Diamond
Banned
OK, this is a re-post of the TL I began to post on the previous board. It is a work in progress; I have it pretty well-fleshed out to 1945. I would appreciate comments and suggestions.
Part One: The Pre-War Period
1908
History and Politics
-January 25: (POD) Germany and Mexico sign the historic Veracruz Accord, a treaty of alliance between the two nations. Germany agrees to help upgrade the Mexican army, providing modern weapons and training, in return for the use of bases in southern Mexico as possible staging areas for sending troops into Central and South America in the event that Germany should decide to ‘acquire’ colonies there.
-King Carlos of Portugal and the crown prince both assassinated in Lisbon; Manuel II becomes king.
-H.H. Asquith becomes British Prime Minister.
-Crete proclaims conditional union with Greece.
-Union of South Africa established.
-William Taft (R-OH) elected US President.
-An earthquake in southern Calabria and Sicily kills 150,000.
-Olympic Games held in London.
-Jack Johnson becomes first black heavyweight boxing champion.
-Fountain pens become popular.
Learning and the Arts
-E. M. Forster: “A Room with a View”.
-Kenneth Grahame: “The Wind in the Willows”.
-Lucy Montgomery: “Anne of Green Gables”.
-F. Meinecke: “Cosmopolitanism and the National State”.
-Robert Henri, John Sloan, others, found “Ashcan School” with realistic portrayals of life.
-Marc Chagall: “Nu Rouge”.
-Monet: “The Ducal Palace, Venice”.
-The first steel and glass building: AEG Turbine factory, Berlin, designed by Peter Behrens.
-Bartok: String Quartet No. 1.
Science and Technology
-Fritz Haber synthesizes ammonia.
-Hermann Minkowski formulates a four-dimensional geometry.
-Bakelite invented by L.H. Baekeland (US).
-Ford Motor Company produces the first ‘Model T’ automobile.
1909
History and Politics
-Serbia and the Ottoman Empire recognize Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
-Sultan Abdul Hamid II deposed by Young Turks; succeeded by his brother Mohammed V.
-Aristide Briand becomes French Premier.
-Anglo-German arguments on control of Baghdad Railroad.
-State visit of Edward VII to Berlin cancelled at the last minute.
-Women admitted to German universities.
-London hairdressers give the first ‘permanent waves’.
Learning and the Arts
-H.G. Wells: “Tono-Bungay”.
-Ezra Pound: “Casper Hauser”.
-Lenin: “Materialism and Empiric Criticism”.
-Sigmund Freud lectures in the US on psychoanalysis.
-Frank Lloyd Wright: Robie House, Chicago.
-The first newsreels premiere.
-D.W. Griffith features Mary Pickford, the first film star.
-Mahler: Symphony No. 9.
Science and Technology
-T.H. Morgan begins researches in genetics.
-Louis Bleriot crosses English Channel in 37 minutes in airplane, from Calais to Dover.
-English aviator Henri Farman completes first 100-mile flight.
-US explorer Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.
1910
History and Politics
-Egyptian Premier Butros Ghali assassinated.
-Union of South Africa becomes a dominion within the British Empire with Louis Botha as premier.
-British King Edward VII dies; succeeded by George V.
-Japan annexes Korea.
-Revolution in Portugal put down with British assistance; King Manuel agrees to limited governmental reforms.
-China abolishes slavery.
-W.E.B. Dubois founds NAACP (US).
-Francisco Madero leads an abortive revolution in Mexico which is quickly snuffed with German aid.
-122,000 telephones in use in Great Britain.
-Manhattan Bridge, NY, completed (begun 1901).
-Farman flies approximately 300 miles in 8.25 hours.
-The ‘week end’ becomes popular in the US.
-Father’s Day first celebrated in Spokane, Washington (US).
Learning and the Arts
-Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) d. (b. 1835).
-H.G. Wells: “The History of Mr. Polly”.
