Painting depicting the
sinking of the RMS Lusitania by German U-boat
SM U-20.Armenian civilians holding a defense line against Ottoman forces in the Armenian walled city of
Van in May 1915.
Battle of Eski Hissarlik – Ottoman forces counter-attacked during the night in an attempt to push
Allied forces off their beachhead at Cape Helles during the
Gallipoli campaign. However, Allied defenses were strong and well-prepared for night attacks and the Ottoman forces were repelled.[4]
Zaian War – French colonial forces crossed the
Rbia River north of
Khenifra,
Morocco to cut off food supplies reserved for the rebelling
Zayanes. During the campaign, a French convoy was attacked by 5,000 tribesmen, but were repulsed with 300 killed and 400 wounded over a two-day battle. The battle lead to six months of relative calm in the region.[5]
French submarine
Joule struck a mine and sank in the
Dardanelles with the loss of all 31 of her crew.[6]
Royal Navy destroyers protecting naval trawlers
fought off German torpedo boats at
Noordhinder Bank in the south part of the
North Sea, resulting in both torpedo boats being sunk with 13 German sailors killed and another 46 captured. Sixteen British sailors were lost in the attack.[8]
The British
War Office issued instructions specifying the aircraft and armament
Royal Flying Corpssquadrons were to have ready for the defense of
Great Britain against German airships, including having aircraft ready for immediate takeoff at all times, with a specific mix of weapons including bombs, grenades, and incendiary darts.[10]
Japanese chemical manufacturer
Denka was established in
Tokyo.[17]
Candy store chain
Haigh's Chocolates was established when Alfred E. Haigh opened a chocolate store in
Adelaide,
Australia. The shop became a chain starting in the 1950s.[18]
The sports club
Strong was established in
Oslo for hockey, and became one of the founding members of
GET-ligaen, the premier Norwegian hockey league. It merged with two other clubs in 1952 to become
Grüner.[19]
Norwegian cargo ship
America was sunk in the
North Sea off
Bergen,
Norway by German submarine
SM U-41. Her 39 crew were rescued by another Norwegian ship.[24]
Italy officially revoked the
Triple Alliance. In the following days, Italian statesman
Giovanni Giolitti led the neutralist majority of the Italian Parliament in opposing a war declaration, while nationalist crowds demonstrated in public areas for entering the war.[26]
Combined Australian, New Zealand and British forces were not sufficient reinforcements to
hold onto a strategic hill in
Gallipoli, resulting in their withdraw at a cost of close to 1,000 casualties.[28]
While on patrol over the
North Sea, a German Navy Zeppelin encountered and attacked four British
submarines on the surface, however, all subs were able to escape by diving.[31]
Battle of Hill 60 – British forces held off German gas attacks for four days but a renewed attack on the fifth day resulted in the gas following the front line as opposed to crossing it, allowing more British troops to be overcome. This allowed German infantry of the 30th Division to advance and capture the front line on the lower slope of the
hill.[40]
German submarine U-20 sunk a British merchant
schooner, the Earl of Lathom, off the southern coast of
Ireland after stopping it and ordering the crew off the ship.[41]
The
Royal Navy issued an uncoded warning to all British commercial ships that German
U-boats were seen active off the south coast of
Ireland.[42]
Second Battle of Krithia – British, Australian and New Zealand forces launched an assault on Ottoman defenses on the Helles battlefield during the
Gallipoli campaign but failed to advance further than 400 yards (370 metres).[48]
After receiving messages that a German
U-boat sunk British merchant ship Candidate and nearly sunk the British ocean liner
Arabic, Captain
William Thomas Turner of the
RMS Lusitania ordered the crew to make emergency preparations in case the ship was attacked and had to be abandoned, although passengers were not informed.[50]
German submarine U-20 fired a torpedo at British steamer Cayo Romano from
Cuba, even though it was flying a neutral flag, off the southern coast of
Ireland narrowly missing by a few feet.[51]
Battle of Hill 60 – Two British infantry companies failed to recapture the
hill from the Germans, officially ending the battle. In all, the British
5th Infantry Division assigned to take Hill 60 had 3,100 casualties.[57]
Second Battle of Ypres – German forces bombarded and attacked Canadian forces defending the forward line of the
Western Front at the Frezenberg ridge over five days.[60]
