Easter 1916: Dublin, Elephant Island and the world that fortnight
On Easter Monday 1916 Irish republicans seized the centre of Dublin, and that same day Ernest Shackleton and five men set off from Elephant Island in a small boat to fetch help.
How sure we are: events with no label are high confidence. A grey label such as Exact day uncertain says why one detail is less certain; a yellow label such as Sources differ on the date marks a low-confidence event where the sources disagree or are thin. The notes say where. Dates are in the Gregorian calendar; where a country still used another calendar, the notes give the original. How events are checked
Easter Monday, 24 April 1916
The same day, in Ireland and in the Southern Ocean.
War & conflictWidely known
The Easter Rising: Irish republicans rise against British rule in Dublin
· Dublin, United Kingdom (now Ireland) · Europe
On Easter Monday
Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse seized key buildings in Dublin on Easter Monday and declared an Irish Republic. British forces put down the rising within six days, and Pearse surrendered unconditionally on 29 April.
Why it is interesting. Sixteen leaders were executed afterwards, and opinion shifted toward independence, with Sinn Féin winning 73 of 105 Irish seats in 1918.
Notes and dating details
The infobox gives 24-29 April 1916. Wikidata gives start 24 April and end 29 April 1916 (preferred rank), also an end of 30 April (normal rank, unreferenced); the article says sporadic fighting went on until Sunday 30 April after Pearse's surrender on 29 April.
Shackleton sails the James Caird from Elephant Island
· Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands · The poles
On Easter Monday
Ernest Shackleton and five companions launched the ship's boat James Caird from Elephant Island to seek rescue for the stranded Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. After 17 days they reached the southern coast of South Georgia.
Why it is interesting. Many historians call it the greatest small-boat journey ever completed; also, the whole Endurance crew survived.
Notes and dating details
End date is the landing at South Georgia on 10 May 1916, per a picture caption.
Five days after Easter Monday the siege of Kut ended in surrender; in the Sinai desert the fighting went on.
War & conflict
British Empire troops raid Turkish forces at Jifjafa well, Sinai
· Bir el Jifjafa, Sinai Desert · Middle East
13 days before Easter Monday
Date may use an older calendar.
Australian light horse, with other British Empire detachments, rode out to strike a Turkish position, the Jifjafa well, in the Sinai Desert. The raid killed six defenders, took about three dozen prisoners and wrecked the well, for the loss of one man.
Notes and dating details
Wikidata's main date is 14 April (the end date); it also holds 11 April as the start. Calendar not stated in source (Ottoman-side forces involved). Prisoner counts vary within the article: the infobox and lead say 36, the body says an Austrian engineer officer and 34 soldiers (35), and Scott's DSO citation says 38, so the reader text says about three dozen. The article's claim that this was the first offensive operation by any Australian force in the campaign could not be checked outside it, so it was dropped.
Colmar von der Goltz, a Prussian field marshal and military writer, died in Baghdad while serving in the Ottoman Army. He had commanded its Sixth Army from October 1915.
Why it is interesting. A German officer who had served as military governor of Belgium, he later served the Ottoman Empire.
Notes and dating details
Ottoman-era death in Baghdad. English and German Wikipedia both give 19 April 1916 (German Wikipedia: the night of 18-19 April, typhus), so the date is taken as Gregorian; no Old Style shift is applied.
Ottoman force defeats British mounted brigade at Katia
· Katia, Sinai Peninsula · Middle East
1 day before Easter Monday
Kress von Kressenstein led an Ottoman surprise attack on the British 5th Mounted Brigade, spread thinly east of Romani to guard a new railway and pipeline. The attack succeeded completely, while a linked Ottoman attack at Duidar failed.
Why it is interesting. The British answer was to double their strength in the area, and in August 1916 the Battle of Romani took place over much of that ground.
Notes and dating details
The British-side account ties the day of the attack to both St George's Day and Easter Sunday, which places the date in the Western (Gregorian) calendar; Wikidata agrees.
The Siege of Kut ends with the British Indian garrison's surrender
· Kut-al-Amara, Baghdad Vilayet, Ottoman Empire · Middle East
5 days after Easter Monday
Date may use an older calendar.
General Charles Townshend surrendered the besieged British Indian garrison at Kut to the Ottoman Army on 29 April 1916, after 147 days. The survivors were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo, and many died on the way.
Why it is interesting. Historian Christopher Catherwood has described the siege as the Allies' worst defeat of the First World War.
Notes and dating details
Calendar not stated in source; the source gives the siege as 7 December 1915 to 29 April 1916.
· North Sea, off Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, England · Europe
On Easter Monday
A German battlecruiser squadron under Rear Admiral Friedrich Boedicker bombarded the English ports of Yarmouth and Lowestoft, hoping to lure out British ships. The outcome was inconclusive, as the Germans withdrew before larger British forces arrived.
Why it is interesting. The raid was meant to tempt British ships out to be picked off by the German fleet.
Notes and dating details
Wikidata's place (North Sea, Norway) differs from the infobox location, which names the North Sea off Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
Anti-war socialists meet at the Kienthal Conference
· Kienthal, Switzerland · Europe
On Easter Monday
Socialists opposed to the First World War met from 24 to 30 April in the Swiss village of Kienthal. Also called the Second Zimmerwald Conference, it followed the Zimmerwald Conference of 1915.