-E.M. Forster: “Howard’s End”.
-Sir Norman Angell: “The Great Illusion” (on the futility of war).
-The South American tango gains immense popularity in the US and Europe.
-Frank Lloyd Wright becomes well-known and influential in Europe.
Science and Technology
-Marie Curie: “Treatise on Radiography”.
-Halley’s Comet observed.
1911
History and Politics
-German ‘adventurism’ in Mexico and South America is condemned by US President Taft.
-With German backing, Nicaraguan rebel Jose Zelaya is successful in ousting the British from the region. Germany purchases the Mosquito Coast and the rights to build a Nicaraguan Canal. The episode ratchets Anglo-German tensions, already simmering over the Baghdad Railroad and other incidents, up another notch.
-The Kaiser’s Hamburg speech asserts Germany’s “place in the sun”.
-Winston Churchill named First Lord of the Admiralty.
-Revolution in China; fall of the Manchu dynasty; establishment of the Chinese Republic under Sun Yat-sen.
-Turkish-Italian War: Italian fleet bombards Tripoli; first use of aircraft for offensive purposes; Italy annexes Tripoli and Cyrenaica and decisively defeats the Turks.
-British Official Secrets Act becomes law.
Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The Waiting Room”.
-H.G. Wells: “The Emperor’s Folly” (a thinly-veiled attack on German imperialism).
-Edith Wharton: “Ethan Frome”.
-Irving Fisher: “The Identity of the State”.
-Richard Wagner: “Mein Leben” (posthumous autobiography).
-London has 400 cinemas; in the US approximately 5,000,000 people visit cinemas daily.
-Films: “Charlemagne” (Fr.-Brit.), “Anna Karenina” (Russ.)
Science and Technology
-Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
-Charles Kettering develops the first practical electric self-starter for automobiles.
-First successful parachute jump.
1912
History and Politics
-In China, Sun Yat-sen’s military advisor, Chiang Kai-shek, is killed by bandits near Chengde while on a routine inspection. Several high-ranking army officers try to take advantage of the confusion to mount a coup. The coup is crushed, but at the cost of further destabilizing Sun Yat-sen’s already unstable rule. Popular movements in the countryside call for the return of Imperial rule.
-Theodore Roosevelt (P-NY) elected US President for an unprecedented third time, on the Progressive, or ‘Bull-Moose’ ticket. (VP Charles Bonaparte)
-Mahatma Gandhi returns to India from South Africa.
-Arizona and New Mexico become US states.
-War narrowly averted in the Balkans, French diplomats mediate between Turkey, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia.
-Lenin establishes connection with Stalin; takes over editorship of Pravda.
-Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan dies; succeeded by Yoshihito.
-German-Austrian-Italian alliance renewed.
-Raimond Poincare becomes French Premier.
-Royal Flying Corps established in Britain.
-S.S. Titanic collides with an iceberg on her maiden voyage; although the damage is severe and more than 100 passengers and crew die from smoke inhalation and panicked rioting, the ship manages to limp into port at Reykjavik, Iceland, nine days later.
-Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden.
-Remains of Piltdown Man found near Lewes, England.
-F.W. Woolworth Company founded (US).
Learning and the Arts
-Edmund Bentley: “The Blue Rose” (first in a series of detective novels featuring the character Morris Hargrove, which eventually rivals A.C. Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in popularity).
-Howard Beech: “Slow Days”.
-Milos Zavinsky: “A Study of Jewish Mysticism”.
-Picasso: “Leaning Heads”.
-Films: “War and Peace” (Russ.), “Redskin Attack” (US), “The Marble Palace” (Fr.)
Science and Technology
-R.F. Scott expedition to the South Pole meets with disaster; caught in a storm, the entire expedition perishes.
-Cloud chamber photography leads to the discovery of protons and electrons.
-Polish chemist Kasimir Funk coins the term “vitamin”.
