Easter Rising – The Irish uprising against British authority came to an end after Major-General John Maxwell, commander of the British forces in Dublin, announced all members of the insurrection had surrendered.[1] The insurrection caused a total 485 deaths, more than half of them civilians, and another 2,600 wounded due to British shelling or cross-fire.[2]
Easter Rising – A series of courts-martial began against 187 Irish citizens charged for their role in the insurrection under the oversight of Major-General Charles Blackader. Most were conducted secretly at British barracks, with the accused having no access to defense. Ninety were sentenced to death, including all seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Many of the courts-martial were later ruled by British Crown law officers as illegal.[8]
Raid on Glenn Springs – A raiding party of 80 Pancho Villa loyalists surprised nine U.S. Cavalry men posted at Glenn Springs, Texas. The Americans holed up in an adobe building and held off the fighters for three hours before attempting to escape on their horses. Three cavalrymen were killed along with a civilian and two were taken prisoner, leaving three to make it out and report the raid to U.S. authorities.[15]
The Markham open coal mine pit near Doncaster, England began operations but stopped on August 24 due to wartime worker shortage. The mine resumed operations in 1922 until closing for good in 1996.[22]
Depiction of the James Caird landing at South Georgia.
Battle of Kondoa Irangi – The Germans failed to dislodge the embedded South African forces from Kondoa Irangi in German East Africa and were forced to withdraw, at a cost of 85 killed and 35 taken prisoner. The South African force only lost 6 men killed and 18 wounded.[32]
Nadir of American race relations: Jesse Washington, a 17-year-old black farmhand, was brutally lynched and murdered in Waco, Texas, by a crowd of white people immediately after his trial and conviction for the alleged murder of his employer's wife, Lucy Fryer, in Robinson, Texas. Fred Gildersleeve photographed the lynching in its entirely, a rarity among lynching events, sparking outrage across the country for the event and for societal tolerance for lynching.[50][51]
Ten German submarines were ordered to patrol the North Sea until May 22 when they were to set up into warring positions.[55]
German submarine SMU-74 sank after an accidental explosion during a mine-laying mission, killing all 34 crew aboard.[56]
Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – Anglo-Egyptian military reconnaissance team rendezvoused at the village of Meliet in preparation to attack the Sudanese capital of El Fasher.[41]
The city of Berlin, Ontario, held a referendum to change its name due to Canada being part of the Allies against GermanyinWorld War I. However, only 892 citizens out of about 15,000 eligible voters participated, with a small majority voting in favor of changing the city's century-old name without an alternative being mentioned. The city was officially renamed Kitchener in September following the death of Lord Kitchener in June.[65]
Died:Georges Boillot, French race car driver and fighter pilot, first French driver to win the Indianapolis 500, died from injuries after being shot down near Bar-le-Duc, France (b. 1884)
The small town of Codell, Kansas, was struck by a tornado, the first of three that occurred on the same date every year until 1918.[66]
Voyage of the James Caird – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition leader Ernest Shackleton and two companions successfully crossed South Georgia Island after an exhausting 36-hour trek to reach the whaling community of Husvik on the north coast, where they made contact and arranged rescue for the main body of the expedition still stranded on Elephant Island.[67] During the overland journey, Shackleton confided years later that in his exhausted state, he envisioned a fourth figure accompanied him and his two companions. This vision was concurred by his two companions leading him to conclude: "I have no doubt that Providence guided us."[68]
Daylight saving time began for the first time throughout the United Kingdom as people put their clocks forward one hour. The purpose is to reduce the number of evening hours to save fuel.[72]
Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated Sudanese force of 3,600 men at the village of Beringia near El Fasher, the capital of the Sultanate of Darfur, killing 231 warriors and wounding another 96 while only sustaining 23 casualties.[75]
Sinai and Palestine campaign – The Royal Flying Corps continued reprisals against the Ottoman Empire for their attack on Port Said with bombings on military camps along the Suez Canal front.[76] The Ottomans retaliated in June with more bombings on Romani, Egypt where a new railroad had been constructed, inflicted 30 casualties.[77]
The U.S. Army expedition sent to find the rebels involved in the Glenn Springs raid earlier in May returned to the United States following complaints from Mexican president Venustiano Carranza that American military presence in Mexico was pushing the two countries dangerously close to war.[36]
