page_title: 1914
section_title: July
hierarchical_section_title: 1914 / Events / July
context_page_description: 1914 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1914th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 914th year of the 2nd millennium, the 14th year of the 20th century, and the 5th year of the 1910s decade. As of the start of 1914, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
  This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrillo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide scheduled regular commercial passenger services with heavier-than-air aircraft, with the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line.
context_section_description: July 1 – The Royal Naval Air Service, a forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established.
  July 2 – The German Kaiser announces that he will not attend the Archduke's funeral.
  July 4
  The Archduke's funeral takes place at Artstetten Castle, 50 miles west of Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
  Lexington Avenue bombing: Four people are killed in New York City, when an anarchist bomb intended to kill John D. Rockefeller explodes prematurely, in the conspirator's apartment.
  July 5 – A council is held at Potsdam, powerful leaders within Austria-Hungary and Germany meet to discuss the possibilities of war with Serbia, Russia, and France.
  July 7 – Austria-Hungary convenes a Council of Ministers, including Ministers for Foreign Affairs and War, the Chief of the General Staff and Naval Commander-in-Chief; the Council lasts from 11:30 am until 6:15 pm.
  July 9 – The Emperor of Austria-Hungary receives the report of the Austro-Hungarian investigation, into the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo. The Times publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
  July 10 – Nicholas Hartwig, Russian Minister to Serbia, dies suddenly while visiting Austrian minister Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen, at the Austrian Legation in Belgrade.
  July 11
  Baseball legend Babe Ruth makes his major league debut, with the Boston Red Sox.
  USS Nevada, the United States Navy's first "super-dreadnought" battleship, is launched.
  Over 5,000 people attend a rally in Union Square, Manhattan, called by the Anti-Militarist League to commemorate the anarchists killed in the July 4th Lexington Avenue bombing.
  July 13 – Reports surface of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belgrade.
  July 14 – The Government of Ireland Bill completes its passage through the House of Lords in the U.K. It allows Ulster counties to vote on whether or not they wish to participate in Home Rule from Dublin.
  July 15 – Mexican Revolution: Victoriano Huerta resigns from the presidency of Mexico, and leaves for Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
  July 18
  The Signal Corps of the United States Army is formed, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.
  The British Fleet is reviewed at Spithead, by George V.
  Mahatma Gandhi leaves South Africa for the last time, sailing out of Cape Town for England, on board the S.S. Kinfauns Castle.
  July 19 – George V summons a conference to discuss the Irish Home Rule problem. It meets from July 21–24, without reaching consensus.
  July 23 – July Ultimatum: Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.
  July 25 – Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic ties with Serbia, and begins to mobilise its own forces. Radomir Putnik, Chief of the Serbian General Staff, is arrested in Budapest, but subsequently allowed to return to Serbia.
  July 26 – Bachelor's Walk massacre: The King's Own Scottish Borderers of the British Army fire on Dubliners at Bachelor's Walk, killing 3, and injuring 38 people.
  July 27
  Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.
  Iglesia ni Cristo, an independent Christian sect, is founded in the Philippines.
  July 28
  World War I: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia by telegram. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia orders a partial mobilisation against Austria-Hungary.
  Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux, is acquitted of murder by reason of crime passionnel.
  July 28–August 10 – World War I: Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau: British and French naval forces fail to prevent the ships of the Imperial German Navy Mediterranean Division from reaching the Dardanelles.
  July 29
  World War I: Austro-Hungarian Navy river monitor SMS Bodrog fires the first shots of the war, opening the bombardment of the defences of Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
  In Massachusetts, the new Cape Cod Canal opens; it shortens the trip between New York and Boston by 66 miles, but also turns Cape Cod into an island.
  July 31
  Russia orders full mobilisation.
  French anti-war socialist le
caption: Map of European alliances in 1914