Second Battle of Krithia – New Zealand relieved the British forces who barely made it 800 yards (740 metres) towards the Ottoman line. The New Zealand pushed to gain another 400 yards (370 metres) before being pinned down. By evening, they launched a new attack backed by Australian support. They were able to capture a portion of the front trenches on one of the flanks but they were pushed back everywhere else, thus ending the battle.[61]
Thoroughbred racehorse
Regret with jockey
Joe Notter won the
41st running of the
Kentucky Derby with a time of 2:05.40. Regret was the first
filly ever to win the Derby, causing
Churchill Downs president
Matt Winn to observe that because of Regret's win "the Derby was thus made an American institution."[65]
Second Battle of Artois – The French Tenth Army launched a major offensive against the Germans in the
Western Front in northeastern
France, capturing a few front line trenches and taking 3,000 Germans prisoner along with 10 field guns and 15 machine guns. However, no successes were made capturing any major villages or towns.[69]
Battle of Aubers Ridge – The
British First Army launched a simultaneous attack on the German line north of the French Tenth Army to widen the enemy's defensive gap but failed to break through.[70]
The German government released an official statement confirming an
Imperial German NavyU-boat had
sunk the RMS Lusitania but maintained the ship was armed and was transporting "war materials".[71] However, the
Port of New York issued an official denial of Germany's charges, saying the ship had been inspected and had not been outfitted with any guns nor it was carrying any munitions aside from some ammo for small firearms, a common practice among cargo shipping.[72]
Second Battle of Artois – The French launched a feint attack as a decoy while new cavalry divisions were moved in to assist the Tenth Army. Meanwhile, Germany launched a counter-attack and recaptured some of their trenches and tunnels between the villages of
Carency and
Souchez,[73] and repulsed an attack at
Neuville-Vitasse.[74]
An
Imperial German ArmyZeppelin attempted to bomb
Southend-on-Sea,
England, but was driven off by unexpected gunfire. On retreat, airship commander Erich Linnarz allegedly scrawled a threat to return on a calling card from his wallet and dropping it in a weighted canister found on
Canvey Island.[76]
William Thomas Turner, surviving captain of the
RMS Lusitania, gave initial evidence of the
sinking to authorities, including testimony a German torpedo struck the ship between the third and fourth funnels.[77]
Second Battle of Artois – French forces captured key high ground from the Germans, depriving them of strategic viewing points of the battlefield.[83][84]
Royal Navyseaplane tenderHMS Ben-my-Chree tried to intercept a German
airship in the
North Sea using a
Sopwith seaplane. However, the launching platform collapsed as the plane tried to take off, leaving the Zeppelin to go on and bomb four surfaced British submarines (without damaging them).[87]
The Egyptian-Armenian daily newspaper Arev published its first issue.[88]
James Bryce of the
Committee on Alleged German Outrages released a report detailing a mix of confirmed and unsubstantiated reports of atrocities allegedly committed by
Germany during the first months of
World War I. The report was widely accepted and translated into 30 languages.[96]
Ross Sea party – While continuing to drift northward in the ice, the crew of the polar ship Aurora managed to set up a temporary wireless aerial and communicate to the stranded members on shore at
Cape Evans but communications failed to get through.[98]
Italian Prime Minister
Antonio Salandra offered his resignation in the face of growing public opposition of entering
World War I in accordance with the
Treaty of London, but opposition leader
Giovanni Giolitti, fearful of nationalist disorder that might break into open rebellion, declined to succeed him.[102]
Second Battle of Ypres – Canadian forces prevented the forward line at Frezenberg ridge from falling into German hands but suffered massive casualties. In particular, the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry saw its 700-man force reduced to 150 men when the battle ended. As a result, the unit's unofficial motto – "Holding up the whole damn line" – is still used today.[104]
British officer Captain
Julian Grenfell was mortally wounded by shrapnel when a shell landed a few yards away from where he was standing while talking to fellow officers of the
1st The Royal Dragoons. He was taken to a hospital in
Boulogne,
France, where he died thirteen days later. His poem "Into Battle" was published in The Times the day after his death.[105] His younger brother Gerald William (Billy) Grenfell was killed in action two months later.
