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James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (May 10, 1841 – May 14, 1918), was a newspaper publisher and sports enthusiast. 1918 Born in New York City, the son and namesake of the wealthy publisher of the New York Herald, Gordon Bennett was educated primarily in France, a country where he would spend a good part of his life. Bennett lived in the same exclusive world as other Newport, Rhode Island summer elites, such as the Vanderbilts, the du Ponts, and the Astors, who made ostentatious displays of their wealth with luxurious steam and motor yachts, opulent private railcars, and lavish mansions. He became the youngest Commodore ever of the New York Yacht Club. However, as a sailing enthusiast, Gordon Bennett did serve in the Navy during the Civil War, and in 1866 won the first trans-oceanic boat race before taking over his father's newspaper publishing business the following year. Once in charge, he raised the very successful newspaper's profile even further when he provided the financial backing for the much talked about 1869 expedition by British explorer Henry Morton Stanley into Africa to find David Livingstone. The journey lasted for two years until November 10, 1871, giving Bennett's paper exclusive coverage that fascinated readers for a sustained period. The New York Herald's stories from the "Dark Continent" were the envy of the paper's competitors. 1871 In 1877, a few years of taking control of his father's paper, Gordon Bennett left New York after a scandal that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. The incident involved Bennett arriving late and drunk to a party at the May family's New York mansion, and urinating in the living room fireplace in full view of his hosts. This incident is thought to be the origin of "Gordon Bennett" as an expression of disbelief, common in the southern regions of the United Kingdom. Settling permanently in Paris, he began to publish a quality English language daily that continues to this day under the name of the International Herald Tribune. From Paris, or from aboard his luxurious 300 foot yacht, he directed operations in New York and following the success with Henry Stanley, Bennett's newspaper supported the voyage of George W. DeLong through the Bering Strait to the North Pole. The ill-fated 1879–1881 expedition led to the starvation deaths of DeLong and 19 fellow crew members, a tragedy that only increased the newspaper's circulation. He was a co-founder of the Commercial Cable Company, a successful venture to break the Transatlantic cable monopoly held by New York financier Jay Gould. Bennett's enthusiasm for sports extended to his sponsoring of several highly popular events amongst the wealthy of the time that allowed his newspapers the inside story and exclusive interviews with the events participants. After seeing a Polo match in England, Bennett returned to the United States and established the Westchester Polo Club on May 6, 1876, the first ever in America. In addition, he established the Gordon Bennett Cup as a trophy in international yachting and in 1900 the Gordon Bennett Cup for automobile races that would be the precursor to Grand Prix motor racing. In 1906, he provided the funds and trophy for a gas balloon competition, launched with great fanfare from the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. As he did with his automobile races, the subsequent ballooning event would be hosted by the country of the most recent winner. The Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett continues to this day. Later, Bennett also gave a trophy for airplane racing. Tuileries Gardens Gordon Bennett scandalized many in the elite societies of New York, London and Paris with his always flamboyant and sometimes erratic behaviour. He had a horde of women at his disposal, using them for entertainment, not marrying until the age of seventy-three when for business reasons he wed Baroness de Reuter, a daughter of Paul Reuter, the founder of the famous Reuters news agency. Gordon Bennett died in Beaulieu, Alpes-Maritimes France on May 14, 1918 and was interred in Cimetière de Passy in the Parisian suburb of Passy. His father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr. (1795–1872), had been a "hands-on" workaholic publisher, who failed to build a strong management team beneath his autocratic rule. As a result, his son's high profile image only helped for a while but without strong day-to-day management, the paper's fortunes declined under Gordon Bennett Jr.'s absentee ownership. After his death, his New York Herald was merged with its bitter rival, the New York Tribune. Bennett, James Gordon, Jr. Bennett, James Gordon, Jr. Bennett, Jr., James Gordon

May 10

May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). There are 235 days remaining.

