- January 23
- Temperature falls from 44 degrees F (7 degrees C) to -56 degrees F (49 degrees C) night of January 23-24, in Browning, Montana, USA. [1]
- January 25
- Montenegro surrenders to Austria-Hungary. [1]
- January 27
- Communist party's "Spartacus Letters" first published in Berlin, Germany. [1]
- January 28
- German colony of Cameroon surrenders to Britain and France. [1]
- January 29
- First bombing of Paris by German Zeppelins takes place. [1]
- February 3
- Canada's original Parliament building, in Ottawa, burns down. [1]
- Tristan Tzar publishes Dada-manifest in Zurich, Switzerland. [1]
- February 8
- French cruiser Admiral Charner is torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374. [1]
- February 9
- Britain's military service act is enforced (conscription). [1]
- February 10
- Conscription begins in Britain. [1]
- February 16
- Russian troops conquer Erzurum, Armenia. [1]
- February 21
- Battle of Verdun, France, begins (one million casualties). [1]
- February 23
- French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux, Verdun. [1]
- February 25
- German troops conquer Fort Douaumont near Verdun. [1]
- February 26
- Germans sink French transport ship Provence II, killing 930. [1]
- Russian troops conquer Kermansjah, Persia. [1]
- March 1
- Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic Ocean. [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]
- March 14
- Battle of Verdun: German attack on Mort-Homme ridge, West of Verdun. [1]
- March 16
- US General John Pershing begins the Punitive Expedition of 15,000 US troops into Mexico to capture Pancho Villa. [450.86]
- 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]
- March 31
- Dutch government ends all military engagements. [1]
- April 1
- Gabrielle Petit, Belgian resistance fighter, is executed. [1]
- April 2
- German troops overtake Bois de Caillette. [1]
- April 4
- US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in European war. [1]
- April 5
- French troops occupy Bois de Caillette. [1]
- April 6
- German parliament authorizes unrestricted submarine warfare. [1]
- April 8
- Norway approves active and passive female suffrage. [1]
- April 19
- Italian 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 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 3
- Pádraic Pearse, Irish nationalist, is 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. [1]
- May 6
- Belgian troops march into Kigali, German East-Africa. [1]
- May 8
- German munitions bunker in Fort Douaumont explodes. [1]
- May 9
- British Sir Mark Sykes and French Georges Picot meet over division of Turkey. [1]
- May 11
- Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is presented. [1]
- May 15
- Asiago Italy falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front. [1]
- May 19
- Escadrille Américaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun. [1]
- May 21
- Britain begins "Summer Time" (Daylight Savings Time). [1]
- May 22
- French troops occupy parts of Fort Douaumont, Verdun, France. [1]
- May 23
- Heavy battles at Fort Douaumont, Verdun, France. [1]
- May 24
- Conscription for war service begins in Great Britain. [1]
- French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured. [1]
- Last British-Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname. [1]
- May 29
- US forces invade Dominican Republic. [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]
- June 10
- Great Arab Revolt begins. [1]
- June 29
- Boeing aircraft flies for first time. [1]
- July 9
- First cargo submarine to cross the Atlantic arrives in US from Germany. [1]
- July 15
- 22.22 inches of rain falls in Altapass, North Carolina, USA. [1]
- July 30
- German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island, New Jersey, USA. [1]
- August 1
- Hawaii National Park is established. [1]
- August 4
- US agrees to buy Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million. [1]
- August 25
- US Congress establishes the National Park Service as part of the Department of the Interior. [1] [551.18]
- August 28
- Italy declares war against Germany. [1]
- August 29
- Steamship Hsin Iu sinks off China coast, 1,000 drown. [1]
- August 30
- Paul von Hindenburg becomes chief-of-General-Staff in Germany. [1]
- September 3
- Allies turn back Germans in Battle of Verdun. [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 of American stocks 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]
- October 26
- Margaret Sanger is 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 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]
- November 29
- US declares martial law in Dominican Republic. [1]
- December 6
- German army under General August von Mackensen occupies Bucharest. [1]
- December 7
- David Lloyd George replaces resigning H H Asquith as British Prime Minister. [1]
- December 11
- David Lloyd George forms British war government. [1]
- December 12
- The USA purchases the Danish West Indies, for US$25 million. [552.80]
- December 13
- Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops in 24 hours in Tyrol. [1]
- French chief of staff Joseph J C Joffre replaced by R G Nivelle. [1]
- December 15
- French defeat Germans in Battle of Verdun. [1]
- December 16
- Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a powerful Russian monk, is murdered at age 45. [1]
- December 26
- Joseph J C Joffre becomes marshal of France. [1]
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