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1914

1914

1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. (see link for calendar)

Events

January-April


- January 4 - 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador.
- January 5 - Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
- January 10 - Mexican Revolution - Pancho Villa's troops take Ojinaga in the Mexican state of Chihuahua
- February 13 - Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
- March 1 - The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
- March 10 - Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velasquez painting Rokeby Venus in London’s national gallery with a meat chopper.
- March 16 - Wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux shoots Gaston Calmet, the editor of Le Figaro because he threatened to publish Caillaux's love letters to her during his previous marriage. (She is later acquitted.)
- March 27 - Belgian surgeon A. Hustin makes the first successful blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.
- March 29 - Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive in Easter Island to make the first true study of it (departs August 1915)
- April 14 - The city of Irving, Texas is incorporated.
- April 20 - Colorado coalfield Massacre or Ludlow Massacre. Colorado National guard attacks 1200 tent colony of striking coal miners in Ludlow - 24 people dead.
- April 21 - 3000 US marines land in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
- The American Radio Relay League is founded.

May-July


- May 9 - J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.
- May 14 - Woodrow Wilson signs Mother's Day proclamation.
- May 14 - The Hellenic Holocaust begins in the Ottoman Empire.
- May 25 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
- May 29 - The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,024 lives lost. Gulf of St. Lawrence, World War I has now become inevitable]]
- June 1 - Woodrow Wilson's envoy Edward Mandell House meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- June 18 - Constitutionals take San Luis Potos - Venustiano Carranza demands Victoriano Huerta's surrender
- June 23 - Kiel Canal reopened (owing to its having been deepened) by the Kaiser: Visit of the British Fleet under Sir G. Warrender: Kaiser inspects the Dreadnought H.M.S. "King George V".
- June 28 - The assassination in Sarajevo: Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife, the Archduchess Sophie are killed by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
- June 29 - Austria-Hungary: Secretary of the Legation at Belgrade sends despatch to Vienna suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo.Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo and throughout Bosnia generally.
- June 30-Great Britain: Addresses in Parliament on the murdered Archduke: Lords Crewe and Lansdowne in House of Lords; Messrs. Asquith and Law in House of Commons.
- July 2 -Announcement that the Kaiser will not attend the Archduke's funeral.
- July 4 - Austria-Hungary: Funeral of the Archduke at Artstetten (50 miles west of Vienna).
- July 5 - Council at Potsdam.
- July 6 - Kaiser leaves Kiel for a cruise in Northern waters.
- July 7 - Austria-Hungary: Council of Ministers, including Ministers for Foreign Affairs and War, Chief of General Staff and Naval Commander-in-Chief: Council lasts from 11.30 a.m. to 6.15 p.m.
- July 8 -Count Tisza makes grave statement in Hungarian Chamber concerning the murder of the Archduke.
- July 9 -The House of Lords completed the recasting of the Amendment Bill(Ireland).Among the Amendments adopted with one excluding the Unionists of the West and South (as well as Ulster )from the jurisdiction of the judiciary appointed by the Home Rule Government;and another withdrawing of the Land Purchase Acts from the conrol of the Irish Parliment. Austria-Hungary.-Emperor recieves report of Austro-Hungarian investigation into the Sarajevo crime.The London Times publishes account of Austro-Hungarian press campaign against Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
- July 10 - Mr.Hartwig,Russian Minister to Serbia, dies suddenly at Austrian Legation in Belegrade.
- July 12 - Demonstrations in Ulster suggesting Civil War.
- July 13 - Reports of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belegrade.
- July 15 - Victoriano Huerta resigns and leaves for Colón. July 17 he leaves for exile in Spain
- July 18 - The Signal Corps of the United States Army is formed, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.
- July 28 - World War I begins: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after it fails to meet the conditions of an ultimatum it set on July 23 following the Sarajevo assassination.
- July 31 - French pacifist Jean Jaures is assassinated.