1913
History and Politics
-Raymond Poincare elected President of France, visits United Kingdom.
-Federal income tax introduced in the US through the 16th Amendment.
-Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian Passive Resistance Movement, is mistakenly killed by a British Army officer during a riot in Delhi; though the officer is arrested and later hangs himself, Gandhi’s death sparks massive protests against British rule throughout India.
-Menelik II, Emperor of Abyssinia, dies and is succeeded by Lij Yasu.
-Mexican President Diaz dies; succeeded by Victoriano Huerta.
-Henry Ford pioneers new assembly line techniques in his automobile factory.
-Titanic’s captain is cleared of any wrongdoing. Serious structural flaws are found in the vessel along with design errors that, in the words of one investigator, ‘could have resulted in horrendous loss of life.’
-J.D. Rockefeller founds Rockefeller Institute with initial grant of $100 million.
-The foxtrot comes into fashion.
-In England, the first woman magistrate is sworn in.
Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The White Tiger”.
-Andrew Kalestos: “Waning Moon”.
-Woolworth Building, New York, designed by Cass Gilbert, opens.
-Grand Central Terminal opens in New York.
-Films: “The Vampire” (US), “Der Student von Prag” (Ger.), Charlie Chaplin debuts in “Bad Advice” (US).
Science and Technology
-Niels Bohr formulates his theory of atomic structure.
-Frederick Stoddy coins the term ‘isotope’.
-Diphtheria immunity test discovered by Bela Schick.
-Composition of chlorophyll discovered by Richard Willstatter.
-Rene Lorin states the basic ideas of jet propulsion.
-H.N. Russell formulates theory of stellar evolution.
1914
History and Politics
-Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by a Serbian nationalist. The would-be assassin, a student named Gavrilo Princip, is found to be a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. Austro-Hungarian police and military forces crack down on extremist organizations within the empire. Ferdinand urges peaceful measures, stating that ‘violence is the way of the weak’. His efforts serve to keep a temporary lid on regional tensions.
-Northern and Southern Nigeria united.
-Gen. Zamon becomes President of Haiti.
-Name of St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd.
-Panama Canal opened.
-US President Roosevelt wins limited Congressional support to upgrade navy and army equipment, and increase overall troop strength by 13% - less than half of the 30% increase that Roosevelt wanted.
-Increasing unrest and rebellion in China; the Boshan Massacre occurs on Sep. 3rd – what begins as a fairly peaceful demonstration in the city of Boshan in the province of Shandong turns into a bloodbath. Army units stationed in the area, called in to supervise the demonstrations (which were for the return of Imperial rule and the abolishment of Sun Yat-sen’s republic) hurl epithets at the protestors, and when the mostly unarmed students and farmers respond in kind, a nervous soldier opens fire. When the dust settles, more than 250 protestors and 40 soldiers have been slain.
-Sun Yat-sen institutes several draconian curfews and bans on public gatherings, which are basically ignored – they are unenforceable in the countryside, and in the cities, pro-Imperial cells continue to gather in warehouses and back rooms.
-US Federal Trade Commission established.
-Pope Pius X dies; succeeded by Cardinal della Chiesa as Pope Benedict XV.
-Party of US Marines land at Tampico, Mexico, for supplies and are detained; upon release 3 hours later, Admiral Mayo demands 21-gun salute to American flag; refused by President Huerta; US President Roosevelt sends US fleet to Tampico; US Marines occupy Veracruz for 17 days; over German objections, Huerta apologizes, ending incident. Roosevelt sends a harshly-worded cable to the Kaiser stating that ‘the US will not be bullied by Continental warmongers.’ The Kaiser is said to be apoplectic, but is dissuaded from doing anything rash by his advisors.
Learning and the Arts
-Henry Bacon designs Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
-Films: Charlie Chaplin in “Once a Day” and “On Wall Street” (US), “The Golem” (Ger.), “The Northmen” (Brit.)