Singapore Mutiny – The court of inquiry into a mutiny among the Indian
5th Light Infantry in
Singapore concluded causes for it were inconclusively established. More than 200 Indian soldiers and officer were tried and 47 were sentenced to execution by firing squad. The remaining 600 Indian soldiers and officers that did not mutiny were ordered to serve with
Allied operations in
Africa.[115]
The first reference of
jazz in relation to music may have come from
Tom Brown and his
New Orleans band as they began performing in
Chicago and started advertising themselves as a "Jass Band".[117]
Defense of Van – While evacuating women and children in
Van, Turkey by way of port ships under cover of artillery fire, Ottoman soldiers massacred 6,000 Armenians.[121]
Battle of Festubert – Renewed attacks on the German line only resulted in heavy losses for the British.[122]
Italian-American mob boss
Giosue Gallucci, head of one of the
Camorra gangs in
New York City, was shot along with his son Lucas in a coffee shop in
East Harlem. His son died the next day and Gallucci died from his wounds four days later. His murder created a power vacuum among the crime families, resulting in the
Mafia–Camorra War the following year.[127]
The
Belgium monarchy created a civilian variant of the
Civic Decoration medal for Belgian civilians and non-combatants that served with distinction during
World War I.[132]
Gallipoli campaign – The Ottoman army launched a
third attack on Anzac Cove with 42,000 soldiers but were repelled by the 17,000
ANZAC troops. Ottoman forces sustained 13,000 casualties including 3,000 killed, while
ANZAC forces had 468 wounded and 160 killed.[133] Among the noted casualties was Australian army medic
John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who innovated the use of mules as stretchers for transporting wounded across the rugged terrain.[134][135][136]
Battle of Festubert – A renewed British offensive started to yield success against the Germans, but it would take five more days of fighting before the French village of Festubert was captured.[140]
Defense of Van – Russian forces entered
Van, Turkey, providing needed relief for Armenians resisting the onslaught of Ottoman troops.[141]
Armenian leader
Krikor Zohrab and another fellow deputy with the Ottoman Parliament were arrested and ordered to
Aleppo to be held while awaiting court-martial, follow the leader's public protests of atrocities committed against Armenians from April 24. He would be murdered in July during the height of the
Armenian genocide.[146]
The
SPAD S.A aircraft was first flown in
France, but its design proved challenging for most pilots and was replaced soon after.[147]
Lassen Peak, one of the
Cascade Volcanoes in
California, erupted sending an ash plume 30,000 feet in the air and devastating the nearby area with mudslides and hot gas clouds mixed with debris. It is the last volcano to erupt in the contiguous United States until the
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.[149]
Faisal bin Hussein received the
Damascus Protocol document while visiting the city during a diplomatic mission to
Constantinople. Authored by Arab secret societies, the document outlined an Arab revolt against the
Ottoman Empire with support of the British, resulting in an independent Arab nation state.[155]
Hellmuth von Mücke, first officer of the
SMS Emden, safely led 48 members of his surviving landing party to
Constantinople where he reported to the German admiral stationed there. From the time they were stranded on the
Cocos Islands in the
Indian Ocean to their arrival in the Ottoman capital, von Mücke had successfully led his men 11,000 km over sea and land, losing only four on the way. He and his men arrived in
Germany later that summer as heroes.[159]
Second Battle of Ypres – Germans released a gas attack on British forces defending a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) front near
Hooge,
Belgium, forcing them to retreat.[165]
Battle of Festubert – The British captured the French village of
Festubert from the Germans. After 10 days of fighting, British forces had only advanced three kilometres (1.9 miles) while losing over 16,000 casualties, while German defenses only sustained 5,000.[140]
Second Battle of Ypres – The British failed in retaking trenches lost to the German gas attack the day before, forcing them to retreat 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) northwards. The battle ended with the Germans compressing the Ypres salient by 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).[174] Casualties on both sides were massive, with the Germans suffering close to 35,000 while the British were worse at just over 59,000. French forces sustained close to 22,000 casualties while the Canadian forces had close to 6,000. The city of
Ypres itself was completely demolished by artillery fire.[175]
British submarine
HMS E11 slipped in
Constantinople harbor in a search for the German warships
SMS Goeben and
SMS Breslau, but instead torpedoed Turkish transport ship Stambou before escaping. The attack caused a panic in the city and forced the
SMS Breslau to relocate.[178][179]
An
ashram for
Mahatma Gandhi was prepared by Jivanlal Desai, barrister and friend to Gandhi, just outside the city of
Ahmedabad,
India. However, Gandhi wanted to practice farming and other pursuits and would need more usable land, so the
ashram was relocated two years later to a suburb in
Ahmedabad on the banks of the
Sabarmati River.[182]
The German
Army of the Niemen was formed under the command of General
Otto von Below, who had previously commanded a reserve corps unit under the
8th Army. The army was meant to create diversionary action against the Russian armies to distract them from
Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive planned to break through the
Eastern Front. The original 8th Army was dissolved in September, only to be renewed using the diversionary army under von Below.[183]
British battleship
HMS Majestic was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine
SM U-21 in the
Dardanelles and sank with the loss of 49 of her 672 crew.[188]
A resistance group formed in
Urfa,
Turkey (now Şanlıurfa) in response to the deportation of Armenians.[191]
The first edition of Pioneer-News was published with the headline "Status of the New Townsite" referring to what was to become
Anchorage, Alaska. The paper eventually became the Anchorage Times.[192]
The
Imperial German Army carried out its first airship raid on
London using the L38 Zeppelin. It dropped 1,400 kilograms (3,000 lb) of bombs on the eastern suburb of the city, killing seven people and injuring 14.[214][215]
^Tucker, Spencer, and Priscilla Roberts, eds. World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Vol. 2. N.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print.
ISBN978-1851099641.