August


- August 1 - Germany declares war on Russia, following Russia's military mobilization in support of Serbia.
- August 2 - German troops occupy Luxembourg.
- August 2 - Secret treaty between Turkey and Germany to secure Turkish neutrality
- August 3 - Germany declares war on Russia's ally France.
- August 4 - German troops invade neutral Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany after the latter fails to respect Belgian neutrality. The United States declares neutrality.
- August 5 - USA and Panama sign the Panama Canal Treaty
- August 15 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic.
- August 15 - Venustiano Carranza's troops under general Alvaro Obregon enter Mexico City
- August 17-September 2 - World War I: Battle of Tannenberg
- August 20 - World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
- August 23 - Japan declares war on Germany.
- August 26-27 - The Battle of Le Cateau.
- August 28 - The Battle of Helgoland - British cruisers under admiral Beatty sink three German cruisers Battle of Helgoland]]
- August 29-30 - The Battle of St. Quentin.

September-October


- September 1 - St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd.
- September 1 - The last known passenger pigeon dies in the Cincinnati Zoo.
- September 2 - Moronvilliers occupied by the Germans.
- September 3 - Giacomo della Chiesa is elected as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He becomes pope Benedict XV.
- September 5 - London Agreement - no member of Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with Central Powers.
- September 5 - World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins - Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury attack German forces who are advancing on the capital. Over 2 million troops will fight in the battle and 100,000 will be killed or wounded in this significant Allied victory.
- September 6 - French and British counterattack at Marne ends German advance on Paris.
- September 13-28 - The First Battle of the Aisne.
- September 17 - Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- September 26 - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
- September 30 - Flying Squadron established to promote temperance movement.
- October 9 - World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.
- October 13 - Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-1, to win baseball's World Series.
- October 29 - World War I: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports: Russia, France, and Britain declare war on November 1-5.

November-December


- November 1 - World War I: Battle of Coronel fought - A Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock is met and defeated by the superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. This is the first British naval defeat of the war.
- November 4 - Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
- November 5 - The United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
- November 16 - A year after being created by passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens for business.
- November 23 - US troops withdraw from Veracruz. Venustiano Carranza's troops take over and Carranza makes the town his headquarters
- November 28 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
- December 7 - Federation of Oriental Jews founds the Oriental Jewish Community of New York

Unknown dates


- Marcus Garvey in Jamaica founds Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
- First everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.
- French Buddhist Alexandra David-Neel is the first European woman to visit Tibet (in disguise).
- Jehovah's Witnesses claim October of this year to be the end of the Gentile Times and the beginning of Jesus Christ's rule in Heaven.
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa to spearhead the Indian independence movement.
- W. H. Carrier patents design of an air conditioner.
- The capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China is moved from Guilin to Nanning.

Ongoing events


- World War I (1914-1918)
- Assyrian Genocide (1914-(1922)
- Mexican Revolution

Births

January-February


- January 1 - Noor Inayat Khan, World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- January 4 - Jane Wyman, American actress
- January 5 - George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)
- January 6 - Danny Thomas, American singer, actor, and comedian (d. 1991)
- January 14 - Harold Russell, Canadian actor (d. 2002)
- January 15 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)
- January 17 - William Stafford, Aerican poet and pacifist (d. 1993)
- January 18 - Arno Schmidt, German author (d. 1979)
- January 30 - John Ireland, Canadian-born actor (d. 1992)
- January 30 - David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
- January 31 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
- February 4 - Alfred Andersch, German writer (d. 1980)
- February 4 - Ida Lupino, English actress, director, and writer (d. 1995)
- February 5 - William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997)
- February 5 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- February 6 - Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (d. 2005)
- February 9 - Ernest Tubb, American singer (d. 1984)
- February 11 - Matt Dennis, American singer (d. 2002)
- February 12 - Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)
- February 19 - Jacques Dufilho, French comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- February 22 - Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 23 - Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
- February 24 - Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)

March-April


- March 1 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (d. 1994)
- March 2 - Martin Ritt, American director (d. 1990)
- March 6 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981)
- March 8 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d.1987)
- March 13 - Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d. 1943)
- March 14 - Bill Owen, English actor (d. 1999)
- March 17 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
- March 19 - Jay Berwanger, American football player (d. 2002)
- March 25 - Norman Borlaug, American agricultural scientist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- March 26 - William Westmoreland, U.S. general (d. 2005)
- March 28 - Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)
- March 30 - Sonny Boy Williamson, American musician (d. 1948)
- March 31 - Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- April 2 - Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
- April 4 - Marguerite Duras, French author and director (d. 1996)
- April 4 - Frances Langford, American singer and actress (d. 2005)
- April 11 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
- April 22 - Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
- April 25 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
- April 26 - Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)
- April 26 - Lilian Rolfe, French-born World War II heroine (d. 1945)

