1916

January 1

• First issue of "Journal of Negro History" published. [1]

January 5

• Austria-Hungary offensive against Montenegro. [1]

January 7

• German troops conquer Fort Vaux at Verdun. [1]

January 10

• Russian offensive in Kaukasus. [1]

January 11

• French troops capture/Serbian army flees to Corfu. [1]

January 12

• Britain proclaims Gilbert and Ellice Island colony in the Pacific. [1]

January 14

• Dutch South Sea dike cracks. [1]
• Otto Ammon German anthropologist/sociologist, dies at age 73. [1]

January 16

• Arnold Aletrino Dutch physician-criminologist (From Death), dies at age 57. [1]

January 22

• Iwan Knorr composer, dies at age 63. [1]

January 23

• Temp falls from 44 degrees F (7 degrees C) to -56 degrees F (49 degrees C) night of 23-24, Browning MT. [1]

January 25

• Montenegro surrenders to Austria-Hungary. [1]

January 27

• Communist party "Spartacus Letters" first published in Berlin. [1]

January 28

• First Jewish Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, nominated. [1]
• German colony of Cameroon surrenders to Britain and France. [1]
• The opera "Goyescas" is first performed (New York City New York). [1]

January 29

• First bombings of Paris by German Zeppelins takes place. [1]
• Edward Hubertus Joannes Keurvils composer, dies at age 62. [1]

January 31

• Dutch Girl Guides form. [1]

February 1

• Anton Simon composer, dies at age 65. [1]

February 3

• Canada's original Parliament building, in Ottawa, burns down. [1]
• Tristan Tzar publishes Dada-manifest in Zurich Switzerland. [1]

February 5

• Enrico Caruso recorded "O Sole Mio" for the Victor Talking Machine Company. [1]

February 6

• Anne C A I van Diest Belgian physician/feminist, dies at age 73. [1]

February 8

• French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374. [1]

February 9

• Britain's military service act enforced (conscription). [1]
• Hynek Ignac Frantisek Vojacek composer, dies at age 90. [1]

February 10

• Conscription begins in Britain. [1]

February 11

• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents its first concert. [1]
• Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control. [1]

February 12

• First edition of Joseph Patterson/Sidney Smith strip "Gumps". [1]
• J W Richard Dedekind German mathematician, dies. [1]

February 14

• Petko J Todorov Bulgaria writer (Zmejova), dies at age 36. [1]

February 15

• Nikolay Nikolayevich Lodizhensky composer, dies at age 73. [1]

February 16

• Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist, dies at age 79. [1]
• Russian troops conquer Erzurum Armenia. [1]
• [Gerard] Jan Ligthart Dutch educator (Ot and Sien), dies at age 57. [1]

February 17

• Romberg/Hanley/Atteridge/Smith' musical premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

February 19

• Ernst Mach Austrian physicist/philosopher/psychologist, dies at age 78. [1]

February 20

• Klas Pontus Arnoldson Swedish politician (Nobel Prize 1908), dies at age 71. [1]

February 21

• Battle of Verdun (WWI) begins (one million casualties). [1]

February 23

• US Congress authorizes McKinley Memorial $1 gold coin. [1]
• French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux Verdun. [1]
• George Clement Martin composer, dies at age 71. [1]

February 25

• German troops conquer Fort Douaumont near Verdun. [1]

February 26

• Germans sink French transport ship Provence II, killing 930. [1]
• The Mutual Film Company signs Charlie Chaplin to a film contract to do twelve movies in twelve months. [1] [5]
• Russian troops conquer Kermansjah Persia. [1]

February 28

• Henry James US/British writer (Bostonians), dies in London at age 72. [1]

February 29

• Edward H J Keurvels Flemish conductor/composer (Parisina), dies at age 62. [1]

March 1

• Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic. [1]

March 2

• Elisabeth OL [Carmen Sylva], Queen of Romania, dies at age 72. [1]

March 4

• Franz Marc German painter/co-founder (Blaue Reiter), killed at age 36. [1]

March 8

• US invades Cuba for third time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime. [1]

March 9

• General Francisco "Pancho" Villa leads Mexican band raid on Columbus, New Mexico, USA (17 killed). [1] [450.86]
• Germany declares war against Portugal. [1]

March 12

• French airship sinks British submarine D3. [1]
• M v Ebner-Eschenbach writer, dies at age 39. [1]

March 14

• Battle of Verdun: German attack on Mort-Homme ridge, West of Verdun. [1]

