Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar).
Events of 1916
January
February
March
- March 1 - Liberal British Columbia Premier Harlan Carey Brewster's term in office ends.
- March 6 - The Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia accepts its first students.
- March 8-9 - Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa leads 1,500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17. A garrison of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fights back and drives them away.
- March 15 - President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa; the 13th Cavalry regiment enters Mexican territory.
- March 16
- March 19 - In the first United States air combat mission in history, 8 U.S. planes take off in pursuit of Pancho Villa.
- March 20 - At the age of 32, Ota Benga, a Congolese pygmy brought to America as part of a racist exhibition, builds a ceremonial fire, chips off the caps on his teeth, performs a final tribal dance, and shoots himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.
- March 22 - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien marries Edith Bratt (they would serve as the inspiration for the fictional characters Lúthien and Beren).
- March 22 - The last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, abdicates the throne and the Republic of China is restored.
April
May
June
July
- July 1 - November 18: More than 1 million soldiers die during the Battle of the Somme, including 60,000 casualties for the British Commonwealth on the first day.
- July 1 - July 12: At least one shark mauls 5 swimmers along 80 miles of New Jersey coastline during the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, resulting in 4 deaths and the survival of one youth who required limb amputation. This event is the inspiration for author Peter Benchley, over half a century later, to write Jaws.
- July 2 - Battle of Erzincan: Russian forces defeat troops of the Ottoman Empire in Armenia.
- July 8 - July 16- Massive flooding caused by 2 different hurricanes devastates western North Carolina.
- July 15 - In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
- July 22 - In San Francisco, California, a bomb explodes on Market Street during a Preparedness Day parade, killing 10 injuring 40 (Warren Billings and Tom Mooney are later wrongly convicted of it).
- July 29 - In Ontario, Canada, a lightning strike ignites a forest fire that destroys the towns of Cochrane and Matheson, killing 233.
- July 30 - German agents cause the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, an act of sabotage destroying an ammunition depot and killing at least 7 people.
August
September
October
November
- November 1 - Paul Miliukov delivers the famous "stupidity or treason" speech in the Russian State Duma, precipitating the downfall of the Boris Stürmer government.
- November 5 - The Kingdom of Poland is proclaimed by a joint act of the emperors of Germany and Austria.
- November 5 - Honan Chapel, Cork, Ireland, a product of the Irish Arts & Crafts Movement(1894-1925), is dedicated.
- November 7
- November 13 - Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
- November 18 - World War I - First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle, which started on July 1.
- November 21 - The HMHS Britannic (built in 1911 and launched in 1914), the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line, sister ship of the RMS Olympic and the legendary RMS Titanic, sinks after hitting a mine, with the loss of 30 lives.
- November 23 - World War I - Eastern Front: Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is occupied by troops of the Central Powers.
- November 25 - Friedrich Adler shoots Karl von Stürgkh, Prime Minister of Austria.
December
Undated
- Rodeo's first side-delivery bucking chute is designed and made by the Bascom boys (Raymond, Mel, Earl) and their father John W. Bascom at Welling, Alberta Canada.
- Cours de linguistique générale by Ferdinand de Saussure is published.
- The Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, are cancelled.
- Food is rationed in Germany.
- Ernst Rüdin publishes his initial results on the genetics of schizophrenia.
- The Netherlands is hit by a North Sea storm that floods the lowlands and kills 10,000 people.
- Robert Baden-Powell founds the Wolf Cubs Scouts in Britain, changed to Cub Scouts in the USA.
- Louis Enricht claims he has a substitute for gasoline.
- Gustav Holst composes The Planets, Opus 32.
- Bray Studios creates the Farmer Al Falfa series, the first of the Terrytoons.
- The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is founded in the United States.
- The Enrico Parodi sinks while in tow off The Carracks in Cornwall, England.