May-June


- May - Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skating trainer (d. 2003)
- May 8 - Romain Gary, Russian-born writer and diplomat (d. 1980)
- May 9 - Hank Snow, Canadian country musician (d. 1999)
- May 12 - Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
- May 12 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)
- May 13 - Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- May 18 - Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (d. 1993)
- May 19 - Go Seigen, Japanese go player
- May 19 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)
- May 22 - Vance Packard, American author (d. 1996)
- May 22 - Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)
- May 28 - W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot (d. 1996)
- June 3 - Roy Glenn, American actor (d. 1971)
- June 15 - Yuri Andropov, Soviet politician (d. 1984)
- June 19 - Alan Cranston, U.S. Senator (d. 2000)
- June 19 - Harry Lauter, American actor (d. 1990)
- June 21 - William Vickrey, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- June 29 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech-born conductor (d. 1996)

July-September


- July 2 - Frederick Fennell, American conductor (d. 2004)
- July 8 - Sarah P. Harkness, American architect.
- July 15 - Hammond Innes, English author (d. 1998)
- July 19 - John Kenneth Macalister, Canadian World War II hero (d. 1944)
- July 19 - Marius Russo, baseball player (d. 2005)
- July 10 - Joe Shuster, Canadian-born comic book creator, Co-creator of Superman (d. 1992)
- July 30 - Lord Killanin, Irish president of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1999)
- August 2 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
- August 9 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author (d. 2001)
- August 10 - Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)
- August 15 - Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
- August 17 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1988)
- August 17 - Gabrielle Weidner, Belgian World War II heroine (d. 1945)
- August 26 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)
- September 5 - Sor Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Catholic nun (d. 2000)
- September 10 - Robert Wise, American film producer (d. 2005)
- September 11 - Sidney Hart, British trade unionist and religious administrator (d. 2005)
- September 12 - Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)
- September 12 - Janusz Zurakowski, Polish-born pilot (d. 2004)
- September 14 - Clayton Moore, American actor (d. 1999)
- September 15 - Creighton Williams Abrams, U.S. general (d. 1974)
- September 15 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian writer (d. 1999)
- September 16 - Allen Funt, American television show host (d. 1999)
- September 23 - Bethsabée de Rothschild, English philanthropist and patron of dance (d. 1999)

October-December


- October 1 - Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (d. 2004)
- October 4 - Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d. 2003)
- October 6 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (d. 2002)
- October 10 - Tommy Fine, baseball player (d. 2005)
- October 14 - Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 14 - Dick Durrance, American skier (d. 2004)
- October 16 - Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan
- October 17 - Jerry Siegel, American comic book creator, Co-creator of Superman (d. 1996)
- October 21 - Martin Gardner, American writer on mathematics and games
- October 27 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (d. 1953)
- October 28 - Jonas Salk, American medical scientist (d. 1995)
- October 28 - Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- November 11 - Howard Fast, American novelist and television writer (d. 2003)
- November 13 - Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (d. 2005)
- November 20 - Charles Berlitz, American author (d. 2003)
- November 25 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 1999)
- December 10 - Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d. 1996)
- December 12 - Patrick O'Brian, British writer (d. 2000)
- December 14 - Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)
- December 24 - Herbert Reinecker, German writer
- December 26 - Richard Widmark, American actor
- December 29 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
- December 30 - Bert Parks, American singer and actor (d. 1992)

Deaths


- January 18 - Georges Picquart, French general and Minister of war (b. 1854)
- February 24 - Joshua Chamberlain, American Civil War general (b. 1828)
- March 1 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (b. 1845)
- March 6 - George Washington Vanderbilt II, American businessman (b. 1862)
- March 16 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
- March 19 - Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)
- March 25 - Frédéric Mistral, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
- April 1 - Rube Waddell, baseball player (b. 1876)
- April 2 - Paul von Heyse, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
- April 7 - Ayub Khan, Afghan military leader (b. 1857)
- May 2 - John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, husband of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom (b. 1845)
- June 14 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)
- June 21 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
- June 28 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1873)
- June 28 - Archduchess Sophie Chotek, wife of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1868)
- July 2 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)
- July 31 - Jean Jaurès, French pacifist (assassinated) (b. 1859)
- August 4 - Hubertine Auclert, French feminist (b. 1848)
- August 12 - John Philip Holland, Irish developer of the submarine (b. 1840)
- August 20 - Pope Pius X (b. 1835)
- August 30 - Aleksander Samsonov, Russian general (b. 1859)
- September 3 - Albéric Magnard, French composer (b. 1865)
- September 26 -August Macke, German painter (b. 1887)
- October 10 - King Carol I of Romania (b. 1839)
- November 3 - Georg Trakl, Austrian poet(b. 1887)
- November 11 - A. E. J. Collins, British cricketer and soldier (b. 1885)
- November 14 - Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, British field marshal (b. 1832)
- December 24 - John Muir, American naturalist (b. 1838)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Max von Laue
- Chemistry- Theodore William Richards
- Medicine - Robert Bárány
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded

