May 1914

1914

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The following events occurred in May 1914:

May 1, 1914 (Friday)

• The 1914 Exposition Internationale (World's Fair) was held in the French city of Lyon.
• P. W. Goldring was elected to the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong in a by-election for the one of the two unofficial seats, beating rival William Leonard Carter by a landslide of 144-33 votes.
• The Stevens Building opened in downtown Portland, Oregon, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is approximately 152 feet (46 m) tall.
• The Croatian association football club ŽŠK Victoria was formed in Zagreb. It was renamed in 1945 to NK Lokomotiva at the beginning of a very successful decade for the club, and still operates in present-day Croatia.

May 2, 1914 (Saturday)

• The 25th County Championship first-class cricket competition began, with the schedule originally set to run until September 9. The start of World War One forced the championship committee to cancel the last two matches of the season, but final positions in the table being calculated by the percentage of possible points gained allowed the Surrey County Cricket Club) to be declared season champions for the seventh time.
• Died: John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, husband of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, 4th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845)

May 3, 1914 (Sunday)

• Komagata Maru incident — The Japanese steamship SS Komagata Maru left Yokohama, Japan for Canada with 376 passengers from Punjab, British India.
• Following a scoreless final on April 19, the American Cup association football final was replayed in Newark, New Jersey before a crowd of 15,000 spectators. Forward Edward Donaghy of Bethlehem Steel F.C. scored the single winning goal against Tacony F.C..
• Born: Martín de Riquer, Spanish literary historian and Romantic scholar, wrote important works on Don Quixote, in Barcelona (d. 2013); Ernest Smith, Canadian World War Two soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross, in New Westminster, British Columbia (d. 2005)

May 4, 1914 (Monday)

• The Portuguese football association club União Futebol Comércio e Indústria de Tomar was formed in Tomar, Portugal.
• Died: Rowland Griffiths, Welsh rugby player, played in the 1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia (b. 1886)

May 5, 1914 (Tuesday)

• The 1914 Jubilee Exhibition (Jubilæumsutstillingen) was held in Kristiania, Norway to mark the centennial of the country's Constitution.
• Athletic director L. Theo Bellmont of University of Texas at Austin chaired the first organizational meeting of the Southwest Conference in Dallas, with eight colleges with athletic programs in attendance.
• Born: Tyrone Power, American actor, best known for swashbuckler film roles such as The Mark of Zorro, in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1958); Lloyd Trigg, New Zealand World War Two bomber pilot, recipient of the Victoria Cross, in Houhora, New Zealand (d. 1943, killed in action)
• Died: Johannes Pfuhl, German sculptor, created scluptures of major Germanic historical figures including Heinrich Laube, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and William I (b. 1846)

May 6, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Born: Randall Jarrell, American poet, 11th United States Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress, in Nashville (d. 1965)

May 7, 1914 (Thursday)

• Born: Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey, winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in Wagga Wagga, Australia (d. 2006); Radomiro Tomic, Chilean politician, co-founder of the Falange Nacional (later the Christian Democrat Party of Chile, in Antofagasta, Chile (d. 1992)

May 8, 1914 (Friday)

• A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck near the town of Giarre, Province of Catania, Italy, causing 120 deaths and destroying 223 homes, an unusually high death toll for a small magnitude event.
• The Smith–Lever Act of 1914 went into effect, allowing a national Cooperative Extension Service to be established that allowed university agricultural departments to offer rural Americans educational programs that introduced new agricultural practices and technology.
• Paramount Pictures was formed through a partnership between the Famous Players Film Company and the Lasky Feature Play Company. It still remains the oldest operating movie studio in Hollywood.
• French aviator René Caudron made the first French shipboard takeoff in an airplane from a ramp constructed over the fore-deck of the seaplane carrier Foudre, using a Caudron G.3 amphibian floatplane.
• The association football club Con Con National was formed in Concón, Chile.
• Born: Romain Gary, Russian-French writer and diplomat, author of The Roots of Heaven and Clair de femme, in Vilnius, Russian Empire (d. 1980); Gaven Donne, New Zealand judge, presided over the 1978 Cook Islands election and uncovered electoral fraud, resulting in the conviction of Albert Henry, in Christchurch, New Zealand (d. 2010)
• Died: Seth Edulji Dinshaw, Pakistani philanthropist, founded the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi as well as funded other major education and public works projects still operating in modern-day Pakistan

