In a Morane-Saulnier airplane, French fighter pilot Jean Navarre and his observer/gunner Jean Robert attacked a German Aviatik over Merval, France. Robert used a carbine to damage the enemy plane and wound the pilot, forcing him to land behind French lines and surrender. It is Navarre's first victory and would set him on course to becoming a flying ace.[1]
French fighter pilot LieutenantRoland Garros scored the first kill achieved by firing a machine gun through a tractor propeller of an enemy observation plane. Garros would score two more victories in this way later in the month.[2]
Close to 2,500 Australian and New Zealand soldiers rioted while on leave in Cairo, resulting in property damage and burned businesses costing several hundred thousand pounds.[20][21]
Boxer Jess Willard, the latest "Great White Hope", defeated Jack Johnson with a 26th-round knockout in sweltering heat at Havana. Willard became very popular among white Americans for "bringing back the championship to the white race".[33]
Battle of Celaya — A Constitutional Army of 15,000 cavalry and infantry under command of Álvaro Obregón repelled Pancho Villa's assault of 22,000 men on the city of Celaya in Guanajuato, Mexico. It was the first of several battles between the two leaders that would eventually lead to Villa losing his position as a national contender in Mexico.[36]
Charlie Chaplin's film The Tramp was released. Although Chaplin had portrayed the character in earlier films, it was the first film that nailed down the character's trademarks, by placing less on slapstick and more on story, such as the Tramp's willingness to be kind and help others. It was also the fifth and final film Chaplin made with Essanay Studios.[45]
British, Australian and New Zealand forces assembled on the Greek island of Lemnos and conducted practice landings in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign.[46]
Battle of Shaiba — Ottoman commander Süleyman Askerî organized 4,000 regular Ottoman troops and 14,000 irregular Arab and Kurd fighters to retake the city of Basra back from a British force of 6,000 men in what is now southern Iraq.[47]
Battle of Shaiba — British soldiers under command of General Charles Melliss repelled a night attack by Ottoman forces and routed many of the Arab irregulars the following day, thereby reducing the attacking force to a fourth of its size.[54]
Battle of Celaya — Pancho Villa attempted a second assault on Celaya, Mexico to oust the Constitutional Army under command of Álvaro Obregón. Villa nearly succeeded in taking the city by the second day until a well-timed shipment of ammunition by train re-mobilized the city's defenders to drive off the attack.[55]
Battle of Shaiba — British infantry cornered the remaining Ottoman force in a wood outside the Iraqi city of Basra, which surrendered after a full day of intense fighting. The Ottomans lost close to 2,500 casualties, including commander Süleyman Askerî who committed suicide, while the British sustained around 1,500 casualties. The British victory ensured Basra would remain under Allied control for the remainder of the war.[59]
German Navy Zeppelins bombed England a second time, resulting in two casualties.[60]
Defense of Van — An Armenian group known as Druzhina seized the lake side city of Van, Turkey from local government control, forcing local Ottoman troops to enter the city and contain the group.[61]
Ernest Shackleton, leader of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, wrote in his log that the polar exploration ship Endurance was at risk of being "crushed like an eggshell" by the piling mass of ice that encased the ship for more than three months as it drifted north away from the Antarctic coast.[62]
The newly opened Queen Mary's Military Hospital in Whalley, Lancashire, England began accepting injured servicemen. By the end of World War I, the military hospital treated over 56,000 patients. In 1921, it was transformed into a mental health facility known as Calderstones Hospital.[64]
Battle of Celaya — Pancho Villa retreated in defeat without taking the city Celaya in Mexico. He lost close to 9,000 men including 120 officers who were captured and executed. The resulting losses would put Villa on the defensive in future battles. In a telegram to Constitutionalist leader Venustiano Carranza, Constitutional Army commander Álvaro Obregón announced his victory with a sarcastic evaluation of the battle: “Fortunately, Villa led the attack personally”.[67]
Russia defeated Ottoman forces at the Battle of Dilman in what is now Salmas, Iran, with 3,500 Ottoman soldiers killed.[68]
A fire destroyed the Luna amusement park roller-coaster in Arlington, Virginia. With its main attraction gone and its finances already too precarious to rebuild, owner Frederick Ingersoll was forced to close and dismantle the amusement park.[73]
Defense of Van — American physician and missionary Clarence Ussher met with Djevdet Bey, governor of Van Province in Turkey, following violent actions to quell unrest in the village of Shadakh near the city of Van (where Ussher had been stationed since 1899). Ussher had seen the effects of the Hamidian massacres in the region in the 1890s and was concerned another one was imminent. Although the meeting was cordial and the governor seemed to agree not to send Ottoman forces into the village, Ussher claimed in his memoir it was actually a ruse and soldiers were instead deployed to massacre Armenians in neighboring villages.[75]
British submarine HMS E15 ran aground at Kepez, Çanakkale, Turkey and was shelled by Ottoman forces while stranded, killing seven crew including the sub's commander. The surviving crew were captured and taken to Istanbul where six crew members died during imprisonment.[76]
British cargo ship SS Eglantine ran aground at Filey, Yorkshire, England. There was no loss of lives but the ship was a total loss.[77]
Battle of Hill 60 — British forces attempted to recapture the strategic hill on the Western Front from the Germans. British engineers from the 173rd Tunnelling Company dug excavations and filled them with explosives before detonating, killing and wounding many of the hill's German defenders. The 13th Brigade then moved in and overwhelmed the surviving defenders to capture the hill.[80]
Royal Naval Air Service airplanes attempted to destroy stranded British submarine HMS E15 in Turkey before it could fall into Ottoman hands but failed to hit their targets. BattleshipsTriumph and Majestic were ordered in to destroy the sub but intense fire from Ottoman shore batteries prevented them from getting near the abandoned sub.[82]
