Members of this discussion list will receive daily a message entitled “On this date, (current date)...” which will list, by year, significant events from the First World War which occured on that date. In addition to events from the war itself, events prior to 1914, which had some bearing on the war directly, or which contributed to the cultural, political or social milieu of the war years, will be listed as well. These will include events in the history of labor, women’s suffrage, art, literature & music, diplomacy, technology, and so forth.

As the primary focus of this list is literature and the arts, the birthdates of writers, artists, musicians & composers who lived through the war will be noted, together with a brief account of how each of them was occupied during the war, & what works of theirs were directly shaped by their experience of the war. Also noted will be the deaths of major writers, artists, musicians & composers who died in the years leading up to the war. In addition to the birth dates of people in the arts, the births of other individuals influential during the war period will be noted: soldiers, sailors & airmen, as well as pacifists, anarchists, labor leaders, revolutionaries, others.

In addition to dates of events, the chronology will be augmented by poems & extracts from letters of diaries of poets serving at the front.

This chronology aims at comprehensiveness, but will of course be always incomplete. List members are invited to bring omissions to my attention.

A final note: as of this date (25 May 2003), the chronology runs only through 25 May 1917. As I must type each day’s entry by hand, I do not have the time or stamina to cover every year of the war for each date. Therefore I am working my way through the war, one day at a time. I began posting this chronology on August 4, 2000, and so have by now worked my way to the end of May 1917. At the turn of next year I will begin on 1918, and by 11 November 2004, will have worked my way through to the Armistice.

Following is a sample "On this date..." entry:

On this date, December 6, in the year...

1869: Meeting of first national black labor group, the Colored National Labor Convention, in Washington, D.C.

1872: Thomas Ala Edison records "Mary had a little lamb." First sound recording made.

1882: British novelist Anthony Trollope dies, 67, Hastings, Sussex.
~~ Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit.

1883: Poet & artist Kahlil Gibran born, Bisharri, Lebanon. During the WWI years, Gibran will be living in New York. In 1913, he will join the board of the newly founded Arab émigré magazine 'Al-Funoon', a periodical published by the Arabic-speaking community of New York and dedicated to the advancement of literary and artistic issues. Several of Gibran’s contributed articles to this periodical will later form the basis of his first English book, 'The Madman', published in 1918. In 1916, he will join the board of the New York literary magazine, 'The Seven Arts', and it will during this period that his fame will begin to spread in literary circles & he will begin to give public readings . Much of Gibran’s energies during the war will be consumed by his public advocacy of a united Arab military front which, he hopes, with the aid of the Allies, will be able to liberate Ottoman-ruled Syria. Gibran will contemplate returning to Lebanon to enlist as a fighter in this cause, but nothing will come of this. He will, instead, devote considerable energy to raising funds for Syria’s starving refugees. Though he will suffer from depression & debilitated health during these years, he will, in addition to his editorial, political & relief activities, conceive & commence his most famous work, 'The Prophet'.

1886: Poet Joyce Kilmer born, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He will attend Columbia University, graduating in 1908. From 1909 to 1912 he will be associated with Funk and Wagnall's Company, working as an editor on their dictionary. He will serve as Literary Editor of the 'The Churchman', an Anglican newspaper, and in 1913 will join the staff of 'The New York Times'. When the U.S. declares war on Germany in 1917, Kilmer will enlist as a private in the Seventh Regiment, New York National Guard. At his request and with the assistance of Father Duffy, he will transfer into the 165th Infantry, the old Fighting 69th. While the Regiment is at Camp Mills he will transfer to Company H, Headquarters Detachment, and assume the position of Senior Regimental Statistician. Once in France he will be promoted to Sergeant and be attached to the newly organized Regimental Intelligence staff as an observer. In that capacity, he will spend many nights on patrol in no-man's land gathering information. On July 30th 1918, during the battle of the Ourcq, he will attach himself as adjutant to Major William Donovan, commanding the First Battalion, during an attempt to take the high ground of Muercy Farm. During this action Kilmer will be killed by a sniper's bullet. Kilmer will be remembered for such poems as "Memorial Day," written in 1917 before his departure overseas, "Rouge Bouquet" and "When the Sixty-Ninth Comes Back." which will be set to was set to music by Victor Herbert, and played by the Regimental Band during the 165th's triumphal march up 5th Avenue after the war.

1889: Trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists begins, resulting in national & international protest.
~~ Jefferson Davis, President of Confederate States of America (1861-5), dies.

1893: Novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner born, Devon, England. During WWI, in 1917, she will move from her childhood home to London to study musicology, serving as one of the editors in the 10-volume study: “Tudor Church Music”. She will not publish her first novel until nine years later.