OCLC864676778, p. 512
^Edmonds, J. E.; Wynne, G. C. (1995) [1927]. Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915: Winter 1914–1915: Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Battles of Ypres. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 288–89.
ISBN0-89839-218-7.
^Harris, Daniel G. (1992). "The Svierge Class Coastal Defense Ships". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1992. London: Naval Institute Press. pp. 80–98.
ISBN0-85177-603-5.
^Prescott, John F. (1985). In Flanders Fields: The Story of John McCrae. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press. p. 96.
ISBN0-919783-07-4.
^Bean, Charles (1941). "The Story of ANZAC from 4 May 1915, to the Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula". Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. II (1926). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial: 18–19.
OCLC220051990.
^Hatting, Jørgen (1950). "Valgdeltagelsen efter 1866". In Fabricius, K.; Frisch, H.; Hjelholt, H.; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, A. (eds.). Den Danske Rigsdag 1849–1949 bind III – Rigsdagen og folket (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag. p. 119.
^Elklit, Jørgen (1984). "Det klassiske danske partisystem bliver til". In Elklit, Jørgen; Tonsgaard, Ole (eds.). Valg og vælgeradfærd – Studier i dansk politik (in Danish). Århus: Forlaget Politica. p. 34.
ISBN87-7335-058-3.
^Krause, J. (2013). Early Trench Tactics in the French Army: the Second Battle of Artois, May–June 1915 (1st ed.). Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 69–73.
ISBN978-1-4094-5500-4.
^Edmonds, J. E. (1928). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915: Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents By Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 14–15.
OCLC58962526.
^"Ireland's Roll of Honour: Losses in Irish Regiments: Officers Killed". Irish Times. Dublin. 29 May 1915. p. 6.
^Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W. (1992). Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918. Grub Street. p. 94.
ISBN0-948817-54-2.
^Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History. Douglas Rose/Capital Transport.
ISBN1-85414-219-4.
^Correia dos Santos, João António (1915). Subsídios para a História Política e Militar da Revolução de 14 de Maio de 1915 [Papers on a History of the Revolution of 14th May, 1915] (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Tipografia da Cooperativa Militar.
^"German White Book". United Kingdom: The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
^Downey, Patrick (2004). Gangster City: The History of the New York Underworld, 1900–1935. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books. pp. 85–86.
ISBN978-1-56980-361-5.
^O'Connell, John (2010). Submarine Operational Effectiveness in the 20th Century: Part One (1900–1939). New York: Universe. p. 74.
ISBN978-1-4502-3689-8.
^Pitt, Barrie; Young, Peter (1970). History of the First World War. Vol. 3. London: B.P.C. Publishing. p. 918.
OCLC669723700.
^Üngör, Uğur, The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913–1950. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 84.
^Bruce, J.M. (1996). SPAD S.A-2/S.A-4. Windsock Mini Datafile 4. Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Publications. pp. 3–5.
ISBN978-0948414824.
^Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 207–213.
ISBN0-7153-8362-0.
^Messimer, Dwight R. (2002). Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 126–27.
ISBN978-1-55750-475-3.
OCLC231973419.
^Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. pp. 266–270.
ISBN1-55753-034-3.
^Carlton, Mike (2013). First Victory: 1914. Australia: William Heinemann. pp. 333–34.
ISBN978-1-74275-763-6.
^Dierikx, Marc. Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.
ISBN1-56098-735-9, p. 31
^Gowen, Robert Joseph (1971). "Great Britain and the Twenty-One Demands of 1915: Cooperation versus Effacement". Journal of Modern History. 1 (43): 76–106.
doi:
10.1086/240589.
S2CID144501814.
^Batsaikhan, O. The Last King of Mongolia, Bogdo Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. Ulaanbaatar: Admon, 2008, p.290-293 -
ISBN978-99929-0-464-0
^Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. pp. 82–83.
ISBN1-874622-70-1.
^McDougall, R. J. (1989). New Zealand Naval Vessels. Wellington: Government Printing Office. pp. 18–19.
ISBN978-0-477-01399-4.
^Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919, (1920)
^Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1996). Badmoutioun Hayots, Volume III (in Armenian). Athens, Greece: Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Oussoumnagan Khorhourti. pp. 93–95.
^Atwood, Evangeline (1982). Anchorage: Star of the North. Continental Heritage Press. p. 37.
ISBN0-932986-25-0.
^Wilkie, A. H. (1924). Official War History of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, 1914–1919. Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs. p. 27.
ISBN978-1-84342-796-4.
^Luz, José Luís Brandão da (2002). "Teófilo Braga e o Liceu de Ponta Delgada: A Propósito de uma Carta aos seus Estudantes". Insulana (in Portuguese) (58). Ponta Delgada: Órgão do Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada: 29–34.
^Evans and Lee, (1990). Pearl City, Florida: A Black Community Remembers. Boca Raton: Florida Atlantic UP/UP of Florida.
