The following events occurred in May 1914:
May 1, 1914 (Friday) The Exposition Internationale (World's Fair) was held in the French city of Lyon. P. W. Goldring was elected to the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong in a by-election for one of the two unofficial seats, beating rival William Leonard Carter by a landslide of 144–33 votes. The German coast vessel SS Dollart struck the wreck of SS Werner in the River Elbe at Glückstadt, Germany and sank with the loss of two crew, but was later recovered and put back into service. The No. 7 air squadron was formed at Farnborough Airport in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, the last British air squadron formed before the outbreak of World War I. Tojo Railway opened the Tōbu Tōjō Line between Ikebukuro and Tanomosawa, Japan, with stations Hizaori, Kami-Fukuoka, Kawagoe-mach, Narimasu, Shiki, Shimo-Itabashi, and Tsuruse serving the line. The North Auckland Railroad opened new stations along the Okaihau Branch in Otiria, New Zealand, including Cameron's Crossing, Kaikohe, and Lake Omapere Road Crossing. Socialist politician Job Harriman established the Llano del Rio commune in California to demonstrate a working community of cooperative and collective economic activity that would build public support for socialism. The number of residents at the colony grew from five at inception to 150 by next year. The borough West Paterson, New Jersey (now Woodland Park) was incorporated. The Stevens Building opened in downtown Portland, Oregon, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is approximately tall. The Croatian association football club Victoria was formed in Zagreb. It was renamed in 1945 to Lokomotiva at the beginning of a very successful decade for the club, and still operates in present-day Croatia. Born: John Henry Lewis, American boxer, World Light Heavyweight Champion from 1935 to 1938; in Phoenix, Arizona, United States (d. 1974)
May 2, 1914 (Saturday) The Welsh bus line South Wales Transport began operating in Swansea, Wales. The Caldwell Carnegie Library opened in Caldwell, Idaho thanks to funding from the Carnegie library foundation. The 25th County Championship first-class cricket competition began, with the schedule originally set to run until September 9. The start of World War I forced the championship committee to cancel the last two matches of the season, but final positions in the table being calculated by the percentage of possible points gained allowed the Surrey County Cricket Club to be declared season champions for the seventh time. Born: Mary von Schrader Jarrell, American patron of the arts, worked to preserve the works of husband poet Randall Jarrell; as Mary von Schrader, in St. Louis, United States (d. 2007) Herbert Lewis Hardwick, Puerto Rican boxer, two-timer winner of the World Colored Welterweight Championship in 1936 and 1943; in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (d. 1966) Died: John Campbell, British noble, husband of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, 4th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845)
May 3, 1914 (Sunday) Komagata Maru incident — The Japanese steamship SS Komagata Maru left Yokohama, Japan for Canada with 376 passengers from Punjab, British India. Following a scoreless final on April 19, the American Cup association football final was replayed in Newark, New Jersey before a crowd of 15,000 spectators. Forward Edward Donaghy of Bethlehem Steel scored the single winning goal against Tacony. Born: Ernest Smith, Canadian soldier, member of the 1st Canadian Division during World War II, recipient of the Victoria Cross for action during the Italian campaign; in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada (d. 2005) Reg Bentley, Canadian hockey player, brother to hockey players Doug Bentley and Max Bentley, played left wing for the Chicago Blackhawks from 1941 to 1949; as Reginald Bentley, in Delisle, Saskatchewan, Canada (d. 1980) Died: Élisabeth Leseur, French mystic, best known for the spiritual diary published as Journal et pensées pour chaque jour (Journal and thoughts for each day) by her husband Felix after she posthumously predicted he would convert to Christianity from atheism and become an ordained priest in 1923 (b. 1866) Daniel Sickles, American politician and diplomat, U.S. Representative from New York from 1857 to 1861 and 1893 to 1895, United States Ambassador to Spain from 1869 to 1874 (b. 1819)
May 4, 1914 (Monday) Mexican Revolution – Mexican revolutionary leader Álvaro Obregón began a blockade around Mazatlán that lasted two months. More than 50 people were killed and over 100 injured in a fire that swept the commercial section of Valparaíso, Chile. Suffragette Mary Ann Aldham slashed a portrait of Henry James by painter John Singer Sargent at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London with a meat cleaver, the first of three attacks staged by suffragists over the month. The Portuguese football association club Tomar was formed in Tomar, Portugal. Charlie Chaplin made his directorial debut with the comedy Caught in the Rain, one of his films where he did not star as The Tramp. Born: Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, 39th yokozuna (champion) from 1947 to 1949; as Hagimori Kanematsu, in Ehime Prefecture, Empire of Japan (present-day Japan) (d. 1971) Murtada Sharif 'Askari, Iraqi-Iranian Islamic scholar, author of more than 50 books on the history of Islam; in Samarra, Iraq (d. 2007) Mark Fradkin, Soviet composer, recipient of the People's Artist of the USSR; in Vitebsk, Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) (d. 1990)
May 5, 1914 (Tuesday)
