November 1914

The following events occurred in November 1914:

November 1, 1914 (Sunday)

• The Ottoman Empire officially entered World War One after Russia declared war on the Empire for bombarding its Black Sea ports.^[1]
• Battle of Coronel — The Royal Navy suffered its first defeat of World War One, after a British squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock met and was defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the eastern Pacific. Cradock perished in the battle, along with 1,570 sailors, when both HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were sunk.^[2]
• The 38 ships carrying the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (10 ships) and the First Australian Imperial Force (28 ships) left Perth, Western Australia. Originally expected to sail to Great Britain, the orders were changed to have the Commonwealth forces land in Egypt to assist in protecting the Suez Canal from the Ottoman Empire.^[3]
• Battle of Messines — German forces captured Wytschate from the British and secured Messines in west Belgium, officially putting an end to the battle.^[4]
• Battle of Armentières — Fighting continued south of the Lys River in France while French cavalry were forced out of Messines, exposing the northern flank of the main French fighting force. A new reserve line was formed between the French towns of Fleurbaix and Nieppe, and artillery rations were doubled to help maintain the line from German attacks.^[5]
• Cuba held mid-term parliamentary elections to fill up half the seats in the House of Representatives and a single seat in the Senate. The National Party of Cuba won the most seats, with 22 of the 49 House seats and the single Senate seat.^[6]
• Pope Benedict XV delivered his encyclical letter Ad beatissimi Apostolorum at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican during the Feast of All Saints. As the letter had been written near the start of World War One, it was labelled "the Suicide of Civilized Europe".^[7]
• The association football club Esporte Clube Taubaté was formed in Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil after three local football fans met and came up with the idea to bring a club to the city.^[8]
• Irish opera singer John McCormack recorded the popular British music hall song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", written by Jack Judge. The song was a popular marching tune among British soldiers and the recording only further made the song synonymous with music associated with World War One.^[9]
• Born: Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi, world leader of the Satmar Hasidim from 1980 to 2006, in Újfehértó, Hungary (d. 2006)

November 2, 1914 (Monday)

• Bergmann Offensive — Russian forces under the command of General Georgy Bergmann entered Ottoman Empire through the Caucasus to secure Eleşkirt, a strategic valley in northeastern Turkey, in what was the first major initiative in the Caucasus Campaign.^[10]
• Battle of Armentières — The battle officially ended although fighting continued north of the Lys River. German forces lost nearly twice as many men as the French, with 11,300 casualties compared to 5,700.^[11]
• Battle of La Bassée — Allied reserve battalions dug in at Bailleul, France while engineers built more field fortifications, officially ending the battle. The Allies sustained around 15,000 casualties, while best estimates from the German side were 6,000 (although accounts were incomplete).^[12]
• Battle of Tanga — Soldiers with the British Indian Expeditionary Force landed at the port city of Tanga, Tanzania.^[13]
• Siege of Tsingtao — With defeat looking more imminent, the Central Powers began scuttling naval ships in Chinese port, starting with the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.^[14]
• Born: Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1943 and 1946 to 1949, in Prospect Park, New Jersey (d. 1997); Brooks Holder, American baseball player, second baseman and outfielder for the Pacific Coast League including the San Francisco Seals, Hollywood Stars and Oakland Oaks from 1935 to 1951, in Rising Star, Texas (d. 1986)
• Born: Ray Walston, American actor, best known for his TV roles in My Favorite Martian and Picket Fences, in Laurel, Mississippi (d. 2001); Rogelio Julio Frigerio, Argentine economist, noted proponent of developmentalism, in Buenos Aires (d. 2006)
• Died: Heinrich Burkhardt, German mathematician, developed the Burkhardt quartic and one of the examiners of Albert Einstein's thesis on relativity (b. 1861); Jack Sheridan, American baseball umpire, officiated for Major League Baseball from 1890 to 1914 (b. 1862)

November 3, 1914 (Tuesday)