March 15

• University of Gent goes under Dutch control. [1]

March 16

• US General Pershing begins the Punitive Expedition of 15,000 US troops into Mexico to capture Pancho Villa. [450.86]
• James Barries' "Kiss for Cinderella" premieres in London. [1]
• US and Canada sign Migratory bird treaty. [1]

March 20

• Allies attack Zeebrugge Belgium. [1]
• Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity. [5]

March 21

• JP Van Limburg Stirum succeeds AWF Idenburg as Governor-General of Netherland Indies. [1]
• Victor de Stuers Dutch art expert, dies at age 72. [1]

March 24

• Enrique y Campina Granados Sp opera composer (Goyescas), drowns at age 48. [1]

March 26

• Birdman of Alcatraz receives solitary. [1]

March 31

• Dutch government ends all military engagements. [1]

April 1

• Gabrielle Petit Belgian resistance fighter, executed. [1]

April 2

• German troops overtake Bois de Caillette. [1]

April 4

• US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI. [1]

April 5

• French troops occupy Bois de Caillette. [1]

April 6

• German parliament OKs unrestricted submarine warfare. [1]

April 8

• Norway approves active and passive female suffrage. [1]

April 9

• Vicente Goicoechea Errasti composer, dies at age 62. [1]

April 11

• Richard Harding Davis journalist, dies at age 52. [1]

April 15

• Alfred Cogniaux Belgian botanist, dies at age 75. [1]

April 19

• "Bing Boys are Here" opens in London. [1]
• Italians troops conquer Colonel di Lana at Merano. [1]

April 20

• German-British sea battle off Belgian coast. [1]

April 22

• France battles at Fort Douaumont. [1]

April 23

• Lord Dunsany's "Night at an Inn", premieres in New York City. [1]

April 24

• In Dublin, Ireland, the Irish Republican Brotherhood launches the Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule. [1] [129]

April 29

• Irish nationalists set post office on fire in Dublin. [1]

May 2

• Second Ave and Bronx Terrace renamed Bronx Boulevard; Seward Place renamed Sycamore Ave; Herald Ave renamed Dickinson Ave; Monroe and Selwyn Avenue named. [1]
• US President Wilson signs Harrison Drug Act. [1]

May 3

• Pádraic Pearse Irish nationalist, executed by British firing squad. [1]

May 4

• At request of US, Germany curtails its submarine warfare. [1]

May 5

• US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924. [1]

May 6

• Belgian troop march into Kigali, German East-Africa. [1]
• Dirk Bos Dutch Member of Parliament (Liberal), dies at age 53. [1]
• Earl Ross Drake composer, dies at age 50. [1]

May 8

• German munitions bunker in Fort Douaumont explodes. [1]

May 9

• British-France Sykes-Picot meet over division of Turkey. [1]

May 10

• Disastrous fire in Ellendale North Dakota. [1]
• Historic Shipport Museum opens in Amsterdam. [1]

May 11

• Einstein's Theory of General Relativity presented. [1]
• Karl Schwarzschild German astronomer (s-effect), dies. [1]
• Max [Johann] Reger German composer/pianist/organist, dies at age 43. [1]

May 13

• First observance of Indian (Native American) Day. [1]

May 15

• Asiago Italy falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front. [1]

May 17

• British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), first introduced. [1]
• Gervais Bernard Gaston Salvayre composer, dies at age 68. [1]

May 18

• US pilot Kiffin Rockwell shoots down German aircraft. [1]

May 19

• Escadrille Américaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun. [1]

May 20

• Codell Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 and 1918). [1]
• The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting. [1] [5]

May 21

• Britain begins "Summer Time" (Daylight Savings Time). [1]

May 22

• French troops occupy parts of Fort Douaumont Verdun. [1]

May 23

• Heavy battles at Fort Douaumont Verdun. [1]

May 24

• Conscription begins in Britain. [1]
• French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured. [1]
• Last British-Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname. [1]
• US pilot William Thaw shoots down a German Fokker. [1]

May 27

• Groundbreaking begins on Hugh Grant Circle in the Bronx. [1]
• Joseph S Galliéni General/Military Governor of Paris, dies. [1]

May 29

• Official flag of President of US adopted. [1]
• US forces invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924. [1]

May 31

• (to June 1) Battle of Jutland: British-German sea battle off Denmark (10,000 dead). British battle cruiser Invincible explodes, killing all aboard but six. [1] [118.9]
• Horace Hood British spy (Battle of Jutland), dies in battle. [1]

