May 1916

The following events occurred in May 1916:

May 1, 1916 (Monday)

• Easter Rising – The Irish uprising against British authority came to an end after Major-General John Maxwell, commander of the British forces in Dublin, announced all members of the insurrection had surrendered.^[1] The insurrection caused a total 485 deaths, more than half of them civilians, and another 2,600 wounded due to British shelling or cross-fire.^[2]
• Augustine Birrell resigned from the British government as Chief Secretary of Ireland after been historically proven wrong that there was no threat of insurrection in Ireland.^[3]
• General Robert Nivelle took command of the French Second Army during the Battle of Verdun.^[4]
• Oil tycoon Harry Ford Sinclair formed the Sinclair Oil Corporation in Salt Lake City.^[5]
• Norwegian transit company A/S Trikken began managing the trolleybus system of Norway, and would continue to do so until 1947.^[6]
• The Rhodesian African Rifles were established.^[7]
• Born: Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor, known for his lead film roles in The Big Heat, Blackboard Jungle and 3:10 to Yuma, in Quebec City (d. 2006); Rong Yiren, Chinese state leader, Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 1998, in Wuxi, China (d. 2005); Victor Starffin, Russian baseball player, pitcher for Tokyo Kyojingun and other Japanese baseball teams from 1934 to 1955, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia (d. 1957)
• Died: William Foulke, English association football player, goalkeeper for Sheffield United F.C. from 1984 to 1905 and member of the England national football team in 1897 (b. 1874)

May 2, 1916 (Tuesday)

• Easter Rising – A series of courts-martial began against 187 Irish citizens charged for their role in the insurrection under the oversight of Major-General Charles Blackader. Most were conducted secretly at British barracks, with the accused having no access to defense. Ninety were sentenced to death, including all seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Many of the courts-martial were later ruled by British Crown law officers as illegal.^[8]
• Eight German Zeppelins raided the east coast of England, causing 39 casualties, but LZ 59 (L 20) was wrecked in a storm off Stavanger, Norway on the return journey.

May 3, 1916 (Wednesday)

• Easter Rising – Following their courts martial, Irish Republican leaders Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Tom Clarke were executed at Kilmainham Gaol.^[9]
• The Brazilian Academy of Sciences was established in Rio de Janeiro.^[10]
• Born: Léopold Simoneau, Canadian opera singer, best known for his performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago in Saint-Flavien, Quebec (d. 2006); Trevor N. Dupuy, American army officer and military historian, co-author of The Encyclopedia Of Military History, in New York City (d. 1995); Henry B. Gonzalez, American politician, U.S. Representative from Texas from 1961 to 1999, in San Antonio (d. 2000); Kirill Borisovich Tolpygo, Ukrainian physicist, best known for his research into condensed matter, in Kiev (d. 1994)

May 4, 1916 (Thursday)

• Battle of Verdun – Germany launched localized attacks from French forces from Cumières-le-Mort-Homme, France in retaliation to French counterattacks in April.^[11]
• Easter Rising – Execution of Irish leaders involved in the uprising continued with Joseph Plunkett, Michael O'Hanrahan, Edward Daly and Willie Pearse.^[12]
• Born: Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist and activist, leading expert on urban studies, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Systems of Survival, in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 2006); Li Desheng, Chinese army officer, general for the People's Liberation Army and its director from 1969 to 1975, in Xin County, Henan, China (d. 2011)
• Born: Richard Proenneke, American naturalist, survived thirty years alone at Twin Lakes, Alaska as document in print as One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey and the documentary Alone in the Wilderness, in Lee County, Iowa (d. 2003); Alexander Ratiu, Romanian-American clergy, arrested for his ministry work for the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Oradea Mare in Romania and imprisoned from 1948 to 1964, in Scalp Level, Pennsylvania (d. 2002)
• Died: Lord John Hay, British naval officer, noted naval commander during the Crimean War and First and Second Opium War (b. 1827); John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria, Australia (b. 1851)

May 5, 1916 (Friday)