May 9, 1914 (Saturday)

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. The U.S. Congress passed a law a day earlier designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
• J. T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets.
• Born: Hank Snow, Canadian country musician, author of country hits "I'm Movin' On" and "The Golden Rocket", in Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia (d. 1999); Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor, conducted for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic, in Barletta, Italy (d. 2005); Denham Fouts, American male prostitute, literary inspiration for Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Christopher Isherwood, and Gavin Lambert, in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 1948)
• Died: C.W. Post, American food manufacturer, founder of Post Foods (b. 1854)

May 10, 1914 (Sunday)

• General elections were completed in France, with the centre-left Radical Party winning a plurality with nearly 35 percent of the popular vote and 195 of the 601 seats in the French legislative assembly.
• Robert Bartlett, captain of the shipwrecked Karluk left fellow Intuit guide Kataktovik in Emma Town, Siberia and traveled with a Russian escort for a week's journey to Emma Harbour, where Bartlett could secure passage back to Alaska and organize a rescue for the remaining Arctic expedition members on Wrangel Island.
• The monthly French newspaper Le Pays de France published its first issue to promote tourism in France. The paper was halted for two months with the outbreak of World War One before resuming as a weekly paper chronicling the battles and events of the war.
• The 1914 Copa del Rey Final was played at the Estadio de Costorbe in Irun, Spain, with Athletic Bilbao beating España de Barcelona 2-1 to become champions for the fifth time ever.
• Died: Lillian Nordica, American opera singer, performed Brünnhilde in the Ring Cycle and other famous operas (b. 1857); Ernst von Schuch, Austrian conductor, famously collaborated with composer Richard Strauss at the Dresden Court Opera (b. 1846)

May 11, 1914 (Monday)

• The crime drama film The Master Mind was released, directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille and starring Edmund Breese. Based on the play of the same name by Daniel D. Carter, the film's plot revolves around a defense attorney's attempts to avenge the wrongful conviction of an innocent man.

May 12, 1914 (Tuesday)

• Born: Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet and author, wrote a five-book series featuring Japanese samurai Ōoka Tadasuke, in Amsterdam (d. 1993); Howard K. Smith, American journalist, one of the original Edward R. Murrow's Boys at CBS, in Ferriday, Louisiana (d. 2002); James Bacon, author and journalist, best known for his writings on Hollywood and his biography on Jackie Gleason, in Buffalo, New York (d. 2010)

May 13, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Born: Phil Drabble, British author and television personality, best known for the BBC TV series One Man and His Dog (d. 2007); Joe Louis, American boxer, World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949, in LaFayette, Alabama (d. 1981)

May 14, 1914 (Thursday)

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.
• Born: Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician, major opponent to the Romanian Communist Party, in Bobota, Sălaj, Austria-Hungary (d. 1995); Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer, first Japanese female athlete to win an Olympic gold medal (1936 Summer Olympics), in Hashimoto, Wakayama, Japan (d. 1995)
• Born: Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Baloch politician and poet from Pakistan, forefront of the Baloch Nationalist Movement, in Nushki, British Empire (d. 1983); Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont, French resistance fighter during World War Two, helped lead the Liberation of Paris in 1944, in Strasbourg, German Empire (d. 2006)

May 15, 1914 (Friday)

• The first of three Werkbund Exhibitions was held at Rheinpark in Cologne, Germany. Among the most famous architectural feature showcased was Bruno Taut's Glass Pavilion, Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer's model factory, and Henri van de Velde's model theatre.
• The comedic opera Mârouf, savetier du Caire by French composer Henri Rabaud debuted at the Opéra-Comique in Paris and became Raboud's most popular opera.
• Born: Angus MacLean, Canadian politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island, in Lewes, Prince Edward Island (d. 2000)

May 16, 1914 (Saturday)