• The United States general elections were held to elect members for the 64th United States Congress. The Democratic Party retained control of both houses of Congress, the first time since the Civil War. The United States House of Representatives had 230 seats go to the Democrats while the Republican Party gained 196 (with 6 going to independents).^[15] It was also the first time American voters could elect candidates to the U.S. Senate with the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, resulting in 51 seats for the Democrats and 44 seats for the Republicans.^[16]
• Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire.^[17]
• First Battle of Ypres — German forces lost an estimated 17,250 men after five days of fighting and were quickly becoming outnumbered as fresh troops from the British Expeditionary Force arrived for battle. The new pressure on the front line delayed the Germany Army's plans to attack using the west Belgium towns of Messines and Langemarck.^[18]
• Raid on Yarmouth — The Imperial German Navy attacked the British North Sea port of Great Yarmouth after sea patrols surprised a mine-laying operation at the mouth of the port.^[19] The German navy lost their battle cruiser SMS Yorck when it struck two of the mines their patrol laid down, killing somewhere between 235 and 336 sailors (reports varied).^[20] The British lost a submarine (HMS D5) when it struck a mine going out to meet the German fleet, killing 25 sailors.^[21]
• In retaliation for the Ottoman Empire letting the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau through Dardanelles in August and later using them to bombard Russian ports in late October, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill ordered Royal Navy battlecruisers HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable to bombard Turkish defenses around the straits, killing 86 Ottoman troops and displacing 10 guns.^[22][23]
• The German army command Armee-Abteilung Woyrsch was formed to serve the Eastern Front.^[24]
• Battle of Tanga — Most of the British Indian forces landed in Tanga harbour and began their march on the Tanzanian city the next day.^[25]
• Battle of Kilimanjaro — An Indian Expeditionary Force of 1,500 clashed with German colonial troops at the famous mountain in German East Africa. Despite having a force strength half the size of the British, the Germans were victorious. The British force lost 312 men while the Germans lost 109.^[26]
• Battle of Rufiji Delta — British ships bombarded the German cruiser SMS Königsberg and its sister ship SMS Somali as they sat barricaded in the mouth of Rufiji River in German East Africa (now Tanzania), but the thick jungles surrounding the river concealed the ship and prevented any accurate hits.^[27]
• The German East Asia Squadron of the German Imperial Navy entered Valparaiso harbour in Chile and were welcomed as heroes by the German population for their victory over the Royal Navy at the Battle of Coronel two days earlier. Admiral Maximilian von Spee refused to join in the celebration, knowing the victory only stacked the odds against his squadron for surviving another campaign against the Royal Navy. When presented with a bunch of flowers, Von Spee was said to have commented, "these will do nicely for my grave". His words were prophetic, as Von Spee and many of his squadron would die at the Battle of the Falkland Islands just over a month later.^[28]
• American fashion innovator Caresse Crosby received her patent to develop the "backless brassiere".^[29]
• Born: John T. Connor, American civil servant, served at United States Secretary of Commerce from 1965 to 1967, in Syracuse, New York (d. 2000); Tidye Pickett, American athlete, first African-American woman to compete in the Olympic Games (1936 Summer Olympics), in Chicago (d. 1986)
• Died: Georg Trakl, Austrian poet, brother to pianist Grete Trakl, best known for the poem "Grodek" (died from a cocaine overdose) (b. 1887); Samuel Archer King, American aviator, pioneer in ballooning (b. 1828)

November 4, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Tanga — British Indian and German colonial soldiers clashed in the streets and jungles around Tanga, Tanzania. Despite a company of Gurkhas capturing key buildings in the city, the Germans were able to stop most of the advance. In one of the battle's more odd episodes, a large beehive was disturbed and a swarm attacked and broke up a major British infantry regiment while causing a defending force to scatter, leading to the nickname "Battle of the Bees". After several more hours of brutal street fighting, disorganization and mounting casualties forced the British to withdraw, despite outnumbering German defenders eight to one. British forces in all lost 360 men, had 487 wounded and 148 missing. German defenders lost 70 men and 76 wounded.^[30]
• The German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe sank near Barbados after an internal explosion tore the vessel in half, killing 133 of its 373 crew, including its captain Erich Köhler. The stern of the ship stayed afloat long enough for the 140 survivors to board a pair of colliers attending the ship. After the second one was scuttled, the remaining ship slipped through a Royal Navy blockade formed to hunt SMS Karlsruhe for sinking or capturing 15 British merchant ships and damaging the British cruiser HMS Bristol on August 6.^[31] As a result, Germany kept the sinking secret until British intelligence learned of the ship's fate in March 1915.^[32]
• Siege of Mora – An Allied artillery bombardment initially forced defending German colonial forces to abandon the northern side of the mountain near Mora, Kamerun but a counterattack retook the position.^[33]
• The British battleship HMS Hood was scuttled in Portland Harbour in southern England to act as blockship for the port's southern entrance, but remained on ship sales list until 1917.^[34]
• U.S. states Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Washington voted in favor of prohibition while California and Ohio voted in favor of legal alcohol sales.^[35]
• Born: Carlos Castillo Armas, Guatemalan state leader, 28th President of Guatemala, in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala (d. 1957, assassinated); Gustav Francsi, German air force officer, commander of Nachtjagdgeschwader 100 for the Luftwaffe during World War Two, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Uslar, Germany (d. 1961)
• Died: F. Augustus Heinze, American mining industrialist, one of the three Copper Kings that developed mining around Butte, Montana (b. 1869)

November 5, 1914 (Thursday)

