What happened in 1914

World6

• Jul 23July Ultimatum: Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.
• JulWorld War IFought mainly in Europe until 1918. Tanks, aircraft and poison gas were used, and nations poured everything into a total war. Four empires fell: Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
• Oct 27The Greek army occupies Northern Epirus with the approval of the Allies.
• Nov 7Siege of Tsingtao: The Japanese and British seize Jiaozhou Bay in China, the base of the German East Asia Squadron.
• Dec 2Serbian Campaign (World War I): Austro-Hungarian forces occupy Belgrade, Serbia.
• Dec 5The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins its attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.

Japan1

• Dec 15Hōjō 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).

North America8

• Jan 1The 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.
• Jan 11The Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sinks after being crushed by ice.
• Apr 4Komagata 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.
• Apr 20Colorado Coalfield War: Ludlow Massacre – The Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 21 people.
• Apr 20President Woodrow Wilson asks the United States Congress to use military force in Mexico, in reaction to the Tampico Affair.
• Jul 4Lexington 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.
• Sep 26The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established, by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
• Oct 14World War I: The Canadian Expeditionary Force arrives on 32 ocean liners in Plymouth Sound.

Europe52

• Jul 9The 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 of London publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
• Aug 5Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians with the first operational use of Big Bertha.
• Aug 7Battle 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.
• Aug 15World War I: Battle of Cer – Serbian troops defeat the Austro-Hungarian army, marking the first Entente victory of the War.
• Aug 17World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg begins between German and Russian forces.
• Aug 20Pope Pius X dies.]]
• Aug 26Battle of Tannenberg: The Russian Second Army is surrounded and defeated.
• Sep 3Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) succeeds Pope Pius X.
• Sep 5The 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.
• Sep 5London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.
• Sep 13The conclusion of the Battle of Grand Couronné ends the Battle of the Frontiers, with the north-east segment of the Western Front stabilising.
• Oct 9World War I: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp (Belgium) falls to German troops.
• Oct 19The First Battle of Ypres begins.
• Oct 28Participants 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.
• Nov 1World 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.

37 more in the app

USSR / Russia1

• Sep 11First Battle of the Masurian Lakes: A German offensive pushes the Russian First Army back across its entire front.

Asia3

• Jul 13Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) as Iglesia ni Kristo with the government of the Philippines.
• Sep 22German light cruiser SMS Emden bombards Madras, the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers in the War.
• Oct 28Battle of Penang, Malaya: German cruiser Emden sinks a Russian cruiser and French destroyer, before escaping.

Middle East1

• Jun 12Greek genocide: Ottoman Greeks in Phocaea are massacred by Turkish irregular troops.

Latin America7

• Apr 21United 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 from unloading arms for the Mexican government in the port.
• Jun 8The Brazilian Football Confederation is founded, with Álvaro Zamith as its first president. The Brazilian Olympic Committee is founded on the same day.
• Aug 1Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica.
• Aug 13The Teoloyucan Treaties are signed in the State of Mexico.
• Aug 15The Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the.
• Nov 23Mexican 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.
• Dec 8World 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).

Africa5

• Aug 26The Togoland Campaign ends with the German West African colony of Togoland (Togo from 1960) surrendering to Britain and France.
• Sep 15The 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.
• Nov 5The Battle of Tanga ends, with the British Indian Expeditionary Force B failing to capture German East Africa defences.
• Nov 13Zaian War: Battle of El Herri – Zayanes (Berbers) in Morocco overpower French forces.
• Dec 18Egypt becomes a British protectorate.

Oceania3

• Aug 5The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer, 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.
• Sep 11Battle 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.
• Nov 9World 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.