Science and Technology
-Robert Goddard begins rocketry experiments (US).
-J.H. Jeans: “Radiation and the Quantum Theory”.
1915
History and Politics
-Various minor incidents occur between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet over Pacific territories after Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm declares ‘an end to Anglo-French territorial monopolies’.
-In China, general protests and unrest, sparked by continuing dissatisfaction with the Republic, erupt in the spring. Several more killings of protestors occur; though none are as bloody as the Boshan Massacre. Famine and plague throughout the spring and early summer contribute to what is seen internationally as the unraveling of the Chinese Republic.
-Erich Muenter, a German instructor at Cornell University, plants a bomb that destroys the US Senate reception room, killing President Roosevelt, industrialist J.P. Morgan, and nine others (Aug. 7), commits suicide (Aug. 11). The Kaiser’s government disavows any knowledge of the incident, which is verified by congressional investigations ending in February of 1916, but the assassination further increases anti-German fervor in the US.
-Vice President Charles Bonaparte succeeds to US Presidency.
-US Coast Guard established by Congress.
-Margaret Sanger jailed for writing “Family Limitation”, the first book on birth control.
-In October, unrest in China reaches a crescendo. Hundreds of protestors, including dozens of army deserters, unpaid for months, besiege Sun Yat-sen’s estate. He surrenders on November 12th, agreeing to the reinstatement of the boy-emperor, Hsuan T’ung.
-Francisco Villa attains the rank of major in the Mexican army.
Learning and the Arts
-Films: “Tampico”, starring Douglas Fairbanks (US), “A Scientific Romance” (Brit.), “The Undefeated” (Dan.), “Green Trees” (Fr.)
Science and Technology
-Albert Einstein postulates his General Theory of Relativity.
-Hugo Junkers constructs the first fighter airplane.
-Henry Ford develops a farm tractor.
-First transcontinental telephone call between Alexander G. Bell in New York and T. Watson in San Francisco.
-Wireless service established between US and Japan.
-Ford produces one millionth car
Part One: The Pre-War Period
1908
History and Politics
-January 25: (POD) Germany and Mexico sign the historic Veracruz Accord, a treaty of alliance between the two nations. Germany agrees to help upgrade the Mexican army, providing modern weapons and training, in return for the use of bases in southern Mexico as possible staging areas for sending troops into Central and South America in the event that Germany should decide to ‘acquire’ colonies there.
-King Carlos of Portugal and the crown prince both assassinated in Lisbon; Manuel II becomes king.
-H.H. Asquith becomes British Prime Minister.
-Crete proclaims conditional union with Greece.
-Union of South Africa established.
-William Taft (R-OH) elected US President.
-An earthquake in southern Calabria and Sicily kills 150,000.
-Olympic Games held in London.
-Jack Johnson becomes first black heavyweight boxing champion.
-Fountain pens become popular.
Learning and the Arts
-E. M. Forster: “A Room with a View”.
-Kenneth Grahame: “The Wind in the Willows”.
-Lucy Montgomery: “Anne of Green Gables”.
-F. Meinecke: “Cosmopolitanism and the National State”.
-Robert Henri, John Sloan, others, found “Ashcan School” with realistic portrayals of life.
-Marc Chagall: “Nu Rouge”.
-Monet: “The Ducal Palace, Venice”.
-The first steel and glass building: AEG Turbine factory, Berlin, designed by Peter Behrens.
-Bartok: String Quartet No. 1.
Science and Technology
-Fritz Haber synthesizes ammonia.
-Hermann Minkowski formulates a four-dimensional geometry.
-Bakelite invented by L.H. Baekeland (US).
-Ford Motor Company produces the first ‘Model T’ automobile.
1909
History and Politics
-Serbia and the Ottoman Empire recognize Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
-Sultan Abdul Hamid II deposed by Young Turks; succeeded by his brother Mohammed V.