Fictional references


- The 2001 animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire takes place in late 1914. Category:1914 ko:1914년 ms:1914 ja:1914年 simple:1914 th:พ.ศ. 2457

Common year starting on Thursday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Thursday (dominical letter D). e.g. 2009 (A common year is a year with 365 days -- in other words, not a leap year.) This kind of year has 53 weeks in the ISO 8601 week - day format.
Millennium Century Year
2nd Millennium: 19th century: 1801 1807 1818 1829 1835 1846 1857 1863 1874 1885 1891
2nd Millennium: 20th century: 1903 1914 1925 1931 1942 1953 1959 1970 1981 1987 1998
3rd Millennium: 21st century: 2009 2015 2026 2037 2043 2054 2065 2071 2082 2093 2099
3rd Millennium: 22nd century: 2105 2111 2122 2133 2139 2150 2161 2167 2178 2189 2195
Category:ThursdayCategory:Weeksko:목요일로 시작하는 평년th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันพฤหัสบดี

Labrador

:This article is about the region in Canada. For other meanings, see Labrador (disambiguation). Labrador is a region on the easternmost coast of Canada. Together with the island of Newfoundland from which it is separated by the Strait of Belle Isle, they comprise the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The region is part of the Labrador Peninsula. The population of Labrador is 27,860 (2001 census), including some 30 percent Aboriginal peoples, including Inuit, Innu, and Métis. With an area of 294,330 km², it is the size of Italy. Its former capital was Battle Harbour. The name "Labrador" is one of the oldest names of European origin in Canada, almost as old as the name "Newfoundland". It is named after Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador who, together with Pedro de Barcelos, first sighted it in 1492. Most non-Aboriginal settlement of Labrador occurred due to fishing villages, missions, and fur trading outposts; modern settlements have been created as a result of iron ore mining, hydroelectric developments, and military installations. Until modern times, difficult sea travel and lack of general transportation facilities discouraged settlement. In the 1760s, Moravian missionaries began settling, building missions and often sharing in the fur trade with the Hudson's Bay Company, which was the dominant force on the peninsula until 1870. Claims have persisted concerning the Ungava Peninsula with Quebec, although they were formally settled in 1927 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. John James Audubon called Labrador "the most extensive and dreariest wilderness I have ever beheld".

