1914

January 1

• First scheduled commercial passenger airline service, by St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of St. Petersburg, Florida. Cost is US$5 for the 20 mile flight. [1] [55.15]
• Klaas ter Laan becomes Netherlands' first socialist mayor (Zaandam). [1]
• Northern and Southern Nigeria united in British colony of Nigeria. [1]

January 2

• Philips installs research department in Eindhoven. [1]

January 3

• Kelman/Cushing/Heath' musical "Sari" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Stephane Raoul Pugno composer, dies at age 62. [1]

January 4

• Redjâizade M Ekrem Turkish poet/writer, dies at about age 66. [1]
• Silas Weir Mitchell US physician/author (Free Quaker), dies at age 84. [1]

January 5

• James Cox of Ford Motor Company announces wages will jump from $2.40/9-hour day to $5.00/8-hour day. [1]

January 6

• Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded. [1]

January 7

• First steamboat passes through the Panamá Canal. [1]

January 10

• First edition of Hague's Post under San Francisco van Oss, published. [1]

January 11

• Ambrose Bierce writer, dies at age 71. [1]

January 13

• Bernardus H Heldt Dutch Member of Parliament, dies at age 72. [1]
• IWW-leader/songwriter Joe Hill arrested "Girl from Utah" East-Prussia. [1]
• Valentin de Zubiaurre y Unionbarrenechea composer, dies 76. [1]

January 14

• Henry Ford introduces assembly line, for T-Fords. [1]

January 16

• Writer Maksim Gorki returns to Russia. [1]

January 17

• Gerhart Hauptmann's "Der Bogen des Odysseus" premieres in Berlin. [1]

January 20

• Emil Liebling composer, dies at age 62. [1]
• Henry Southwick Perkins composer, dies at age 80. [1]

January 22

• Frederik Rung composer, dies at age 60. [1]
• Paul Claudel's "L'échange" premieres in Paris. [1]

January 24

• The opera "Madeleine" is produced (New York City New York). [1]

January 26

• 600 Dutch textile workers go on strike. [1]
• Vatican puts Belgian Nobel winner Maeterlinck's works in their index. [1]

January 28

• Beverly Hills, California, is incorporated. [1]

February 1

• Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] Censors appointed. [1]
• Tanganyika Railway opens. [1]

February 2

• James Royce Shannon's musical "Shameen Dhu" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

February 4

• US Congress approves Burnett-anti-immigration law. [1]

February 6

• J Albert Neuhuys Dutch painter (Hague School), dies at age 69. [1]

February 7

• Charlie Chaplin debuts "The Tramp" in "Kid Auto Races at Venice". [1]
• Steel work completed on Exposition (Civic) Auditorium, San Francisco. [1]

February 8

• General Zamon becomes President of Haiti. [1]

February 13

• American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers-ASCAP forms in New York City, New York. [1]

February 14

• High Council of Labor forms in Hague Netherlands. [1]

February 16

• First airplane flight from to Los Angeles from San Francisco. [1]

February 19

• Riccardo Zandonai's opera "Francesco da Rimini" premieres in Turin. [1]

February 21

• White Wolf troops attack Zhanjiang China. [1]

February 24

• Frank Craven's "Too Many Cooks" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

February 25

• John Tenniel British illustrator (Alice in Wonderland), dies at age 93. [1]

February 26

• New York Museum of Science and Industry incorporated. [1]

February 28

• Construction begins on Tower of Jewels for the Exposition (San Francisco). [1]

March 1

• Dutch Minister of war H Colijn named director of British Petroleum. [1]
• Tor Bernhard Vilhelm Aulin composer, dies at age 47. [1]

March 7

• Prince Wilhelm von Wied becomes King of Albania. [1]

March 9

• Henry Colijn appointed as director of Bataafsche Petroleum Co. [1]
• US Senator Albert Fall (Teapot Dome) demands "Cubanisation of Mexico". [1]

March 10

• Suffragettes in London damage painter Rokeby's Venus of Velasquez. [1]

March 12

• George Westinghouse US engineer (Westinghouse Electric), dies at age 67. [1]

March 14

• Serbia and Turkey sign peace treaty. [1]

March 16

• Gaston Calmette editor (Le Figaro), killed by Madame Caillaux at age 55. [1]
• Sir John Murray piloted HMS Challenger to Christmas Island, dies. [1]

March 18

• White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen China. [1]

