1918 was an eventful year in American and world history

HMS Hermes (95)

This week’s paper marks the final edition of The Courant for the year 2017, and next week’s paper will be the first edition of the year 2018. Much has taken place in Conecuh County and in the rest of the world during the preceding year, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to say the same this time next year.

Next week in this space, as I usually do on the first Thursday of every month, I’ll offer up my monthly review of all the interesting things that were happening in Conecuh County a century ago, way back in January 1918. The year 1918 was an interesting year in history, and you might be surprised by some of the things that occurred during that year a century ago.

On Jan. 9, 1918, U.S troops engaged Yaqui Indian warriors in what’s now known as the Battle of Bear Valley in Arizona. This skirmish was one of the last battles between the United States and Native Americans. Later, on Jan. 15, the keel of the HMS Hermes, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier, was laid in Britain. Also that month, the first cases of the 1918 “Spanish flu” were first observed in Haskell County, Kansas.

On Feb. 5, 1918, the SS Tuscania was torpedoed off the Irish coast, becoming the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk during World War I. The following day, the Representation of the People Act was passed in the United Kingdom, giving most women over the age of 30 the right to vote. Later that month, on Feb. 21, the last captive Carolina parakeet, the last breed of parrot native to the eastern U.S., died in the Cincinnati Zoo.

On March 12, 1918, Moscow became the official capital of Soviet Russia. One week later, on March 19, the U.S. Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time for the first time ever. On March 23, the gigantic German cannon known as the “Paris Gun” began shelling Paris from 71 miles away.

On April 1, 1918, Britain’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged to create the Royal Air Force, which was the first autonomous military Air Force in the world. Later that month, on April 21, Manfred von Richtofen, the famous fighter pilot known as the “Red Baron,” died in combat at Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River.

On May 2, 1918, General Motors acquired the Chevrolet Motor Co., and on May 15, the U.S. Post Office began regular airmail service between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. On June 1, World War I’s famous Battle of Belleau Wood began. Also in June, the “Spanish flu” became an official pandemic, killed over 30 million people during the ensuing six months.

On July 15, 1918, World War I’s Second Battle of the Marne began with a German attack near the Marne River. Two days later, the Romanov family was executed in Russia by Bolsheviks, resulting in the deaths of former emperor Nicholas II, his wife, five of their children and their retainers. On Aug. 21, World War I’s Second Battle of the Somme began, and six days later, at what’s now known as the Battle of Ambos Nogales, the U.S. Army skirmished against Mexican and German forces at Nogales, Ariz. in the only World War I battle fought on American soil.

September 1918 was marred by a number of World War I battles, including the Battle of Dobro Pole, the Battle of Megiddo, the Battle of Sharon, the Battle of Nablus, the Battle of Nazareth, the Capture of Damascus and the Allied breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line on Sept. 29. On Oct. 8, U.S. Army Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France.

On Nov. 11, 1918, World War I ended when Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies inside a railroad car in the Compiegne Forest in France. Less than a month later, on Dec. 4, President Woodrow Wilson departed by ship to the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first U.S. President to travel to Europe while in office.

As you can see, 1918 was an eventful year in American and world history. Who’s to say what 2018 will bring, but I’m sure that it will likely be as eventful as that remarkable year a century ago.