-Aristide Briand becomes French Premier.
-Anglo-German arguments on control of Baghdad Railroad.
-State visit of Edward VII to Berlin cancelled at the last minute.
-Women admitted to German universities.
-London hairdressers give the first ‘permanent waves’.
Learning and the Arts
-H.G. Wells: “Tono-Bungay”.
-Ezra Pound: “Casper Hauser”.
-Lenin: “Materialism and Empiric Criticism”.
-Sigmund Freud lectures in the US on psychoanalysis.
-Frank Lloyd Wright: Robie House, Chicago.
-The first newsreels premiere.
-D.W. Griffith features Mary Pickford, the first film star.
-Mahler: Symphony No. 9.
Science and Technology
-T.H. Morgan begins researches in genetics.
-Louis Bleriot crosses English Channel in 37 minutes in airplane, from Calais to Dover.
-English aviator Henri Farman completes first 100-mile flight.
-US explorer Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.
1910
History and Politics
-Egyptian Premier Butros Ghali assassinated.
-Union of South Africa becomes a dominion within the British Empire with Louis Botha as premier.
-British King Edward VII dies; succeeded by George V.
-Japan annexes Korea.
-Revolution in Portugal put down with British assistance; King Manuel agrees to limited governmental reforms.
-China abolishes slavery.
-W.E.B. Dubois founds NAACP (US).
-Francisco Madero leads an abortive revolution in Mexico which is quickly snuffed with German aid.
-122,000 telephones in use in Great Britain.
-Manhattan Bridge, NY, completed (begun 1901).
-Farman flies approximately 300 miles in 8.25 hours.
-The ‘week end’ becomes popular in the US.
-Father’s Day first celebrated in Spokane, Washington (US).
Learning and the Arts
-Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) d. (b. 1835).
-H.G. Wells: “The History of Mr. Polly”.
-E.M. Forster: “Howard’s End”.
-Sir Norman Angell: “The Great Illusion” (on the futility of war).
-The South American tango gains immense popularity in the US and Europe.
-Frank Lloyd Wright becomes well-known and influential in Europe.
Science and Technology
-Marie Curie: “Treatise on Radiography”.
-Halley’s Comet observed.
1911
History and Politics
-German ‘adventurism’ in Mexico and South America is condemned by US President Taft.
-With German backing, Nicaraguan rebel Jose Zelaya is successful in ousting the British from the region. Germany purchases the Mosquito Coast and the rights to build a Nicaraguan Canal. The episode ratchets Anglo-German tensions, already simmering over the Baghdad Railroad and other incidents, up another notch.
-The Kaiser’s Hamburg speech asserts Germany’s “place in the sun”.
-Winston Churchill named First Lord of the Admiralty.
-Revolution in China; fall of the Manchu dynasty; establishment of the Chinese Republic under Sun Yat-sen.
-Turkish-Italian War: Italian fleet bombards Tripoli; first use of aircraft for offensive purposes; Italy annexes Tripoli and Cyrenaica and decisively defeats the Turks.
-British Official Secrets Act becomes law.
Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The Waiting Room”.
-H.G. Wells: “The Emperor’s Folly” (a thinly-veiled attack on German imperialism).
-Edith Wharton: “Ethan Frome”.
-Irving Fisher: “The Identity of the State”.
-Richard Wagner: “Mein Leben” (posthumous autobiography).
-London has 400 cinemas; in the US approximately 5,000,000 people visit cinemas daily.
-Films: “Charlemagne” (Fr.-Brit.), “Anna Karenina” (Russ.)
Science and Technology
-Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
-Charles Kettering develops the first practical electric self-starter for automobiles.
-First successful parachute jump.
1912
History and Politics
-In China, Sun Yat-sen’s military advisor, Chiang Kai-shek, is killed by bandits near Chengde while on a routine inspection. Several high-ranking army officers try to take advantage of the confusion to mount a coup. The coup is crushed, but at the cost of further destabilizing Sun Yat-sen’s already unstable rule. Popular movements in the countryside call for the return of Imperial rule.