March 22

• World's first airline, Saint Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins. [1]

March 23

• Teunis Stoel actor, dies at age 62. [1]

March 25

• Frédéric Mistral French poet (Nobel Prize-1904), dies. [1]

March 27

• First successful blood transfusion (in Brussels). [1]

March 28

• Hanus Trnecek composer, dies at age 55. [1]

March 31

• Ch Morgenstern writer, dies at age 42. [1]

April 4

• "The Perils of Pauline" shown for first time in Los Angeles California. [1]

April 8

• Jakub Arbes Czechoslovakia, author (Andél Miru), dies at age 73. [1]
• US and Colombia sign a treaty concerning the Panamá Canal Zone. [1]

April 9

• First full color film shown "The World, The Flesh and the Devil" (London). [1]
• Tampico incident - US ship crew arrested in México. [1]

April 11

• George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion", premieres. [1]

April 12

• Josef Nesvera composer, dies at age 71. [1]

April 14

• Paul Ehrenreich German etnologist/mythologist, dies at age 58. [1]
• Stacy G Carkhuff patents non-skid tire pattern. [1]

April 16

• George W Hill US astronomer (moon orbit), dies at age 76. [1]

April 19

• Charles Pierce philosopher/scientist, dies. [1]

April 20

• 33 killed by soldiers during mine strike in Ludlow Colorado. [1]

April 21

• US marines occupy Vera Cruz México, stay six months. [1]

April 22

• México ends diplomatic relations with US. [1]

April 28

• 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles West Virginia. [1]
• W H Carrier patents air conditioner. [1]

May 1

• China's first president Yuan Shikai wins dictatorial qualification. [1]

May 6

• British House of Lords rejects women suffrage. [1]

May 7

• Edward Mollenhauer composer, dies at age 87. [1]
• US Congress establishes mother's day. [1]
• Woodrow Wilson's daughter Eleanor marries in the White House. [1]

May 8

• Paramount Pictures is formed. [5]
• US Congress approves a resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. [404.82] [428.5]

May 9

• US President Woodrow Wilson signs a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. [1] [404.82] [411.64]

May 15

• Henri Rabauds opera "Marouf, Savetier de Caire" premieres in Paris France. [1]

May 16

• American Horseshoe Pitchers Association organizes in Kansas City. [1]
• Ewing Field, near Masonic Street, opens. [1]

May 17

• Peter Leyten bishop of Breda (1885-1914), dies at age 79. [1]

May 21

• Greyhound Bus Company begins in Minnesota. [1]

May 25

• British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule. [1]
• Paolo Giorza composer, dies at age 81. [1]

May 27

• Joseph Wilson Swan physicist/chemist, dies. [1]

May 28

• Adolf Gustaw Sonnenfeld composer, dies at age 76. [1]

May 29

• A Norwegian freighter rams Canadian Pacific's liner RMS Empress of Ireland in Saint Lawrence River, Canada, in heavy fog; 1024 die as the ship sinks quickly. [1] [260.94]

May 30

• Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, largest at 45,647 tons, sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City. [5] [67.21]

June 2

• Glenn Curtiss flies his Langley Aerodrome. [1]

June 6

• First air flight out of the sight of land (Scotland to Norway). [1]

June 19

• A radiotelegraphic link is established between Germany and the United States - German Emperor Wilhelm II and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson exchange telegrams to mark the event. [5]

June 24

• G Neujmin discovers asteroid #789 Lena. [1]

June 27

• US signs treaty of commerce with Ethiopia. [1]

June 28

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. [1] [129]

June 29

• G Neujmin discovers asteroid #791 Ani. [1]

June 30

• Mahatma Gandhi's first arrest, campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa. [1]

July 4

• First US motorcycle race (300 miles, Dodge City Ks). [1]

July 9

• First US duplicate auction bridge championship held, Lake Placid, New York. [1]

July 14

• First patent for liquid-fueled rocket design granted (Dr R Goddard). [1]
• Robert Hutchins Goddard patents a liquid-fuel rocket motor. [1]

July 18

• US army air service first comes into being, in the Signal Corps. [1]

July 23

• Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia demanding the person who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. [1] [5]

July 28

• Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. [1] [129]
• Foxtrot first danced at New Amsterdam Roof Garden (New York City, by Harry Fox). [1]

