What Happened in 1915 — Events, Births & Deaths

The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposed constitutional amendment to require states to give women the right to vote.

The 6.7 Mw Avezzano earthquake shakes the Province of L'Aquila in Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 29,978 and 32,610.

Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.

Japan issues the "Twenty-One Demands" to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.

Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.

German strategic bombing during World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.

Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.

Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.

World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper's battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.

The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.

An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.

World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.

U-boat Campaign: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Great Britain and Ireland.

World War I: The first naval attack on the Dardanelles begins when a strong Anglo-French task force bombards Ottoman artillery along the coast of Gallipoli.

World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

The Vancouver Millionaires win the 1915 Stanley Cup Final, the first championship played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association.

Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines.

World War I: The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.

The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.

World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers.

Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: The SY Aurora breaks loose from its anchorage during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal.

World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan's control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.

World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.

The May 14 Revolt takes place in Lisbon, Portugal.

The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.

World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.

HMS Princess Irene explodes and sinks off Sheerness, Kent, with the loss of 352 lives.

William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to African-Americans.

The North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915 is the worst flood in Edmonton history.

World War I: The First Battle of the Isonzo between Italy and Austria-Hungary comes to an end.

Colombo Town Guard officer Henry Pedris is executed in British Ceylon for allegedly inciting persecution of Muslims.

Beginning of the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and the British official Henry McMahon concerning the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.

At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.

The passenger ship SS Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.

The British capture Nasiriyah from the Ottomans during the Mesopotamian campaign.

RFC Captain Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British pursuit aviator to earn the Victoria Cross.

The United States begins a 19-year occupation of Haiti.

Patrick Pearse gives his famous speech "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in Dublin.

World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.

World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.

Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched in Marietta, Georgia, USA after his death sentence is commuted by Governor John M. Slaton.

A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).

Attempted assassination of Bishop Patrick Heffron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona, by Rev. Louis M. Lesches.

US Navy salvage divers raise F-4, the first U.S. submarine sunk in an accident.

The pacifist Zimmerwald Conference begins.

New Culture Movement: Chen Duxiu establishes the New Youth magazine in Shanghai.

World War I: The Second Battle of Champagne begins.

World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.

World War I: Combined Austro-Hungarian and German Central Powers, reinforced by the recently joined Bulgaria, launch a new offensive against Serbia under command of August von Mackensen.

World War I: Entente forces land in Thessaloniki, to open the Macedonian front against the Central Powers.

First World War: The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt marks the end of the Battle of Loos.

Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

Yuan Shikai declares the establishment of the Empire of China and proclaims himself Emperor.

World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.

The National Protection War breaks out against the Empire of China, as military leaders Cai E and Tang Jiyao proclaim the independence of Yunnan and begin a campaign to restore the Republic.

Frank James, American soldier and criminal (born 1843)