^Hinterhoff, Eugene (1984). Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I. Vol. iv. Persia: The Stepping Stone To India. New York: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 1153–57.
ISBN0-86307-181-3.
Painting depicting the
sinking of the RMS Lusitania by German U-boat
SM U-20.Armenian civilians holding a defense line against Ottoman forces in the Armenian walled city of
Van in May 1915.
Battle of Eski Hissarlik – Ottoman forces counter-attacked during the night in an attempt to push
Allied forces off their beachhead at Cape Helles during the
Gallipoli campaign. However, Allied defenses were strong and well-prepared for night attacks and the Ottoman forces were repelled.[4]
Zaian War – French colonial forces crossed the
Rbia River north of
Khenifra,
Morocco to cut off food supplies reserved for the rebelling
Zayanes. During the campaign, a French convoy was attacked by 5,000 tribesmen, but were repulsed with 300 killed and 400 wounded over a two-day battle. The battle lead to six months of relative calm in the region.[5]
French submarine
Joule struck a mine and sank in the
Dardanelles with the loss of all 31 of her crew.[6]
Royal Navy destroyers protecting naval trawlers
fought off German torpedo boats at
Noordhinder Bank in the south part of the
North Sea, resulting in both torpedo boats being sunk with 13 German sailors killed and another 46 captured. Sixteen British sailors were lost in the attack.[8]
The British
War Office issued instructions specifying the aircraft and armament
Royal Flying Corpssquadrons were to have ready for the defense of
Great Britain against German airships, including having aircraft ready for immediate takeoff at all times, with a specific mix of weapons including bombs, grenades, and incendiary darts.[10]
Japanese chemical manufacturer
Denka was established in
Tokyo.[17]
Candy store chain
Haigh's Chocolates was established when Alfred E. Haigh opened a chocolate store in
Adelaide,
Australia. The shop became a chain starting in the 1950s.[18]
The sports club
Strong was established in
Oslo for hockey, and became one of the founding members of
GET-ligaen, the premier Norwegian hockey league. It merged with two other clubs in 1952 to become
Grüner.[19]
Norwegian cargo ship
America was sunk in the
North Sea off
Bergen,
Norway by German submarine
SM U-41. Her 39 crew were rescued by another Norwegian ship.[24]
Italy officially revoked the
Triple Alliance. In the following days, Italian statesman
Giovanni Giolitti led the neutralist majority of the Italian Parliament in opposing a war declaration, while nationalist crowds demonstrated in public areas for entering the war.[26]
Combined Australian, New Zealand and British forces were not sufficient reinforcements to
hold onto a strategic hill in
Gallipoli, resulting in their withdraw at a cost of close to 1,000 casualties.[28]
While on patrol over the
North Sea, a German Navy Zeppelin encountered and attacked four British
submarines on the surface, however, all subs were able to escape by diving.[31]
Battle of Hill 60 – British forces held off German gas attacks for four days but a renewed attack on the fifth day resulted in the gas following the front line as opposed to crossing it, allowing more British troops to be overcome. This allowed German infantry of the 30th Division to advance and capture the front line on the lower slope of the
hill.[40]
German submarine U-20 sunk a British merchant
schooner, the Earl of Lathom, off the southern coast of
Ireland after stopping it and ordering the crew off the ship.[41]
The
Royal Navy issued an uncoded warning to all British commercial ships that German
U-boats were seen active off the south coast of
Ireland.[42]
Second Battle of Krithia – British, Australian and New Zealand forces launched an assault on Ottoman defenses on the Helles battlefield during the
Gallipoli campaign but failed to advance further than 400 yards (370 metres).[48]
After receiving messages that a German
U-boat sunk British merchant ship Candidate and nearly sunk the British ocean liner
Arabic, Captain
William Thomas Turner of the
RMS Lusitania ordered the crew to make emergency preparations in case the ship was attacked and had to be abandoned, although passengers were not informed.[50]
German submarine U-20 fired a torpedo at British steamer Cayo Romano from
Cuba, even though it was flying a neutral flag, off the southern coast of
Ireland narrowly missing by a few feet.[51]
Battle of Hill 60 – Two British infantry companies failed to recapture the
hill from the Germans, officially ending the battle. In all, the British
5th Infantry Division assigned to take Hill 60 had 3,100 casualties.[57]
Second Battle of Ypres – German forces bombarded and attacked Canadian forces defending the forward line of the
Western Front at the Frezenberg ridge over five days.[60]