Modern Labrador

Just as its island neighbour Newfoundland, human settlement in Labrador was historically tied to the sea as witnessed by the Montagnais, Innu and Inuit, although it has also been demonstrated that both the former also made significant forays throughout vast areas of the interior as well. European settlement was largely concentrated in coastal communities, particularly those south of Hamilton Inlet, and are among Canada's oldest European settlements. Extremely poor, both European and First Nations settlements along coastal Labrador came to benefit from cargo and relief vessels that were operated as part of the Grenfell Mission (see Sir Wilfred Grenfell). Throughout the 20th century, coastal freighters and ferries operated initially by the Newfoundland Railway and later Canadian National Railways/CN Marine/Marine Atlantic became a critical lifeline for communities on the coast, which for the majority of that century, did not have any road connection with the rest of North America. Labrador has played a strategic role in both the Second World War and the Cold War. In the early 1940s a German U-boat crew installed an automated weather station on the northern tip of Labrador near Cape Chidley. This station only broadcast weather observations to the German navy for several months but was not discovered until the 1980s after a U-boat veteran mentioned its presence to Canadian authorities. The US Army Flying Corps built a major air force base at Goose Bay, at the head of Lake Melville during the Second World War, largely because of the surrounding topography and access to coastal transport. Today, CFB Goose Bay is the largest employer for the community of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Additionally, both the United States Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force built and operated a number of radar stations along coastal Labrador as part of the Pinetree Line, Mid-Canada Line and DEW Line systems. Today the remaining stations are automated as part of the North Warning System, however the military settlements during the early part of the Cold War surrounding these stations have largely continued as local Innu and Inuit populations have clustered near their port and airfield facilities. During the first half of the 20th century, some of the largest iron ore deposits in the world were discovered in the western part of Labrador and adjacent areas of Quebec. Deposits at Mont Wright, Schefferville, Labrador City, and Wabush drove industrial development and human settlement in the area during the post-war years. The present community of Labrador West is entirely a result of the iron ore mining activities in the region. The Iron Ore Company of Canada operates the Quebec, North Shore, and Labrador Railway to transport ore concentrate 500 miles south to the port of Sept Iles, Quebec for shipment to steel mills in North America and elsewhere. During the 1960s, the Churchill River was diverted at Churchill Falls which resulted in the flooding of an enormous area - today named the Smallwood Reservoir. A hydroelectric generating station was built and a transmission line was built through Quebec to the North American electrical grid. In the 1980s-2000s the Trans-Labrador Highway was built in stages to connect various inland communities with the North American highway network at Mont Wright, Quebec (which in turn is connected by a Quebec highway running north from Baie-Comeau, Quebec). A southern extension of this highway has opened in stages during the early 2000s and is resulting in significant changes to the coastal ferry system in the Strait of Belle Isle and southeastern Labrador. It is worth noting that these "highways" are called so only because of their importance to the region; they would be better described as roads, and are not completely paved. A study on a fixed link to Newfoundland, in 2004, recommended a tunnel under the Strait of Belle Isle, being a single railway that would carry cars, buses and trucks. Conceivably, if built with federal aid, the 1949 terms of union would be amended to remove ferry service from Nova Scotia to Port-aux-Basques across the Cabot Strait. Although a highway link will soon (2006 or 2007) be complete across Labrador, this route is somewhat longer than a proposed Quebec North Shore highway that presently does not exist. Part of the "highway", Quebec provincial highway 389, starting approximately 212 km (132 miles) from Baie Comeau to 482 km (299 miles) is of an inferior alignment, and from there to 570 km (354 miles), the provincial border, is an accident-prone section notorious for its poor surface and sharp curves (the joke being you can see your own taillights). Local citizens are urging realignment of this road, a vital work if it were to be the routing to the fixed link to Newfoundland. Quebec Route 389 and the Trans-Labrador Highway were added to Canada's National Highway System in September 2005.

The Labrador boundary dispute

Quebec provincial highway 389 The tortuous border between Labrador and Canada was set March 2, 1927, after a five-year trial. In 1809 Labrador had been transferred from Lower Canada to Newfoundland, but the landward boundary of Labrador had never been precisely stated. Newfoundland argued it extended to the height of land, but Canada, stressing the historical use of the term "Coasts of Labrador", argued the boundary was one statute mile (1.6 km) inland from the high-tide mark. As Canada and Newfoundland were separate countries but both members of the British Empire, the matter was referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London), which set the Labrador boundary mostly along the coastal watershed. One of Newfoundland's conditions for joining Confederation in 1949 was that this boundary be entrenched in the Canadian constitution. However, this border has never been formally accepted by the Quebec government; sometimes a different border is shown on maps.[http://www.dgeq.qc.ca/img/carte_2001/images/region09.gif] The province's name change to Newfoundland and Labrador was meant to emphasize its claim to Labrador. (See Newfoundland and Labrador for more details.) A Royal Commission in 2002 determined that there is a certain amount of public pressure from Labradorians to break off from Newfoundland and become a separate province or territory. Some of the Innu nation would have the area become a homeland for them, much as Nunavut is for the Inuit; a 1999 resolution of the Assembly of First Nations claimed Labrador as a homeland for the Innu and demanded recognition in any further constitutional negotiations regarding the region. [http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/1999/Confederacy%20Resolutions/res100.htm] The Inuit self-government region of Nunatsiavut was recently created through agreements with the provincial and federal governments.

