August 1918

[August 1], 1918 (Thursday)

• Second Battle of the Marne - The French Tenth Army launched an attack against Germany defenses and were able to penetrate into German-held territory.
• North Russia intervention - Royal Navy Fairey Campania seaplanes from the seaplane tender joined Allied ground forces in driving Bolshevik troops from the mouth of the Northern Dvina river in Russia in the first fully combined air, sea, and land military operation in history.
• A military dictatorship was established in Mughan region of Azerbaijan in opposition to the country's move to independence in May. It became a Soviet republic in 1919 following a Bolshevik uprising.
• French flying ace Gabriel Guérin was killed in action. His 23 victories tied him with fellow pilot René Dorme for ninth-highest-scoring French ace of World War I.
• Disabled Canadian war veteran Claude Cludernay was ejected from the Greek-owned White City Café in Toronto for being drunk and disorderly and striking a waiter. Rumors of alleged mistreatment of a war veteran spread throughout the city, leading to rioting.
• The New York City Subway system opened the IRT Pelham Line starting with 138th Street, the original and oldest station of the Pelham Line.
• The film comedy-drama Mickey, starring Mabel Normand and directed by F. Richard Jones, was released in August and became the highest-grossing movie of the year with $8 million in ticket sales worldwide.
• Born:
• * D. Djajakusuma, Indonesian filmmaker, known for films including Six Hours in Yogya and Whips of Fire; in Temanggung Regency, Java, Dutch East Indies
• * T. J. Jemison, American religious leader, president of the National Baptist Convention from 1982 to 1994; in Selma, Alabama
• Died: John Riley Banister, 64, American law enforcer, noted Texas Ranger and Treasury Agent

  [August 2], 1918 (Friday)

• North Russia intervention - Anti-Bolshevik forces supported by the British occupied Arkhangelsk, Russia where the Northern Regional Government was established.
• While on a mine-laying mission in the Heligoland Bight, Royal Navy destroyers and both struck mines. The Ariel sank with 49 of her 70 crew lost while the Vehement remained afloat despite an explosion killing 48 of her crew. Attempts were made to tow the crippled vessel back to shore but after its engines gave out, the destroyer was scuttled.
• The first general strike in Canada occurred in Vancouver in a one-day protest over the shooting death of labor activist Albert Goodwin on July 27.
• Canadian World War I veterans led crowds estimated between 5,000 and 20,000 people to vandalize and loot Greek businesses in downtown Toronto against the perceived mistreatment of a disabled Canadian veteran the previous day at a Greek-owned restaurant. Because police resources were too small to deal with the size of the unrest, Mayor Thomas Langton Church invoked the Riot Act to allow the Canadian military authority to send militias into the city and regain order.
• French submarine accidentally collided with a Royal Navy steamship and sank in the Aegean Sea.
• The Catholic Church established the Diocese of Garanhuns and Diocese of Nazaré in Olinda e Recife, Brazil.
• The 42nd Infantry Division of the United States Army created a temporary war cemetery near Fère-en-Tardenois, France, which later lead to the permanent establishment of the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial.
• Born: Jim Delligatti, American entrepreneur, creator of the Big Mac for McDonald's; in Uniontown, Pennsylvania

  [August 3], 1918 (Saturday)

• In an attempt to overturn a string of military defeats in June and July on the Western Front, the Imperial German Army launched an attack on the commune of Fismes, France that was occupied by the U.S. Army's 32nd Infantry Division. The unit suffered 2,000 casualties during the first two days of fighting before they were relieved by the 28th Infantry Division.
• Australian hospital ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel by German submarine with the loss of 123 of the 801 people on board.
• Canadian militia clashed with rioters targeting Greek businesses in downtown Toronto, with an estimated 50,000 on both sides involved before the riot ended. Over 20 Greek restaurants were attacked, with damages estimated at more than $1,000,000 in 2010 values.
• German submarine struck two mines and sank in the Strait of Otranto with the loss of ten of her crew.
• Australia House, Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, opened in London.
• The South Sydney Rabbitohs won the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership.
• Born:
• * Sidney Gottlieb, American intelligence officer, member of MKUltra for the CIA; in New York City
• * Mihiel Gilormini, Puerto Rican air force officer, co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, five-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star and Air Medal; in Yauco, Puerto Rico
• Died: Hugo II Logothetti, 65, Austrian noble and diplomat, last emissary for Austria-Hungary to Mesopotamia

