October 1916

[October 1] 1916 (Sunday)

• Battle of Le Transloy – The British Fourth Army launched its final offensive in the Battle of the Somme with an attack to capture the German-held commune of Le Transloy, France.
• Battle of the Ancre Heights – The British Reserve Army attacked German defenses along the Ancre River in northeastern France in a continuation of the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. The 2nd Canadian Division attacked and briefly held the strategically important German line named Regina Trench that ran northwest of the village of Le Sars, France.
• Flămânda Offensive – Romanian forces crossed the Danube River and established a bridgehead at Flămânda.
• Eleven German Navy Zeppelins raided England, but most failed to reach their targets, with only one British soldier reported as a casualty. Royal Flying Corps Second Lieutenant W. J. Tempest in a Royal aircraft shot down airship L 31 outside London, killing its entire crew, including the famed airship commander Heinrich Mathy who leaped to his death from the burning Zeppelin.
• The Royal Flying Corps established the No. 75 Squadron.
• Dublin Mean Time, which was 25 minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time, was made the same as British time at 2:00 a.m. under terms of the Time Ireland Act for Ireland.
• The Perth Amboy Technical High School opened in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
• The London Underground extended the Bakerloo line with a new tube station at Kensal Green.
• Born: Tibor Reich, Hungarian-British designer, known for his celebrated textile designs including deep texture weaves in the 1950s; in Budapest, Austria-Hungary
• Died:
• * James Paul Clarke, 62, American politician, 18th Governor of Arkansas
• * Ivan Dumbadze, 65, Russian army officer, military and civil head of Yalta, Major-General of Svita for Nicholas II of Russia
• * Galusha Pennypacker, American army officer, youngest general appointed to the Union Army during the American Civil War, recipient of the Medal of Honor for action at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher
• * Alexander Russell Webb, 69, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines in 1887 when he converted to Islam, author of ''The Three Lectures''

  [October 2] 1916 (Monday)

• Battle of the Ancre Heights – British forces assaulted the German north side of Schwaben Redoubt, a strategically important defensive landmark on the Ancre River in France. Meanwhile, the Germans wrested control of the Regina Trench back from Canadian forces.
• Flămânda Offensive – The Austro-Hungarian Navy contested the Romanian bridgehead on the Danube River. Romanian torpedo boats SMS Bodrog and SMS Körös engaged by the enemy ships but coast batteries disabled the Badrog while Körös was forced by enemy fire to the shore where it ran aground.
• The Zoological Society of San Diego was founded by physician Harry M. Wegeforth to address the issue of abandoned exotic animals from the Panama–California Exposition. Efforts to secure and care for these animals led to the establishment of the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego in 1922.
• The Gotha G.I aircraft was retired by the Imperial German Navy as its design was outdated and newer Allied planes were faster and more maneuverable.
• Schenley High School opened to students in Pittsburgh. The school building is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Born: Bob Powell, American comic book artist, best known for the Mars Attacks trading card series and artwork for Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and Mr. Mystic; as Stanley Robert Pawlowski, in Buffalo, New York, United States
• Died: Benjamin Kidd, 58, British sociologist, author of ''Social Evolution''

  [October 3] 1916 (Tuesday)

• Battle of Le Transloy – British forces captured the farms of Eaucourt l'Abbaye in northeastern France.
• Flămânda Offensive – Romanian commander Alexandru Averescu called off the offensive as word arrived the situation was deteriorating in Transylvania and reinforcements were needed.
• Bayonne refinery strike – Thousands of workers joined a core group of 36 pressmen in a strike against Standard Oil at its refinery in Bayonne, New Jersey.
• The Von Bissing university was established in Ghent, Belgium.
• Born:
• * James Herriot, English writer and veterinary surgeon, best known for the BBC comedy TV series All Creatures Great and Small adapted from his books; as James Alfred Wight, in Sunderland, England
• * Bernard Smith, Australian historian, leading expert on the history of Australian art; in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia
• * María de los Ángeles Alvariño González, Spanish marine biologist, leading authority on plankton biology and first woman appointed to science officer on British and Spanish sea expeditions; in Ferrol, Spain
• * Russell W. Peterson, American politician, 66th Governor of Delaware; as Russell Wilbur Peterson, in Portage, Wisconsin, United States
• * Frank Pantridge, Irish physician, developed the portable defibrillator; as James Francis Pantridge, in Hillsborough, County Down, Ireland

  [October 4] 1916 (Wednesday)