1896: American composer Ira Gershwin born, New York, Lower East Side. During WWI, he will attend the City College of New York (1914-16). Thereafter, he will do odd jobs until his brother, George, already becoming known as a composer and musician, asks him to write lyrics; their first song of collaboration being "The Real American Folk Song," which will appear in 'Ladies First' (1918).

1900: American actress Agnes Moorehead born, Clinton, Massachusetts.

1907: 361 coal workers killed. In West Virginia's Marion County, an explosion at a mine owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah is the worst mining disaster in American history.

1909: Moishe Tokar, a young Russian Jewish anarchist & exiled member of Judith Goodman's in London before slipping back into Russia, attempts to assassinate Hershelman, military commander of the Vilna Fortress.

1914: On the Western Front, Dunkirk bombarded (& Furnes on the 8th) by German 15-inch naval guns emplaced 20 miles east in Flanders. GQG note states that a German retreat not anticipated for time being, but an offensive is to be launched (on 13th) to try to encourage one & to help the Russians.
~~On the Western Front, French air-dropped *flechettes* mortally wound German General Meyer on horseback.
~~On the Eastern Front, in Poland, Russians evacuate Lodz & retreat to Bzura-Ravka river line.
~~On the Southern Front, Austrian centre & right in full retreat downhill to the Kolubara. Krauss & VIII Corps strike south from Belgrade, but Serb Second Army holds until forced back. Serb Third Army reaches River Lig & First Army pursues.
~~In Armenia, Enver Pasha arrives in Trebizond en route for Erzerum.
~~In East Africa, c500 British retake 2 posts on Uganda border.
~~Off East Africa, Flt SubLt Cutler RNAS taken POW by Konigsberg, but RN tug Helmuth & her boat rescue his crash-landed seaplane.
~~Pope attempts to arrange Christtmas truce.
~~Rumania refuses Greece help against Turco-German attack.
~~ The troops of Pancho Villa & Emiliano Zapata enter Mexico City.

1915: ALLIED WAR COUNCIL AT CHANTILLY (through the 8th), including Joffre, Haig, Alexeiev & Cadorna.
~~ At Salonika, Bulgar 2nd Division bombards & probes British 10th Division position south of Kosturina & in dense fog forces it back up to 2 miles (on the 7th) with loss of 4 guns.
~~ In Albania, Essad Pasha declares for Allies & has already helped Serbs but authority limited. Arnauten tribesmen decimate Serb columns in revenge for 1912-13 bloodshed.
~~ In the Cameroons, French have advanced only 8 miles or so from Eseka, fighting every day but two, since Nov 24.
~~ In East Africa, 250 Germans retake Kasigao Hill. By 31st, 650 Germans pin down 5000 British south of Uganda Railway.
~~ Chantilly Conference (through the 10th): Allies decide on general summer 1916 offensive, also to hold Salonika.
~~ In Greece, Venizelos withdraws Party from election.
~~ U.S. note to Austria demands “Ancona” sinking disavowal & punishment (Austria replies on 14th. Second US note on 19th; Vienna complies on 29th).
~~ In England, Army officers disablement pension increased. Munitions Ministry now controls 2026 factories.

1916: Berlin Casualty Office ceases to publish regular casualty lists (‘Verlustliste'), giving names, regiments & other particulars. Henceforward alphabetical lists of individuals appear with no indication of unit or even the front concerned.
~~ At Verdun, German capture trenches at Hill 304. (French recapture them the next day).
~~ At Bar-le-Duc, French war poet Roger Eng dies of wounds, after accident at the front. Previously imprisoned for a year in the Alten Grabow camp where he wrote 'Echo d'Alten & revues & lyrics for the theatre: 'Les Ames Ouliees' (Jonan, Caen, 1913); 'Le Voyage' (Figuiere, Paris, 1913); 'Les pleurants de Saint Michel' (1917).
~~ On the Eastern Front, at Prepet, fighting west of Lutsk.
~~ In Rumania, FALL OF BUCHAREST: Mackensen rides in on a white chargers, on 67th birthday. Kaiser celebrates with champagne. 8000 Rumanian 1st Div survivors & 26 guns surrender on River Aluta after 125-mile retreat east.
~~ In Salonika, British again suspend operations to capture Tumbitza Farm (through the 7th), but capture two Turk POWs from 46th Division; British front now 90 miles long.
~~ In the Eastern Atlantic, Destroyer HMS ‘Ariel' sinks ‘UC19' with modified explosive sweep (high speed paravane).
~~ In Mesopotamia, first rain since Kut's fall.
~~ In Egypt, High Commissioner McMahon dismissed; Wingate succeeds (29th).
~~ In Greece, Compton Mackenzie & 100+ Allied agents land on Syra Island to control Eastern Mediterranean cables; all Cyclades in British hands by Feb 1917.
~~ In Italy, Socialist peace resolution defeated 293 to 47.

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