June 3

• ROTC established by Act of US Congress. [1]

June 5

• Horatio H Kitchener British General (Sudan), dies at age 65. [1]

June 10

• Great Arab Revolt begins. [1]

June 29

• Boeing aircraft flies for first time. [1]

July 1

• Eisenhower marries Mary 'Mamie' Geneva Doud in Denver Colo. [1]

July 3

• First of three fatal shark attacks occurred near New Jersey shore (4 die). [1]

July 9

• First cargo submarine to cross the Atlantic arrives in US from Germany. [1]

July 11

• First federal grant-in-aid for state roads enacted. [1]

July 15

• 22.22" of rain falls in Altapass North Carolina. [1]

July 22

• A bomb goes off during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco killing 10. [1]

July 25

• Explosion at Lake Erie and Cleveland Waterworks. [1]

July 30

• G Neujmin discovers asteroid #951 Gaspra. [1]
• German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island, New Jersey. [1]

August 1

• Hawaii National Park established. [1]

August 4

• US agrees to buy Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million. [1]

August 25

• National Park Service established in the Department of the Interior. [1]

August 28

• Italy declares war against Germany during WW I. [1]

August 29

• Steamer 'Hsin Iu' sinks off China coast, 1,000 drown. [1]

August 30

• Paul Von Hindenburg becomes chief-of-General-Staff in Germany. [1]

September 1

• Keating-Owen Act (child labor banned from interstate commerce). [1]

September 3

• Allies turn back Germans in Battle of Verdun. [1]

September 14

• Christy Mathewson pitches and wins his final game. [1]

September 15

• First tank used in war, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flors, France. [1]

September 29

• John D. Rockefeller becomes the world's first known billionaire. [441.34]

October 4

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average expands from 12 to 20 stocks. The index removes National Lead, Peoples Gas, General Motors and U.S. Steel pfd., and adds American Beet Sugar, American Can, American Locomotive, American Smelting, American Telephone & Telegraph, Baldwin Locomotive, Goodrich, Republic Iron & Steel, Studebaker, Texas Company, Utah Copper, Westinghouse, and Western Union. [228]
• Market Street's "Path of Gold" lit for first time. [1]

October 16

• Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic (46 Amboy Street, Brooklyn). [1]

October 26

• Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control). [1]

October 27

• First published reference to "jazz" appears (Variety). [1]

November 3

• Treaty establishes British suzerainty over Qatar. [1]

November 7

• Jeannette Rankin (Montana-Republican-Representative) first woman Representative. [1]
• Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) re-elected President. [1]

November 21

• White Star's Britannic ocean liner, serving as a hospital ship in the Aegean sea, hits a mine and sinks off the coast of Greece; 30 dead. [117.44] [260.34]
• Franz Josef of Austria, dies. [1]

November 29

• US declares martial law in Dominican Republic. [1]

December 1

• Charles E Vicomte de Foucauld French explorer, dies at age 58. [1]

December 2

• Francesco Paolo Tosti composer, dies at age 69. [1]

December 5

• Hans Richter composer, dies at age 73. [1]

December 6

• German army under General Mackensen occupies Bucharest. [1]

December 7

• British government of David Lloyd George forms. [1]
• David Lloyd George replaces resigning H H Asquith as British Prime Minister. [1]

December 9

• P Paul Leroy-Beaulieu French economist (Economist France), dies at age 73. [1]

December 11

• David Lloyd George forms British war government. [1]

December 13

• Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops in 24 hours in Tyrol. [1]
• Esme Stuart Lennox Robinsons premieres in Dublin. [1]
• French chief of staff Joffre replaced by Nivelle. [1]

December 15

• French defeat Germans in WWI Battle of Verdun. [1]

December 16

• Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin a powerful Russian monk is murdered at age 45. [1]

December 19

• Suriname Bauxite Company forms in Paramaribo. [1]

December 20

• Manuel Giro composer, dies at age 68. [1]
• William Wallace Gilchrist composer, dies at age 70. [1]

December 26

• Bernhard Scholz composer, dies at age 81. [1]
• Joseph Joffre becomes marshal of France. [1]

December 27

• Nikolay Feopemptovich Solov'yov composer, dies at age 70. [1]

December 28

• Eduard Strauss Austrian composer (318 dances), dies at age 81. [1]

December 31

• Ernst Rudorff composer, dies at age 76. [1]