Second Battle of Krithia – New Zealand relieved the British forces who barely made it 800 yards (740 metres) towards the Ottoman line. The New Zealand pushed to gain another 400 yards (370 metres) before being pinned down. By evening, they launched a new attack backed by Australian support. They were able to capture a portion of the front trenches on one of the flanks but they were pushed back everywhere else, thus ending the battle.[61]
Thoroughbred racehorse
Regret with jockey
Joe Notter won the
41st running of the
Kentucky Derby with a time of 2:05.40. Regret was the first
filly ever to win the Derby, causing
Churchill Downs president
Matt Winn to observe that because of Regret's win "the Derby was thus made an American institution."[65]
Second Battle of Artois – The French Tenth Army launched a major offensive against the Germans in the
Western Front in northeastern
France, capturing a few front line trenches and taking 3,000 Germans prisoner along with 10 field guns and 15 machine guns. However, no successes were made capturing any major villages or towns.[69]
Battle of Aubers Ridge – The
British First Army launched a simultaneous attack on the German line north of the French Tenth Army to widen the enemy's defensive gap but failed to break through.[70]
The German government released an official statement confirming an
Imperial German NavyU-boat had
sunk the RMS Lusitania but maintained the ship was armed and was transporting "war materials".[71] However, the
Port of New York issued an official denial of Germany's charges, saying the ship had been inspected and had not been outfitted with any guns nor it was carrying any munitions aside from some ammo for small firearms, a common practice among cargo shipping.[72]
Second Battle of Artois – The French launched a feint attack as a decoy while new cavalry divisions were moved in to assist the Tenth Army. Meanwhile, Germany launched a counter-attack and recaptured some of their trenches and tunnels between the villages of
Carency and
Souchez,[73] and repulsed an attack at
Neuville-Vitasse.[74]
An
Imperial German ArmyZeppelin attempted to bomb
Southend-on-Sea,
England, but was driven off by unexpected gunfire. On retreat, airship commander Erich Linnarz allegedly scrawled a threat to return on a calling card from his wallet and dropping it in a weighted canister found on
Canvey Island.[76]
William Thomas Turner, surviving captain of the
RMS Lusitania, gave initial evidence of the
sinking to authorities, including testimony a German torpedo struck the ship between the third and fourth funnels.[77]
Second Battle of Artois – French forces captured key high ground from the Germans, depriving them of strategic viewing points of the battlefield.[83][84]
Royal Navyseaplane tenderHMS Ben-my-Chree tried to intercept a German
airship in the
North Sea using a
Sopwith seaplane. However, the launching platform collapsed as the plane tried to take off, leaving the Zeppelin to go on and bomb four surfaced British submarines (without damaging them).[87]
The Egyptian-Armenian daily newspaper Arev published its first issue.[88]
James Bryce of the
Committee on Alleged German Outrages released a report detailing a mix of confirmed and unsubstantiated reports of atrocities allegedly committed by
Germany during the first months of
World War I. The report was widely accepted and translated into 30 languages.[96]
Ross Sea party – While continuing to drift northward in the ice, the crew of the polar ship Aurora managed to set up a temporary wireless aerial and communicate to the stranded members on shore at
Cape Evans but communications failed to get through.[98]
Italian Prime Minister
Antonio Salandra offered his resignation in the face of growing public opposition of entering
World War I in accordance with the
Treaty of London, but opposition leader
Giovanni Giolitti, fearful of nationalist disorder that might break into open rebellion, declined to succeed him.[102]
Second Battle of Ypres – Canadian forces prevented the forward line at Frezenberg ridge from falling into German hands but suffered massive casualties. In particular, the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry saw its 700-man force reduced to 150 men when the battle ended. As a result, the unit's unofficial motto – "Holding up the whole damn line" – is still used today.[104]
British officer Captain
Julian Grenfell was mortally wounded by shrapnel when a shell landed a few yards away from where he was standing while talking to fellow officers of the
1st The Royal Dragoons. He was taken to a hospital in
Boulogne,
France, where he died thirteen days later. His poem "Into Battle" was published in The Times the day after his death.[105] His younger brother Gerald William (Billy) Grenfell was killed in action two months later.