-Theodore Roosevelt (P-NY) elected US President for an unprecedented third time, on the Progressive, or ‘Bull-Moose’ ticket. (VP Charles Bonaparte)
-Mahatma Gandhi returns to India from South Africa.
-Arizona and New Mexico become US states.
-War narrowly averted in the Balkans, French diplomats mediate between Turkey, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia.
-Lenin establishes connection with Stalin; takes over editorship of Pravda.
-Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan dies; succeeded by Yoshihito.
-German-Austrian-Italian alliance renewed.
-Raimond Poincare becomes French Premier.
-Royal Flying Corps established in Britain.
-S.S. Titanic collides with an iceberg on her maiden voyage; although the damage is severe and more than 100 passengers and crew die from smoke inhalation and panicked rioting, the ship manages to limp into port at Reykjavik, Iceland, nine days later.
-Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden.
-Remains of Piltdown Man found near Lewes, England.
-F.W. Woolworth Company founded (US).
Learning and the Arts
-Edmund Bentley: “The Blue Rose” (first in a series of detective novels featuring the character Morris Hargrove, which eventually rivals A.C. Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in popularity).
-Howard Beech: “Slow Days”.
-Milos Zavinsky: “A Study of Jewish Mysticism”.
-Picasso: “Leaning Heads”.
-Films: “War and Peace” (Russ.), “Redskin Attack” (US), “The Marble Palace” (Fr.)
Science and Technology
-R.F. Scott expedition to the South Pole meets with disaster; caught in a storm, the entire expedition perishes.
-Cloud chamber photography leads to the discovery of protons and electrons.
-Polish chemist Kasimir Funk coins the term “vitamin”.
1913
History and Politics
-Raymond Poincare elected President of France, visits United Kingdom.
-Federal income tax introduced in the US through the 16th Amendment.
-Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian Passive Resistance Movement, is mistakenly killed by a British Army officer during a riot in Delhi; though the officer is arrested and later hangs himself, Gandhi’s death sparks massive protests against British rule throughout India.
-Menelik II, Emperor of Abyssinia, dies and is succeeded by Lij Yasu.
-Mexican President Diaz dies; succeeded by Victoriano Huerta.
-Henry Ford pioneers new assembly line techniques in his automobile factory.
-Titanic’s captain is cleared of any wrongdoing. Serious structural flaws are found in the vessel along with design errors that, in the words of one investigator, ‘could have resulted in horrendous loss of life.’
-J.D. Rockefeller founds Rockefeller Institute with initial grant of $100 million.
-The foxtrot comes into fashion.
-In England, the first woman magistrate is sworn in.
Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The White Tiger”.
-Andrew Kalestos: “Waning Moon”.
-Woolworth Building, New York, designed by Cass Gilbert, opens.
-Grand Central Terminal opens in New York.
-Films: “The Vampire” (US), “Der Student von Prag” (Ger.), Charlie Chaplin debuts in “Bad Advice” (US).
Science and Technology
-Niels Bohr formulates his theory of atomic structure.
-Frederick Stoddy coins the term ‘isotope’.
-Diphtheria immunity test discovered by Bela Schick.
-Composition of chlorophyll discovered by Richard Willstatter.
-Rene Lorin states the basic ideas of jet propulsion.
-H.N. Russell formulates theory of stellar evolution.
1914
History and Politics
-Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by a Serbian nationalist. The would-be assassin, a student named Gavrilo Princip, is found to be a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. Austro-Hungarian police and military forces crack down on extremist organizations within the empire. Ferdinand urges peaceful measures, stating that ‘violence is the way of the weak’. His efforts serve to keep a temporary lid on regional tensions.
-Northern and Southern Nigeria united.
