Significant Events
- Jan 8 WWI: ANZAC forces withdraw from the Gallipoli Peninsula after Ottoman forces successfully defend access to Constantinople
- Feb 21 World War I: Battle of Verdun begins, leads to an estimated 1 million casualties
- Apr 24 Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation begins in Dublin
- Apr 29 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising
- May 31 Battle of Jutland: Largest naval battle of World War I between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet which killed 8,645 in an inconclusive battle but strategic British victory. German fleet never puts to sea again in WWI.
- Jun 6 With the death of Yuan Shikai, who has ruled much of China since 1912, the central government virtually collapses in the face of warlords who assert themselves, including Sun Yat-sen
- Jun 10 Great Arab Revolt begins against ruling Ottoman turks
- Jul 1 First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI)
- Sep 6 1st true supermarket, the "Piggly Wiggly" is opened by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee
- Sep 17 The Red Baron [Manfred von Richthofen], WWI flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France
1916 in Film & TV
- Jun 24 Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract
- Nov 19 Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures, the company later became one of the most successful independent filmmakers
1916 in Sport
- Jan 17 Rodman Wanamaker organises a lunch to discuss forming a golfers association (later the PGA) at the Taplow Club, Martinique Hotel, New York City
Did You Know?
Germany ratifies bill bringing in Daylight Saving Time - first country in the world
On April 30, 1916
World Leaders in 1916
Nicholas II
Tsar
Wilhelm II
German Emperor and King of Prussia
Woodrow Wilson
28th US President
Famous People in 1916
Claude Monet
Impressionist Painter
Aldo Moro
Francis Crick
Gregory Peck
Kirk Douglas
Roald Dahl
Walter CronkiteWould You Believe?
Joseph Dunn (14) is attacked by a shark, suffering non-fatal wounds in New Jersey, the final episode in a spate of shark attacks along the Jersey coast where 4 people died over 12 days
On July 12, 1916
Famous Weddings
- Mar 22 British author "The Lord of the Rings", J.R.R. Tolkien marries Edith Mary Bratt at St. Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church, Warwick
- Mar 27 Actress Gloria Swanson (17) weds actor Wallace Beery (30)
- May 27 Naval commander Karl Donitz (24) weds nurse Ingeborg Weber
- Jul 1 Dwight Eisenhower marries Mary `Mamie' Geneva Doud in Denver, Colorado
- Oct 9 Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (21) weds Maxine Gates in Farmington, Utah
Grigori Rasputin
Hetty Green
Horatio Kitchener
John Singleton Mosby
Percival Lowell
Thomas EakinsArticles on Events in 1916
Five Miles of Mud Costs a Million Casualties
The Battle of the Somme, which began on this day, left one man dead every five seconds. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.
July 1, 1916
Airship Bomb Crew Meet their Match in Policeman
They dropped their bombs and planned to escape, but the German airship crew hadn’t reckoned on the tenacity of a lone British policeman on his bike.
September 24, 1916