1916

1845–1958	Germany [earth sciences]	German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt lays the basis of modern geography with the publication of Kosmos/Cosmos, in which he arranges geographic knowledge in a systematic fashion.
1916	USA [clothing and fashion]	Northam Warren introduces Cutex, the first liquid nail polish, in the USA.
1916	Austria-Hungary, Germany [charities]	The Austrian War Dog Institute and the German Association for Serving Dogs begin training dogs as guides for the blind.
1916	United Kingdom [companies and organizations]	The Cub Scouts are founded by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain.
1916	[art]	The Dada movement (producing iconoclastic ‘anti-art’ works) emerges in Zürich in Switzerland, its leading figures including the Romanian writer Tristan Tzara and the French artist Hans Arp. It lasts until the early 1920s, when it is absorbed by surrealism.
1916	[orchestral music]	The English composer Gustav Holst completes his orchestral suite The Planets.
1916	Germany [physics]	German physicist Albert Einstein publishes The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity, in which he postulates that space is curved locally by the presence of mass, and that this can be demonstrated by observing the deflection of starlight around the Sun during a total eclipse. This replaces previous Newtonian ideas that invoke a force of gravity.
1916	[poetry]	The US writer Carl Sandburg publishes his poetry collection Chicago Poems.
1916	USA [consumer products]	Coca-Cola launches its distinctively shaped bottle.
1916	Germany [political events]	The clocks are put forward by one hour in Germany in order to save energy for the war effort by reducing the need for artificial illumination.
1916	USA [jazz]	The term ‘jazz’ emerges, for syncopated, improvisational, highly rhythmic music originating in black communities in the southern USA.
8 January - 9 January 1916	Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [World War I (1914–18)]	Allied forces are withdrawn from Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the Ottoman Empire, completing the evacuation of troops from the Dardanelles.
8 January - 17 January 1916	Austria-Hungary, Montenegro, Europe [World War I (1914–18)]	Austro-Hungarian forces attack Montenegro, and the Serbian army flees to Corfu.
18 February 1916	Cameroon [World War I (1914–18)]	The last German garrison in the Cameroons surrenders to the British general Sir Charles Dobell.
21 February - 18 December 1916	France [World War I (1914–18)]	German and Allied troops meet in the Battle of Verdun in France, the German commander Eric von Falkenhayn planning to sap French reserves in a battle of attrition. By the end of the battle each side has lost about 400,000 men.
11 March 1916	[births and deaths]	Harold Wilson, Labour prime minister of Britain 1964–70 and 1974–76, born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England (–1995).
15 March 1916	Germany [World War I (1914–18)]	Germany begins a second campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare.
15 March 1916	USA, Mexico [wars]	A US punitive expedition under the command of General John J Pershing is sent into Mexico to pursue the Mexican revolutionary Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa.
24 April - 1 May 1916	United Kingdom [revolution]	With the support of Sinn Fein, members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood take part in the ‘Easter Rising’ in Dublin, Ireland, in an attempt to end British rule in Ireland. The rising is suppressed by British forces after heavy fighting, and its leaders (including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly) are executed.
29 April 1916	Iraq, Ottoman Empire, Anatolia, United Kingdom [World War I (1914–18)]	The Ottoman army recaptures the Mesopotamian city of Kut-al-Imara from the occupying British forces, following a siege dating from 7 December 1915. 10,000 prisoners are taken.
21 May 1916	United Kingdom [natural resources]	The British government introduces British Summer Time. The clocks are put forward one hour to help save valuable resources such as coal during wartime.
31 May - 1 June 1916	Germany, United Kingdom [World War I (1914–18)]	The British and German surface fleets clash in the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea, their one major conflict of the war. The British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe loses a greater number of ships, but succeeds in reaffirming its naval dominance. The German fleet will remain in harbour for the rest of the war.
4 June - 20 August 1916	Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary [World War I (1914–18)]	The Russian armies commanded by General Alexei Brusilov mount the Brusilov Offensive, pushing the Austro-Hungarian line south of the Russian Pripet Marshes, but the attack is blunted by German reinforcements.
6 June 1916	Greece [World War I (1914–18)]	British and French armies blockade Greece, suspecting that King Constantine is in league with the Central Powers, and only relent when the Greek army is stood down on 22 June.
1 July - 18 November 1916	France [World War I (1914–18)]	French and British troops mount the Battle of the Somme in France, a massive offensive which gains 8 km/5 mi of territory. The British Army suffers 60,000 casualties (including 20,000 dead) on the first day, while the whole campaign results in over 620,000 British and French casualties and about 450,000 German casualties.
9 July 1916	[births and deaths]	Edward Heath, prime minister of Britain 1970–74, a Conservative, born in Broadstairs, Kent, England.
27 August 1916	Romania, Austria-Hungary [World War I (1914–18)]	Romania joins the Allies and declares war on Austria-Hungary.
29 August 1916	Germany [World War I (1914–18)]	Following victories on the Eastern Front, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg is appointed German chief of the general staff (with Eric Ludendorff as quartermaster general) in sucession to Eric von Falkenhayn, whose strategy at Verdun, France, is not working.
31 August 1916	Germany [law and government]	The German government accepts the ‘Hindenburg Plan’ for militarization of the German war economy.
4 September 1916	German East Africa [World War I (1914–18)]	Allied troops under the South African general Jan Smuts take Dar es Salaam, the capital of German East Africa (now Tanzania).
9 October 1916	Greece [World War I (1914–18)]	The former Greek prime minister Eleutherios Venizelos arrives in Thessaloníki (English Salonika), Greece, to establish a provisional government supportive of the Allies.
26 October 1916	[births and deaths]	François Mitterrand, Socialist president of France 1981–96, born in Jarnac, France (–1996).
7 November 1916	USA [human rights]	Montana voters make Jeanette Rankin the first woman to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
December 1916	Europe [World War I (1914–18)]	The ‘turnip winter’ in Central Europe sees food shortages caused by the Allied naval blockade and a high mortality rate among the civilian population.
7 December 1916	United Kingdom [law and government]	David Lloyd George is appointed British prime minister and forms a coalition government. On 10 December he forms a war cabinet, including the Conservatives Arthur Balfour, Andrew Bonar Law, Lord Curzon, and Lord Milner, and the Labour leader Arthur Henderson.
12 December 1916	USA, Japan [legislation]	The US Senate passes its Immigration Bill, with an amended literacy test clause designed to meet Japanese criticism.