• Battle of Verdun – French counterattacks failed to stem German advances from Cumières-le-Mort-Homme, France.^[13]
• Two companies of United States Marine Corps from the USS Prairie landed at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, beginning eight years of U.S. occupation in the Caribbean nation.^[14]
• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – A Sudanese force of 500 men loyal to Sultan Ali Dinar of the Sultanate of Darfur (now Sudan) attacked an Anglo-Egyptian garrison stationed at Abiad in an attempt to drive the colonial force out of the region.^[15]
• Glenn Springs Raid – A raiding party of 80 Pancho Villa loyalists surprised nine U.S. Cavalry men posted at Glenn Springs, Texas. The Americans holed up in an adobe building and held off the fighters for three hours before attempting to escape on their horses, resulting in four deaths and two taken prisoner.^[16]
• Voyage of the James Caird – A massive wave nearly swamped the lifeboat British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton and five companions remodeled for an (800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi)) open boat journey from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean in their attempt to obtain rescue for the main body of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition following the loss of its ship Endurance in November.^[17]
• Easter Rising – Irish leader John MacBride was executed but compatriot W. T. Cosgrave had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.^[18]
• Royal Air Force No. 54 Squadron was established.^[19]
• The Conference Board was established in Bronxville, New York, with Magnus W. Alexander as president, to address growing labor unrest in the United States.^[20]
• Born: Zail Singh, Indian state leader, 7th President of India, in Sandhwan, Punjab, India (d. 1994, killed in an auto accident); P. U. Chinnappa, Indian singer and actor, best known for his 1940s roles in Uthama Puthiran, Aryamala, Kannagi, and Jagathalaprathapan, in Pudukkottai State, British India (d. 1951);
• Born: Doris Lusk, New Zealand artist, best known for painting and pottery work including Landscape, Overlooking Kaitawa, Waikaremoana in Dunedin, New Zealand (d. 1990); Khalil Mammadov, Azerbaijani army officer and politician, recipient of Hero of the Soviet Union for actions during the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive during World War Two, cabinet minister for Azerbaijan in the 1960s, in Shusha, Russian Empire) (d. 1989)

May 6, 1916 (Saturday)

• The Rome and Fiuggi Rail Road opened for service.^[21]
• The Sydney Conservatorium of Music accepted its first students under the direction of Belgian conductor and violinist Henri Verbrugghen.^[22]
• Natsume Sōseki's novel Light and Darkness began serialization in the Tokyo and Osaka editions of the newspaper Asahi Shimbun but would remain unfinished at the author's death on December 9.^[23]
• The Markham Main Colliery open coal mine pit near Doncaster, England began operations but stopped on August 24 due to wartime worker shortage. The mine resumed operations in 1922 until closing for good in 1996.^[24]
• Born: Bobby Gibbes, Australian air force officer, commander of the No. 3 Squadron for the Royal Australian Air Force during World War Two, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross, in Young, New South Wales, Australia (d. 2007); Charles T. Horner Jr., American army officer, member of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for commanding units at three amphibious landings during World War Two including Operation Torch, Operation Husky and Operation Overload or D-Day, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (d. 1992); Freddie Steele, English association football player, played forward for Stoke City F.C. and the England national football team from 1933 to 1953, in Hanley, Staffordshire, England (d. 1976)
• Born: Adriana Caselotti, American singer and model, voice and model for Snow White in the classic Disney animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 1997); Robert H. Dicke, American physicist, inventor of the lock-in amplifier, in St. Louis (d. 1997)

May 7, 1916 (Sunday)

• Battle of Kondoa Irangi – A South African force of 3,000 men under command of Jacob van Deventer defended the town of Kondoa Irangi in German East Africa against an attack of 4,000 German colonial troops under command of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.^[25]
• Battle of Verdun – Germans troops forced the French off Côte 304, a key hill on the Verdun line but failed to hold it due to artillery barrages.^[13]
• Juan Isidro Jimenes resigned as President of the Dominican Republic as United States Marine Corps began to occupy territory in the Caribbean country, allowing Secretary of War Desiderio Arias to take control of Dominican forces.^[26]
• The Government of Canada authorized the creation of an all-black battalion that became No. 2 Construction Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.^[27]
• Born: Huw Wheldon, Welsh media broadcaster, managing director of BBC from 1968 to 1975, in Prestatyn, Wales (d. 1986); Eric Butler, Australian political activist, founder of the Australian League of Rights, in Benalla, Victoria, Australia (d. 2006); Fred Hargesheimer, American air force pilot and philanthropist, recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and Silver Star for evading capture after he was shown down over Papua New Guinea during World War Two, and for his philanthropic efforts to help the village that his from the Japanese, in Rochester, Minnesota (d. 2010)
• Born: Arno H. Denecke, American judge, 37th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, in Rock Island, Illinois (d. 1993); Henry V. Graham, American National Guard officer, commanded National Guard units to protect black activists during the Civil Rights Movement (d. 1999)

May 8, 1916 (Monday)