Events


- 1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England.
- 1497 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1503 - Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
- 1534 - Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1768 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- 1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies of the United States meet in Philadelphia and raise the Continental Army to defend the new republic. They place it under command of Cavalier George Washington of Virginia.
- 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
- 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill in Kentucky, who lingers until his death on June 6.
- 1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah).
- 1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
- 1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war.
- 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).
- 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1940 - World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
- 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
- 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1941 - World War II: The House of Commons in London is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
- 1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
- 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
- 1969 - The first "Zip to Zap" rural outdoor rock concert at Zap, North Dakota, is ended prematurely as North Dakota National Guard is ordered to disperse the unruly crowd.
- 1979 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- 1981 - François Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.
- 1988 - Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1993 - In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 188 workers, mostly young women.
- 1994 - The U.S. state of Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murder of 33 young men and boys.
- 1994 - An annular eclipse of the sun is visible across much of North America.
- 1996 - A "rogue storm" near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain's history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
- 1997 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400 people.
- 1998 - National elections are held in Hungary.
- 2001 - In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.
- 2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
- 2002 - Lynda Lyon Block is executed in Yellow Mama, the electric chair of Alabama.
- 2003 - Record shattering tornado activity during the May 2003 Tornado Outbreaks.
- 2005 - A live hand grenade lands about 100 feet from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate. Vladimir Arutinian later admits throwing the grenade.

Births


- 1265 - Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
- 1604 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
- 1641 - Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
- 1727 - Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
- 1760 - Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1770 - Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
- 1838 - John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
- 1841 - James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (d. 1918)
- 1866 - Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
- 1872 - Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
- 1878 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- 1886 - Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
- 1886 - Felix Manalo, first Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
- 1888 - Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
- 1889 - Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1890 - Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
- 1897 - Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Fred Astaire, American singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
- 1902 - David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1909 - Maybelle Carter, American musician
- 1916 - Milton Babbitt, American composer
- 1927 - Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
- 1928 - Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
- 1930 - Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
- 1933 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
- 1934 - Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
- 1936 - Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
- 1944 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- 1946 - Donovan, Scottish musician
- 1946 - Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
- 1953 - John Diamond, British journalist (d. 2001)
- 1955 - Chris Berman, American sportscaster
- 1955 - Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
- 1955 - Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad, scientist
- 1956 - Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist
- 1957 - Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
- 1958 - Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator
- 1960 - Bono, Irish singer ( U2)
- 1965 - Linda Evangelista, Canadian model
- 1966 - Jonathan Edwards, British athlete
- 1969 - Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - David Weir, Scottish footballer
- 1971 - Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
- 1972 - Radosław Majdan, Polish footballer
- 1975 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- 1977 - Nick Heidfeld, German Formula 1 driver
- 1980 - Jørgen Scharling Rasmussen, Danish singer and cartoonist

Deaths


- 1290 - Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
- 1424 - Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
- 1482 - Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
- 1493 - Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
- 1521 - Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
- 1566 - Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
- 1641 - Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
- 1657 - Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
- 1691 - Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
- 1696 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
- 1717 - John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
- 1726 - Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
- 1733 - Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
- 1737 - Nakamikado Emperor of Japan (b. 1702)
- 1774 - King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
- 1787 - William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1792 - John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
- 1807 - Comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
- 1818 - Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
- 1829 - Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
- 1850 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
- 1863 - Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
- 1889 - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
- 1897 - Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
- 1950 - Belle da Costa Greene, librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
- 1955 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
- 1960 - Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
- 1977 - Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
- 1994 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
- 2003 - Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
- 2005 - David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)

