What happened in 1915

25 entries recorded for 1915, listed by date. That was 111 years ago.

1915 at a glance

January 1
Sayfo
Historical event
Russia withdraws from its occupation of northwestern Iran, enabling a subsequent Ottoman invasion and massacres of Assyrians and Armenians.
January 13
1915 Avezzano earthquake
Historical event
About 30,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck the Province of L'Aquila in Italy.
January 18
Ōkuma Shigenobu
Historical event
Japanese prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu issued the Twenty-One Demands to China in a bid to increase Japan's power in East Asia.
January 19
World War I
Historical event
World War I: The first major attack of the German bombing campaign against Britain took place when Zeppelins bombed several towns in Norfolk.
January 23
John Chilembwe
Historical event
Rebels led by John Chilembwe attacked local plantation owners, beginning an uprising regarded as a key moment in the history of Malawi.

February 15
Islam in India
Historical event
Sepoys of Indian Muslim background mutinied against their British officers in Singapore.

March 10
Battle of Neuve-Chapelle
Historical event
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the first deliberately planned British offensive of the First World War, began.
March 18
World War I
Historical event
First World War: In one of the largest naval battles of the Gallipoli campaign, Ottoman forces sank three Allied battleships and severely damaged three others.
March 25
Mehmed Reshid
Historical event
The appointment of Mehmed Reshid as governor of Diyarbekir, Turkey, intensified the genocide of Syriac Christians by pro-Ottoman forces.

April 18
World War I
Historical event
World War I: Hit by ground fire, French aviation pioneer Roland Garros (pictured) landed his aircraft behind enemy lines and was taken prisoner by German forces.
April 24
Armenian genocide
Historical event
The Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire began with the arrest and deportation of hundreds of prominent Armenians in Constantinople.
April 25
World War I
Historical event
First World War: The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
April 26
World War I
Historical event
First World War: Britain, France and Russia signed a secret treaty promising territory to Italy if it joined the war on their side.

May 3
Royal Air Force
Historical event
The oldest Royal Air Force station in continuous operation, RAF Northolt, opened as home to No. 4 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron.
May 6
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Historical event
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: SY Aurora, anchored in McMurdo Sound, broke loose during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal in the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean for her 18-man crew.
May 9
World War I
Historical event
World War I: British forces launched the Battle of Aubers, an offensive on the Western Front, as part of the larger Second Battle of Artois.
May 19
World War I
Historical event
First World War: Australian and New Zealand troops repelled the third attack on Anzac Cove, inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Ottoman forces.
May 22
Lassen Peak
Historical event
California's Lassen Peak violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

July 6
World War I
Historical event
First World War: The British and French prime ministers, H. H. Asquith and René Viviani, met at Calais to discuss future offensives including the Gallipoli campaign.
July 28
United States Marine Corps
Historical event
U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince to begin a nineteen-year occupation of Haiti.

August 17
1915 Galveston hurricane
Historical event
A category 4 hurricane made landfall in Galveston, Texas, leaving at least 275 people dead.

September 5
Zimmerwald Conference
Historical event
The Zimmerwald Conference, the first of three international socialist conferences forming the Zimmerwald movement, opened in Switzerland.
September 5
Casablanca Fair of 1915
Historical event
The Casablanca Fair (poster pictured) opened in the French protectorate in Morocco.

December 4
World War I
Historical event
World War I: Senior British and French figures, including prime ministers H. H. Asquith and Aristide Briand, met at Calais to discuss the future of the Salonika Front.
December 29
World War I
Historical event
First World War: The French parliament passed a law granting the land occupied by British war graves as "the free gift of the French people".

This site records 25 entries for 1915, including Sayfo on January 1. They are listed below by date.

111 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1915 turns 111 this year.

1915 falls in the 20th century, in the 1910s.

Greatest Generation (1901–1927). Grew up in the Depression and fought in the Second World War.

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