• Britain and France declared war on the Ottoman Empire.^[36]
• Great Britain annexed Cyprus, which it controlled until 1960.^[37]
• A court martial against British Admiral Ernest Troubridge, who had commanded the British Mediterranean Fleet that pursued and failed to capture the German battleships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau before they reached Turkey, was held on board HMS Bulwark moored at the Isle of Portland. Troubridge faced charges of failing to engage the enemy, especially since the German ships helped strengthen the Empire's naval fleet and emboldened them to join the Central Powers in World War One.^[38]
• The British 57th Division was established for the Territorial Force.^[39]
• With Italy continuing to declare its neutrality during the first year of World War One, Italian volunteer soldiers with the French Foreign Legion formed the 4th Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment, more popularly known as the Garibaldi Legion, to fight the Germans.^[40]
• The Rural Municipality of Lawrence in the Canadian province of Manitoba was incorporated. It was amalgamated with the Rural Municipality of Ochre River to form the Rural Municipality of Lakeshore on January 1, 2015.^[41]
• Alpha Phi Delta was founded as a Greek social fraternity at Syracuse University, New York.^[42]
• The university student newspaper The Manitoban was first published at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, and remains one of the oldest and largest post-secondary newspapers in Canada. Noted contributors to the papers included Marshall McLuhan, Izzy Asper and Andrew Coyne.^[43]
• Born: Herbert Czaja, German politician, member of Bundestag (Parliament of West Germany) from 1953 to 1990, and President of the Federation of Expellees from 1970 to 1994, in Cieszyn, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) (d. 1997)
• Died: August Weismann, German evolutionary biologist, developed the germ plasm theory (b. 1834)

November 6, 1914 (Friday)

• Eulalio Gutiérrez was declared President of Mexico during the Convention of Aguascalientes.^[44]
• Siege of Tsingtao — The Japanese softened German's defenses with a week of bombardment until German ammunition had run out. Japanese infantry then stormed the German trenches and forced them to surrender the following day.^[45]
• Bergmann Offensive — Russian forces made contact with Ottoman troops in the Caucasus region and fighting began over the next three days.^[46]
• Fao Landing — Divisions of the British Indian Army landed on Fao beach on the southern coast of Iraq while under heavy fire from the fortress. It was the only seaside fortress the Ottoman Empire had to threaten Allied shipping convoys in the Persian Gulf.^[47]
• Irish politician and army officer Arthur O'Neill was killed in action while commanding the 2nd Life Guards regiment at Zillebeke, Belgium. He was the first Member of Parliament to be killed in World War One.^[48]
• German spy Carl Hans Lody was executed by firing squad in the Tower of London, the first such execution to be held there in 167 years. He was the only captured German spy to be put on public trial in Great Britain in World War One.^[49]
• Irish aviation pioneer Francis Annesley disappeared after taking off with pilot Flight Lieutenant C.F. Beevor from an airfield at Eastchurch, England in a Bristol T.B.8 bound for France. He and Beevor were officially declared dead on December 2 after two German prisoners of war testified a plane matching the description of the missing aircraft had been shot down over Diksmuide, Belgium.^[50]
• American biologist Jacques Loeb published a paper on artificial parthenogenesis in sea urchins. His paper provided experimental evidence that it was possible to cause the eggs of sea urchins to begin embryonic development without sperm by slightly modifying the chemical composition of the water in which the eggs were kept.^[51]
• Born: Jonathan Harris, American actor, best known as Dr. Zachary Smith in 1960s science fiction TV series Lost in Space, in New York City (d. 2002)

November 7, 1914 (Saturday)

• Siege of Tsingtao — The Japanese and British seized Jiaozhou Bay in China, the base of the German East Asia Squadron.^[52]
• The 2nd, 21st, 28th, 29th, 31st and 49th Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were established.^[53]
• The first issue of The New Republic was published in the United States.The first sentences of the opening article in the first issue simple stated: "The New Republic is frankly an experiment. It is an attempt to find national audience for a journal of interpretation and opinion."^[54]
• The film series The Hazards of Helen premiered, starring Helen Holmes as the resourceful heroine, who also did most of her own stunt work.^[55]
• The planet Mercury visibly crossed the face of the sun, starting at 09:57 UTC and ending 14:09 UTC.^[56]

November 8, 1914 (Sunday)

• Fao Landing — Soldiers with the British Indian Army captured the seaside fortress overlooking Fao beach in Iraq using the newly arrived British artillery to breach the walls. The capture of the fort, along with 300 prisoners, ensured the Ottoman Empire could not threaten Allied shipping in the Persian Gulf.^[57]
• The German light cruiser SMS Emden arrived at the Australian-held Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean on a mission to disable a wireless and cable transmission station. However, the station was able to send out a distress signal before it was taken out, alerting the Australian command ship HMAS Melbourne which ordered HMAS Sydney to investigate.^[58]
• Born: George Dantzig, American mathematician, developer of the simplex algorithm for computer sciences, in Portland, Oregon (d. 2005); Norman Lloyd, American actor and film director, producer of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, best known for the role of Dr. Daniel Auschlander on the 1980s television medical drama St. Elsewhere, husband of Peggy Lloyd, in Jersey City, New Jersey; Jackie Brown, Irish association football player, played for both of Ireland's national football teams in the 1930s, in Belfast (d. 1990)

November 9, 1914 (Monday)