Holidays and Observances


- Feast Day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  - Solange
  - Saint Alphius
  - Saint Aurelian
  - Saint William of Pontoise
  - Saint Calepodius
  - Saint Cataldus
  - Saint Comgall
  - Saint Dioscorides
  - Saint Epimachus
  - Gordianus
  - Isidore the Laborer
  - Saint John of Avila
  - Saint Quaratus and Quintus
  - Saint Peter Van
- Memorial Day of Blessed Damien of Moloka'i in Christianity
- Celebration of the Clandestine Retreat of Ma'at and Re in Ancient Egypt
- Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina
- Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia
- Inauguration Day in South Africa
- Sita Pujan in Hinduism
- Tin Han's Day in China
- Start of Tori no Mawari/Bird Week in Japan
- Mania (mythology) in Ancient Rome
- Dia de la Madre in Mexico
- Mother's Day - 1987, 1998, 2009
- Yom Ha'atzma'ut in Judaism - 2000
- Lag Ba'omer in Judaism - 2012

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050720.html The New York Times: On This Day]
- [http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/people10.htm ThisDayThatYear.com on May 10] ---- May 9 - May 11 - April 10 - June 10 – listing of all days ko:5월 10일 ja:5月10日 simple:May 10 th:10 พฤษภาคม

May 14

May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). There are 231 days remaining.

Events


- 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
- 1483 - Coronation of Charles VIII of France ("Charles l'Affable").
- 1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
- 1607 - Jamestown, Virginia, is settled as an English colony.
- 1608 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen.
- 1643 - Four year-old Louix XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
- 1747 - A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.
- 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to meet to write a new Constitution for the United States.
- 1796 - Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
- 1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begin their historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
- 1811 - Paraguay gains independence from Spain.
- 1861 - The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Jackson (MS).
- 1870 - The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
- 1889 - The children's charity the NSPCC is launched in London.
- 1900 - The 1900 Summer Olympics open in Paris.
- 1913 - New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
- 1927 - Cap Arcona is launched at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.
- 1929 - Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton.
- 1931 - Ådalen shootings, five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union manifestation.
- 1935 - The Filipinos ratify an independence agreement.
- 1939 - Lina Medina, becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
- 1940 - World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
- 1940 - World War II: The Netherlands surrender to Germany.
- 1948 - Israel declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established.
- 1948 - The murder of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn, northern England, leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
- 1955 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protestors are beaten by an angry mob.
- 1967 - Mickey Mantle becomes the sixth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York.
- 1970 - The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.
- 1973 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched. It is the last launch of the Saturn V rocket.
- 1978 - First round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta.
- 1981 - Concert in Caracas of El Trabuco Venezolano and Irakere (First day).
- 1985 - Popular Hong Kong actress Barbara Yung Mei-ling was found unconscious from gas inhalation in her apartment at Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. She was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
- 1995 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama proclaims six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
- 1998 - After nine years on the air, the series finale of the television sitcom Seinfeld airs on NBC.
- 2002 - Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.
- 2004 - The marriage of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and Mary Donaldson takes place in Copenhagen.
- 2004 - Piers Morgan is fired as editor of the Daily Mirror, when photographs that had been published in the newspaper of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers were proved to be fake.
- 2004 - Insurgents or terrorists in Iraq detonate a 155 mm shell containing several liters of binary precursors for sarin. The shell was designed to mix the chemicals as it spun during flight and the explosion failed to mix them properly. Although it only resulted in a small release of sarin, two U.S. soldiers are treated for exposure after displaying the early symptoms.
- 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI observes his first beatification, elevating Blessed Marianne of Molokai on the road to canonization into sainthood
- 2005 - Nintendo opens up its first retail store, Nintendo World, in Rockefeller Center in New York City. They celebrate the grand opening with a block party in Rockefeller Plaza.

