September 1914

[September 1], 1914 (Tuesday)

• Due to war with Germany, Saint Petersburg in Russia changed its name to Petrograd, meaning "Peter's City", to remove the German words Sankt and Burg.
• British Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener met with General John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force following the Battle of Le Cateau at a midnight ministers that included French Prime Minister René Viviani and War Minister Alexandre Millerand. The two British generals at one point excused themselves to talk privately, and while no record of their conversation was kept, it was evident months afterward the two had developed a professional hostility towards one other.
• Affair of Néry – A cavalry brigade from the retreating British Army fought a skirmish against an opposing German cavalry brigade twice their size, during the Great Retreat from Mons. The British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes, but a single gun successfully kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours against a full German battery until British reinforcements arrived. Three men of the artillery unit were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle, including Edward Kinder Bradbury who died from wounds during the battle. The battery itself was later awarded the honour title of "Néry", the only British Army unit to have this as a battle honour.
• Zaian War - The Zayanes called off their siege on the French-held colonial town of Khenifra, Morocco, resulting in an "armed peace" that lasted until November.
• Martial law was declared in Butte, Montana, after local law enforcement failed to quell ongoing labor violence between rival mining groups in the town. Around 500 National Guard were called in to regain order. A state district court later ordered the town's mayor and sheriff to be fired from their positions for dereliction of duty, and new leadership was appointed.
• The British 3rd Cavalry Division was established under the command of Major-General the Hon. Julian Byng and remained active until 1919.
• The 2nd Light Horse Brigade of the First Australian Imperial Force was established in Sydney, with the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Light Horse Regiments in support.
• The 14th, 15th and 17th Battalions for the Canadian Expeditionary Force were established.
• The "Corps Eberhardt" of the Imperial Germany Army was established to defend the Alsace-Lorraine region bordering Germany and France. It was renamed the XV Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps in 1916.
• The Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier Wakamiya arrived off Kiaochow Bay, China, to participate in operations during the Siege of Tsingtao. It was the first combat deployment of an aviation ship by any country.
• Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales founded the Johnson & Wales Business School in Providence, Rhode Island, with a single student. It eventually grew to become Johnson & Wales University with four campuses across the United States.
• The last known passenger pigeon "Martha" died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
• The poem "August, 1914" by John Masefield was published in the September 1 issue of The English Review, the first piece of literature written about World War I.
• The town of Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia was established.
• Died: George Henry Morris, 42, Irish military officer, first commanding officer to lead an Irish Guards battalion into battle; killed in action during the Great Retreat

  [September 2], 1914 (Wednesday)

• Japan landed between 15,000 and 20,000 troops at Longkou, China, north of the German-control Chinese port of Tsingtao in preparation to lay siege to the port, even though it violated China's neutrality.
• The French village of Moronvilliers, 15 kilometers northeast from Rheims, was occupied by German troops. Because it was situated on what became the Western Front, the village was deserted and destroyed during the war.
• The Accrington Pals were established as part of Kitchener's Army in Accrington, England.
• The 2nd Mounted Division of the British Army was established.
• The British territorial mounted artillery brigades, the I Brigade and II Brigade, were established in Egypt from existing mounted brigades and artillery.
• The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, and 20th Battalions were established for the Canadian Expeditionary Force and deployed to Europe on October 14.
• Charles Masterman invited 25 "eminent literary men" to Wellington House in London to form a secret British war propaganda bureau. Those who attend include William Archer, Arnold Bennett, G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ford Madox Ford, John Galsworthy, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, John Masefield, Henry Newbolt, Gilbert Parker, G. M. Trevelyan and H. G. Wells.
• Born:
• * George Brown, British politician, served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970; in London, England
• * Fred Ruiz Castro, Filipino judge, 12th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 1976 to 1979; in Laoag, Philippine Islands
• Died: John de Villiers, 72, South African judge, first Chief Justice of South Africa from 1874 to 1914

  [September 3], 1914 (Thursday)