Singapore Mutiny – The court of inquiry into a mutiny among the Indian
5th Light Infantry in
Singapore concluded causes for it were inconclusively established. More than 200 Indian soldiers and officer were tried and 47 were sentenced to execution by firing squad. The remaining 600 Indian soldiers and officers that did not mutiny were ordered to serve with
Allied operations in
Africa.[115]
The first reference of
jazz in relation to music may have come from
Tom Brown and his
New Orleans band as they began performing in
Chicago and started advertising themselves as a "Jass Band".[117]
Defense of Van – While evacuating women and children in
Van, Turkey by way of port ships under cover of artillery fire, Ottoman soldiers massacred 6,000 Armenians.[121]
Battle of Festubert – Renewed attacks on the German line only resulted in heavy losses for the British.[122]
Italian-American mob boss
Giosue Gallucci, head of one of the
Camorra gangs in
New York City, was shot along with his son Lucas in a coffee shop in
East Harlem. His son died the next day and Gallucci died from his wounds four days later. His murder created a power vacuum among the crime families, resulting in the
Mafia–Camorra War the following year.[127]
The
Belgium monarchy created a civilian variant of the
Civic Decoration medal for Belgian civilians and non-combatants that served with distinction during
World War I.[132]
Gallipoli campaign – The Ottoman army launched a
third attack on Anzac Cove with 42,000 soldiers but were repelled by the 17,000
ANZAC troops. Ottoman forces sustained 13,000 casualties including 3,000 killed, while
ANZAC forces had 468 wounded and 160 killed.[133] Among the noted casualties was Australian army medic
John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who innovated the use of mules as stretchers for transporting wounded across the rugged terrain.[134][135][136]
Battle of Festubert – A renewed British offensive started to yield success against the Germans, but it would take five more days of fighting before the French village of Festubert was captured.[140]
Defense of Van – Russian forces entered
Van, Turkey, providing needed relief for Armenians resisting the onslaught of Ottoman troops.[141]
Armenian leader
Krikor Zohrab and another fellow deputy with the Ottoman Parliament were arrested and ordered to
Aleppo to be held while awaiting court-martial, follow the leader's public protests of atrocities committed against Armenians from April 24. He would be murdered in July during the height of the
Armenian genocide.[146]
The
SPAD S.A aircraft was first flown in
France, but its design proved challenging for most pilots and was replaced soon after.[147]
Lassen Peak, one of the
Cascade Volcanoes in
California, erupted sending an ash plume 30,000 feet in the air and devastating the nearby area with mudslides and hot gas clouds mixed with debris. It is the last volcano to erupt in the contiguous United States until the
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.[149]
Faisal bin Hussein received the
Damascus Protocol document while visiting the city during a diplomatic mission to
Constantinople. Authored by Arab secret societies, the document outlined an Arab revolt against the
Ottoman Empire with support of the British, resulting in an independent Arab nation state.[155]
Hellmuth von Mücke, first officer of the
SMS Emden, safely led 48 members of his surviving landing party to
Constantinople where he reported to the German admiral stationed there. From the time they were stranded on the
Cocos Islands in the
Indian Ocean to their arrival in the Ottoman capital, von Mücke had successfully led his men 11,000 km over sea and land, losing only four on the way. He and his men arrived in
Germany later that summer as heroes.[159]
Second Battle of Ypres – Germans released a gas attack on British forces defending a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) front near
Hooge,
Belgium, forcing them to retreat.[165]
Battle of Festubert – The British captured the French village of
Festubert from the Germans. After 10 days of fighting, British forces had only advanced three kilometres (1.9 miles) while losing over 16,000 casualties, while German defenses only sustained 5,000.[140]
Second Battle of Ypres – The British failed in retaking trenches lost to the German gas attack the day before, forcing them to retreat 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) northwards. The battle ended with the Germans compressing the Ypres salient by 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).[174] Casualties on both sides were massive, with the Germans suffering close to 35,000 while the British were worse at just over 59,000. French forces sustained close to 22,000 casualties while the Canadian forces had close to 6,000. The city of
Ypres itself was completely demolished by artillery fire.[175]
British submarine
HMS E11 slipped in
Constantinople harbor in a search for the German warships
SMS Goeben and
SMS Breslau, but instead torpedoed Turkish transport ship Stambou before escaping. The attack caused a panic in the city and forced the
SMS Breslau to relocate.[178][179]
An
ashram for
Mahatma Gandhi was prepared by Jivanlal Desai, barrister and friend to Gandhi, just outside the city of
Ahmedabad,
India. However, Gandhi wanted to practice farming and other pursuits and would need more usable land, so the
ashram was relocated two years later to a suburb in
Ahmedabad on the banks of the
Sabarmati River.[182]
The German
Army of the Niemen was formed under the command of General
Otto von Below, who had previously commanded a reserve corps unit under the
8th Army. The army was meant to create diversionary action against the Russian armies to distract them from
Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive planned to break through the
Eastern Front. The original 8th Army was dissolved in September, only to be renewed using the diversionary army under von Below.[183]
British battleship
HMS Majestic was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine
SM U-21 in the
Dardanelles and sank with the loss of 49 of her 672 crew.[188]
A resistance group formed in
Urfa,
Turkey (now Şanlıurfa) in response to the deportation of Armenians.[191]
The first edition of Pioneer-News was published with the headline "Status of the New Townsite" referring to what was to become
Anchorage, Alaska. The paper eventually became the Anchorage Times.[192]
The
Imperial German Army carried out its first airship raid on
London using the L38 Zeppelin. It dropped 1,400 kilograms (3,000 lb) of bombs on the eastern suburb of the city, killing seven people and injuring 14.[214][215]
^Tucker, Spencer, and Priscilla Roberts, eds. World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Vol. 2. N.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print.