Births


- 1265 - Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (d. 1321)
- 1316 - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
- 1553 - Margaret of Valois, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1615)
- 1666 - Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
- 1686 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, Dutch scientist (d. 1736)
- 1699 - Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian field marshal (d. 1786)
- 1701 - William Emerson, English mathematician (d. 1782)
- 1703 - David Brearly, delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (d. 1785)
- 1710 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (d. 1771)
- 1727 - Thomas Gainsborough, English artist (d. 1788)
- 1771 - Robert Owen, Welsh social reformer (d. 1858)
- 1832 - Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (d. 1903)
- 1867 - Kurt Eisner, German politician and publicist (d. 1919)
- 1885 - Otto Klemperer, German-born conductor (d. 1973)
- 1897 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (d. 1959)
- 1904 - Hans Albert Einstein, American professor (d. 1973)
- 1907 - Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1974)
- 1917 - Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
- 1921 - Richard Deacon, actor (d. 1984)
- 1922 - Franjo Tuđman, President of Croatia (d. 1999)
- 1929 - Gump Worsley, Canadian hockey player
- 1931 - Alvin Lucier, American composer
- 1934 - Siân Phillips, Welsh actress
- 1936 - Bobby Darin, American singer (d. 1973)
- 1942 - Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator
- 1942 - Tony Perez, baseball player
- 1943 - Jack Bruce, singer, songwriter and bassist (Cream, Manfred Mann)
- 1943 - Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
- 1944 - George Lucas, American film director and producer
- 1946 - Eric Peterson, Canadian actor
- 1948 - Bob Woolmer, Indian-born cricket coach
- 1952 - David Byrne, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Talking Heads)
- 1952 - Robert Zemeckis, American film director
- 1953 - Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
- 1953 - Tom Cochrane, Canadian singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Red Rider)
- 1959 - Patrick Bruel, French singer
- 1960 - Steve Williams, American professional wrestler
- 1961 - Tim Roth, English actor
- 1962 - Ian Astbury, English singer (The Cult)
- 1965 - Eoin Colfer, Irish writer
- 1966 - Raphael Saadiq, American music artist
- 1967 - Tony Siragusa, American football player
- 1969 - Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
- 1971 - Sofia Coppola, American film writer and director
- 1977 - Roy Halladay, baseball player
- 1977 - Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
- 1981 - Sarbel, Greek-born singer
- 1983 - Amber Tamblyn, American actress

Deaths


- 964 - Pope John XII
- 1470 - King Charles VIII of Sweden (b. 1409
- 1608 - Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
- 1610 - King Henry IV of France (assassinated) (b. 1553)
- 1643 - King Louis XIII of France (b. 1601)
- 1649 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (b. 1600)
- 1669 - Georges de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1601)
- 1688 - Antoine Furetière, French writer (b. 1619)
- 1754 - Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (b. 1692)
- 1761 - Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (b. 1710)
- 1818 - Matthew Lewis, English novelist (b. 1775)
- 1847 - Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
- 1860 - Ludwig Bechstein, German writer (b. 1801)
- 1887 - Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (b. 1808)
- 1889 - Volney E. Howard, American politician (b. 1809)
- 1906 - Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and American statesman (b. 1829)
- 1912 - King Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1843)
- 1912 - August Strindberg, Swedish author (b. 1849)
- 1919 - Henry John Heinz, founder of the H. J. Heinz Company (b. 1844)
- 1923 - Charles de Freycinet, French prime minister (b. 1828)
- 1925 - H. Rider Haggard, English author (b. 1856)
- 1931 - David Belasco, American theatrical producer and playwright (b. 1853)
- 1936 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (b. 1861)
- 1940 - Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist and feminist (b. 1869)
- 1943 - Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1854)
- 1945 - Heber J. Grant, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856)
- 1954 - Heinz Guderian, German General (b. 1888)
- 1957 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
- 1959 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
- 1968 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
- 1969 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)
- 1973 - Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (b. 1905)
- 1976 - Keith Relf, British singer and musician (The Yardbirds) (b. 1943)
- 1978 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- 1980 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
- 1987 - Rita Hayworth, American actress (b. 1918)
- 1988 - Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
- 1995 - Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 1997 - Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician (b. 1934)
- 1998 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (b. 1915)
- 2000 - Obuchi Keizo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player (b. 1940)
- 2003 - Dame Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912)
- 2003 - Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances


- Paraguay - Flag Day
- Israel - Yom Ha'atzma'ut, or Israeli Independence Day. The observed date of this national holiday is determined by the Jewish Calendar.
- Mother's Day (certain countries) - 2000, 2006
- World Fair Trade Day (2005)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/14 BBC: On This Day]
-
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050514.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- May 13 - May 15 - April 14 - June 14 – listing of all days ko:5월 14일 ja:5月14日 simple:May 14 th:14 พฤษภาคม

1918

1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

January-February


- January 8 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
- January 22 - Manitoba, Canada film censor board bans comedies
- January 24 - a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February 1 (Julian calendar date), issued
- January 28 - Vladimir Lenin decrees the establishment of the Red Army.
- February 3 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).
- February 8 - The Stars and Stripes newspaper
- February 14 - The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1 February according to the Julian calendar). As a consequence the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, previously October, now falls in November.
- February 16 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany
- February 18 - White Cossack troops retreat from the Don after advancing Bolsheviks
- February 24 - Estonia declares its independence from Russia
- February 26 - Grandstands at the Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse - 604 dead

March-April


- March 1 - German submarine U 19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island, Nothern Ireland.
- March 3 - World War I: Germany, Austria and Bolshevist Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in the war.
- March 5 - The Soviet Russia moves its national capital from Petrograd to Moscow
- March 6 - Finnish Air Force founded. The blue swastika is adopted as its symbol as a tribute to the Swedish explorer and aviator Eric von Rosen who donated the first plane. Von Rosen had painted the Buddhist symbol on the plane as his personal lucky insignia.
- March 7 - World War I: Finland forms an alliance with Germany.
- March 12 – Moscow becomes the capital of Soviet Russia
- March 19 - The U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time (DST went into effect on March 31).
- March 21 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
- March 23 - The giant German cannon, the so called Paris Gun begins to shell Paris from 114 km (75 miles) away
- March 23 - In London at the Wood Green Empire, Chung Ling Soo (William E Robinson, US-born magician) dies during his trick where he was supposed to "catch" two separate bullets – one of them perforates his lung. He dies the following morning in hospital.
- March 23 - The Social Revolutionary Party declares Belorussia independent; Bolshevik armies soon crush them
- March 25 - for the first time Belarus declares independence.
- April 1 - The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service are merged to form the Royal Air Force.

May-July


- May 1 - German troops enter Don province - they take Rostov May 6
- May 2 - General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
- May 15 - The Post Office Department (later renamed the USPS) begins the first regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC).
- May 16 - The Sedition Act of 1918 is approved by US Congress.
- May 26 - The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
- May 28 - Armenia gains independence from the Ottoman Empire
- June 1 - World War I: Battle for Belleau Wood begins.
- July - The Siberian Expedition is launched to extract the Czechoslovak Legion from the Russian civil war.
- July 4 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Mehmed V (Resad) (1909-1918) to Mehmed VI (Vahdettin) (1918-1922)
- July 9 - Great train wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101.
- July 15 - World War I: Second Battle of the Marne - The battle begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
- July 16 - Russian Revolution: At Ekaterinburg, Bolsheviks execute Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family.

August-October


- August - "Spanish Flu" Influenza becomes pandemic; over twenty-five million people die in the following six months (three times as many as died during the war).
- August 1 - British anti-Bolshevik forces occupy Archangel, Russia. August 10 commander is told to help White Russians
- August 1 - Emma Susan Daugherty Banister becomes the first female sheriff in the United States following the death of her husband, John Riley Banister.
- August 8 - World War I: Battle of Amiens - Canadian troops, backed by Australians, begin a string of almost continuous victories with a push through the German front lines. German General Erich Ludendorff will later call this the "black day of the German army."
- August 30 - Strike of 20,000 London policemen with demands of increased pay and union recognition.
- August 30 - Fanya Kaplan tries to shoot Lenin. Petrograd head of Cheka is assassinated the same day.
- September 11 - The Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs for the 1918 World Series championship. (their last World Series win until 2004)
- September 28 - Don Voisko adopts a constitution including declaration of independence. Collapse of Imperial Germany makes it void
- October 3 - Kaiser makes Max von Baden a German chancellor.
- October 3 - Poland declares independence.
- October 8 - World War I - In the Argonne Forest in France, US Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
- October 25 - The Princess Sophia sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska, 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest.
- October 28 - Czechoslovakia gains its independence from Austria-Hungary.
- October 28 - New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe)