• Battle of Cocos — Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney spotted and disabled the German cruiser SMS Emden, with 133 sailors out of the 345 crew killed.^[59] A German landing party of 50 sent to destroy the wireless station witnessed the battle from the shore and realized it did not have enough men to hold the island. Instead, it commandeered a schooner and set course for Padang in the neutral Dutch East Indies.^[60]
• First Battle of Ypres — German armies attacked the French and Belgian forces between Langemarck and Dixmude and forced them back to the River Yser, where the Belgians blew up the crossings.^[61]
• British Admiral Ernest Troubridge was acquitted of the charge of failing to engage an enemy after the court-martial concluded the Admiralty of the Royal Navy was responsible for failing to communicate its orders to the admiral properly and delaying the Mediterranean Fleet's chances of intercepting a pair of German battleships from reaching Turkey.^[62]
• Born: Hedy Lamarr, Austrian actress, best known the controversial role in Ecstasy, and co-inventor (with George Antheil) of the frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) for radio communication, in Vienna (d. 2000); Colin Falkland Gray, New Zealand air force officer, commander of the No. 616, No. 64, and No. 81 Squadrons during World War Two, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross, in Christchurch (d. 1995)
• Died: Sattar Khan, Iranian rebel leader, key leader of the Persian Constitutional Revolution from 1907 to 1910 (b. 1866); Jean-Baptiste Faure, French opera singer, famous for his baritone roles in Opéra-Comique, Paris Opera and the Royal Opera House (b. 1830)

November 10, 1914 (Tuesday)

• First Battle of Ypres — German armies launched a new offensive in west Belgium from the forest Nonne Bosschen (Nun’s Copse) that ran from Langemarck to Dixmude in what historians referred to as the Battle of Nonne Bosschen.^[63]
• Battle of Rufiji Delta — The Royal Navy sank a blockship across one of the openings in the Rufiji Delta in German East Africa to reduce the number of escape routes the German cruiser SMS Königsberg could use to escape the blockade.^[64]
• Battle of Cocos — The Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney commenced rescue of the surviving sailors on the beached SMS Emden after learning the German landing party on the islands had escaped in a schooner.^[65]
• Born: Moshe Wolman, Polish-Israeli medical researcher, leading researcher of biochemistry and the first to diagnose the genetic disorder Wolman disease, in Warsaw (d. 2009)
• Died: Samuel Thomas Hauser, American politician, 7th Governor of the Montana Territory from 1885 to 1887 (b. 1833); Isaac T. Stoddard, American industrialist and public servant, chief developer of the mining industry in Yavapai County, Arizona, 12th Secretary of the Arizona Territory (b. 1851)

November 11, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire declared jihad on the Allies.^[66]
• First Battle of Ypres — The Germans launched a major offensive from Messines, Belgium and broke through the Allied line to advance on Zwarteleen, some 3,000 yards (2,700 m) east of Ypres, where they were checked by a British cavalry brigade. At the same time, the Germans captured a strategic rise classified as Hill 60, which became a major battle location the following year.^[67]
• Battle of Łódź — Russian forces were surprised and routed by a sneak German attack on the left bank of the Vistula River in Poland, resulting in 12,000 Russian troops being captured. The attack created a 50 km (31 mi) gap between the Russian First and Second Armies.^[68]
• Bergmann Offensive — Ottoman forces counter-attacked and hit the Russian flanks, forcing the invading army to retreat in the Caucasus region.^[69]
• Battle of Basra — Troops with the Ottoman Empire tried to ambush British troops marching on Basra (in what is now southern Iraq) while they camped en route. However, the camp's defenses were able to repel the attack.^[70]
• German submarine commander Walther Forstmann of the SM U-12 sank his first Allied ship, British minesweeper HMS Niger, off the coast of England. Most of the ship's crew survived the sinking.^[71] Frostmann would eventually be credited for sinking close to 150 ships throughout World War One.^[72]
• The Norwegian sports club Rakkestad IF was formed in Rakkestad, Norway. The club has sections in association football, team handball, floorball, volleyball, track and field, gymnastics, skiing and speed skating.^[73]
• An Australian propaganda film The Day, directed by Alfred Rolfe, was released to popular acclaim. The film depicted reenactments of reported German atrocities during the Rape of Belgium in August. The film is now considered lost.^[74]
• Born: Howard Fast, American novelist and television writer, known for novels such as Spartacus and mysteries under the pen name E.V. Cunningham, in New York City (d. 2003); Daisy Bates, American activist, civil rights leader during the Little Rock Nine crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, in Huttig, Arkansas (d. 1999)
• Born: Taslim Olawale Elias, Nigerian judge, Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1972 to 1975 and President of the International Court of Justice from 1982 to 1985, in Lagos (d. 1991); Henry Wade, Dallas County District Attorney from 1951 to 1987, involved in the persecution of Jack Ruby for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, and the landmark Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court case on abortion, in Rockwall County, Texas (d. 2001)
• Died: A. E. J. Collins, British cricketer and soldier, held the highest-ever recorded score in cricket of 628 in 1899 at the age of 13, killed in action at the First Battle of Ypres (b. 1885); Benajah Harvey Carroll, American theologian, author of Inspiration of Scripture which influenced the 1960s Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence (b. 1843)

November 12, 1914 (Thursday)

