November 1914

November 1, 1914 (Sunday)

• The Ottoman Empire officially entered World War I after Russia declared war on the Empire for bombarding its Black Sea ports.
• Battle of Coronel — The Royal Navy suffered its first defeat of World War I, 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.
• The 38 ships carrying the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and the First Australian Imperial Force left Perth. 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.
• Battle of Messines — German forces captured Wytschate from the British and secured Messines in west Belgium, officially putting an end to the battle.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Ban'etsu and Uetse rail lines opened in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, with stations Iwafunemachi, Hirakida, Ogino, Kami-Nojiri, Tokusawa, Toyomi, Hideya, Kanose, Murakami, and Sakamachi serving the railroads.
• 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 I, it was labelled "the Suicide of Civilized Europe".
• The Saint Justin Theology Seminary was established in Daegu, Korea, eventually expanding into a series of colleges before officially obtaining university status as the Catholic University of Daegu in 1980.
• 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 I.
• Archbishop Libert H. Boeynaems dedicated the opening of Sacred Heart Church-Punahou in Honolulu.
• The Mexican Pentecostal denomination Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesús was established in Villa Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico.
• The association football club 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.

  November 2, 1914 (Monday)

• Bergmann Offensive — Russian forces under the command of General Georgy Bergmann entered the 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Battle of Tanga — Soldiers with the British Indian Expeditionary Force landed at the port city of Tanga, Tanzania.
• 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.
• The 107th Brigade of the British Army was established using members of the Ulster Volunteers.
• The Royal Montreal Regiment of the Canadian Army was established.
• An addition to the Halle Building in Cleveland was completed, increasing the size of the building to.
• The Star Crossing rail station opened in Flintshire, Wales.
• Born:
• * Rogelio Julio Frigerio, Argentine economist, noted proponent of developmentalism; in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• * Ray Walston, American actor, best known for his TV roles in My Favorite Martian and Picket Fences; as Herman Ray Waltson, in Laurel, Mississippi, United States
• * 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; as Richard Brooks Holder, in Rising Star, Texas, United States
• * Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1943 and 1946 to 1949; as John Vander Meer, in Prospect Park, New Jersey, United States
• Died:
• * Heinrich Burkhardt, 53, German mathematician, developed the Burkhardt quartic and one of the examiners of Albert Einstein's thesis on relativity; died from a stomach disease
• * Jack Sheridan, 52, American baseball umpire, officiated for Major League Baseball from 1890 to 1914; died from a heart attack

  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. 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.
• State elections were held in the United States with the following results:
• * Democrat Charles Henderson was elected to become the 35th Governor of Alabama with 83% of the vote.
• * Democrat incumbent George W. P. Hunt retained his seat as Governor of Arizona with nearly half of the vote in a three-way race.
• * Hiram Johnson was re-elected Governor of California under the Progressive Party ticker, beating Republican rival John D. Fredericks close to 50% of the vote.
• * Democrat incumbent David I. Walsh defeated Republican challenger Samuel W. McCall with 45% of the vote to retain his seat as Governor of Massachusetts.
• * Democrat Winfield Scott Hammond defeated Republican challenger William E. Lee with 45% to 41% of the vote in become Governor of Minnesota but would pass away barely a year into his office.
• * Republican Charles Seymour Whitman defeated Democrat incumbent Martin H. Glynn for Governor of New York by just over 145,000 votes.
• * Democrat Robert L. Williams was elected Governor of Oklahoma after winning nearly 40% of the vote in a three-way race.
• * Republican James Withycombe was elected the 15th Governor of Oregon after winning nearly 49% of the vote.
• * Republican Martin Grove Brumbaugh defeated Democrat Vance C. McCormick with 52% of the vote to become the 26th Governor of Pennsylvania.
• * Democrat Richard Irvine Manning III was elected overwhelmingly as Governor of South Carolina.
• * Republican Charles W. Gates defeated Democrat Harland Bradley Howe with nearly 60% of the vote to become 55th Governor of Vermont.
• * Republican Emanuel L. Philipp defeated Democrat John C. Karel with 43% of the vote to become the 23rd Governor of Wisconsin.
• * Democrat John B. Kendrick was elected 9th Governor of Wyoming with 51% of the vote.
• Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
• First Battle of Ypres — German forces lost an estimated 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 German Army's plans to attack using the west Belgium towns of Messines and Langemark.
• 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.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. The British lost a submarine when it struck a mine going out to meet the German fleet, killing 25 sailors.
• In retaliation for the Ottoman Empire letting the German battlecruiser and the light cruiser through the 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 and to bombard Turkish defenses around the straits, killing 86 Ottoman troops and displacing 10 guns.
• Battle of Tanga — Most of the British Indian forces landed in Tanga harbor and began their march on the Tanzanian city the next day.
• 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.
• 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, but the thick jungles surrounding the river concealed the ship and prevented any accurate hits.
• The East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy entered Valparaíso harbor 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.
• The German army command Army Detachment Woyrsch was formed to serve the Eastern Front.
• American fashion innovator Caresse Crosby received her patent to develop the "backless brassiere."
• Evans County, Georgia, was established with the county seat in Claxton. It was named after state senator Clement A. Evans.
• Born:
• * John T. Connor, American civil servant, served as 16th United States Secretary of Commerce from 1965 to 1967; in Syracuse, New York, United States
• * Tidye Pickett, American athlete, first African-American woman to compete in the Olympic Games ; in Chicago, United States
• Died:
• * Samuel Archer King, 86, American aviator, pioneer in ballooning
• * Georg Trakl, 27, Austrian poet, brother to pianist Grete Trakl, best known for the poem "Grodek"; died from a cocaine overdose