August 28 – Battle of Heligoland Bight: British cruisers under Admiral Beatty sink three German cruisers.^[53]
• August 29–30 – The Battle of St. Quentin: French forces hold back the German advance.

• September 1
  • (August 19 Old Style) Saint Petersburg in Russia changes its name to Petrograd.^[54]
  • The last known passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in the Cincinnati Zoo from old age.
• September 2 – World War I: The French village of Moronvilliers is occupied by the Germans.
• September 3 – World War I:
  • The Austro-Hungarian city and fortress of Lemberg falls to Russian troops.
  • Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) succeeds Pope Pius X, becoming the 258th pope.
  • William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just six months, due to opposition to his rule.
• September 5 – World War I:
  • London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.
  • The First Battle of the Marne begins: Situated north-east of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Maunoury attacks German forces near Paris. Over 2,000,000 fight (500,000 are killed/wounded) in the Allied victory. A French and British counterattack at the Marne ends the German advance on Paris.
  • 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.
• September 6–8 – French Army troops are rushed from Paris to join the First Battle of the Marne using Renault Type AG taxicabs.
• September 7 – World War I: Turkey declares war on Belgium.
• September 10 – World War I: South Africa declares war on Germany.
• September 11 – World War I:
  • The Battle of Rawa ends in the defeat of Austro-Hungarian forces by the Russians.^[55]
  • First Battle of the Masurian Lakes: A German offensive pushes the Russian First Army back across its entire front.^[56]
  • Battle of Bita Paka: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force lands on German New Guinea and secures a strategically significant wireless station, the first major Australian military engagement of the War.^[57]
• September 13 – World War I:
  • The conclusion of the Battle of Grand Couronné ends the Battle of the Frontiers, with the north-east segment of the Western Front stabilising.^[58]
  • South African troops open hostilities in German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia), with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.
• September 14 – Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS AE1 vanishes while on combat patrol near Papua New Guinea, beginning one of Australia's longest naval mysteries; the sunken vessel will not be discovered for another 103 years.
• September 15 – The Maritz Rebellion of disaffected Boers against the government of the Union of South Africa begins. General Koos de la Rey, a Boer general associated with the leaders of the rebellion, is shot dead after his driver fails to stop at a police roadblock.
• September 17
  • World War I: The Race to the Sea, by opposing forces on the Western Front, begins.^[59]
  • Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.^[60]
• September 21 – World War I: British Imperial police forces capture Schuckmannsburg, in the Caprivi StripofGerman South-West Africa.
• September 22 – World War I:
  • Action of 22 September 1914: German submarine U-9 torpedoes three British Royal Navy armoured cruisers, HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue, with the death of more than 1,400 men, in the North Sea.
  • Bombardment of Papeete: German naval forces bombard Papeete, French Polynesia.
  • German light cruiser SMS Emden bombards Madras, the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers in the War.^[61]
• September 25 – World War I: The first Battle of Albert begins as part of the Race to the Sea.^[62]
• September 26 – The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established, by the Federal Trade Commission Act.^[63]
• September 28 – World War I: The First Battle of the Aisne ends indecisively.^[64]
• September 30
  • World War I: British Indian Army Expeditionary Force A arrives at Marseille for service in the Ypres Salient of the Western Front.
  • The Flying Squadron of America is established to promote the temperance movement.^[65]

• October 3 – World War I: 25,000 Canadian troops depart for Europe.
• October 4
  • The 1914 Burdur earthquake occurs in Turkey.^[66]
  • The Manifesto of the Ninety-Three is signed by prominent academics supporting the early German war effort.
• October 9 – World War I: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp (Belgium) falls to German troops.
• October 14 – World War I: The Canadian Expeditionary Force arrives on 32 ocean linersinPlymouth Sound.^[67]
• October 16–31 – World War I: Battle of the Yser: The Belgian army halts the German advance, but with heavy losses.^[68]
• October 19 – World War I:
  • The First Battle of Ypres begins.
  • The Race to the Sea effectively ends, with the Western Front reaching the Belgian coast.
• October 27 – World War I:
  • 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.
  • The Greek army occupies Northern Epirus with the approval of the Allies.
• October 28 – World War I:
  • Battle of Penang, Malaya: German cruiser Emden sinks a Russian cruiser and French destroyer, before escaping.
  • Participants in the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria are sentenced at Sarajevo. Gavrilo Princip, being under 20 years of age at the time of the assassination, cannot be given the death penalty, and is given a 20-year prison sentence instead.
• October 29 – World War I: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports; Russia, France and Britain declare war on the Ottoman Empire, November 1–5.^[69]
• October 31 – World War I: Battle of the Vistula River concludes in a Russian victory over German and Austro-Hungarian forces around Warsaw.

