Dashed left edge = started before October 1914 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond October 1914
Events in October 1914 12
1839 – 1914Carol I of Romania (1839-1914)Died 10 October 1914, aged 75A German prince installed as ruler of Romania in 1866, Carol I became the country's first king in 1881 and oversaw its modernization and independence from Ottoman suzerainty. His nearly five-decade reign was the longest in Romanian history. He died weeks into the war, having clashed with his government over Romania's neutrality.
1914Ottoman entry into WWI -- the German allianceThe Ottoman decision to ally with Germany (secret treaty of 2 August 1914, active belligerency from 29 October 1914) is the most consequential and most debated decision in Ottoman history. Enver Pasha drives the decision, believing that only a German victory can reverse the Balkan Wars' territorial losses and restore Ottoman power. The CUP government harbours German warships (Goeben and Breslau) in Istanbul and allows them to bombard Russian Black Sea ports -- forcing Russia, Britain and France to declare war. The decision proves catastrophic: the empire fights simultaneously against Russia, Britain, France and (later) Arab revolt, and loses.
1914 – 2002Thor HeyerdahlKon-Tiki ExpeditionSailed a balsa wood raft across the Pacific to prove ancient transoceanic contact.
1914 – 2002Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002)Died 18 April 2002, aged 87The Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl sailed the balsa raft Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 to argue that ancient South Americans could have settled the Pacific islands. His book and film about the voyage were worldwide successes. He led later reed-boat expeditions with the Ra and Tigris, though most scholars rejected his migration theories.
1914First Battle of YpresAllied and German forces fight to a stalemate in FlandersGerman attempts to break through to the Channel ports were halted by British, French, and Belgian forces around the Belgian city of Ypres. Losses were heavy on both sides, effectively destroying the original British Expeditionary Force. The battle marked the end of the war of movement and the start of static trench warfare in the west.
1914The First Battle of YpresYpres, BelgiumThe last attempt by either side to outflank the other. It ended with the pre-war British regular army effectively destroyed and a continuous trench line from the Channel to Switzerland.
1914 – 2006Fayard Nicholas (1914-2006)American dancer, one of the Nicholas Brothers, famous for acrobatic tap routines.
1914Fayard Nicholas born in MobileFayard Nicholas is born in Mobile.
1914 – 1984Jackie Coogan (1914-1984)American actor, the first major child star, whose lost earnings led to the Coogan Act, and later Uncle Fester.
1914Jackie Coogan born in Los AngelesJackie Coogan is born in Los Angeles.
1914 – 1995Jonas Salk (1914-1995)Died 23 June 1995, aged 80Jonas Salk was an American virologist who developed the first effective vaccine against poliomyelitis, first tested successfully in 1955. His vaccine dramatically reduced polio cases worldwide and he refused to patent it, saying it belonged to the people. He later founded the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.
1914Siege of TsingtaoJapanese and British forces seize Germany's colony in ChinaA Japanese force, joined by a small British contingent, besieged and captured the German-leased port of Tsingtao on China's Shandong peninsula. It was Japan's first major action of the war and its first as an ally of Britain. The port's fall ended German colonial presence in East Asia.