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1916 was a year in which many events happened. In 1916 WWI was still going on and new technology which had never been used before brought war to a whole knew level. Also there were many political events that took place. People died and others were born. The Summer Olympic Games in Berlin were cancelled due to the war. Laws and Acts were passed. Poems were published and history was made.

• On January 1 the Rose Bowl football game return to stay after being removed after its first time in 1902.
• On February 21 The Battle of Verdun begins in France.
• March 15, in the Pursue of Panch Villa, the US sends 12,000 troops across the Mexican border.
• A U.S. poliomyelitis epidemic strikes 28,767 in midsummer and fall. It kills 6,000 people 2,000 of the dead are in New York and thousands more are in one way or in another affected by the disease, sometime mentally and sometimes physically.
• Berlin had notified Washington saying that German U-Boats would treat armed merchantmen as cruisers. Three Americans had died in the sinking of the unarmed French steamer S.S. Sussex on March 24 in the English Channel. Washington warned Berlin, saying that the United States will end all diplomatic relations with Germany unless the Germans stop sinking passenger ships and freight carrying vessels. Berlin replied in early May that they would not sink merchant vessels without warning unless they tried to escape or resistance seizure.
• The first US Professional Golfers Association tournament occurs at Siwanoy Country Club at Bronxville, NY.
• The Battle of Somme lasted from July to mid-November and was the bloodiest battle ever in history. The battle lasts 140-days and involves 3 million men along a front of 20 miles. The Allied armies lose 794,000 men and the Central Powers lose 538,888 men. The Allies eventually drive the Germans back no more than 7 miles and the Germans end up regaining most of the lost ground in 1918.
• First Tanks are used during the battle of Somme which brought a whole new level of war and technology.
• First biological weapon are used during the battle of Somme by the Germans.
• The Boston Red Sox win World Series by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one .
• The first birth control clinic was opened in New York City on October 16.
• November 7 President Wilson wins reelection although he believed he has lost until California gave him 23 more electoral votes which gave him more than his Republican opponent Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson won 49% of the popular vote and Hughes won 46%.
• Jeanette Rankin becomes the 1st women elected in the House of Representatives.
• On November 21 the British hospital ship S.S. Britannic hits a mine and sinks in just 50 minutes. It was on its way to pick up 3,500 wounded soldiers from the Aegean island of Lemnos so they could be transferred to Naples. The ship had 1,136 people aboard and 30 of them are killed. Most are killed by the Britannic's own propellers.
• Robert Frost publishes "Mountain Interval" which includes the poem "The Road Not Taken."
• The National Child Labor Committee  helped to pass the Keating-Owen Act.
• Nathan's Famous Franks has its beginning in Coney Island, NY selling hot dogs for a nickel. It was founded by Nathan Handwreker who is 25. He is married to 19-year-old Ida, who "laces" the hotdogs with her secret spice recipe.
• On August 25, the National Parks Service is created.
• The American author James Henry dies.
• Vaslav Nijinsky visits and dances in the US.

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last updated 12/04/05