Ongoing
Fictional
The following are references to year 1916 in fiction:
Births
January-February
- January 3
- January 7 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)
- January 9 - Peter Twinn, English mathematician and World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
- January 10 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- January 12 - Pieter Willem Botha, President of South Africa (d. 2006)
- January 17 - Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr., American politician
- January 18 - Silviu Brucan, Romanian author and politician (d. 2006)
- January 19 - Harry Huskey, American computer designer
- January 22 - Henri Dutilleux, French composer
- January 24
- February 2 - Olaf Pooley, English actor
- February 9 - Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- February 11
- February 14
- February 15 - Ernest Millington, English politician
- February 18 - Maria Altmann, Austrian Holocaust survivor and heiress
- February 20 - Jean Erdman, American dancer
- February 23 - Retta Scott, first female Disney animator to be credited on a feature film (d. 1990)
- February 26 - Jackie Gleason, American comedian (The Honeymooners) (d. 1987)
- February 28
- February 29 - Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)
March-April
- March 3 - Paul Halmos, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 2006)
- March 4
- March 11 - Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
- March 13
- March 14 - Horton Foote, American writer
- March 15 - Harry James, American musician and band leader (d. 1983)
- March 17
- March 19 - Irving Wallace, American novelist (d. 1990)
- March 20 - Pierre Messmer, French politician (d. 2007)
- March 24 - Donald Hamilton, Swedish-born writer (d. 2006)
- March 26 - Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- March 29 - Eugene McCarthy, U.S. Senator from Minnesota and Presidential candidate (d. 2005)
- March 31 - Lucille Bliss, American voice actor
- April 3
- April 5 - Gregory Peck, American actor (To Kill A Mockingbird) (d. 2003)
- April 11 - Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer (d. 1983)
- April 12
- April 13 - Phyllis Fraser, American actor and publisher (d. 2006)
- April 15 - Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American department store heir (d. 1982)
- April 18 - José Joaquín Trejos Fernández, President of Costa Rica
- April 22 - Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (d. 1999)
- April 24 - Stanley Kauffmann, American film critic
- April 24 - Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler
- April 25 - R.J. Rushdoony, American founder of Christian Reconstructionism (d. 2001)
- April 26
- April 28 - Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (d. 1993)
- April 30
May-June
- May 1 - Glenn Ford, American actor (Blackboard Jungle) (d. 2006)
- May 6 - Robert H. Dicke, American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
- May 8 - Chinmayananda, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1993)
- May 8 - João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist and football league president
- May 10 - Milton Babbitt, American composer
- May 11 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- May 14 - Sammy Luftspring, Canadian boxer (d. 2000)
- May 15 - Ephraim Katzir, President of Israel
- May 17 - Lenka Reinerová, Czech writer
- May 20 - Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
- May 20 - Owen Chadwick, British author and historian
- May 21
- May 26 - Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist (d. 1972)
- May 31
- June 4 - Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 5 - Eddie Joost, baseball player and manager
- June 8 - Francis Crick, English molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- June 9 - Robert McNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense
- June 15 - Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- June 18 - Julio César Turbay Ayala, Colombian politician (d. 2005)
- June 23
- June 24 - William B. Saxbe, American politician
July-August
- July 1
- July 2
- July 3 - John Kundla, American basketball coach
- July 4
- July 8 - Jean Rouverol, American actress, screenwriter, and author
- July 9 - Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
- July 11
- July 14 - Natalia Ginzburg, Italian author (d. 1991)
- July 18 - L. Patrick Gray III, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 2005)
- July 19 - Phil Cavarretta, baseball player
- July 22
- July 25 - Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- July 27 - Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic and novelist (d. 2007)
- July 28 - David Brown, American producer
- July 30 - Dick Wilson, American actor (d. 2007)
- July 31 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
- August 1 - Fiorenzo Cardinal Angelini, Italian Cardinal
- August 5 - Kermit Love, American puppeteer (d. 2008)
- August 6 - Dom Mintoff, Prime Minister of Malta
- August 14 - Ralph de Toledano, American conservationist and author (d. 2007)
- August 16 - Iggy Katona, American race car driver (d. 2003)
- August 20 - Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian chess player (d. 1984)
- August 25
- August 27 - Martha Raye, American actress (d. 1994)
- August 28 - Jack Vance, American writer
- August 29 - Luther Davis, American screenwriter