July 29

• First transcontinental phone link made between New York City and San Francisco. [1]
• Austro-Hungarian forces begin to shell the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Russia, Serbia's ally, orders a troop mobilization against Austria-Hungary. [129]

July 30

• Jean Jaurés leading socialist, assassinated in Paris. [1]

July 31

• The New York Stock Exchange closes its doors due to the war in Europe. (It stays closed for the next four months.) [421.68] (July 30 [227])

August 1

• Germany declares war on Russia in WW I. [1]
• France, allied with Russia, begins to mobilize. [129]
• Winston Churchill mobilizes the British Royal Navy for war. [289.177]

August 3

• Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France; France declares war on Germany. [1] [129]

August 4

• Germany declares war on Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany. [1]

August 5

• First electric traffic light is installed, at Euclid Ave. and East 105th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. [1] [5]
• US, Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US. [1]

August 6

• Austria-Hungary declares war against Russia. [1]
• Serbia declares war against Germany. [1]

August 8

• Sweden and Norway make a common declaration of neutrality. [7]

August 11

• Jews are expelled from Mitchenick Poland. [1]

August 15

• Panama Canal opens, linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans between North and South America. The SS Arcon is first ship to officially transit the canal. [1] [129] [152.14]

August 18

• President Wilson issues Proclamation of Neutrality. [1]

August 20

• German forces occupy Brussels, Belgium during WW I. [1]
• Pope Pius X dies. [1]

August 23

• Japan declares war on Germany in World War I. [1]

August 26

• Germans defeat Russians in Battle of Tannenberg. [1]

August 29

• Arizonan is first vessel to arrive in San Francisco via Panama Canal. [1]

September 1

• Martha last known passenger pigeon, dies at Cincinnati Zoo. [1]
• Saint Petersburg, Russia changes name to Petrograd. [1]

September 3

• Cardinal Giacome della Chiesa becomes Pope Benedict XV. [1]

September 5

• Battle of Marne (WW I) begins. [1]

September 6

• Battle of the Marne; Germans prevented from occupying Paris. [1]

September 7

• New York Post Office Building opens to the public. [1]

September 15

• Battle of Aisne begins between Germans and French during WW I. [1]

September 18

• Battle of Aisne ends with Germans beating French during WW I. [1]

September 26

• Federal Trade Commission formed to regulate interstate commerce. [1]

September 28

• German forces move into Antwerp Belgium (WW I). [1]

October 10

• German forces route Belgians in Antwerp Belgium (WW I). [1]

October 15

• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) founded. [1]
• Clayton Antitrust Act passed. [1]

October 28

• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, founded at Howard University, incorporates. [1]

November 5

• Britain annexes Cyprus. [1]

November 20

• US State Department starts requiring photographs for passports. [1]

December 2

• Austria army occupies Belgrade Serbia. [1]

December 3

• Netherlands army shoots up geïnterneerde Belgian soldiers: 8 killed. [1]

December 6

• Eduard Jacobs Dutch cabaret artist, dies at age 47. [1]
• German troops over run Lódz. [1]

December 8

• British and German fleets battle at Falkland Island. [1]
• Irving Berlin's musical "Watch your Step" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 10

• French government returns to Paris. [1]

December 11

• Stockton Street Tunnel (San Francisco) completed. [1]

December 12

• Watkins Lewis black man lynched in Shreveport Louisiana. [1]
• The New York Stock Exchange re-opens (was closed four months). The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops from 71.42 to 54, a drop of 24 percent. [227]

December 14

• Giovanni Sgambati composer, dies at age 73. [1]

December 15

• American Radio Relay League (organization for hams) founded by Hiram Percy Maxim. [1]
• Battle of Lódz ends; Russians retreat toward Moscow. [1]
• British fleet forfeits chance to destroy German fleet in North Sea. [1]
• Swedish troops over run Belgrade in Austria-Hungary. [1]

December 16

• French offensive in Artois (Pétain). [1]
• Ivan Zajc composer, dies at age 82. [1]

December 17

• Austrian troops beat Russians in Limanova Poland. [1]
• Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate. [1]
• Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv by Turkish authorities. [1]

December 19

• Johann F Ritter von Schulte German catholic lawyer, dies at age 87. [1]

December 21

• First feature-length silent film comedy, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" released (starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin). [1]

December 24

• German plane drops bombs on Dover England. [1]

December 25

• Germans and Allies across the trenches cease firing and participate in an informal Christmas Truce. [1] [129]