  [August 4], 1918 (Sunday)

• The Union for the Liberation of Ukraine was established in Lemberg.
• The Party of the Right won 23 of the 53 seats in the Luxembourg elections, and were tasked with revising the constitution to democratize the country's political structure.
• Adolf Hitler was awarded a second Iron Cross on recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann, Hitler's Jewish superior, for action during the Second Battle of the Marne.
• Born:
• * Noel Willman, Irish actor, known for film roles including The Man Who Knew Too Much, Doctor Zhivago, and The Odessa File; in Derry, Ireland
• * Iceberg Slim, American writer, author of Pimp: The Story of My Life; in Chicago

  [August 5], 1918 (Monday)

• The People's Army of Komuch, a Russian anti-Bolshevik force supported by units of the Czechoslovak Legion, launched an assault on the city of Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia that was held by the Red Guards.
• Five Imperial German Navy Zeppelins attempted to bomb England in the final airship raid of the war, but most of the bomb drops fell into the North Sea by mistake due to heavy cloud cover. The missions proved even more disastrous when a Royal Air Force Airco plane piloted by Major Egbert Cadbury and crewed by Captain Robert Leckie shot down Zeppelin airship L70, killing the entire crew including Imperial German Navy Airship Division commander Peter Strasser who was on board as an observer. Strasser's death ended further airship raids on England. In total, German airships conducted 208 raids throughout the war, dropped 5,907 bombs, killed 528 people, and injured 1,156.
• Axeman of New Orleans - New Orleans resident Ed Schneider returned home late from work to find his pregnant wife had been attacked and bludgeoned. Remarkably, she survived the attack and gave birth two days later. New Orleans police began to make connections between two earlier attacks in the city, leading to suspect a serial killer.
• The first film adaption of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth was released through Metro Pictures, with Katherine Corri Harris in the leading role and directed by Albert Capellani. The film is now considered lost.
• Born: Betty Oliphant, British Canadian arts executive, co-founder of the National Ballet of Canada; in London

  [August 6], 1918 (Tuesday)

• Second Battle of the Marne - French efforts to gain more territory from the Germans petered out, but the offensive had managed to shorten the Western Front by.The Allies had taken 29,367 prisoners, 793 guns and 3,000 machine guns and inflicted 168,000 casualties on the Germans including 56,700 killed. Allied casualties were 95,165 killed or wounded for the French, 16,552 for the British, 12,000 for the Americans, and over 9,000 for the Italians. French commander Ferdinand Foch was made Marshal of France for his leadership of all Allied forces during the battle.
• The People's Army of Komuch attacked the north side of Kazan, Russia, forcing most of the city's Red Guards to move north and leave the south side of the city vulnerable. A Czechoslovak Legion force took advantage of this and attacked from the south, so by evening the entire city was nearly surrounded.
• North Russia intervention - The Soviet council in Murmansk issued an agreement to join the Northern Regional Government in Arkhangelsk, Russia.
• Royal Navy destroyer accidentally collided with another vessel while being towed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was established between Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota.
• American, a vessel with the United States Lighthouse Service, was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of North Carolina by German submarine. Its shipwreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

  [August 7], 1918 (Wednesday)

• The city of Kazan, Russia fell to the People's Army of Komuch, resulting in a major victory for the White Army in the Russian Civil War.
• French Navy cruiser was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine, with 13 crew killed.
• The Royal Air Force established air squadron No. 154 but it was disbanded within a month due to shortage of available aircraft. The squadron number was revived in 1941.
• The Blériot-SPAD aircraft was first flown.