November


- November 1 - Malbone Street Wreck: the worst rapid transit accident in world history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 dead.
- November 1 - Ruthenia in eastern Czechoslovakia declares brief independence
- November 3 - World War I: Austria-Hungary enters an armistice with the Allies.
- November 3 - Poland declares its independence from Russia.
- November 4 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.
- November 4 - Mutiny in the German fleet at Kiel begin the German Revolution.
- November 6 - A new Polish government is proclaimed in Lublin.
- November 8 - German army withdraws its support of the Kaiser
- November 9 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates and chooses to live in exile in the Netherlands.
- November 9 - Provisional National Council Minister-President Kurt Eisner declares Bavaria to be a republic.
- November 11 - World War I ends: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside of Compiègne in France.
- November 11 - Poland regains independence after 123 years of partitions. Józef Piłsudski is appointed Commander-in-Chief.
- November 11 - Emperor Charles I of Austria abdicates.
- November 12 - Austria becomes a republic.
- November 14 - Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
- November 14 - Józef Piłsudski is appointed head of state of Poland
- November 16 - Hungary declares independence from Austria
- November 16 - Hungarian People's Republic declared
- November 18 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
- November 22 - Spartacist League founds German Communist Party
- November 22 - Belgian royal family returns to Brussels after the war
- November 26 - the Podgorica Assembly voted for "union of the people", declaring a joining into the Kingdom of Serbia

December


- December 1 - Iceland becomes a self-governing kingdom, yet remains united with Denmark.
- December 1 - New voting laws in Sweden. Votes no longer dependent on taxable assets. One person, one vote.
- December 1 - Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia. Following the March 27 incorporation of Bessarabia and Bucovina, Transylvania unites with Romania.
- December 1 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
- December 4 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for the Paris_Peace_Conference, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
- December 27 - Beginning of Great Poland Uprising, the Poles in Greater Poland (or Grand Duchy of Poznań rise against the Germans.
- December 28 - Constance Markiewicz becomes the first woman elected to the House of Commons.

Unknown dates


- Finnish Civil War between the Reds and the Whites, January - April.
- Habsburg Empire ceases to exist.
- Grand Duchy of Baden ceases to exist.
- British occupy Palestine
- Katla erupts in Iceland.
- Native American Church is founded.
- Ernest Ansermet founds the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
- John Riley Banister becomes sherrif of Coleman County, Texas.
- Clifton Hillegass, American author born (d. 2001)
- Association Against the Prohibition Amendment founded to promote repeal of prohibition in U.S.

Births

January-February


- January 10 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana
- January 15 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- January 16 - Nel Benschop, Dutch poetess (d. 2005)
- January 16 - Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (d. 1996)
- January 19 - John H. Johnson, American publisher, (d. 2005)
- January 20 - Esquivel, Mexican musician (d. 2002)
- January 23 - Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1999)
- January 25 - Ernie Harwell, American baseball sportscaster
- January 26 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (d. 1989)
- January 26 - Philip José Farmer, American writer
- January 27 - Skitch Henderson, English-born musician and bandleader (d. 2005)
- January 29 - John Forsythe, American actor
- February 1 - Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish author
- February 3 - Helen Stephens, American runner (d. 1994)
- February 6 - Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author
- February 8 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- February 12 - Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- February 17 - William Bronk, American poet (d. 1999)
- February 22 - Robert Pershing Wadlow, American record-holder as the tallest man (d. 1940)
- February 25 - Barney Ewell, American athlete (d. 1996)
- February 25 - Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
- February 26 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)