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^Edmonds, J. E.; Wynne, G. C. (1995) [1927]. Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915: Winter 1914–1915: Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Battles of Ypres. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 288–89.
ISBN0-89839-218-7.
^Harris, Daniel G. (1992). "The Svierge Class Coastal Defense Ships". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1992. London: Naval Institute Press. pp. 80–98.
ISBN0-85177-603-5.
^Prescott, John F. (1985). In Flanders Fields: The Story of John McCrae. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press. p. 96.
ISBN0-919783-07-4.
^Bean, Charles (1941). "The Story of ANZAC from 4 May 1915, to the Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula". Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. II (1926). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial: 18–19.
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^Hatting, Jørgen (1950). "Valgdeltagelsen efter 1866". In Fabricius, K.; Frisch, H.; Hjelholt, H.; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, A. (eds.). Den Danske Rigsdag 1849–1949 bind III – Rigsdagen og folket (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag. p. 119.
^Elklit, Jørgen (1984). "Det klassiske danske partisystem bliver til". In Elklit, Jørgen; Tonsgaard, Ole (eds.). Valg og vælgeradfærd – Studier i dansk politik (in Danish). Århus: Forlaget Politica. p. 34.
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^Krause, J. (2013). Early Trench Tactics in the French Army: the Second Battle of Artois, May–June 1915 (1st ed.). Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 69–73.
ISBN978-1-4094-5500-4.
^Edmonds, J. E. (1928). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915: Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents By Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 14–15.
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^"Ireland's Roll of Honour: Losses in Irish Regiments: Officers Killed". Irish Times. Dublin. 29 May 1915. p. 6.
^Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W. (1992). Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918. Grub Street. p. 94.
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^Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History. Douglas Rose/Capital Transport.
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^Correia dos Santos, João António (1915). Subsídios para a História Política e Militar da Revolução de 14 de Maio de 1915 [Papers on a History of the Revolution of 14th May, 1915] (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Tipografia da Cooperativa Militar.
^"German White Book". United Kingdom: The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
^Downey, Patrick (2004). Gangster City: The History of the New York Underworld, 1900–1935. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books. pp. 85–86.
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^O'Connell, John (2010). Submarine Operational Effectiveness in the 20th Century: Part One (1900–1939). New York: Universe. p. 74.
ISBN978-1-4502-3689-8.
^Pitt, Barrie; Young, Peter (1970). History of the First World War. Vol. 3. London: B.P.C. Publishing. p. 918.
OCLC669723700.
^Üngör, Uğur, The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913–1950. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 84.
^Bruce, J.M. (1996). SPAD S.A-2/S.A-4. Windsock Mini Datafile 4. Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Publications. pp. 3–5.
ISBN978-0948414824.
^Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 207–213.
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^Messimer, Dwight R. (2002). Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 126–27.
ISBN978-1-55750-475-3.
OCLC231973419.
^Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. pp. 266–270.
ISBN1-55753-034-3.
^Carlton, Mike (2013). First Victory: 1914. Australia: William Heinemann. pp. 333–34.
ISBN978-1-74275-763-6.
^Dierikx, Marc. Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.
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^Gowen, Robert Joseph (1971). "Great Britain and the Twenty-One Demands of 1915: Cooperation versus Effacement". Journal of Modern History. 1 (43): 76–106.
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^Batsaikhan, O. The Last King of Mongolia, Bogdo Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. Ulaanbaatar: Admon, 2008, p.290-293 -
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^Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. pp. 82–83.
ISBN1-874622-70-1.
^McDougall, R. J. (1989). New Zealand Naval Vessels. Wellington: Government Printing Office. pp. 18–19.
ISBN978-0-477-01399-4.
^Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919, (1920)
^Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1996). Badmoutioun Hayots, Volume III (in Armenian). Athens, Greece: Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Oussoumnagan Khorhourti. pp. 93–95.
^Atwood, Evangeline (1982). Anchorage: Star of the North. Continental Heritage Press. p. 37.
ISBN0-932986-25-0.
^Wilkie, A. H. (1924). Official War History of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, 1914–1919. Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs. p. 27.
ISBN978-1-84342-796-4.
^Luz, José Luís Brandão da (2002). "Teófilo Braga e o Liceu de Ponta Delgada: A Propósito de uma Carta aos seus Estudantes". Insulana (in Portuguese) (58). Ponta Delgada: Órgão do Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada: 29–34.
^Evans and Lee, (1990). Pearl City, Florida: A Black Community Remembers. Boca Raton: Florida Atlantic UP/UP of Florida.
^Hinterhoff, Eugene (1984). Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I. Vol. iv. Persia: The Stepping Stone To India. New York: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 1153–57.
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