• November 1 – World War I: Battle of Coronel – A British Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock is met in the eastern Pacific and defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the first British naval defeat of the war, resulting in the loss of HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth.
• November 5 – World War I:
  • Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire.^[69] The United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, which it controls until the island's declaration of independence in 1960.
  • The Battle of Tanga ends, with the British Indian Expeditionary Force B failing to capture German East Africa defences.^[70]
  • Alpha Phi Delta is founded as a social fraternityatSyracuse University in the United States.
• November 7 – Siege of Tsingtao: The Japanese and British 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, the last active warship of the Central Powers in the Indian Ocean, is sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney.
• November 11 – With the 1914 Ottoman jihad proclamation, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V proclaimed holy war.^[71]
• November 13 – Zaian War: Battle of El Herri – Zayanes (Berbers) in Morocco overpower French forces.^[72]
• November 14 – The Joensuu Town Hall, designed by Eliel Saarinen, is inaugurated in Joensuu, Finland.^[73]
• 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.
• November 21 – In New Haven, Connecticut, the new Yale Bowl officially opens; Harvard defeats Yale 36–0 in the first American football game held here.^[74]
• 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.^[75]
• November 24 – Benito Mussolini is expelled from the Italian Socialist Party.^[76]
• November 28 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

• December 2 – Serbian Campaign (World War I): Austro-Hungarian forces occupy Belgrade, Serbia.
• December 5 – The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins its attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.^[77]
• 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).
• December 12 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opens fully, having been closed since August 1, except for bond trading.
• 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).
• 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.
• December 17 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (initially introduced by Francis Burton Harrison). This begins the ongoing international war on drugs.
• December 18 – Egypt becomes a British protectorate.^[78]
• December 19
  • Serbian Campaign (World War I): The Battle of Kolubara ends, resulting in a decisive Serbian victory over Austria-Hungary.^[79]
  • 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.
• December 20 – Tokyo Station officially opens in Japan, replacing Shinbashi Station as Tokyo's main terminal.^{[citation needed]}
• December 24 – World War I: An unofficial and temporary Christmas truce begins between British and German soldiers on the Western Front.
• December 25 – World War I: Cuxhaven Raid: British aircraft launched from warships attack the German port of Cuxhaven with submarine support, although little damage is caused.^[80]

• The capital of the Guangxi Province of China is moved from GuilintoNanning.^[81]
• Oxymorphone, a powerful narcotic analgesic closely related to morphine, is first developed in Germany.^[82]
• The first everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.
• The Port of Orange, Texas, is dredged for the fabrication of vessels for the United States Navy.
• Phi Sigma, a local undergraduate classical club, is founded by a group of students in the Greek Department at the University of Chicago.
• Watchmaker Glycine Watch SA is founded by Eugène Meylan in Switzerland.^[83]
• Fashion and perfumes company Puig is founded in Barcelona.
• Woodman's of Essex, the famous family-owned clam shack on Boston's North Shore, is opened.

• January 1
  • Noor Inayat Khan (aka Nora Baker), World War II heroine (executed 1944)^[84]
  • Anita Mackey, American social worker^[85]
• January 4 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French historian and anthropologist (d. 2007)^[86]
• January 5 – George Reeves, American actor (Superman) (d. 1959)^[87]
• January 9 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)^[88]
• January 10 – Yu Kuo-hwa, Chinese politician, 23rd Premier of the Republic of China (d. 2000)^[89]
• January 14
  • Magda Fedor, Hungarian sports shooter (d. 2017)
  • Harold Russell, Canadian actor (d. 2002)^[90]
• January 15 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian (d. 2003)^[91]
• January 18 – Arno Schmidt, German author (d. 1979)
• January 26 – Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (d. 2006)
• January 30 – John Ireland, Canadian-born actor (d. 1992)
• January 31 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)

• February 3
  • Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer and dancer (d. 2018)
  • George Nissen, American gymnast, inventor of the trampoline (d. 2010)
• February 4 – Alfred Andersch, German writer (d. 1980)^[92]
• February 5
  • William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997)^[93]
  • Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)^[94]
• February 6
  • Silvius Magnago, Italian politician (d. 2010)
  • Roza Papo, Yugoslav physician and general (d. 1984)
• February 10 – Larry Adler, American musician (d. 2001)^[95]
• February 12 – Lazar Koliševski, Yugoslav communist political leader (d. 2000)
• February 15 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (d. 2010)^[96]
• February 17 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
• February 18 – Mahmoud Zulfikar, Egyptian film director (d. 1970)
• February 19 – Jacques Dufilho, French comedian, actor (d. 2005)
• February 22
  • Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)
  • Liu Chi-Sheng, Chinese pilot that fought in WWII, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War (d. 1991)
• February 23 – Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
• February 26 – Robert Alda, American-born actor, father of actor Alan Alda (d. 1986)^[97]

