AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR Presenting Seven Hundred and Fifty Events in BY PHILIP ROBERT DILLON THE PHILIP R. DILLON PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK E 174.5 D579 Dedicated to the Journalists of The United States Material for the Web of American History Co PRINCIPAL PERMANENT DATES OF THE GREAT WAR Year 1914 June 28—Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated at Serajevo in Serbia. July 23-Austria sent ultimatum to Serbia. July 28-Austria declared war on Serbia. Aug. 1-Germany declared war on Russia and the next day invaded Luxemburg, an act of war against France. Aug. 3-German army invaded Belgium. Aug. 4-Great Britain declared war on Germany. Aug. 5-President Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality Sept. 6, 7, 8 and 9-Battle of the Marne, a French victory re- Nov. 5-Great Britain and France declared war on Turkey. Dec. 24-First German air raid on England by Zeppelin airships. Year 1915 May 7-Sinking of the Lusitania. May 23-Italy declared war on Austria. Oct. 11-Bulgaria as an ally of the Central Powers invaded Serbia. Year 1916 Apr. 19-American ultimatum to Germany threatening to break Aug. 27-Italy declared war on Germany. On the same day Year 1917 Jan. 31-Germany declared that beginning the following day, sea traffic would be stopped with every available weapon (obviously meaning submarines) in waters around Great Britain, France and Italy and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Feb. 3-The United States severed diplomatic relations with Apr. 6-The United States declared war on Germany. Dec. 7-The United States declared war on Austria. Year 1918 Mar. 21-Great German offensive against the British in France began. Apr. 14 Gen. Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander-inchief of the armies of the Allies. May 27-German offensive was shifted from the British front to the Aisne and the last great drive toward Paris was begun. July 15-Peak of the German offensive in France was stopped by Americans at Château-Thierry. This was the turn of the tide. July 18-Allies offensive against Germans in France began in the Soissons-Rheims salient." Sept. 12-American army began its first distinctive offensive and in three days drove the Germans from the "SaintMihiel salient," near the German boundary of Lorraine. Nov. 11-Germany signed an armistice which was a virtual surrender. The armistice of November 11 which actually ended the War was signed near Château de Francfort in the department of Aisne, a short distance from the northern boundary of France, in a railway car upon a switch near the Château, which railway car was the temporary headquarters of Marshal Foch, the commander-in-chief of the Allies. The armistice agreement under seven headings, and in thirty-seven sections, concluded with the following (in French): "This armistice has been signed the eleventh of November, Nineteen Eighteen, at 5 o'clock a. m., French time. F. Foch, R. E. Wemyss, The convention provided that hostilities should cease at 11 a. m., French time, on Nov. 11, 1918. The signers, more definitely identified, were as follows: Allies. Admiral Sir Roslyn Wemyss, First Sea Lord of the British Admiralty. Matthias Erzberger and Count von Obendorff, representing the German civil government. General Winterfeldt and General von Salow, representing the German armies in the field. While technically the armistice was an agreement by convention to suspend hostilities for thirty days with the option to extend the period, the conditions were such as to constitute a practical surrender of the German armies and navy on all fronts. Approximately 8,000,000 lives were lost in the war. The total cost measured by war appropriations by governments, and recorded losses of property, was about $250,000,000,000. The army of the United States numbered 212,000 men and officers at the time of declaring war. At the end it numbered approximately 3,700,000 officers and men. Of these approximately 2,000,000 were serving in France on the date of the signing of the armistice, and 750,000 actually took part in the fighting. FOREWORD By WILLIAM RABENORT, PH. D. (COLUMBIA T Author of "Rabenort's Geography" O find an unexplored region in the realm of reference books is an unwonted achievement. Yet that is what the writer of the following pages seems to have done. Makers of almanacs and compilers of calendars have indeed made short excursions into the domain of American Anniversaries but their contributions are obvious and fragmentary to the point of tantalization. In this volume the leading events of American history are treated comprehensively and with a degree of scholarship that deserves to be called scientific. The material has been gathered during years of research; the selections have been made judiciously, with a discrimination that is as evident from the omissions as from what is included. Difference of opinion there may be as to the proportionate emphasis laid upon the several events and to the comparative space allotted to each. But few if any readers will quarrel with the author's predilection for the dramatic and romantic aspects of history nor with his patriotic purpose as manifest throughout the book. As to the style, which maintains the best traditions of American literature as developed in the field of journalism there would seem to be no question as to its sober eloquence nor its adequate enthusiasm where the subject warrants it. The simplicity of the scheme of classification approaches a stroke of genius and with the system of cross references provided by the index makes the contents of the book readily available. The need for such a book is undeniable. The occasional speaker in the pulpit and upon the platform; the orator of the day; as well as those whose voices are heard through the daily press will alike welcome a handy volume that reminds them from day to day of the supreme moments in American history. The student who |