• Voyage of the James Caird – The British relief crew led by Ernest Shackleton sighted South Georgia Island after a two-week open water crossing, allowing then a chance to get to civilization and seek help for the main body of Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition stranded on Elephant Island.^[28]
• Easter Rising – Irish leaders Éamonn Ceannt, Conn Colbert, Michael Mallin, Seán Heuston were all executed for their role in the insurrection.^[29]
• British steamship SS Cymric was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine SM U-20, killing five sailors.^[30][31]
• U.S. Army General Hugh L. Scott ordered an expedition into Mexico to rescue the two prisoners captured by militia loyal to Pancho Villa during the Glenn Springs raid.^[32]
• Ross Sea Party – Expedition leader Aeneas Mackintosh of the second arm of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and fellow party member Victor Hayward disappeared in blizzard while searching for a path over the thin ice in the Ross Sea to Cape Evans where the rest of the expedition was stationed. Expedition members Ernest Wild, brother to Frank Wild of the expedition party under Ernest Shackleton, Ernest Joyce and Richard W. Richards followed the pair's tracks after the storm and found them ending at broken ice, leading them to conclude the two fell through into the water and drowned.^[33][34]
• Born: Chinmayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritual leader, founder of the Chinmaya Mission, in Ernakulam, India (d. 1993); Frank Inn, American animal trainer, best known for training the dogs that appeared on Benji franchise, in Marion County, Indiana (d. 2002); Jens Risom, Danish-American designer, introduced the Scandinavian design to the United States, in Copenhagen (d. 2016)
• Born: João Havelange, Brazilian sports executive, 7th and longest-serving President of FIFA, in Rio de Janeiro (d. 2016); John Mariucci, American hockey player, played defence for the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Flyers from 1940 to 1952, first assistant coach for the Minnesota North Stars, in Eveleth, Minnesota (d. 1987); Sylvia Sleigh, Welsh-American artist, best known for her realist revisions of classic paintings including The Turkish Bath by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, in Llandudno, Wales (d. 2010)

May 9, 1916 (Tuesday)

• Battle of Kondoa Irangi – South African forces withdrew to the outskirts of Kondoa Irangi in German East Africa and were better repel attacks from German forces.^[35]
• American cargo ship SS Roanoke foundered off the coast of California, killing 47 people.^[36]
• Born: Bernard Rose, British organist, President of the Royal College of Organists from 1974 to 1976 (d. 1996); Horacio de la Costa, Filipino clergy, first Filipino Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, in Mauban, Philippines (d. 1977); William Pène du Bois, American children's writer and illustrator, best known for The Twenty-One Balloons, in Nutley, New Jersey (d. 1993)
• Died: Thomas Kent, Irish nationalist, executed for his role in the Easter Rising (b. 1865)

May 10, 1916 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Kondoa Irangi – The Germans failed to dislodge the embedded South African forces from Kondoa Irangi in German East Africa and were forced to withdraw, at a cost of 85 killed and 35 taken prisoner. The South African force only lost 6 men killed and 18 wounded.^[37]
• Voyage of the James Caird – Ernest Shackleton and his crew of five landed at King Haakon Bay on South Georgia Island and rest as they prepare reach the whaling communities on the north coast of the island and seek rescue for the main body of the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.^[38]
• Born: Milton Babbitt, American composer, known for electronic music compositions such as Philomel, in Philadelphia (d. 2011); Dai Ailian, Chinese dancer and choreographer, considered the "Mother of Chinese Modern Dance", in Trinidad (d. 2006)

May 11, 1916 (Thursday)

• Easter Rising – During a debate in the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the Irish crisis, John Dillon of the Irish Parliamentary Party called on the British government to end the executions of the Easter Rising leaders.^[39]
• A U.S. Army expedition crossed the Rio Grande and arrived at El Pino, Coahuila, Mexico and rescued two U.S. Cavalry men being held prisoner by Pancho Villa loyalists.^[40]
• Born: Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, author of The Family of Pascual Duarte and The Hive, in Padrón, Spain (d. 2002)
• Died: Max Reger, German composer, known for his compositions Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart and Requiem (Reger) (b. 1873); Karl Schwarzschild, German physicist, author of the Schwarzschild solution used to prove Einstein field equations for general relativity (b. 1873)

May 12, 1916 (Friday)

• The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade began patrols in the Sinai desert.^[41]
• Easter Rising – On the same day British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith arrived in Dublin for a week-long visit, Irish leaders Seán Mac Diarmada and James Connolly were executed. Connolly, who was wounded in the fighting, was strapped to a chair and shot.^[42]
• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – A British air reconnaissance dropped leaflets over El Fasher were the main force of Sultan Ali Dinar of the Sultanate of Darfur (now Sudan) was situated, promising freedoms of religion and justice to the Sudanese people if they submitted and allowed the removal of the Sultan.^[43]
• Born: Albert Murray, American music critic and writer, co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in Nokomis, Alabama (d. 2013); Lorenzo Mongiardino, Italian designer, nominated for two Academy Awards for his art direction in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew and Brother Sun, Sister Moon, in Genoa (d. 1998)
• Born: Hank Borowy, American baseball player, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees during the 1943 World Series, in Bloomfield, New Jersey (d. 2004); W.D. Jones, American outlaw, member of the Barrow Gang led by Bonnie and Clyde, in Henderson County, Texas (d. 1974, shot in a domestic dispute)
• Died: Fred T. Perris, American rail engineer, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad (b. 1836); Joseph-Aldric Ouimet, Canadian politician, 5th Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b. 1848); Frank Cheadle, Australian rugby player, played for the Australia national rugby league team in 1908 to 1909, killed in battle near Armentières, France (b. 1885)