• March 1 – Ralph Ellison, American writer (d. 1994)
• March 2
  • Hansi Knoteck, Austrian actress (d. 2014)
  • Martin Ritt, American director (d. 1990)
• March 3
  • Julio Franco Arango, Colombian Roman Catholic bishop (d. 1980)
  • Asger Jorn, Danish painter (d. 1973)^[98]
• March 4 – Ward Kimball, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
• March 6 – Kirill Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981)^[99]
• March 8 – Yakov Zeldovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
• March 13 – Saroj Dutta, Indian communist leader (d. 1971)
• March 14 – Frederick Samuel Modise, Leader of IPHC (d. 1998) ^[100]
• March 17 – Juan Carlos Onganía, 35th President of Argentina (d. 1995)^[101]
• March 19 – Jiang Qing, Chinese politician (d. 1991)^[102]
• March 21 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (d. 1990)^[103]
• March 23 – Wendell Smith, African American sportswriter (d. 1972)
• March 25 – Norman Borlaug, American agricultural scientist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2009)^[104]
• March 26 – William Westmoreland, American Vietnam War general (d. 2005)
• March 28 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)^[105]
• March 30 – Sonny Boy Williamson I, American musician (d. 1948)^[106]
• March 31 – Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)^[107]

• April 2
  • Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)^[108]
  • Hans Wegner, Danish furniture designer (d. 2007)
• April 3 – Sam Manekshaw, Field Marshal of the Indian Army (d. 2008)^[109]
• April 4
  • David W. Goodall, Australian botanist and ecologist (d. 2018)^[110]
  • Marguerite Duras, French author, director (d. 1996)^[111]
• April 8 – María Félix, Mexican actress (d. April 8, 2002)^[112]
• April 11
  • Norman McLaren, Scots-born Canadian animator and director (d. 1987)^[113]
  • Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)^[114]
• April 12
  • Armen Alchian, American economist (d. 2013)^[115]
  • Adriaan Blaauw, Dutch astronomer (d. 2010)^[116]
  • Gretel Bergmann, German-Jewish athlete (d. 2017)
  • Jan van Cauwelaert, Belgian bishop (d. 2016)
• April 13 – Orhan Veli, Turkish poet (d. 1950)
• April 18 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014)
• April 22
  • Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian film director (d. 2008)
  • Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
  • Michael Wittmann, German tank commander (d. 1944)
• April 24 – Jan Karski, Polish World War II resistance movement fighter (d. 2000)^[117]
• April 25 – Marcos Pérez Jiménez, 51st President of Venezuela (d. 2001)
• April 26
  • Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)^[118]
  • Lilian Rolfe, French-born World War II heroine (d. 1945)
• April 28 – Yakov Novichenko, Soviet military officer (d. 1994)
• April 30 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian songwriter (d. 2008)

• May 5 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)^[119]
• May 7 – Ye Fei, Filipino-Chinese general and politician (d. 1999)
• May 8 – Romain Gary, Russian-born writer, diplomat (d. 1980)^[120]
• May 9
  • Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor (d. 2005)^[121]
  • Hank Snow, Canadian country musician (d. 1999)^[122]
• May 12 – Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
• May 13 – Joe Louis, African-American boxer (d. 1981)^[123]
• May 14
  • Teodor Oizerman, Soviet and Russian philosopher and academician (d. 2017)
  • Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)
  • Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)^[124]
• May 16 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist (d. 2009)
• May 18
  • Georg von Tiesenhausen, German-American rocket scientist (d. 2018)
  • Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (d. 1993)^[125]
  • Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer (d. 1982)^[126]
• May 19
  • Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)^[127]
  • Alex Shibicky, Canadian hockey player (d. 2005)
• May 20 – Avraham Shapira, head of the Rabbinical courtofJerusalem and the Supreme Rabbinic Court; rosh yeshivaofMercaz HaRav (d. 2007)
• May 22
  • Vance Packard, American social critic and author (d. 1996)^[128]
  • Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)
• May 24
  • Lilli Palmer, German actress (d. 1986)^[129]
  • George Tabori, Hungarian writer and director (d. 2007)
• May 26 – Irmã Dulce Pontes, Brazilian Catholic Franciscan Sister (d. 1992)
• May 31 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music, film composer (d. 2006)