1914
1914 was the 43rd year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.
Events
- January 14: The Lyric Theatre opened its doors with a program featuring cartoonist Rube Goldberg.
- February 14: St Elias Maronite Church was dedicated.
- Alabama Power built its first hydro-electric dam on the Coosa River, and created Lay Lake as a reservoir.
- New boilers were installed at Sloss Furnaces.
- The Birmingham Motor and Country Club purchased Edgewood Country Club.
- The resort hotel at Blount Springs closed down.
- Meetings of the Pioneers Club began.
- "The Machine", a secret society of fraternities, was founded at the University of Alabama
- The City of Birmingham began showing free nightly motion pictures at Capitol Park.
- The Town of Odenville was incorporated.
Sports
- Pitcher Burleigh Grimes debuted with the Birmingham Barons.
- Pitcher Harry Coveleski returned to the major leagues, winning 22 starts for the Detroit Tigers.
Business
- W. P. G. Harding resigned as President of the First National Bank of Birmingham.
- Morris W. Bush succeeded Ward W. Jacobs as President of the Shelby Iron Company.
- Victor H. Hanson declared the Birmingham News to be the "South's Greatest Newspaper"
- Mining activities at Brookside peak with 600 men working the mines.
- Holy Innocents Hospital left the patronage of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama and became Children's Hospital.
Works
Books
- The Book of Birmingham and Alabama, by the Birmingham Ledger
- The Case Against the Little White Slaver. by Henry Ford, with an account of research done at Ensley High School.
Buildings
- Coosa River Dam
- Lyric Theatre
- Molton Hotel
- Tutwiler Hotel (1914)
- Industrial High School was condemned.
- Woodlawn Masonic Temple
People
- Martin Eagan succeeded George Bodeker as Chief of the Birmingham Police Department.
- Hugo Black began a four year term as Jefferson County prosecutor.
- Alf Brown rejoined the Birmingham Fire Department
Births
- April 20: Betty Lou Gerson, radio actress
- May 22: Herman Poole Blount (Sun Ra), jazz composer and bandleader
- July 26: Erskine Hawkins, jazz composer and bandleader
- August 11: Hugh Martin, lyricist
- September 1: Bert Bank, Alabama Football Network founder
- October 13: Joseph A. Durick, Catholic bishop
- Nina Miglionico, former Birmingham City Council member
- Akiva Ostrovsky, cantor and mohel at Temple Beth-El
- Bernice Shepherd, former head of housekeeping at East End Hospital
- George Watson, Medal of Honor winner
Context
1914 saw the opening of major conflict in World War I. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded. Mother's Day was made a national holiday by President Wilson. Ireland was granted Home Rule. Babe Ruth debuted in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox. The Panama Canal Treaty was signed and the canal opened to traffic. Pope Pius X was succeeded by Pope Benedict XV. The Federal Reserve Bank opened for business. Stainless steel was first available in consumer goods. Mohandas Gandhi began to lead the movement for Indian independence. The first air conditioner was patented by W. H. Carrier.
Notable births of 1914 include Danny Thomas, William S. Burroughs, Ralph Ellison, Alec Guinness, Joe Louis, Yuri Andropov, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr, Allen Funt, Dylan Thomas, Jonas Salk, and Joe DiMaggio. Deaths in 1914 included Adlai Stevenson, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Pope Pius X, and John Muir. Notable films of 1914 included The Squaw Man, Tillie's Punctured Romance, and Charlie Chaplin's Making a Living. Books published in 1914 included The Dubliners by James Joyce and Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. W. C. Handy's St Louis Blues was published, and Ralph Vaughan Williams London Symphony (No. 2) was premiered.
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