• First Battle of Ypres — German forces bombarded British defenses and broke through the line, but did not have enough support to advance. German casualties for the battle had now reached about 80,000 men and casualties for the British Expeditionary Force since arriving to France in August nearly reached 90,000 men. The Belgian army had been reduced by half and the French had lost 385,000 men.^[75]
• Bergmann Offensive - Russian reinforcements under command of the General Mikhail Przevalski arrived to halt the retreat of General Gregory Bergmann's forces in northeastern Turkey.^[76]
• Maritz Rebellion — Regular troops with the Union of South Africa under command of General Louis Botha defeated rebel Boer soldiers under command of Christiaan de Wet, with 120 casualties and 250 captured.^[77]
• The British ocean liner RMS Empress of Russia arrived at the Cocos Islands to pick up all non-wounded German sailors from the wrecked SMS Emden and transport them to Colombo, Ceylon.^[78]
• Born: Edward Schillebeeckx, Belgian theologian, author of the drafts for the Second Vatican Council, in Antwerp (d. 2009); Sylvi Saimo, Finnish rower, gold medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics, in Jaakkima, Finland (now Russia)

November 13, 1914 (Friday)

• First Battle of Ypres — Germany launched a surprise attack on French forces while British forces arrived to support the line. Meanwhile, the weather became much colder, with rain turning to snow within 48 hours. With night frost becoming common within the week and snow covering the ground, troops on opposing sides were succumbing to frostbite and fatigue. Snipers would shoot troops nodding off in trenches half-full of freezing water while artillery bombed opposing trenches. In 12 days, the battle would end simply because troops on both sides were too exhausted to fight.^[79]
• Battle of El Herri — A French colonial garrison of 1,200 men under command of Lieutenant-Colonel René Laverdure attacked Berber tribesmen part of the Zaian Confederation at a small settlement near the city of Khenifra in central Morocco, in direct violation of orders by General Hubert Lyautey not to engage in any military action while negotiating peace terms with the Confederation. The attack proved disastrous, after the Berber tribesmen regrouped, attacked and surrounded the French garrison after it attempted to return to Khenifra. The garrison was annihilated, with 623 troops and officers killed (including Laverdure) and another 176 wounded. The Berbers lost only 182 men.^[80]
• The tradition American Southern folk song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" was recorded by American opera singer Alma Gluck but written by African-American musician and songwriter James A. Bland in 1878. The song - released by the Victor Talking Machine Co. - proved to be a hit and became the first recording by a celebrity classical singer to sell over a million copies.^[81]
• Born: Henri Langlois, Turkish-French film preservationist, pioneer of film preservation and restoration, co-founder of the International Federation of Film Archives, in İzmir, Turkey (d. 1977); Günther Specht, German air force officer, lead Operation Bodenplatte for the Luftwaffe during the last months of World War Two, recepitient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Frankenstein, German Empire (now Poland) (d. 1945, killed in action)
• Born: Amelia Bence, Argentine actress, leading film actress during the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema of 1940 to 1960, in Buenos Aires (d. 2016); William Gibson, American playwright, recipient of the Tony Award for Best Play for The Miracle Worker (d. 2008)

November 14, 1914 (Saturday)

• Religious leader Sheikh-ul-Islam declared a holy war on behalf of the Ottoman Empire against the Allies.^[82]
• The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the decision by state judge Ben Hill not the grant Leo Frank a new trial. Frank had been found guilty in 1913 of the murder of 13-year old Mary Phagan in Atlanta but maintained his innocence.^[83]
• The British light cruiser HMS Carysfort was launched at Tyneside, England, and would serve World War One and the subsequent Russian Civil War in the 1920s.^[84]
• Died: Frederick Roberts,, British military officer, last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces for Great Britain (b. 1832)

November 15, 1914 (Sunday)

• First Battle of Ypres — The Allies reinforced and reorganized their lines in west Belgium as the first snowfall of winter began.^[85]
• Bergmann Offensive — Taking advantage of Russian forces concentrating on slowing their retreat in Turkey, Ottoman forces crossed the border and defeated a Russian column near Borchka, a city in the lower Choruh valley of the Caucasus. The defeat forced the Russians to evacuate the cities of Borchka, Artvin and Ardanuch.^[86]
• HMAS Sydney arrived in Colombo, Ceylon with its convoy of prisoners from the SMS Emden. The ship's captain Karl von Müller and his commanding officers were imprisoned in England while the sailors were taken to prisoner-of-war camps in Australia where both remained until the end of World War One.^[87]
• Benito Mussolini founded the newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia ("The People of Italy") which advocated militarism and irredentism. The paper was subsidized by the French and industrialists on the pretext of influencing Italy to join the Allies and became the foundation for the Fascist movement in Italy after World War One.^[88]
• The Colonial Exhibition of Semarang in the Dutch East Indies officially closed.^[89]
• The Hespanha Foot Ball Club was formed by an association of Spanish immigrants in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, and was renamed to its present title Jabaquara Atlético Clube in 1942.^[90]
• Born: Petar Drapšin, Serbian commando, commander of the armies of the Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement against the Nazis during World War Two, in Turija, Srbobran, Austria-Hungary (d. 1945); Erich Steidtmann, German SS officer during World War Two, involved in trying to suppress the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during the Holocaust, in Weißenfels, Germany (d. 2010); Santo Trafficante Jr., American gangster, noted for his connections to Cuba president Fulgencio Batista and his association in the plot to assassinate Fidel Castro, in Tampa, Florida (d. 1987)