Timeline


- 11th century : Probably visited by Leif Ericson. See Markland.
- 1492: Sighted by João Fernandes Lavrador
- 1498: Visited by John Cabot
- 1500: Visited by Gaspar Corte-Real
- 1534: Visited by Jacques Cartier
- 1763: Labrador is transferred from the French colony Canada to the British colony Newfoundland as per the Treaty of Paris.
- 1774: Labrador is transferred (along with Anticosti Island and the Magdalen Islands) to Quebec.
- 1791: Labrador becomes part of Lower Canada when Quebec is divided into two colonies.
- 1809: Labrador (from Cape Chidley to the mouth of the Saint-Jean River) is transferred back to Newfoundland.
- 1825: The north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence west of Blanc-Sablon and south of 52° north is separated from Labrador and transferred back to Lower Canada.
- 1927: The Labrador boundary dispute is settled.
- 1949: Labrador becomes part of Canada when Newfoundland joins Confederation.
- 2001: The province changes its name to Newfoundland and Labrador.

References


- The Lure of the Labrador Wild, by Dillon Wallace (ISBN 1404315373; July 2002) Labrador by Choice by Benjamin W. Powell Sr. C.M. 1979

External links


- Project Gutenberg e-text of Dillon Wallace's [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4019 The Lure of the Labrador Wild]
- [http://labrador.crrstv.net/ Labrador information page] Category:LabradorCategory:Disputed territorieszh-min-nan:Labrador Tony F. Powell-New Book on Labrador http://www.labradorsalmon.com/book

Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo), is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, United States (where the company is currently headquartered), and incorporated on June 16, 1903. According to Fortune magazine, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota Motor replaced Ford as the world's number two and three automobile manufacturers by revenue in 2004. For many years before that Ford was global number two behind General Motors. Ford remains one of the world's ten largest corporations by revenue. Ford radically reformed the methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars, and large-scale management of an industrial workforce. Ford implemented the ideas of Eli Whitney, who developed the first assembly line using interchangeable parts, which made it possible to put the cars together at a much lower cost and with greater reliability and repeatability. The use of a chain driven track to move the vehicles to the workers was unique in the industry and quickly became the preferred method for volume production. As the individual work tasks became simple and repetitive this allowed the use of unskilled laborers who could be quickly trained for a single task but this also removed most of the satisfaction that a worker performing multiple tasks may enjoy.

History

Ford was launched from a converted wagon factory, with $28,000 cash from twelve investors. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies. Detroit In 1908, the Ford company released the Ford Model T. The first Model Ts were built at the Piquette Plant. The company was forced to move production to the much larger Highland Park Plant to keep up with the demand for the Model T, and by 1913 had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line on December 1 that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes. However these innovations were not popular, and in order to stop the staff deserting the monotonous jobs, on January 5, 1914, Ford took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day, and cut shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1997.00047.x/pdf] - moves that were not popular with rival companies, although seeing the increase in Ford's productivity, most soon followed suit. By the end of 1913, Ford was producing 50% of all cars in the United States, and by 1918 half of all cars in the country were Model Ts. Referring to the Model T, Henry Ford is reported to have said that "any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." This was because black paint was quickest to dry; earlier models had been available in a variety of colors. On January 1, 1919, Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry Ford still kept a hand in management. The Ford company lost market share during the 1920s due to the rise of consumer credit. The company's goal was to produce an inexpensive automobile that any worker could afford. To keep prices low, Ford (at the behest of its owner, Henry Ford) offered few features. General Motors and other competitors began offering automobiles in more colors, and with more features and luxuries. They also extended credit so consumers could buy these more expensive automobiles. Ford resisted following suit, insisting that such credit would hurt the consumer and the economy. Due to market constraints, however, the company finally gave in and followed its competitors' lead when on December 2, 1927, Ford unveiled the redesigned Ford Model A and retired the Model T.

The Great Depression

Ford maintained production for nearly two years after the start of the Great Depression. However, the slump in sales led to Ford's closing the Model A assembly line on August 1, 1931, with the loss of 60,000 jobs. The following year, five Ford workers were killed as unemployed workers marched to demand jobs. Henry Ford fortified his home and the factory. Only eight of 35 U.S. plants were in production in 1933 and it took until 1939 before sales returned to their 1929 levels.