The Italian air squadron 76a Squadriglia was established as the second of Italy's original fighter squadrons.[85]
British submarine HMS E18 went missing after this date and likely struck a mine and sank with all 31 crew on-board shortly thereafter as it failed to make its scheduled return to port on June 1. The wreck was discovered in 2009 off the coast of Estonia.[88]
HMS Lion burning after being hit by a salvo from SMS LützowHMS Indefatigable sinking after being struck by shells from SMS Von der TannHMS Queen Mary sinking
British cruiser HMS Defence, hit by a German barrage that caused an explosion that destroyed the entire ship, with casualty accounts ranging from 893 to 903 casualties including ship commander Rear Admiral Robert Arbuthnot and British star rugby player and cricketer Cecil Abercrombie, who was serving on board as a naval officer;[99]
British cruiser HMS Black Prince was shelled and sunk with all 857 crew on board.[100]
British destroyer HMS Tipperary was shelled and sunk, with 150 of the 197 crew lost.[101]
British destroyer HMS Nomad was hit and sank with a loss of eight crew. The remaining 72 survivors were captured by the German navy.[102] Accompanying destroyer HMS Nestor was also damaged, but time allowed the crew to abandon ship before it sank.[103]
British cruiser HMS Chester was struck 18 times by shells that ripped across the deck, sending shrapnel that killed 29 deck gunners and maimed another 49. One of the deck crew was 16-year old sight gunner Jack Cornwell who, while critically wounded, remained at his post even though the rest of his gun's crew was dead or dying around him. Cornwell survived several more days before succumbing to his injuries on June 2, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.[104]
British cruiser HMS Lion survived the battle thanks to Royal Marine officer Francis Harvey, who ordered one the main gun turrets hit by German fire to be flooded to prevent ammunition from exploding and setting off a chain of explosions that destroyed the other British ships. Harvey was mortally wounded and perished along with 99 other sailors (plus 51 wounded) during the battle. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.[105][106]
An ambitious Franco-British offensive to land a decisive victory against Germany was reduced to a limited offensive to ease pressure of French forces at Verdun, in what became the strategic plan for the Battle of the Somme.[108]
The Italian air squadron 77a Squadriglia was established as the third of Italy's original fighter squadrons.[109]
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^Binda, Alexandre (2007). Masodja: The History of the Rhodesian African Rifles and Its Forerunner the Rhodesia Native Regiment. 30° South Publishers. pp. 17–18. ISBN978-1-920143-03-9.
^Foy, Michael; Barton, Brian (2000). The Easter Rising. Sutton. pp. 294–295. ISBN0-7509-2616-3.
^MacMunn, Sir George Fletcher; Falls, Cyril (1928). Military Operations, Egypt & Palestine: From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. 1. London: H.M. Stationery Office. pp. 147–153. OCLC817051831.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Cymric". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
^SoRelle, James M. (2007). "The "Waco Horror": The Lynching of Jesse Washington". In Glasrud, Bruce A.; Smallwood, James (eds.). The African American Experience in Texas: An Anthology. Texas Tech University Press. pp. 188–191. ISBN978-0-89672-609-3.
^Tarrant, V. E. (1995). Jutland: The German Perspective: A New View of the Great Battle, 31 May 1916. London: Arms & Armour Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN1-85409-244-8.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 74". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
^Ó Broin, Leon, Dublin Castle & the 1916 Rising pp. 153–159
^Falls, Cyril; G. MacMunn (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I. London: HM Stationery Office. p. 177. OCLC610273484.
^Franks, Norman, Aircraft Versus Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street, 1998, ISBN1-902304-04-7, p. 29.
^"USS Wilkes (DD-67)". Destroyers.com. The National Association of Destroyer Veterans. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell F. (1993). Above The Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service, and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. London, UK: Grub Street. p. 123. ISBN978-0-948817-73-1.
^"Historia". Huracán White (in Spanish). Huracán de Ingeniero White. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^"Om IL Heming" (in Norwegian). IL Heming. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
^H. W. Faucett; G. W. W. Hooper (1921). The fighting at Jutland: the personal experiences of forty five Officers and men of the British Fleet). London: Hutchinson & Co. pp. 53–56.
^Chant, Chris, The World's Great Bombers, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000, ISBN0-7607-2012-6, p. 15.
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