September 1916

[September 1], 1916 (Friday)

• Bulgaria declared war on Romania, and went on to take the city of Dobruja.
• Battle of Delville Wood - British efforts to regain ground lost to Germans on August 31 were hampered by bombing and sniper fire.
• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Keating–Owen Act, named after its sponsors Edward Keating and Robert Latham Owen, into law to go into effect a year later. The Act addressed child labor issues by prohibiting the sale of goods across state line if they come from factories that employed children under fourteen. However, the act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States nine months after it went into effect.
• The city of Berlin, Ontario officially changed its name to Kitchener in memory of the late British general Herbert Kitchener, and in accordance with a referendum to change the name in May due to Canada being part of the Allies against Germany in World War I.
• W. B. Yeats wrote the poem Easter, 1916, based on the Easter Rising.
• The Albanian Literary Commission was established by Austrian diplomat August Ritter von Kral, and would eventually include such Albanian literary figures as Gjergj Fishta, Luigj Gurakuqi, Hilë Mosi, Aleksander Xhuvani, Maximilian Lambertz, Gjergj Pekmezi, Ndre Mjeda, and Sotir Peçi.
• The association football club Sportivo Dock Sud was established in Avellaneda Partido, Argentina.
• Born:
• * Dorothy Cheney, American tennis player, four-time U.S. Open champion, first American woman to win the Australian Open in 1938, also champion at the French Open and Wimbledon in 1946; in Los Angeles, United States
• * Joseph Minish, American politician, U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1963 to 1985; in Throop, Pennsylvania, United States

  [September 2], 1916 (Saturday)

• Battle of Transylvania - The Romanian Army captured the city of Orșova, Transylvania, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, before advancing towards the outskirts of Sibiu and completing the first phase of its offense against the Central Powers.
• Battle of Turtucaia - The Bulgarian Third Army surrounded a Romanian garrison at Turtucaia, as it opened a new offensive against the newest ally to the Entente.
• Royal Flying Corps pilot Lieutenant Leefe Robinson, flying a Royal aircraft, shot down the German Army airship SL 11, near London, killing her entire crew of 16. Leefe Robinson became the second pilot to shoot down an airship and the first to do it over Great Britain, receiving the Victoria Cross for his action three days later.
• The Fitzroy Football Club won the 20th Victoria Football League Grand Final, defeating Carlton by a margin of 29 points at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of 21,130 spectators. The title was a huge upset for Fitzroy as the club finished last in the regular season, making it the sixth time it won the premiership.

  [September 3], 1916 (Sunday)

• Battle of Transylvania - The Romanian Army crossed the Olt river in the second phase of its offensive to conquer Transylvania from the Austro—Hungarians.
• Battle of Guillemont - The British and French launched an assault involved six divisions to capture the village of Guillemont in northeastern France.
• Battle of Delville Wood - The British continued to suffer failed attacks on the east end of Delville Wood in France.
• Battle of Verdun - French counterattacks on German flanks pushed the line further back from Verdun.
• In the largest airship raid of World War I, 12 German Navy and four German Army airships bombed southeast England. The airships dropped 823 bombs totaling 38,979 pounds, killing four people and injuring 12 and causing over £21,000 in damage.
• The U.S. government passed the Adamson Act, named after U.S. Representative William C. Adamson, which established the eight-hour workday for rail workers. Although the practice existed earlier with Ford Motors, the legislation popularized the eight-hour day for other industries.
• British flying ace Henry Evans was shot down by ground fire over northern France while doing an offensive patrol for the British Fourth Army. He had five confirmed kills at the time giving him the title of flying ace.
• Born:
• * Tommy J. Smith, Australian horse trainer, dominated and won the Sydney Trainers' Premiership every year between 1953 and 1985, notable horses trained included Tulloch, Gunsynd, Kingston Town, Redcraze and Red Anchor; as Thomas John Smith, in Jembaicumbene, Australia
• * Doug Bentley, Canadian hockey player, left wing for the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers from 1939 to 1954; in Delisle, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Died:
• * Kenneth Hutchings, 33, English cricketer, played for Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team between 1902 and 1912; killed in action at the Battle of the Somme
• * Armand du Paty de Clam, 63, French army officer, chief investigator in the Dreyfus affair; died of his wounds from the First Battle of the Marne
• * Horace Thomas, 26, Welsh rugby player, played half for Barbarian from 1911 to 1912 and the Wales national rugby union team from 1912 to 1913; killed in action at the Battle of the Somme

  [September 4], 1916 (Monday)