• Pope Benedict XV succeeded Pope Pius X as the 258th pope.
• Prince William of Albania left the country after just six months due to opposition to his rule.
• Battle of Rawa – The Russian Fifth Army under command of Paul von Plehwe exploited a gap in the Austrian-Hungarian defense line when the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army was ordered south to aid the Third Army, which had suffered heavy casualties.
• Royal Navy torpedo gunboat struck a mine and sank in the North Sea along with a naval trawler, with the loss of one of her 91 crew.
• The 63rd Naval Infantry Division was established as the main infantry unit for the Royal Navy.
• Sioux County, North Dakota was established by proclamation of Governor Louis B. Hanna and named after the Sioux Lakota that historically settled in the area.
• The Masonic Temple in Worcester, Massachusetts, was completed and dedicated by Grand Master, Most Worshipful Melvin M. Johnson. The temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
• Born: Dixy Lee Ray, American politician, 17th and first female Governor of Washington; as Marguerite Ray, in Tacoma, Washington, United States
• Died: Albéric Magnard, 49, French composer, known for symphonies and operas including Guercœur and Bérénice; killed while defending his property from German soldiers

  [September 4], 1914 (Friday)

• Battle of Rawa – The Russian Third Army seized Lemberg in Galicia from Austria-Hungary.
• Battle of Grand Couronné – The German Sixth Army attacked the regrouping French Second Army in northeastern France following the Battle of the Frontiers.
• Siege of Antwerp – Spurred by news that 40,000 British troops had landed in Belgium, German forces attacked captured fortresses and blew up bridges from the Scheldt towards Termonde north of the city.
• A coal mine collapsed in Adamson, Oklahoma, killing 14 miners.
• Canadian Arctic Expedition - Captain Robert Bartlett of the Karluk met fur trader Olaf Swenson in Nome, Alaska who had chartered the schooner King and Winge for a seasonal trade run to Siberia. Bartlett requested Swensen have the ship stop by Wrangel Island in the Bering Sea and look for the stranded survivors of the Karluk shipwreck. Barlett's charter ship Bear left Nome a few days after King and Winge.
• The French Foreign Legion established 2nd and 3rd Foreign Regiments of the 1st Foreign Regiment, and 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment to fight for the Allies in World War I.
• The Royal Town Planning Institute was established as the principal association for urban planners in Great Britain.
• Enlistee William Henry Strahan wrote the poem "The Bugle Call" before he left for military training at Blackboy Hill, Australia. Following his death during the first day of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, many newspapers published the verses.

  [September 5], 1914 (Saturday)

• The Australian Labor Party led by Andrew Fisher won the Australian federal election, taking 42 out of 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 31 out of 36 seats in the Australian Senate.
• Early general elections were held in Sweden for the second time that year.
• The First Battle of the Marne began when the French Sixth Army left Paris to the east and engaged cavalry patrols with the German Sixth Army at the River Ourcq.
• French general Noël de Castelnau was ordered to hold the city of Nancy, France as long as possible while French troops on the Grand Couronné repulsed German attacks.
• Royal Navy scout cruiser HMS Pathfinder was sunk by German submarine U-21 in the Firth of Forth off the coast of Scotland, with the loss of 261 sailors. It was the first ship ever to be sunk by a locomotive torpedo fired from a submarine.
• During the Siege of Tsingtao, the Imperial Japanese Navy carried out its first air combat mission. A three-seat Farman seaplane from the Wakamiya bombed German fortifications at Tsingtao, China, and conducted a reconnaissance of Kiaochow Bay.
• The German light cruiser SMS Emden, under command of Karl von Müller, was spotted in the Bay of Bengal.
• The cover of magazine London Opinion first carried the iconic drawing by Alfred Leete of Lord Kitchener with the recruiting slogan Your Country Needs You.
• The Amsterdam cricket club was established after three separate crickets clubs merged, being Volharding, RAP and Amstel, thus retaining the title of oldest active cricket club in the Netherlands.
• Born:
• * Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Catholic nun, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her humanitarian work; in Ponce, Puerto Rico
• * Minuetta Kessler, Russian-Canadian composer and pianist, noted piano prodigy best known for her performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra; as Minuetta Shumiatcher, in Gomel, Russian Empire
• Died: Charles Péguy, 41, French poet, known for poetry collections including The Portal of the Mystery of Hope; killed in action at the First Battle of the Marne