World War II

After the outbreak of World War II, U.S. domestic automotive production ceased for the duration of the conflict, as the nation's industries were redirected to war production. Ford Motor Company was responsible for major contributions to the Allies' war effort. Of the companies contracted to produce the famous World War II "jeep" or truck, quarter-ton, 4x4, Ford produced the most (the other companies included Willys-Overland, which later adopted the name Jeep). The Ford version was called a GPW. Wartime production at Ford also included aircraft construction. Near its Detroit-area headquarters, Ford developed the Willow Run plant and its associated airfield, where the B-24 Liberator aircraft was produced. The Willow Run plant was a massive facility, and held the distinction at the time of being the world's largest enclosed "room;" at its peak, the plant was able to produce as many as one B-24 aircraft per hour of production. Willow Run, located near Ypsilanti, Michigan, still operates as an airfield today; today, Ford's rival General Motors owns part of the facility, where manufacturing continues. During the war, thousands of women found employment in manufacturing at Ford, many for the first time. These women became symbolized by the famous poster image of Rosie the Riveter. Ford's former manufacturing plant in Richmond, California, located near San Francisco, is under development by the National Parks Service as the Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Ford's plants in Germany and Vichy France, Fordwerke, produced many of the cars and trucks used by the Nazis in World War II. The Ford Motor Company has denied allegations that they profited by the use of forced labor to produce tanks for the Nazis during the war, saying that Ford had lost control of the German division by that point in the war and was not responsible for its activities (see also: Strategic bombing survey). Similar charges have been made against other American firms which had European operations at the outbreak of hostilities. It must be remembered that all companies operating in Germany at that time had to use labor provided by the German government, and that the Nazi regime chose to provide forced and slave laborers to industry.

Post war developments

Strategic bombing survey] Ford became a publicly traded corporation in 1956; however, the Ford family still maintains a controlling interest in the company. Henry Ford's great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the company's current chairman and CEO.

A new direction for the 21st century

Under the leadership of the current chairman, William Clay Ford, the company (and Mr. Ford personally) stunned the industry and pleased environmentalists with an [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/07-27-2000/0001276963 announcement] of a planned 25 percent improvement in the average mileage of its light truck fleet — including its popular SUVs — to be completed by the 2005 calendar year. William Ford was also one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of an battery electric vehicle, a Ford Ranger EV, while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform. Many Ford vehicles now sport an emblem — a green leaf springing from a curving road-like twig — symbolic of the new "green" commitment to preserve the environment and reduce resource consumption while delivering safe, economical, and effective products to the motoring public. However, Ford has not made significant progress toward the goal as of early 2005. In 2003, the company announced that it would not try to achieve this goal. Ford has also terminated its electric vehicle program. In this period, the company introduced the Ford Excursion, an SUV larger than the Chevrolet Suburban. The Excursion is soon to be discontinued and replaced by an extended wheelbase version of the Ford Expedition. As with General Motor's Hummer H2, the Excursion is so large that its mileage does not count toward the manufacturer's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mileage.

2005 bond downgrade

Corporate Average Fuel Economy In May 2005, several bond rating agencies downgraded the bonds of Ford Motor Company to below investment grade (so called "junk bonds"). These downgrades were a recognition of high health care costs for an aging workforce and of the dependence of the company on profits from the sales of sport utility vehicles. Due to higher fuel prices, there has been a decrease in the profits on these vehicles owing to "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low interest financing), which were needed due to declining sales. Foreign manufactures, not having the truck manufacturing capabilities to form a platform base for similar vehicles, have instead introduced so called "crossover" SUV's — vehicles built on an automobile or minivan platform rather than a truck chassis. These vehicles have proven to be popular in the market, while Ford had not developed such vehicles (with the exception of the Escape light SUV). As far as the other non-truck models, most of these (with the notable exception of the 2005 Mustang) are disadvantaged in the marketplace owing to a perception by buyers that foreign manufactures (especially Toyota and Honda) deliver better value in terms of fuel economy, reliability, and build quality. These perceptions are reflected in the used car market by higher values for these foreign models. For owners who frequently trade in and for those who lease their vehicles, the resale values are reflected in substantial cost differences with domestic vehicles costing more in overall costs.