-Gen. Zamon becomes President of Haiti.
-Name of St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd.
-Panama Canal opened.
-US President Roosevelt wins limited Congressional support to upgrade navy and army equipment, and increase overall troop strength by 13% - less than half of the 30% increase that Roosevelt wanted.
-Increasing unrest and rebellion in China; the Boshan Massacre occurs on Sep. 3rd – what begins as a fairly peaceful demonstration in the city of Boshan in the province of Shandong turns into a bloodbath. Army units stationed in the area, called in to supervise the demonstrations (which were for the return of Imperial rule and the abolishment of Sun Yat-sen’s republic) hurl epithets at the protestors, and when the mostly unarmed students and farmers respond in kind, a nervous soldier opens fire. When the dust settles, more than 250 protestors and 40 soldiers have been slain.
-Sun Yat-sen institutes several draconian curfews and bans on public gatherings, which are basically ignored – they are unenforceable in the countryside, and in the cities, pro-Imperial cells continue to gather in warehouses and back rooms.
-US Federal Trade Commission established.
-Pope Pius X dies; succeeded by Cardinal della Chiesa as Pope Benedict XV.
-Party of US Marines land at Tampico, Mexico, for supplies and are detained; upon release 3 hours later, Admiral Mayo demands 21-gun salute to American flag; refused by President Huerta; US President Roosevelt sends US fleet to Tampico; US Marines occupy Veracruz for 17 days; over German objections, Huerta apologizes, ending incident. Roosevelt sends a harshly-worded cable to the Kaiser stating that ‘the US will not be bullied by Continental warmongers.’ The Kaiser is said to be apoplectic, but is dissuaded from doing anything rash by his advisors.
Learning and the Arts
-Henry Bacon designs Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
-Films: Charlie Chaplin in “Once a Day” and “On Wall Street” (US), “The Golem” (Ger.), “The Northmen” (Brit.)
Science and Technology
-Robert Goddard begins rocketry experiments (US).
-J.H. Jeans: “Radiation and the Quantum Theory”.
1915
History and Politics
-Various minor incidents occur between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet over Pacific territories after Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm declares ‘an end to Anglo-French territorial monopolies’.
-In China, general protests and unrest, sparked by continuing dissatisfaction with the Republic, erupt in the spring. Several more killings of protestors occur; though none are as bloody as the Boshan Massacre. Famine and plague throughout the spring and early summer contribute to what is seen internationally as the unraveling of the Chinese Republic.
-Erich Muenter, a German instructor at Cornell University, plants a bomb that destroys the US Senate reception room, killing President Roosevelt, industrialist J.P. Morgan, and nine others (Aug. 7), commits suicide (Aug. 11). The Kaiser’s government disavows any knowledge of the incident, which is verified by congressional investigations ending in February of 1916, but the assassination further increases anti-German fervor in the US.
-Vice President Charles Bonaparte succeeds to US Presidency.
-US Coast Guard established by Congress.
-Margaret Sanger jailed for writing “Family Limitation”, the first book on birth control.
-In October, unrest in China reaches a crescendo. Hundreds of protestors, including dozens of army deserters, unpaid for months, besiege Sun Yat-sen’s estate. He surrenders on November 12th, agreeing to the reinstatement of the boy-emperor, Hsuan T’ung.
-Francisco Villa attains the rank of major in the Mexican army.
Learning and the Arts
-Films: “Tampico”, starring Douglas Fairbanks (US), “A Scientific Romance” (Brit.), “The Undefeated” (Dan.), “Green Trees” (Fr.)
Science and Technology
-Albert Einstein postulates his General Theory of Relativity.
-Hugo Junkers constructs the first fighter airplane.
-Henry Ford develops a farm tractor.
-First transcontinental telephone call between Alexander G. Bell in New York and T. Watson in San Francisco.
-Wireless service established between US and Japan.
-Ford produces one millionth car