• Karluk captain Robert Bartlett arrived in Emma Harbour and would rendezvous five days later with the whaler ship Herman to set out for Alaska.
• The National Challenge Cup association football final was played in Pawtucket, Rhode Island before a crowd of 10,000 spectators between two opposing Brooklyn football clubs. The Brooklyn Field Club beat Brooklyn Celtic 2-1, with Percy Adamson and James Ford scoring goals for Field Club against the single goal by Thomas Campion of Celtic.
• Born: Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist, developed the concept of social cohesion, in Webster Groves, Missouri (d. 2009); Eric Coy, English-Canadian athlete, represented Canada at the 1948 Summer Olympics in discus and shot put, in Nottingham, England (d. 1985)

May 17, 1914 (Sunday)

• The countries of Albania and Northern Epirus signed an agreement that recognized Northern Epirus as a self-governing region under the sovereignty of newly established Principality of Albania, known as the Protocol of Corfu.
• Canadian Northern Railway acquired Canadian Northern Ontario Railway.

May 18, 1914 (Monday)

• Born: Alla Bayanova, Russian singer, often cited the Russian equivalent to Édith Piaf, in Kishinev (now Chișinău), Russian Empire (d. 2011); Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer, considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (d. 1993)
• Born: Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founder of the fashion house Balmain, in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France (d. 1982); Marcel Bernard, French tennis player, five time winner of the French Open, in La Madeleine, Nord, France (d. 1994); Cacilda Borges Barbosa, Brazilian composer, electronic music pioneer, in Rio de Janeiro (d. 2010)
• Died: Edward R. Ayrton, English Egyptologist and archaeologist, discovered many of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (drowned) (b. 1882); Charles Sprague Pearce, American painter, painted such works as The Decapitation of St John the Baptist (1881) (born 1851)

May 19, 1914 (Tuesday)

• Tragedy struck following the completion of the Junior motorcycle road race at the 1914 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. Irish newcomer Frederick James Walker has been leading when he wiped out on his Royal Enfield, allowing competing Englisher racers Eric and Cyril Williams to pass him and win first and second places. Walker remounted and completed the race to finish third, despite two more accidents. However, spectators spilling onto the road to watch the first two riders comes in obscured his view of the finish line, causing Walker to continue past the judges box at full racing speed to the St. Ninians Crossroads where he collided with a wooden barrier in Ballaquayle Road. The racer was thrown from his motorcycle, sustaining injuries that he succumbed to later in hospital. The race committee posthumously declared Walker a third-place finish.
• Born: Max Perutz, Austrian-British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962, in Vienna (d. 2002); Alex Shibicky, Canadian hockey player, played forward for the New York Rangers from 1935 to 1946, in Winnipeg (d. 2005)
• Died: William Aldis Wright, English writer and editor, one of the chief editors of Shakespeare's plays for the Oxford University Press (b. 1831)

May 20, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Niagara Falls peace conference — Diplomats from South American countries Argentina, Brazil and Chile met with representives from the U.S. Government in Niagara Falls, Ontario, for diplomatic negotiations in order to avoid war between the United States and Mexico, in response to deteriorating relations between Mexico and the United States due to the Tampico Affair during the Mexican Revolution.
• Born: Avraham Shapira, head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem and the Supreme Rabbinic Court; Rosh yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav, in Jerusalem (d. 2007)

May 21, 1914 (Thursday)

• The Senior motorcycle road race day at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy competition finished with Cyril Pullin placing first while Howard R Davies and Oliver Godfrey, the winner of the 1911 TT, both finished second in a dead heat.
• Born: Oton Gliha, Croatian artist, best known for his series of abstract paintings based on the patterns of the drystone walls of coastal Croatia, in Črnomelj, Austria-Hungary (d. 1999)

May 22, 1914 (Friday)

• Born: Vance Packard, American journalist and writer, author of The Hidden Persuaders, in Granville Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (d. 1996); Sun Ra, American jazz musician and composer, major figure in avant-garde jazz, in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1993); Edward Arthur Thompson, British medieval historian, director of the classics department at the University of Nottingham, in Waterford, Ireland (d. 1994)

May 23, 1914 (Saturday)

• Komagata Maru incident — The Japanese steamship SS Komagata Maru entered Canadian waters and arrived at Burrard Inlet, British Columbia (near Vancouver). Richard McBride, Premier of British Columbia released a statement that passengers could not disembark until the matter was decided by the Canadian federal government, forcing the ship to anchor some 200 meters offshore.
• Aviation pioneer Gustav Hamel, credit for delivering the first airmail, disappeared while flying over the English Channel in new 80 hp Gnome Monosoupape engined Morane-Saulnier monoplane he had collected and to compete with in the Aerial Derby scheduled the same day. A body matching his description was found in the Channel about two months later.
• Died: William O'Connell Bradley, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1895 till 1899 (b. 1847)