May 13, 1916 (Saturday)

• The New Zealand Division moved into front-line trenches at Armentières, France.^[44]
• American thoroughbred race horse George Smith with jockey Johnny Loftus won the 1916 Kentucky Derby with a time of 2:04.00.^[45]
• The musical comedy The Happy Day by Seymour Hicks, with music by Sidney Jones and Paul Rubens, debuted at the Daly's Theatre in London and ran a total 241 performances.^[46]
• Died: Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American Yiddish writer, most famous for his short stories of Tevye which inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof (b. 1859); Clara Louise Kellogg, American opera singer, author of Memoirs of an American Prima Donna (b. 1842); Jacky Morkel, South African rugby player, played for the Western Province rugby team from 1911 to 1914 and the South Africa national rugby union team from 1912 to 1913 (b. 1890)

May 14, 1916 (Sunday)

• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – Anglo-Egyptian forces sent to quell rebellion in the Sultanate of Darfur left Abiad to march on the main stronghold in El Fasher.^[47]
• U.S. Cavalry and Pancho Villa rebels engaged in a firefight at Castillon, Mexico that killed five Mexicans and wounded two more.^[48]
• Born: Sammy Luftspring, Canadian boxer, winner of the 1938 Canadian welterweight championship, in Toronto (d. 2000); Robert F. Christy, Canadian-American physicist, member of the Manhattan Project, in Vancouver (d. 2012)

May 15, 1916 (Monday)

• Battle of Asiago – Austria-Hungary launched a Strafexpedition, or punitive expedition against the Italian First Army near Asiago in northern Italy. A break in the Italian line forced General Luigi Cadorna to scramble reinforcements to prevent the Austrians from taking nearby Vicenza and outflanking his main force.^[49]
• The United States Marine Corps took control of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.^[50]
• Easter Rising – The trial of Roger Casement for high treason began in London for his part in the Irish uprising.^[51]
• Jesse Washington, a 17-year old African-American farmhand, was brutally lynched and murdered in Waco, Texas by a crowd of white people immediately after his trial and conviction for the alleged murder of his employers' wife, Lucy Fryer, in Robinson, Texas. The lynching was photographed by Fred Gildersleeve in its entirely, a rarity among lynching events, sparking outrage across the country for the event and for societal tolerance for lynching.^[52][53]
• Royal Air Force No. 50,^[54] No. 51^[55] and No. 52 Squadrons were established.^[56]
• The German association football club FSV Erlangen-Bruck was established in Erlangen, Germany under the name of 1. FC Markt Bruck.^[57]
• The borough of Brentwood, Pennsylvania was established.^[58][59]
• Born: Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim, Malaysian legal attorney, first Attorney-General of Singapore, in Singapore (d. 1999); Chiang Fang-liang, Russian-Taiwanese stateswoman, wife of Taiwanese president Chiang Ching-kuo and First Lady of Taiwan from 1978 to 1988, in Orsha, Russian Empire) (d. 2004); Catherine Shipe East, American activist, one of the founders of the National Organization for Women, in Barboursville, West Virginia (d. 1996)
• Died: Ivory Kimball, American judge, Justice for the Police Court of the District of Columbia from 1891 to 1910 (b. 1843)

May 16, 1916 (Tuesday)

• Great Britain and France concluded the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement, which was to divide Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire into French and British spheres of influence, following the conclusion of World War One and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.^[60]
• Dutch freighter SS Batavier V struck a mine in the English Channel shortly after being released by the Imperial German Navy, killing four people.^[61]
• Born: Ephraim Katzir, Ukrainian-Israeli state leader, fourth President of Israel from 1973 to 1978, in Kiev (d. 2009); H. Stuart Hughes, American historian, advocated the application of psychoanalysis to the study of history]], in New York City, (d. 1999); Margaret Ursula Jones, British archaeologist, best known for the exploration of the Mucking site in southern England, in Birkenhead, England (d. 2001)

May 17, 1916 (Wednesday)