Why it is interesting. Socialists from several countries met in a Swiss village to oppose the war.
German gas attacks hit British troops near Hulluch
· Hulluch, France · Europe
3 days after Easter Monday
German troops released cloud gas against British divisions near Hulluch on 27 April, followed by raiding parties. A second attack two days later failed when the wind blew the gas back over German lines, causing many German casualties.
Notes and dating details
Infobox casualty figures (1,980 British, 1,260 of them from gas) are not repeated in the article body and were not confirmed outside Wikipedia, so they are left out of the reader text.
· Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, United Kingdom (now Ireland) · Europe
9 days after Easter Monday
Patrick Pearse, a leader of the Easter Rising, was executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. He had read out the Irish Republic's Proclamation outside the General Post Office.
Why it is interesting. He was among the first rebels executed, and many came to see him as the embodiment of the rebellion.
Germany issues the Sussex pledge to the United States
· German Empire · Europe
10 days after Easter Monday
On 4 May 1916 Germany promised the United States a change in its naval warfare: passenger ships would not be attacked, and merchant ships would be sunk only once weapons were shown to be aboard and with provision for the safety of those on board.
Why it is interesting. Germany feared American entry into the war; it withdrew the pledge in January 1917.
From two weeks before Easter Monday to two weeks after; the first card is known only to the month.
War & conflict
Tabora offensive in German East Africa
· Tabora, German East Africa
During April 1916
Exact day uncertain.
Forces of the Belgian Congo, and from August a smaller British force from Uganda under the South African Charles Crewe, advanced on Tabora; the Belgians took the port of Kigoma and the town of Tabora. Much of Ruanda-Urundi came under Belgian military occupation.
Notes and dating details
Wikidata gives only 1916-09; infobox gives April-September 1916. Stored as a month-level span.
The Battle of Kondoa Irangi begins in German East Africa
· Kondoa Irangi, German East Africa
13 days after Easter Monday
From 7 to 10 May 1916, German colonial troops under Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck fought General van Deventer's 2nd Division at Kondoa Irangi during the East African Campaign. The Germans won.
San Lorenzo's Gasómetro stadium opens in Buenos Aires
· Buenos Aires, Argentina · South America
13 days after Easter Monday
The stadium of San Lorenzo de Almagro, known as El Gasómetro, was inaugurated in the Boedo neighbourhood on 7 May 1916 with a match that San Lorenzo won 2-1 against Estudiantes de La Plata.
Notes and dating details
Opening date 7 May 1916 and score 2-1 agree in English and Spanish Wikipedia. The English article calls the match a Primera División game; the Spanish article's lead calls it a friendly and its detailed section an official championship match, so the match type is left out. Spanish Wikipedia also says it was Argentina's biggest ground until 1950.
Pacifist film Civilization premieres in Los Angeles
· Los Angeles, United States · North America
7 days before Easter Monday
Civilization, a silent drama produced by Thomas H. Ince, tells of a submarine commander who will not fire on a civilian ocean liner. The big-budget spectacle opened at the Majestic Theatre and became a popular success in 1916.
Notes and dating details
Stores the world premiere at the Majestic Theatre, Los Angeles, on 17 April 1916, given by the AFI Catalog (as its release date, citing Variety), silentera.com, the Wikipedia article text and Wikidata (referenced to IMDb). The 2 June 1916 in the Wikipedia infobox is the New York premiere at the Criterion Theatre (silentera.com; the AFI Catalog says early June). Copyright was registered on 15 July 1916, which is not a release date. Distributed on a state-rights basis.
Yehudi Menuhin's birthplace was New York City. An American-born violinist and conductor who later held British and Swiss nationality, he performed mostly in Britain.
· Petoskey, Michigan, United States · North America
6 days after Easter Monday
Claude Shannon was born in Petoskey, Michigan. He became an American mathematician, electrical engineer and cryptographer, known as the father of information theory.
Professional Golfers' Association of America is founded
· New York City, United States · North America
14 days before Easter Monday
The PGA of America was founded on 10 April 1916 in a boardroom at the Hotel Martinique in New York, after a luncheon hosted by Rodman Wanamaker in January. Its first championship was held that October.
Nash Motors was founded, based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and later joined with Hudson Motors, creating American Motors Corporation. Its founder was a former General Motors president.
US cavalry and Carrancista troops clash at Parral, Mexico
· Parral, Mexico · North America
12 days before Easter Monday
A small American cavalry force leaving Parral in Chihuahua was attacked by a larger body of Carrancista soldiers. The Americans withdrew in an organised fight and got safely to Santa Cruz de Villegas, a village with defences.
Notes and dating details
Infobox gives location as near Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico and result as Mexican victory; the lead says the Americans repulsed the attacks and escaped.
· Glenn Springs, Texas, United States · North America
11 days after Easter Monday
On the night of 5 to 6 May 1916, Villista and Carrancista raiders attacked Glenn Springs and Boquillas in Texas. They burned buildings, fought American soldiers and took two hostages to Coahuila, and four Americans were killed.
Notes and dating details
The raid ran through the night of 5 to 6 May; the infobox date is 5 May 1916.
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