The Jubilee Exhibition was held in Kristiania, Norway to mark the centennial of the country's Constitution. A brush fire near Panama City ignited a powder magazine depot for the Panama Canal project, killing seven firefighters and officers trying to contain the blaze and injuring 20 more in a massive explosion. The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line ceased making flights between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida after contracts were terminated. In its five months of operation, the airline covered over 7,000 miles, completed 172 flights, and carried 1,205 passengers. Athletic director L. Theo Bellmont of University of Texas at Austin chaired the first organizational meeting of the Southwest Conference in Dallas, with representatives from eight colleges with athletic programs in attendance. The borough of Clarks Green, Pennsylvania was established. Born: Tyrone Power, American actor, best known for swashbuckler film roles such as The Mark of Zorro; in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States (d. 1958) Lloyd Trigg, New Zealand air force officer, member of the No. 200 Squadron during World War II, recipient of the Victoria Cross for action during the Battle of the Atlantic; in Houhora, New Zealand (killed in action, 1943)
May 6, 1914 (Wednesday) The British House of Lords rejected the Women's Suffrage bill 104 to 60. The Bishop's Stortford Tournament was held in Hertfordshire, England, with George Duncan winning the golf tournament with rounds of 72 and 69, two shots ahead of Harry Vardon who had rounds of 72 and 71. It was the only tournament played at the Bishop's Stortford Golf Club before the onset of World War I. Anglican bishop Thomas Sprott consecrated the altar at All Saints' Church in Palmerston North, New Zealand but not the entire church as policy indicated parishes with outstanding debt could not receive dedication even if the building was completed. State intervention relieved the parish of its debt and the church was formally dedicated on October 29, 1916. Born: Randall Jarrell, American poet, 11th United States Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress; in Nashville, Tennessee, United States (killed in car accident, 1965)
May 7, 1914 (Thursday) Toole County, Montana was established with its county seat in Shelby. Born: Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey, winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe; as Arthur Edward Breasley, in Wagga Wagga, Australia (d. 2006) Johannes de Groot, Dutch mathematician, lead researcher in topology; in Loppersum, Netherlands (d. 1972) Ye Fei, Chinese-Filipino naval officer, commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy from 1980 to 1982; as Sixto Mercado Tiongo, in Tiaong, Philippine Islands (present-day Philippines) (b. 1999)
May 8, 1914 (Friday)
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck near the town of Giarre, Province of Catania, Italy, causing 120 deaths and destroying 223 homes, an unusually high death toll for a small magnitude event. The Smith-Lever Act went into effect, allowing a national Cooperative Extension Service to be established, which allowed university agricultural departments to offer rural Americans educational programs that introduced new agricultural practices and technology. Paramount Pictures was formed through a partnership between the Famous Players Film Company and the Lasky Feature Play Company. It still remains the oldest operating movie studio in Hollywood. The Kentucky Academy of Science was formed by a group of 46 Kentucky scientists and interested laypersons, as an organization that "encourages scientific research, promotes the diffusion of scientific knowledge, and unifies the scientific interests of the Commonwealth of Kentucky." The organization presently has 700 active members. French aviator René Caudron made the first French shipboard takeoff in an airplane from a ramp constructed over the fore-deck of the seaplane tender Foudre, using a Caudron G.3 amphibian floatplane.Layman 1989, p. 17. The association football club National was formed in Concón, Chile. Born: Romain Gary, Russian-French writer and diplomat, author of The Roots of Heaven and Clair de femme; as Roman Kacew, in Vilnius, Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania) (d. 1980) Died: Seth Edulji Dinshaw, Pakistani philanthropist, founded the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi as well as funded other major education and public works projects still operating in modern-day Pakistan (b. 1842)
May 9, 1914 (Saturday)
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. The United States Congress passed a law a day earlier designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. American thoroughbred Old Rosebud won the 40th running of the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths in a time of 2:03 2/5, setting a record that would not be broken for 16 years.Bolus, Jim. Kentucky Derby Stories. Pelican Publishing Company. Gretna, LA, 1993, p. 73 Andrew Anderson began charging passengers for 15 cents per fare for travel from the mining town of Hibbing to Alice, Minnesota using a seven-seat Hupmobile. Local businessman Carl Eric Wickman bought in to the business, and helped start a bus line service that grew to become the Greyhound Bus Line in 1929. After months of illness, Post Foods founder C. W. Post took his own life by shooting himself with a rifle at his home in Santa Barbara, California. His 27-year-old daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, inherited the company along with much of her father's vast fortune, considered one of the largest at that time. Cricketer J. T. Hearne became the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets. Born: Hank Snow, Canadian country musician, author of country hits "I'm Movin' On" and "The Golden Rocket"; as Clarence Eugene Snow, in Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia, Canada (d. 1999) Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor, conducted for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic; in Barletta, Kingdom of Italy (present-day Italy) (d. 2005) Theodore W. Kheel, American attorney, mediator in the New York newspaper strike; in New York City, United States (d. 2010) Died: Blackburn B. Dovener, U.S. Representative for West Virginia from 1894 to 1907 (b. 1842)