November 16, 1914 (Monday)

• Battle of Kolubara — Austro-Hungarian forces under command of Oskar Potiorek made a third attempt to invade Serbia by way of the Kolubara River. The battle between invading forces and the defending Serbian army commenced over the next five days in heavy rain and snowfall, with many soldiers on both sides succumbing to hypothermia and frostbite as they did to bullets.^[91]
• Siege of Tsingtao — Japanese and British forces formally took over the German colonial port of Tsingtao. Japanese casualties numbered 236 killed and 1,282 wounded; the British had 12 killed and 53 wounded, and the Germans had 199 dead and 504 wounded.^[92]
• First Battle of Ypres — Ferdinand Foch was promoted to command the French Ninth Army manning the French line in west Belgium and northeastern France, which now ran some 430 miles (690 km) along the Western Front.^[93]
• Battle of Łódź — The Russian Fifth Army was ordered to Łódź to reinforce existing forces around the city from a suspected German offensive following a surprise assault five days earlier. In actuality, German commander Paul Hindenburg intended the attack as a ruse to focus most of Russia's strength in one area and create a weakened flank German forces could exploit.^[94]
• Russian forces under command of General Mikhail Przevalski crossed the Aras River in northeastern Turkey and launched a dawn attack on Ottoman forces to halt their advance.^[95]
• Battle of Basra — British forces defeated Ottoman troops defending Saihan, Iraq, south of Basra, with the Ottomans suffering 250 casualties.^[96]
• American banker Benjamin Strong, Jr. became Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the first Federal Reserve Bank of the United States to officially open under the Federal Reserve Act.^[97]
• The Baltimore Museum of Art was founded at Johns Hopkins University.^[98]
• British writer M. P. Shiel was convicted and imprisoned for "indecently assaulting and carnally knowing" his 12-year-old stepdaughter on October 26 in London.^[99]
• Born: Eddie Chapman, English spy, worked as double agent for Nazi Germany during World War Two, in Burnopfield, London (d. 1997)
• Died: Shunrō Oshikawa, Japanese journalist and writer, considered the pioneer of genre fiction in Japan including detective and science fiction (b. 1876)

November 17, 1914 (Tuesday)

• First Battle of Ypres — General Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, commander of the German 4th Army, ordered all attacks to cease to allow reserve units to move to the Eastern Front, which would take the Allies three days to discover.^[100]
• Bergmann Offensive — The Russian offensive petered out, with losses to the Russian Imperial Army numbering more than 7,000 killed and injured.^[101]
• Battle of Krzywopłoty — Forces aligned with the Polish Legions clashed with Russian forces at the village of Krzywopłoty in Galicia (now Poland). The Polish Legion were able to halt a local Russian offensive after two days of fighting. The Legion sustained over 170 casualties. The battle was commemorated at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.^[102]
• The British government announced that income tax was to be doubled in order to finance the war-time budget.^[103]
• The German cruiser SMS Friedrich Carl struck two mines laid down by Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. However, she was able to stay afloat for a few hours, allowing the crew to complete a seaplane attack on the Russian port of Libau. The ship's 585-man crew then evacuated before it capsized.^[104]

November 18, 1914 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Kolubara — Austro-Hungarian forces began an assault on the Serbian town of Lazarevac, which would provide a strategic launching spot for a siege on Belgrade to the north.^[105]
• Battle of Łódź — Russian and German forces clashed near Łódź, Poland in bitter winter conditions, even though both armies were still outfitted in summer clothing.^[106] A damaged bridge forced German forces to locate an alternative crossing over the Vistula River, and mixed orders caused some units to halt while other advanced too far, spreading out forces thinly. With a large contingent of German troops in danger of being surrounded, Russia ordered trains to the front to anticipate capturing up to 20,000 prisoners (in actuality, there was only a German force of 11,000).^[107]
• Mexican Revolution — Mexican revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata advanced on Mexico City after Venustiano Carranza publicly refused to step down from his presidential seat.^[108]
• Battle of Cape Sarych — German battleship SMS Goeben, now the Yavuz for the Ottoman Navy, along with its sister ship SMS Breslau, now the Midilli, engaged with ships with the Russian Black Sea Fleet off the Crimean coast. The Yavuz exchanged fire with the Russian battleship Evstafi, with the Black Sea Fleet warship scoring a hit that killed 13 crew and wounding three more. However, Yavuz scored more devastating hits on Evstafi, killing 34 Russian crew and wounding another 24, forcing the ship and the rest of the fleet to retreat.^[109]
• German General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein was appointed Chief of Staff to the Ottoman Fourth Army upon arrival to Constantinople and would lead the Raid on the Suez Canal in 1915.^[110]
• Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Secretary of State for the German Imperial Navy, advocated massed Zeppelin attacks on London in a letter: "The English are now in terror of the Zeppelin, perhaps not without reason ... one could set fire to London in thirty places, then what in a small way is odious would retire before something fine and powerful."^[111]
• Karolina Kózka, a 16-year-old girl who fully committed to her Catholic faith, died while resisting an attempted rape by a Russian soldier near her village of Wał-Ruda, Poland. Kózka was stabbed several times by a bayonet and died from her wounds after escaping. Because of her strong religious faith and her violent death, her burial site became a religious shrine for many Polish Catholics who saw her as a martyr. In 1987, after much campaigning from Poland, Pope John Paul II beatified her as a "martyr of Christ".^[112]
• Died: Shibli Nomani, Indian theologian, promoter of Islam in India (b. 1857)