May 24, 1914 (Sunday)

• Karluk captain Robert Bartlett arrived at Nome, Alaska on the whaler Herman but thick ice prevented the ship from reaching port. After three days, the ship turned south and landed at St Michael, where Bartlett sent a radio message to Ottawa informing the Canadian government of Karluk's fate.
• The 6th Giro d'Italia cycling race started in Milan with 81 cyclists competing in stages to Cuneo and back to Milan for a total racing distance of 3,162 km (1,965 mi).
• The Bulgarian association football club PFC Levski Sofia was formed, with the club named in honor of Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as a national hero.
• Born: Arthur A. Link, American politician, 27th Governor of North Dakota, in Alexander, North Dakota (d. 2010); Lilli Palmer, German film actress, best known for lead roles in The Four Poster and The Story of Anastasia, in Poznań, Prussia (d. 1986)
• Born: George Tabori, Hungarian writer and theater director, author of the plays The Cannibals and Pinkville in Budapest (d. 2007); Granville Beynon, Welsh physicist, worked with Edward Victor Appleton in researching the effect the ionosphere had on radio and radar, in Dunvant, Swansea, Wales (d. 1996); Harry Parr-Davies, Welsh composer songwriter, known for popular hits such as "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye," in Briton Ferry, Wales ( d. 1955)
• Died: Herman Teodor Holmgren, Swedish architect, designer of the University Hall of Uppsala University (b. 1842)

May 25, 1914 (Monday)

• The United Kingdom's House of Commons passed Irish Home Rule.

May 26, 1914 (Tuesday)

• A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Papua, Indonesia, generating a tsunami that killed at least 101 people and destroyed many homes.
• Born: Frankie Manning, American choreographer and dancer, one of the developers of the Lindy Hop, in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2009); Ziggy Elman, American jazz trumpeter, best known for his work with Benny Goodman, in Philadelphia (d. 1968)
• Died: Jacob Riis, Danish-American journalist and social reformer, city editor for the New-York Tribune (b. 1849)

May 27, 1914 (Wednesday)

• The Governor General of Canada hosted a royal garden party at the King Edward Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario to attending envoys from the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile to celebrate successful negotiations at the Niagara Falls peace conference.
• Born: Hugh Le Caine, Canadian composer, pioneer in electronic music, in Port Arthur, Ontario (d. 1977)

May 28, 1914 (Thursday)

• Nobel Prize winning Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf became the first woman to be inducted to the Swedish Academy (as well as the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature).
• Born: W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and Bar for bravery, in Madras, India (d. 1996)
• Died: Joseph Swan, British physicist, inventor of the incandescent light bulb (b. 1828)

May 29, 1914 (Friday)

• The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland collided with Norwegian collier SS Storstad and sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with 1,012 out of the 1,477 passengers and crew lost.
• Norwegian sports clubs for association football, team handball, and floorball from various neighborhoods in Oslo joined to form Djerv The club added badminton, Nordic skiing, bandy, and track and field programs in later years, changing its name again. A merger with another club in 2005 led to the club's present title Bygdø Monolitten IL.
• Born: Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, first man, along with Edmund Hillary, to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in Khumbu, Nepal (d. 1986)
• Died: Laurence Irving, British playwright and novelist, author of the play Typhoon (drowned with wife Mabel in RMS Empress of Ireland sinking) (b. 1871); Henry Seton-Karr, British explorer and politician, Member of Parliament for St Helens from 1885 to 1906 (drowned in RMS Empress of Ireland sinking) (b. 1853)

May 30, 1914 (Saturday)

• The ocean liner RMS Aquitania made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City.
• The hit Broadway musical Adele by Adolf Philipp made its West End debuted in London at the Gaiety Theatre.
• René Thomas of France won the fourth running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Delage Type Y race car.

May 31, 1914 (Sunday)

• Born: Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/film composer, best known for composing soundtracks to the Godzilla movies by Toho, in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan (d. 2006)

References

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