• Battle of Verdun - Some troops died in a fire in the Tavannes railway tunnel.
• Battle of Guillemont - British forces occupied the village of Guillemont, France.
• Battle of Delville Wood - A last attempt to assault German defenses on the east end of Delville Wood, France, ended in failure.
• Born:
• * Harry L. Carrico, American judge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia from 1981 to 2003; as Harry Lee Carrico, in Washington, D.C., United States
• * Nathan Green Gordon, American naval officer and politician, 7th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, recipient of the Medal of Honor for rescue missions during World War II; in Morrilton, Arkansas, United States
• Died: José Echegaray, 84, Spanish writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature for works including the play ''El gran Galeoto''

  [September 5], 1916 (Tuesday)

• Battle of Bazargic - The Bulgarian Third Army engaged Romanian forces at Dobrich, Southern Dobruja, the southeastern region that borders Bulgaria and Romania.
• Battle of Delville Wood - British forces dug in at the west end of Delville Wood in France, ending the battle. Despite not being able to push the Germans completely out of the wood, the British were able to hold onto much of the key positions gained in the opening battle.
• Battle of Guillemont - British troops tried to force attacks on trenches near Combles, France. German defenses delayed progress.
• Filmmaker D. W. Griffith released Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages in the United States. Starring Lillian Gish and Constance Talmadge, initial tepid response by the public had many industry forecasters deeming the $2.5 million film to be a commercial failure.
• Tennis player R. Norris Williams defeated Bill Johnston at the final of the U.S. National Championships at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York.
• Amateur snooker player Charles Jaques won the first annual English Amateur Championship in London, winning two of the three frames in the final by a score of 202 to 140½.
• Born:
• * Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian, part of the popular comedic duo Wayne and Shuster with Johnny Wayne, recipient of the Order of Canada; in Toronto, Canada
• * Colleen Bevis, American activist, advocate for improved or new child welfare programs through Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida; as Colleen Lunsford, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States

  [September 6], 1916 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Turtucaia - Embattled Romanian forces at Turtucaia surrendered to Bulgaria, allowing 28,000 to be taken prisoner. Bulgaria also captured 150 cannons and 63 machine guns among other equipment. Bulgarian casualties were 1,517 killed, 7,407 wounded and 247 missing, while Romanian casualties were between 6,000 and 7,000 killed or wounded.
• Battle of Guillemont - British forces consolidated defenses on the road between Combles and Ginchy, France.
• The Imperial German Army reestablished the 9th Army for the Romanian campaign.
• The transport company Graakalbanen was established in Trondheim, Norway to build the Trondheim Tramway.
• The first true self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, by Clarence Saunders, opening 5 days later.

  [September 7], 1916 (Thursday)

• Battle of Bazargic - Despite being outnumbered, the Bulgarian Third Army defeated Romania and pushed Allied forces out of Southern Dobruja. Bulgarian casualties were 1,053 killed and 2,324 wounded while Romanian casualties were unknown.
• Battle of Guillemont - Further assaults were called off due to strong German counteroffensives.
• Battle of Transylvania - Romanian forces captured Sfântu Gheorghe, Transylvania.
• Battle of Kisaki - A German colonial force of 2,200 men attacked 1,700 South African troops, with naval barrage support from the German light cruiser SMS Königsberg near the down of Kisaki in German East Africa.
• The Merchant Marine Act established the United States Shipping Board.
• Died: Clara Bewick Colby, 70, American suffragist, founder and publisher of The Woman's Tribune; died of pneumonia and myocarditis

  [September 8], 1916 (Friday)

• Battle of Kisaki - An attempt to flank the advancing Germans at Kisaki, German East Africa failed and South African troops were routed.
• Romanian campaign - The Bulgarian port city of Silistra was evacuated as Romanian forces closed in to capture the city.
• United States Congress passed legislation to establish the U.S. Tariff Commission, the precursor to the United States International Trade Commission.
• 61-year-old Frank Welch, a government teamster, was killed by a grizzly bear named "Old Two Toes" while camped near Ten Mile Spring at Turbid Lake in Yellowstone National Park.
• Born:
• *Jim Bagby Jr., American baseball player, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, son of Jim Bagby Sr.; as James Charles Jacob Bagby Jr., in Cleveland, United States
• *Anita Lee Blair, American politician and activist, first woman with blindness to be elected to office, member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1952 to 1956; in Oklahoma City, United States
• *Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew collaborator, member of the Jewish Ghetto Police during the Nazi occupation of Poland, his diaries were published posthumously as Am I a Murderer?, in Otwock, Poland