March-April


- March 1 - Roger Delgado, British actor (d. 1973)
- March 1 - João Goulart, President of Brazil (d. 1976)
- March 3 - Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- March 3 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
- March 5 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- March 9 - George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi leader (d. 1967)
- March 9 - Mickey Spillane, American mystery writer
- March 11 - Jack Coe, American evangelist (d. 1956)
- March 12 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
- March 16 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- March 17 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
- March 18 - Al Benton, baseball player (d. 1968)
- March 18 - Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005)
- March 22 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (d. 1997)
- March 25 - Howard Cosell, American attorney, lecturer, and sports journalist (d. 1995)
- March 29 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)
- April 9 - Jørn Utzon, Danish architect
- April 16 - Spike Milligan, Irish comedian (d. 2002)
- April 20 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 22 - Mickey Vernon, baseball player
- April 26 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d. 2004)

May-August


- May 1 - Jack Paar, American television show host (d. 2004)
- May 9 - Mike Wallace, American journalist
- May 9 - Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
- May 11 - Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- May 12 - Julius Rosenberg, American-born Soviet spy (d. 1953)
- May 15 - Eddy Arnold, American singer
- May 16 - Wilf Mannion, English footballer (d. 2000)
- May 17 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano
- May 20 - Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- June 6 - Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 18 - Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 18 - Franco Modigliani, Italian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- July 4 - Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
- July 4 - Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist and twin sister to Ann Landers
- July 5 - George Rochberg, American composer (d. 2005)
- July 13 - Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
- July 14 - Ingmar Bergman Swedish film director
- July 15 - Bertram N. Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- July 17 - Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
- July 18 - Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- July 24 - Ruggiero Ricci, Italian-born violinist
- July 27 - Leonard Rose, American cellist (d. 1984)
- July 31 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 3 - Sidney Gottlieb, American Central Intelligence Agency official (d. 1999)
- August 5 - Betty Oliphant, co-founder of National Ballet of Canada (d. 2004)
- August 8 - Brian Stonehouse, English painter and World War II spy (d. 1998)
- August 13 - Frederick Sanger, English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 25 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (d. 1990)
- August 30 - Ted Williams, American baseball player (d. 2002)

September-December


- September 4 - Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster
- September 8 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- September 22 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (d. 1988)
- September 27 - Martin Ryle, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1984)
- October 4 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- October 5 - Roland Garros, French pilot (shot down) (b. 1888)
- October 8 - Jens Christian Skou, Danish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 19 - Louis Althusser, French philosopher (d. 1990)
- October 31 - Ian Stevenson, American parapsychologist
- November 3 - Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (d. 2003)
- November 4 - Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)
- November 10 - Ernst Otto Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 13 - Jack Elam, American actor (d. 2003)
- December 8 - Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)
- December 11 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 12 - Joe Williams, American jazz singer (d. 1999)
- December 15 - Jeff Chandler, American actor (d. 1961)
- December 21 - Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary (d. 2003)
- December 21 - Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of Austria
- December 23 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d. 2001)
- December 25 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1981)

Deaths


- January 6 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)
- January 9 - Émile Reynaud, French science teacher and maker of the first animated films (b. 1844)
- January 28 - John McCrae, Canadian soldier and poet (b. 1872)
- February 6 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter (b. 1862)
- February 10 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
- March 13 - César Cui, Lithuanian composer (b. 1835)
- March 25 - Claude Debussy, French composer (b. 1862)
- March 27 - Henry Adams, American historian (b. 1838)
- April 20 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German phyicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
- April 21 - Manfred von Richthofen, "Red Baron", German World War I pilot (b, 1892)
- May 14 - James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (b. 1841)
- May 19 - Raoul Lufbery, American World War I pilot (b. 1885)
- June 10 - Arrigo Boito, Italian poet and composer (b. 1842)
- July 3 - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
- July 17 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868) and his family (executed)
- August 1 - John Riley Banister, law officer, cowboy, and Texas Ranger (b. 1854)
- August 18