November 19, 1914 (Thursday)

• Battle of Kolubara — Austro-Hungarian forces gained a foothold in Serbia as the opposing armies fell back towards Belgrade.^[113]
• Battle of Basra — The British captured a mud fortress built by the Ottomans at Sahil, Iraq. Ottoman troops retreated, losing 1,000 men while the British lost 350.^[114]

November 20, 1914 (Friday)

• The German Naval Corps was established to command the land-based forces of the Imperial German Navy operating in Flanders, which stretched from Belgium to northeastern France.^[115]
• The largest white-tailed deer ever harvested by a hunter in the United States was measured at 206 1/8 net typical points under the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system. James Jordan, a 22-year old hunter of Burnett County, Wisconsin, shot the buck using a .25-20 Winchester. It held the record of being the largest deer harvest until 1993 when a larger buck was taken by Milo Hansen in Saskatchewan.^[116]
• Died: Vinnie Ream, American sculptor, famous for the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the United States Capitol rotunda (b. 1847); Dimitrije Tucović, Serbian philosopher and activist, founder of the Serbian Social Democratic Party, killed at the Battle of Kolubara (b. 1881)

November 21, 1914 (Saturday)

• Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden announced Canada was increasing its Canadian Expeditionary Force by 50,000, which would total 91,000 Canadian soldiers serving in World War One by 1915.^[117]
• Battle of Kolubara — Austro-Hungarian and Serbian forces clashed at Mount Maljen in Serbia, with the Serbians giving up the mountain after three days of intense fighting.^[118]
• Battle of Basra — The British learned the Ottoman forces had abandoned the city of Basra in Iraq and were able to take the city unopposed.^[119]
• Three Royal Naval Air Service Avro 504s based at Belfort, France, conducted the first long-range strategic bombing raid, attacking German airship sheds on the shore of Lake Constance at Friederichshafen, Germany.^[120]
• Harvard defeated Yale 36-0 in the first football game held at the new Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut before an estimated crowd of 70,000 to 74,000 spectators.^[121]
• Born: Henri Laborit, French physician and researcher, leading researcher in neurology and evolutionary psychology, in Hanoi, French Indochina (d. 1995); Abd al-Karim Qasim, Iraqi state leader, 24th Prime Minister of Iraq, in Baghdad (d. 1963, executed)

November 22, 1914 (Sunday)

• First Battle of Ypres — The battle wound down as neither side planned new attacks to allow soldiers to rest and prepare for winter. The Allies suffered major casualties, with the French sustaining somewhere 50,000 to 80,000 casualties, followed by the British with over 58,000, and Belgium with over 21,000. The Germans sustained a minimum 46,000 casualties and may have gone as high as over 100,000.^[122]
• Ottoman Navy minelayer Nilufer, formally the British passenger vessel SS Frederica struck a mine in the Black Sea and sank with all crew evacuated.^[123]
• The União Agrícola Barbarense Futebol Clube association football club was formed in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil. Initially an amateur club, it began to compete in the professional league Campeonato Paulista starting in 1964.^[124]
• Born: Peter Townsend, British air force officer, commander of the No. 605 and No. 85 Squadrons during World War Two, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Royal Victorian Order, known for his romantic relationship with Princess Margaret, in Rangoon (d. 1995)
• Died: Henry Küss, French mining engineer, noted for developing several mines in South America, Africa and Australia (b. 1852)

November 23, 1914 (Monday)

• Defence of Festubert — A German infantry regiment captured 800 yards (730 m) of trench east of Festubert, France from British Indian Corps. However, Sikh and Indian troops counter-attacked at night and recovered the trenches.^[125]
• The U.S. Marines withdrew from Veracruz, Mexico after occupying the town since April, allowing soldiers under the command of Venustiano Carranza to move in to set up the leader's main headquarters.^[126]
• British guard boat Dorothy Gray spotted a submarine periscope belonging to German submarine SM U-18 off the coast of Scotland and managed it to ram it twice. Severely damaged, the sub was forced to surface and most of the crew were captured before the vessel sank.^[127]
• Born: Emmett Ashford, American baseball umpire, first African-American umpire in Major League Baseball, in Los Angeles (d. 1980); Donald Nixon, American businessman, brother to U.S. President Richard Nixon (d. 1987); Charles H. MacDonald, American air force officer, commander of the 475th Fighter Group during World War Two, six-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and two-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star, as well as the Legion of Merit and Air Medal, in DuBois, Pennsylvania (d. 2002)