• Ten German submarines were ordered to patrol the North Sea until May 22 when they were to set up into warring positions.^[62]
• German submarine SM U-74 sank after an accidental explosion during a mine-laying mission, killing all 34 crew aboard.^[63]
• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – Anglo-Egyptian military reconnaissance team rendezvoused at the village of Meliet in preparation to attack the Sudanese capital of El Fasher.^[64]
• Easter Rising – Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, Roman Catholic Bishop of Limerick, refused a request to discipline two of his curates who expressed Irish Republican sympathies, reminding Major-General John Maxwell, commander of British forces in Ireland that he had shown no mercy to those who surrendered.^[65]
• Royal Air Force pilot John Cyril Porte flew an experimental parasite fighter plane released from a Porte Baby airship at a height of 1000 ft (300 m).^[66]
• Born: Lenka Reinerová, Czech writer, recipient of the Goethe Medal, in Prague (d. 2008); Richard Walker Bolling, American politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1949 to 1983, in New York City (d. 1991); Robin Maugham, British writer, best known for The Servant which was adapted in the film 1963 film (d. 1981)
• Born: William Brill, Australian fighter pilot, member of the Royal Air Force during World War Two, recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, in Ganmain, New South Wales, Australia (d. 1964); John Hinde, English photographer, best known for his landscape photographs used for postcards, in Street, Somerset, England (d. 1997)

May 18, 1916 (Thursday)

• Lord Charles Hardinge chaired the Royal Commission set up to investigate the causes of the Easter Rising in Dublin.^[67]
• Sinai and Palestine Campaign – The Royal Flying Corps bombed Ottoman positions at El Arish in reprisal for an Ottoman air bombing at Port Said earlier in the month that left 23 casualties.^[68]
• American pilot Kiffin Rockwell shot down a German two-seater aircraft, the first aerial victory claimed by the Lafayette Escadrille, an American-manned squadron of the French Air Service.^[69]
• U.S. Navy destroyer USS Wilkes was launched by the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company in Philadelphia and would serve in World War One and the U.S. Coast Guard until it was scrapped in 1934.^[70]
• Voyage of the James Caird – With the modified lifeboat dubbed James Caird too damaged to sail and two of the five-man rescue crew physically unfit to travel, Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition leader Ernest Shackleton and two companions decide to cross overland on South Georgia Island to reach the whaling communities on its north coast and obtain rescue for the main body of the expedition on Elephant Island.^[71]

May 19, 1916 (Friday)

• French ace Jean Navarre shot down a German Aviatik C.I over Chattancourt, France, becoming the first Allied ace credited with 10 victories.^[72]
• The city of Berlin, Ontario held a referendum to change its name due to Canada being part of the Allies against Germany in World War One. However, only 892 citizens out of about 15,000 eligible voters participated, with a small majority voting in favor of changing the city's century-old name without an alternative being mentioned. The city was officially renamed Kitchener in September following the death of Lord Kitchener in June.^[73]
• Born: Ralph Landau, American engineer, developer of over 75 petrochemical processes, recipient of the National Medal of Technology, author of Technology and the Wealth of Nations, in Philadelphia (d. 2004); Blair Lee III, American politician, acting Governor of Maryland from 1977 to 1979, in Silver Spring, Maryland (d. 1985)
• Died: Georges Boillot, French race car driver and fighter pilot, first French driver to win the Indianapolis 500, died from injuries after being shot down near Bar-le-Duc, France (b. 1884)

May 20, 1916 (Saturday)

• Voyage of the James Caird – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition leader Ernest Shackleton and two companions successfully cross South Georgia Island after an exhausting 36-hour trek to reach the whaling community of Husvik on the north coast, where they made contact and arranged rescue for the main body of the expedition still stranded on Elephant Island.^[74] During the overland journey, Shackleton confided years later that in his exhausted state, he envisioned a fourth figure accompanied him and his two companions. This vision was concurred by his two companions leading him to conclude: "I have no doubt that Providence guided us." ^[75]
• Norman Rockwell debuted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post, titled Boy with Baby Carriage.^[76][77]
• The first issue of the weekly Afrikaans-language magazine Huisgenoot was published, becoming the highest-circulated magazine in South Africa.^[78]
• Born: Owen Chadwick, British religious historian, co-authored with brother Henry Chadwick Oxford History of the Christian Church, in Bromley, England (d. 2015); Ondina Valla, Italian athlete, first Italian female athlete to win a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics, in Bologna (d. 2006); Luise Ermisch, German politician, member of the Volkskammer (People's Chamber) of East Germany from 1950 to 1981 while heading a textile plant, in Halle, Germany (d. 2001)

May 21, 1916 (Sunday)