- August 30 - Shag Crawford, American baseball umpire (d. 2007)
- August 31
September-October
- September 1
- September 13 - Roald Dahl, Welsh author (d. 1990)
- September 14 - John Heyer, Australian documentary filmmaker (d. 2001)
- September 16 - Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian labour leader (d. 1999)
- September 18 - John Jacob Rhodes, American politician and lawyer (d. 2003)
- September 21 - Zinovi Gerdt, Russian actor (d. 1996)
- September 27 - Frank Handlen, American artist
- October 3
- October 4 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate
- October 12 - Alice Childress, American actress, playwright, and novelist (d. 1994)
- October 14 - C. Everett Koop, United States Surgeon General
- October 19
- October 26 - François Mitterrand, President of France (d. 1996)
- October 30 - Leon Day, American baseball player (d. 1995)
November-December
- November 1 - John C. Harkness, American architect
- November 4 - Walter Cronkite, American television journalist (CBS Evening News)
- November 5 - Jim Tabor, baseball player (d. 1953)
- November 10 - Louis le Brocquy, Irish painter
- November 11 - Robert Carr, British politician
- November 12 - Rogelio de la Rosa, Filipino actor and politician (d. 1986)
- November 14 - Sherwood Schwartz, American television writer and producer
- November 15 - Bill Melendez, American animator (d. 2008)
- November 16 - Daws Butler, American voice actor (Deputy Dawg) (d. 1988)
- November 24 - Forrest J. Ackerman, American writer
- November 26 - Gerhard Unger, German tenor
- November 27 - Chick Hearn, American basketball announcer (d. 2002)
- November 28
- November 29 - Fran Ryan, American actress (d. 2000)
- December 7 - George Russell Weller, retired salesman known for the Santa Monica Farmer's Market incident
- December 8 - Richard Fleischer, American film director (d. 2006)
- December 9 - Kirk Douglas, American actor (Spartacus)
- December 11 - Dámaso Pérez Prado, Cuban musician (d. 1989)
- December 14 - Shirley Jackson, American writer (d. 1965)
- December 15 - Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- December 18
- December 19
- December 25 - Graciela Naranjo, Venezuelan singer and actress (d. 2001)
- December 27 - Johnny Frigo, American jazz violinist and bassist (d.2007)
Deaths
January - June
- January 4 - Bruce Sloss, Australian footballer (b. 1889)
- January 8 - Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
- January 13 - Victoriano Huerta, President of Mexico (b. 1854)
- February 6 - Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan writer (b. 1867)
- February 12 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)
- February 13 - Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter (b. 1864)
- February 19 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)
- February 20 - Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844)
- February 28 - Henry James, American writer (b. 1843)
- March 4 - Franz Marc, German artist (b. 1880)
- March 24 - Enrique Granados, Spanish composer (ship sinking) (b. 1867)
- April 19 - Ephraim Shay, American inventor (b. 1839)
- April 21 - Georges Boillot, French Grand Prix driver (killed in action) (b. 1884)
- May 3 - Padraig Pearse, Irish nationalist (b. 1879)
- May 11 - Max Reger, German composer (b. 1873)
- May 12 - James Connolly, Irish socialist (b. 1868)
- May 13 - Sholom Aleichem, Ukrainian Yiddish writer (b. 1859)
- May 21 - Artúr Görgey, Hungarian military general and politician (b. 1818)
- June 5 - Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, British field marshal and statesman (b. 1850)
- June 6 - Yuan Shikai, Chinese military official and politician (b. 1859)
- June 29 - Georges Lacombe, French artist (b. 1868)
July - December
- July 6 - Odilon Redon, French painter (b. 1840)
- July 16 - Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)
- July 23 - Sir William Ramsay, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- July 29 - Claude Charles Castleton, Australian VC recipient (killed in battle) (b. 1893)
- August 3 - Sir Roger Casement, Irish nationalist (executed) (b. 1864)
- August 31 - Martha McClellan Brown, American activist (b. 1838)
- September 4 - José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832)
- October 7 - James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (b. 1849)
- October 28 - Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (b. 1838)
- October 31 - Charles Taze Russell, Protestant evangelist, forerunner of Jehovah's Witnesses (b. 1852)
- November 9 - Ion Dragalina, Romanian general (killed in action) (b. 1860)
- November 14
- November 15 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- November 21 - Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (b. 1830)
- November 22 - Jack London, American author (b. 1876)
- November 23 - Lanoe Hawker, British World War I pilot, VC recipient, KIA by The Red Baron, (b. 1890)
- November 24 - Hiram Stevens Maxim, American firearms inventor (b. 1840)
- December 28 - Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b. 1835)
- December 29 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (b. 1869)
Nobel Prizes
Notes
Notable Literature Written: Chicago by Carl Sandburg
External links
- Early Advertising Publications: "Fishing for Suckers" From the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress
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