August 1, 1914: World War I Begins
The evening edition of Joseph Pulitzer's sensationalist newspaper, The New York World , August 1, 1914. August 1, 1914: The Great War begins. What will later be known as the World War and World War I. It does not, however, end by Christmas as both sides suggest (in victory for themselves, of course). And, as you can guess by the fact that there's a Roman numeral on the war's name, it did not turn out to be "The War to End All Wars." Here's the chronology: * June 28: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Archduchess Sophie, are assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. Anti-Serb riots break out in Sarajevo (in present-day Bosnia) and Zagreb (in present-day Croatia). Austria spent the next 4 weeks trying to figure out how to punish Serbia for this. * July 25: Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic ties with Serbia, and mobilizes its armed forces. * July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on