• Daylight saving time began for the first time throughout the United Kingdom as people put their clocks forward one hour. The purpose is to reduce the number of evening hours to save fuel.^[79]
• Voyage of the James Caird – A whaling ship picked up the last two members of James Caird party on the opposing side of South Georgia Island.^[80]
• Born: Lydia Mendoza, American musician, leading recording artist in Latin guitar music, in Houston (d. 2007); Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner, two-time bronze medalist in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, in Delft, Netherlands (d. 2002); Dennis Day, American singer, best known for his popular radio show A Day in the Life of Dennis Day in the 1940s, in New York City (d. 1988); Malcolm Sayer, English car designer, known for the Jaguar E-Type series, in Cromer, Norfolk, England (d. 1970)
• Born: Rohan Amerasekera, Ceylon air force officer, 3rd Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force, in Kegalle, Ceylon (d. 1974); Wilhelm Batz, German fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe during World War Two recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in Bamberg Germany (d. 1988); Larry Napp, American baseball umpire, officiated four World Series and four All-Star Games, in New York City (d. 1993); Tan Siew Sin, Malaysian politician, first Ministry of Finance of Malaysia, in Malacca, Malaysia (d. 1988)
• Born: Harold Robbins, American novelist, author of 25 best-selling novels including The Carpetbaggers and A Stone for Danny Fisher, in New York City (d. 1997); Sam Thompson, Irish playwright, known for his controversial political plays Over the Bridge and Cemented with Love, in Belfast (d. 1965); James B. Reuter, American clergy, one of the key leaders in the People Power Revolution that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, in Elizabeth, New Jersey (d. 2012)
• Died: Artúr Görgei, Hungarian military general and politician, revolutionary leader during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (b. 1818)

May 22, 1916 (Monday)

• Battle of Verdun – A French force of 12,000 soldiers under command of General Charles Mangin launched an assault to retake Fort Douaumont from the Germans.^[81]
• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated Sudanese force of 3,600 men at the village of Beringia near El Fasher, the capital of the Sultanate of Darfur, killing 231 warriors and wounding another 96 while only sustaining 23 casualties.^[82]
• Sinai and Palestine Campaign – The Royal Flying Corps continued reprisals against the Ottoman Empire for their attack on Port Said with bombings on military camps along the Suez Canal front.^[83] The Ottomans retaliated in June with more bombings on Romani where a new railroad had been constructed, inflicted 30 casualties.^[84]
• Voyage of the James Caird – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition leader Ernest Shackleton chartered the whaling ship The Southern Sky to voyage to Elephant Island to pick up main body of the stranded expedition but packed ice prevented them from getting near the island.^[85]
• A U.S. federal suit known as the United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola failed to force The Coca-Cola Company to remove caffeine from its product.^[86][87]
• The first conference the religious organization League for the Larger Life was held in New York City with over 1,000 in attendance.^[88]
• The film serial Gloria's Romance starring Billie Burke debuted, with actor Richard Barthelmess making his unaccredited debut as an extra. The film is now considered lost.^[89][90]
• Born: Rupert Davies, British actor, best known for his lead role in the BBC 1960s TV period drama series Maigret, in Liverpool (d. 1976); José Manuel Fortuny, Guatemalan revolutionary leader, advisory to President Jacobo Árbenz of Guatemala until the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, in Santa Rosa, Guatemala (d. 2005); Frank Freidel, American historian, first major biographer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in New York City (d. 1993)

May 23, 1916 (Tuesday)

• Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition – A Sudanese force of 800 attacked the Anglo-Egyptian column at the village of Beringia near El Fasher but were repelled. The military expedition advanced into the capital of the Sultanate of Darfur only to find Sultan Ali Dinar had abandoned it with 2,000 of his men.^[91]
• Born: Glen W. Martin, American air force officer, commander of the Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska from 1969 to 1973, in Chicago (d. 1994)
• Died: Charlie Douglas, Scottish-New Zealand explorer, discovered and mapped West Coast, New Zealand (b. 1840)

May 24, 1916 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Verdun – The French assault to retake Fort Douaumont failed, resulting in 5,640 casualties casualties and 1,000 prisoners taken by the Germans.^[92]
• Born: Kenneth R. Andrews, American academic, co-author of textbook Business Policy: Text and Case, one of the main influential books on business strategy (b. 2005); Roden Cutler, Australian politician and army officer, 32nd Governor of New South Wales, recipient of the Victoria Cross for action at the Battle of Damour during World War Two, in Manly, New South Wales (d. 2002); George Elliott Hagan, American politician, U.S. Representative from Georgia from 1961 to 1973, in Sylvania, Georgia (d. 1990)

May 25, 1916 (Thursday)