November 24, 1914 (Tuesday)

• Expecting Serbian resistance to crumble within days, Austro-Hungarian Army commanding officer Oskar Potiorek appointed General Stjepan Sarkotić to become Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina while he assumed command of occupying forces in Serbia.^[128]
• Benito Mussolini was expelled from the Italian Socialist Party.^[129]
• Born: Lynn Chadwick, English sculptor, known for metal sculpture work collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Tate Gallery in London and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, recipient of the Order of the British Empire, in Barnes, London, England (d. 2003); Agostino Casaroli, Italian clergy, Cardinal Secretary of State for the Vatican from 1979 to 1990, in Castel San Giovanni, Italy (d. 1998)
• Died: Sidney Randolph DeLong, American politician, first mayor of Tucson, Arizona (b. 1828)

November 25, 1914 (Wednesday)

• A German patrol boat spotted and rammed British submarine HMS D2 off the coast of Germany, killing all 25 crew.^[130]
• Born: Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player, center fielder for the New York Yankees from 1936 to 1942 and 1946 to 1951, best known for his unbroken 56-game hitting streak in 1941, second husband to Marilyn Monroe, in Martinez, California (d. 1999)

November 26, 1914 (Thursday)

• British battleship HMS Bulwark was blown apart by an internal explosion at her moorings on the Medway off Kingsnorth, Kent, England, killing 738 of her 750 crew.^[131]
• Battle of Łódź — A surrounded German force of 11,000 broke out of its pocket by exploiting confused Russian movements, allowing them to capture up 12,000 prisoners and 64 guns.^[132]
• Battle of Kolubara — Austro-Hungarian forces attempted to cross a critical juncture in Serbia where the river Kolubara met with the Sava River, but were beaten back by stiff Serbian resistance and forced out of the area the following day.^[133]
• Austrian biologist Karl von Frisch published his first significant paper on honey bee behavior, including "dancing" as a form of communication.^[134]
• The Prussian Officer and Other Stories by D. H. Lawrence was published by Duckworth in London. The collection included the short story "Odour of Chrysanthemums" which was first published in the July 1911 issue of The English Review.^[135]

November 27, 1914 (Friday)

• A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Lefkada, Greece, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying many homes on the island.^[136]
• Battle of Kolubara — Despite sustaining severe casualties, the Austro-Hungarian Army resumed attacks on the Serbian army and stretched defenses thin south of Belgrade.^[137]
• A schooner carrying 50 German navy men from the landing party of the destroyed SMS Emden were allowed entry in the port of Padang of the Dutch East Indies, but under strict terms so the Netherlands could maintain their stance of neutrality during World War One.^[138]
• Died: James Reavis, American criminal, famously tried to defraud U.S. Government out of large land claims measuring thousands of square miles in the Arizona Territory and New Mexico Territory (b. 1843)

November 28, 1914 (Saturday)

• The New York Stock Exchange re-opened for bond trading after closing in August due to the onset of World War One.^[139]
• The German landing party that commandeered a schooner after SMS Emden was disabled at the Battle of Cocos left Padang port in the Dutch East Indies rather than risk having the schooner confiscated by authorities. The commanding officer left a message with German merchant fleet in the area to meet them at a rendezvous point away from Dutch territorial waters.^[140]
• The annual United States Army-Navy football game was played at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, with the Army beating the Navy 20-0.^[141]
• Born: Vincent Fago, American comic book artist, best known for his work on Timely Comics which included Mighty Mouse and Terrytoons Comics, in New York City (d. 2002); Cecil Brower, American violinist, best known for his TV performances on Ozark Jubilee, Five Star Jubilee and The Jimmy Dean Show, in Bellevue, Texas (d. 1965)

November 29, 1914 (Sunday)

• Battle of Łódź — Fearing a repeat of the disaster at Tannenberg in August, Russia ordered its armies to withdraw to defensive positions around Warsaw, leaving Łódź unprotected.^[142]
• Battle of Kolubara — Despite the Serbian army inflicting heavy casualties on the invading Austro-Hungarian Army, officials in Belgrade felt defenses would not hold against renewed attacks and ordered the city to be evacuated.^[143]
• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson named a strike board for Colorado to prevent future violent labor unrest like the Colorado Coalfield War.^[144]
• The Kerry senior football club defeated Wexford to win their All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title at Croke Park, Dublin.^[145]
• Born: Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent, American air force officer, commander of the Fourteenth Air Force during World War Two, three-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, four-time recipient of the Air Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star and Legion of Merit, in Gail, Texas (d. 1955)

November 30, 1914 (Monday)

• Born: Charles Hawtrey, British actor, best known for supporting roles in the Carry On film series, in Hounslow, England (d. 1988); Harry Jeffra, American boxer, World Bantamweight champion in 1937 and World Featherweight champion in 1940, in Baltimore (d. 1988); Sir Syed Sani Syed Ali Shah Bukhari, Indian religious leader, founder of the Mazhar Ul Haq School, in Beerwah, Jammu and Kashmir, India (d. 1979)

References