Battle of Hill 60 — German forces attempted to retake the hill and actually held it for a few hours before the British 13th Brigade counterattacked in the early evening and retook all of the hill.[85]
The Royal Navy was finally able to scuttle British submarine HMS E15 that had run aground two days later when two picket boats from nearby battleships were able to navigate close to the abandoned sub despite being under fire by Ottoman shore batteries and torpedo the vessel. However, one the picket boats was hit and sunk, killing one crew member, while the rest were rescued by the sister boat.[86]
French fighter pilot Roland Garros was shot down and captured by the Germans.[87]
William Barnes Jr.sued former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt for libel, following public accusations of corruption made by Roosevelt in 1914 when Barnes was chairman of the New York Republican State Committee. Over five weeks, Roosevelt testified and provided evidence that the corruption charges were true, including testimony on his behalf from future U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The jury eventually ruled in favor of Roosevelt and voted to acquit him, effectively ending Barnes influence within the Republican Party.[97]
Defense of Van — Tensions from Ottoman forces trying to suppress militia in the city of Van, Turkey escalated when an altercation at a sentry post resulted in Ottoman soldiers shooting two Armenian civilians. Resulting violence from the shootings resulted in Ottoman forces formally laying siege to the city.[99]
Battle of Hill 60 — German forces bombarded British defenses throughout the day before attacking with infantry in the evening.[85]
During an aerial reconnaissance mission along the U.S.-Mexican border in a Martin biplane, American pilot Byron Q. Jones and observer Thomas D. Milling were fired upon by Mexican forces on the ground. Their plane was hit, but they were uninjured. This was the first time U.S. military air servicemen came under enemy fire.[101]
Second Battle of Ypres — The Germans launched the first large scale use of poison gas on the Western Front, launching grenades carrying chlorine gas into French and Canadian trenches. The Allies sustained massive casualties, but Canadian forces who bore the brunt of the chemical attacks at Kitcheners' Wood managed to devise makeshift gas masks of urine-soaked rags and so were able to hold their ground.[106]
Second Battle of Ypres — German forces launched a poison gas attack on Canadian forces around the village of St. Julien, allowing them to take the village.[116]
British ocean liner RMS Lusitania arrived in New York City. Around the same time, the German embassy in Washington D.C. issued a public warning that the waters around Great Britain were now considered a war zone and ships flying a British flag would be considered targets by German U-boats.
Ottoman troops attacked to prevent French troops from landing at Kumkale, Çanakkale in Gallipoli. The French were able to make a beachhead but could not push further into Ottoman-held territory. The Ottomans suffered 1,735 casualties while the French lose 786 men killed or wounded.[124]
The 57th Regiment of the Ottoman Fifth Army charged to defend Anzac Cove staged a bayonet charge against landing ANZAC forces after running out of ammunition. Every man in the regiment was killed or wounded. In respect to their sacrifice, the modern Turkish Army retired the 57th Regiment designation.[125]
Defense of Van — The first few hundred Armenian refugees fleeing massacres in villages around Van, Turkey arrived into the city.[128]
Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf — German forces stormed and surrounded nearly 1,000 French troops defending the Hartmannswillerkopf summit. French artillery barrages later in the day forced them to pull back, finally rendering the mountain a sort of no man's land until the end of December.[129]
China rejected the Twenty-One Demands document sent by Japan, resulting in Japan taking out its most controversial section that contained demands to install Japanese advisers in China's finance and police sectors, build three new railroads, and take control of the province of Fujian.[130]
German colonial forces assaulted the South African-held town of Trekkopje during the Battle of Trekkopjes but were repulsed by a unit of armored cars equipped with machine guns.[131]
At the Second Battle of Ypres, Canadian forces renewed attacks on St. Julien but were forced back with the loss of more than 1,940 casualties.[132]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began encouraging a church-wide practice among Mormon families to have a Family Home Evening once a week, usually on Mondays, for family members to spend time together in prayer, study and other activities as a way to strengthen familial and spiritual bonds.[138]
Malay tribal leader Tok Janggut resisted arrest in his home village for tax evasion, as part of his protest against British colonial rule in Kelantan, Malaysia. In a resulting riot between locals and colonial, Janggut was alleged to have stabbed one of the arresting officers to death. Janggut fled and organized an armed rebellion that went for two months before his death on June 25.[142]
Manhattan retailer and financial company J.B. Greenhut & Company filed for bankruptcy[143] after its private bank experienced a crippling bank run earlier in April.[144]
The Footlights theater group debuted in Honolulu. The group renamed itself the Honolulu Community Theatre in 1934, and then in 1990 to its present name Diamond Head Theatre. The theater is now the third-oldest continuous-running performing arts organization in the United States.[145]
Battle of Gurin — A British fort manned by 42 colonial troops managed to hold off a larger German force between 300 and 400 soldiers in British Nigeria near German Cameroon. The British unit sustained 13 casualties while the Germans had 45.[146]
Defense of Van — Around 15,000 Armenian refugees from the countryside were allowed into Van, Turkey, adding to the 30,000 Armenians already living there. Van Province Governor Djevdet Bey hoped by concentrating so many refugees in one place, it would overwhelm the city's food supply and cause starvation, thus lowering armed resistance against Ottoman forces.[154]
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^Olga Hess Gankin and H.H. Fisher eds, The Bolsheviks and the First World War: the origins of the Third International Stanford University Press, 1940 p.284
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^Hall, Linda (1981). Alvaro Obregón: Power & Revolution in Mexico 1911–1920. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M Press. p. 125.
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