• The U.S. Army expedition sent to find the rebels involved in the Glenn Springs raid earlier in May returned to the United States following complaints from Mexican president Venustiano Carranza that American military presence in Mexico was pushing the two countries dangerously close to war.^[93]
• The Italian air squadron 76a Squadriglia was established as the second of Italy's original fighter squadrons.^[94]
• The association football Club Atlético Huracán de Ingeniero White was established in Bahía Blanca, Argentina.^[95]
• The Norwegian sports club IL Heming was established in Oslo and hosted association football, Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, orienteering and tennis.^[96]
• Born: Brian Dickson, Canadian judge, 15th Chief Justice of Canada, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan (d. 1998); Charles Hornig, American genre editor and writer, managing editor of the science-fiction magazine Wonder Stories from 1933 to 1936, in Jersey City, New Jersey (d. 1999); Ewart Oakeshott, British medieval historian, inventor of the Oakeshott typology for classifying medieval swords. nephew to Jeffery Farnol (d. 2002)
• Died: Jane Dieulafoy, French archaeologist, known for Susa excavations conducted with her husband Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy (b. 1851); Jack Marsh, Australian cricketer, player of Australian Aboriginal descent who bowled for New South Wales cricket team from 1900 to 1903 (b. 1874)

May 26, 1916 (Friday)

• British submarine HMS E18 went missing after this date and likely struck a mine and sank with all 31 crew on-board shortly thereafter as it failed to make its scheduled return to port on June 1. The wreck was discovered in 2009 off the coast of Estonia.^[97]
• Born: Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist, best known for her memoir The Walls Came Tumbling Down including her accounts in a German POW camp during World War Two (d. 1972); Moondog, American musician, known for recorded albums including Sax Pax for a Sax, best known for his eccentric, busker style that earned him the nickname "the Viking of 6th Avenue", in Marysville, Kansas (d. 1999);
• Born: Edward A. Carter Jr., American army officer, recipient of the Medal of Honor, one of seven African-Americans to receive it for service during World War Two, in Los Angeles (d. 1963); Halil İnalcık, Turkish historian, leading expert on the history of the Ottoman Empire and founding member of the Eurasian Academy, in Istanbul (d. 2016); Edwin L. Moore, American agricultural scientist, developed the process for frozen orange juice along with Louis G. MacDowell and C. D. Atkins, in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 2009)
• Died: Timothy Dwight V, American academic, President of Yale University from 1886 to 1898 (b. 1828); Étienne-Théodore Pâquet, Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1875 to 1883 (b. 1850)

May 27, 1916 (Saturday)

• German submarine SM UC-3 struck a mine and sunk with all 18 crew on board.^[98]
• Born: Willie Best, American actor, best known for his character roles (often reviled for being negative stereotypes of African Americans) in films such as Murder on a Honeymoon and The Ghost Breakers, and the 1950s TV sitcom The Stu Erwin Show, in Sunflower, Mississippi (d. 1962); Frances Lasker Brody, American arts advocate, founding benefactor of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in Chicago (d. 2009); John Macionis, American competitive swimmer, three time NCAA champion from 1936 to 1938 and silver medalist in the 1936 Summer Olympics, in Philadelphia (d. 2012)
• Died: Joseph Gallieni, French army officer, recipient of the Legion of Honour for service during the Franco-Prussian War and commander of the First Battle of the Marne (b. 1849)

May 28, 1916 (Sunday)

• Lieutenant-General Julian Byng was appointed commander of the Canadian Corps, replacing Lieutenant-General Edwin Alderson.^[99]
• British test pilot Harry Hawker flew the Sopwith Triplane on its first test run.^[100]
• Born: Walker Percy, American novelist, known for works including The Moviegoer and Lost in the Cosmos, in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1990); Dorothy McGuire, American film actress, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gentleman's Agreement, in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 2001);
• Born: Ray Fox, American car engineer, builder of 14 champion NASCAR race cars, in Pelham, New Hampshire (d. 2014); Nicola Rescigno, American conductor, best known for his work with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Dallas Opera, in New York City (d. 2008)
• Died: Matthew Chizhov, Russian sculptor, noted for busts and monuments to Russian monarchs including Catherine the Great, Alexander II of Russia, and Nicholas I of Russia (b. 1838); Ivan Franko, Ukrainian poet, leading proponent of moderns in poetry in the Ukrainian language including Kamenyari (The Rock Breakers) (b. 1856)

May 29, 1916 (Monday)

• The city of Monterey Park, California was established.^[101]
• Born: Ken Davies, Welsh rugby player, played for the Keighley Cougars from 1936 to 1951, in Blaengarw, Wales (still alive in 2016); Sidney Glazier, American film producer, known for films such as The Producers, in Philadelphia (d. 2002); Arthur Seldon, British economist, co-founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs, in London (d. 2005)
• Died: James J. Hill, American financier and rail executive, owner of the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway (b. 1838); Iron Tail, Oglala Lakota chieftain, member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (his profile is found on the famous Buffalo nickel (b. 1842)