Response to the downgrade

The current strategy of Ford in response to the circumstances that lead to the bond downgrade is to reduce the company's reliance on a limited portion of their products for profit. To make good profits across their product line required that the company reduce the costs of development and production while introducing compelling products. This strategy is in contrast with that of GM, which has postponed development of a new rear wheel drive passenger car platform (called "Zeta" internally) to free up resources for the next generation of their light truck and SUV lines, this in the stated belief that their core market for such vehicles is sufficiently prosperous as to be insensitive to fuel price increases (and implicitly, to low resale values). Chairman Ford asked Americans-division president Mark Fields to create a plan to save the company. Fields unveiled his plan, dubbed "Way Forward", at the December 7, 2005 board meeting of the company. It reportedly includes shutting down 10 factories and eliminating 30,000 jobs in North America.

Brands and marques

2005 Today, Ford Motor Company manufactures automobiles under the highly-recognized Lincoln and Mercurybrand names. In 1958, Ford introduced a new marque, the Edsel, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. Later, in 1985, the Merkur brand was released; it met a similar fate in 1989. Both the Edsel and Merkur brands are considered as commercial failures. Ford has major manufacturing operations in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and several other countries, including South Africa where, following divestment during apartheid, it once again has a wholly-owned subsidiary. It also has a joint venture with Mahindra in India. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with GAZ. In recent years Ford has acquired Aston Martin, Daimler, Jaguar, Volvo Cars, and Land Rover, as well as a controlling share of Mazda, with which it operates an American joint venture plant called Auto Alliance. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon. Its prestige brands, with the exception of Lincoln, are managed through its Premier Automotive Group. Ford's non-manufacturing operations include organizations such as their credit department, Ford Credit.

Global markets

Initially, Ford models sold outside the U.S. were essentially versions of those sold on the home market, but later on there were vast differences between those sold in the U.S. and those sold in Europe. The divergence in product tastes is such that European models like the Ford Mondeo have fared poorly in the United States, while U.S. models such as the Ford Taurus have fared poorly in Japan and Australia, even produced in right hand drive. The small European model Ka, a hit in its home market, did not catch on in Japan, as it was not available as an automatic. The Mondeo was dropped by Ford Australia, because the segment of the market in which it competes had been in steady decline, with buyers preferring the larger local model, the Falcon. The Focus has been one exception, which has sold strongly on both sides of the Atlantic, despite its European design.

Europe

Atlantic At first, Ford in Germany and the United Kingdom built different models from one another until the late 1960s, with the Ford Escort and then the Ford Capri being common to both companies. Later on, the Ford Taunus and Ford Cortina became identical, produced in left hand drive and right hand drive respectively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames such as "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship". Increasingly, Ford Motor Company has looked to Ford of Europe for its "world cars," such as the Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta, although sales of European-sourced Fords in the U.S. have been disappointing. In Asia, models from Europe are not as competitively priced as Japanese-built rivals, nor are they perceived as reliable. The Focus has been one exception to this, which has become America's best selling compact car since its launch in 2000. In 2001, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in more than eighty years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continues at the company's Southampton facility, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham, and transmissions at Halewood. Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles although the use of this brand name was discontinued circa 1965. It owns the Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin car plants in Britain which are still operational. Ford's Halewood Assembly Plant was converted to Jaguar production. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo range in Genk,Belgium, Fiesta in Valencia,Spain and Cologne,Germany, Ka in Valencia and Focus in Valencia, Saarlouis,Germany and St. Petersberg,Russia. Transit production is in Kocaeli,Turkey and Southampton,United Kingdom and Transit Connect in Kocaeli. Ford also owns a joint venture production plant in Turkey. Ford-Otosan, established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk. Another joint venture plant near Setubal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen, assembles the Galaxy people carrier as well as its sister ship, the VW Sharan.

Asia Pacific

VW SharanIn Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon is considered the typical (if not particularly economical) family car, though it is considerably larger than the Mondeo sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972, the Falcon was based on a U.S. Ford of that name, but since then has been entirely designed and manufactured locally. Like its General Motors rival, the Holden Commodore, the 4.0 liter Falcon retains rear wheel drive. High performance variants of the Falcon running American Mustang V8 engines produce up to 390bhp. A pick-up version is also available with a similar range of drive trains. In both Australia and New Zealand, the Commodore and Falcon outsell all other cars. In Australia they comprise over 20% of the new car market. Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller. However, with the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella (also known as the