• French troopship SS Gallia was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German U-boat with the loss of 1,338 of the approximately 2,000 crew on board.
• Flămânda Offensive – Romania retreated across the Danube River, allowing the Austro-Hungarian Navy to return to port.
• Senussi campaign – An Allied column was dispatched to the Dakhla Oasis in North Africa where a reported camp of 1,800 Senussi was located.
• British ocean liner RMS Franconia was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German submarine with the loss of twelve of her 314 crew.
• Ross Sea party – Joseph Stenhouse, first officer and interim captain of the British polar exploration ship Aurora for the second arm of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, was replaced by Captain John King Davis prior to the return voyage to Antarctica and the rescue of 10 expedition members marooned onshore after the ship the previous year lost anchor and drifted in the ice.
• The city of Murmansk was established above the Arctic Circle, the last city founded by the Russian Empire.
• Born:
• * Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, one of the developers of the hydrogen bomb in the Soviet Union; in Moscow, Russian Empire
• * Ronald Cuthbert Hay, Scottish marine fighter ace, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Cross; in Perth, Scotland
• * Anton Rupert, South African business executive, established the Rembrandt Group; as Anthony Edward Rupert, in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa

  [October 5] 1916 (Thursday)

• Battle of the Crna Bend – A Bulgarian army of 26,000 troops defended the Crna River in Macedonia against Allied forces composed of French, Russian and Serbian soldiers. The Serbians attempted to cross the river but were beaten back by Bulgarian counter-assaults.
• The Italian government was informed of the content of the agreement signed in May between France, the United Kingdom and Russia for the partition of the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire. Italy advanced reservations about the agreement and demanded that part of Asia Minor, including the Turkish provinces of Aidin, Konya and Adana, would be allocated to them as agreed in the Treaty of London.
• German light cruiser SMS Cöln was launched at Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg as a replacement for her sister ship which was lost at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914.
• British aviation pioneer George Holt Thomas registered Aircraft Transport and Travel in anticipation of commercial aviation growing after World War I. The company would be the first to operate a London-Paris airline service in 1919.
• Born:
• * Roy Conacher, Canadian hockey player, played left wing for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks from 1938 to 1951; in Toronto, Canada
• * Stetson Kennedy, American journalist, best known for his exposé I Rode With The Ku Klux Klan; as William Stetson Kennedy, in Jacksonville, Florida, United States

  [October 6] 1916 (Friday)

• Battle of the Crna Bend – Bulgarian forces repulsed a second Serbian attack at the villages of Dobroveni and Skochivir on the Crna River in Macedonia, while capturing the village of Brod.
• By some accounts, the Dada movement in art, poetry and literature coalesced on this date at a cabaret, where artists Emmy Hennings, Tristan Tzara, Jean Arp, Richard Huelsenbeck, Sophie Täuber and others discussed art and put on performances expressing their disgust with World War I and the interests they believed inspired it.
• Born:
• * Chiang Wei-kuo, Chinese army officer, president of the Republic of China Army from 1963 to 1968, Secretary-General of the National Security Council of Taiwan, adopted son of Chiang Kai-shek; in Tokyo, Empire of Japan
• * Stanley Ellin, American writer, best known for his mystery short stories including "The Specialty of the House"; in New York City, United States
• * Ulysses Guimarães, Brazilian politician, member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1951 to 1962, leading opposition to the military dictatorship in Brazil from the 1960s to 1980s; in Itirapina, Brazil
• Died: Isidore De Loor, 35, Belgian clergy, assisted cancer patients during World War I despite being stricken by the disease himself, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1984

  [October 7] 1916 (Saturday)

• Battle of Le Transloy – British forces captured the French commune of Le Sars from the Germans, while at the same time launched attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt burial mound northeast of the commune.
• Battle of the Ancre Heights – German forces tried to push British troops off the south side of Schwaben Redoubt and reclaim all of their strategic defensive landmark lost prior in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.
• The football match between Georgia Tech and Cumberland College ended in a score of 222–0, the most one-sided game in American college football history.
• The Taronga Zoo in Sydney was established, being the first major zoo designed with no cages for animals.
• Born:
• * Manuel Azcárate, Spanish politician, leader of the Communist Party of Spain; as Manuel Azcárate Diz, in Madrid, Spain
• * John Horne Burns, American writer, author of The Gallery and other novels; in Andover, Massachusetts, United States
• * Walt Whitman Rostow, American economist, developed the Rostow's stages of growth for economics, National Security Adviser from 1966 to 1969; in New York City, United States
• Died:
• * Philip Howell, 38, British army officer, chief of staff for the British Fifth Army; killed in action at the Battle of the Somme
• * Leigh Richmond Roose, 38, Welsh rugby player, goalkeeper for the Wales national football team from 1900 to 1911, and several clubs in the English Football League from 1900 to 1912; killed in action at the Battle of the Somme