May 30, 1916 (Tuesday)

• British racer Dario Resta won the 6th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Peugeot L45.^[102]
• Born: James K. Johnson, American air force officer, flying ace with 10 kills during the Korean War, recipient of the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross, in Phoenix, Arizona (d. 1997)
• Died: Adolph Frank, German chemist, credited for discovering potash and creating the industry (d. 1834); John S. Mosby, American army officer, commander of the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (b. 1833)

May 31, 1916 (Wednesday)

• Battle of Jutland – The British Royal Navy Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy High Seas Fleet fought each other in the North Sea, the war's only large-scale clash of battleships.^[103] The first day of battle resulted in major losses for both sides, including:
  • British battleship HMS Invincible, sunk by German battleships SMS Lützow and SMS Derfflinger, resulting in 1,026 deaths including Rear Admiral Horace Hood;^[104][105]
  • British cruiser HMS Indefatigable, destroyed in the opening minutes of the battle by German cruiser SMS Von der Tann, killing all but two of her 1,019 crew, including Lieutenant-Commander John Skinner Wilson;^[106]
  • British cruiser HMS Queen Mary, sunk by Derfflinger with the loss of 1,266 crew;^[107]
  • British cruiser HMS Defence, hit by a German barrage that caused an explosion that destroyed the entire ship, with casualty accounts ranging from 893 to 903 casualties including ship commander Rear Admiral Robert Arbuthnot and British star rugby player and cricketer Cecil Abercrombie, who was serving on board as a naval officer;^[108]
  • British cruiser HMS Black Prince was shelled and sunk with all 857 crew on board.^[109]
  • British destroyer HMS Tipperary was shelled and sunk, with 150 of the 197 crew lost.^[110]
  • British destroyer HMS Nomad was hit and sank with a loss of eight crew. The remaining 72 survivors were captured by the German navy.^[111] Accompanying destroyer HMS Nestor was also damaged, but time allowed the crew to abandon ship before it sank.^[112]
  • British cruiser HMS Chester was struck 18 times by shells that ripped across the deck, sending shrapnel that killed 29 deck gunners and maimed another 49. One of the deck crew was 16-year old sight gunner Jack Cornwell who, while critically wounded, remained at his post even though the rest of his gun's crew was dead or dying around him. Cornwell survived several more days before succumbing to his injuries on June 2, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.^[113]
  • British cruiser HMS Lion survived the battle thanks to Royal Marine officer Francis Harvey, who ordered one the main gun turrets hit by German fire to be flooded to prevent ammunition from exploding and setting off a chain of explosions that destroyed the other British ships. Harvey was mortally wounded and perished along with 99 other sailors (plus 51 wounded) during the battle. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.^[114][115]
  • A Short Type 184 from the Royal Navy seaplane carrier Engadine achieved the only British aerial reconnaissance flight of the Battle of Jutland, reporting the sighting of three cruisers and ten destroyers of the German High Seas Fleet before a broken fuel pipe forced it to end the mission.^[116]
• An ambitious Franco-British offensive to land a decisive victory against Germany was reduced to a limited offensive to ease pressure of French forces at Verdun, in what became the strategic plan for the Battle of the Somme.^[117]
• The Italian air squadron 77a Squadriglia was established as the third of Italy's original fighter squadrons.^[118]
• The first version of the song "Calling Me Home to You" by Edward Teschemacher and Francis Dorel was recorded at Columbia Records with Alfred De Manby providing vocals.^[119][120]
• Born: Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker, best known for his Academy Award-winning short documentary Glass and film comedies including Fanfare and Turkish Delight in Holten, Netherlands (d. 1997); Judy Campbell, English actress and playwright, author of plays Sing Cuckoo and The Bright One, in Grantham, England (d. 2004)
• Born: Bernard Lewis, British-American historian, noted for his works on the history of the Ottoman Empire, author of Islam and the West, in London (still alive in 2016); Joseph W. Kennedy, American chemist, co-discover of plutonium and member of the Manhattan Project, in Nacogdoches, Texas (d. 1957); Jackie Power, Irish Gaelic football player, played for the Limerick GAA from 1935 to 1948, in Annacotty, Ireland (d. 1994)
• Born: Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis, Dutch anthropologist, leading Western expert into Indian and Southeast Asian cultures, in Eemnes, Netherlands (d. 2002); Archduke Felix of Austria, Austrian noble, last surviving son of Charles I of Austria and a member of the House of Lorraine, in Vienna (d. 2011)

References