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Country House

Country house

In Britain and Ireland, the term country house generally refers to a large house which was built on an agricultural estate as the private residence of the landowner. The vast majority of country houses in Britain and Ireland were built before 1914. 1914; country house of the Duke of Bedford]]

Defining the country house

Subject to qualifications which are discussed below, a country house will once have been the centrepiece of an agricultural estate large enough to provide the landowner with sufficient income to be accepted as a member of either the aristocracy or the gentry. In the 19th century and earlier this generally required an estate of at least a thousand acres (4 km²) of land. A few landowners owned more than a hundred times this minimum, and this inequality within the ruling class is reflected in the range of country houses which were built. A country house may be built in any architectural style. It will probably have at least 25 rooms and at least 8,000 square feet (740 m²) of floor space, including service rooms. There are many designations which are used by a large number of houses, such as "house", "hall", "castle", "park", "palace", "court", "abbey", "priory", or "grange", and this often reveals something about its history, especially if it originated before 1800. On the other hand, the name may have been chosen on the whim of the owner, especially if the house was built after 1800. For example, many country houses which are designated "castle" never had any military purpose. Most country houses have large grounds comprised of a garden in the immediate vicinity of the house, and a larger park beyond the garden which is grazed by animals, but also has aesthetic and recreational purposes. Many of the finest gardens in Britain are country house gardens. A country house is typically several hundred metres from any other houses, but it may be close to the centre of a village or even close to the centre of a small town. (The larger the settlement the larger the house will need to be to retain its status as a "country house"—Alnwick Castle is an example of a very large house which is in a town, but is generally perceived to be a country house.) On the other hand, some large houses in Britain that were built in rural locations are now surrounded by suburban sprawl. However, these may still be referred to as country houses in some contexts, especially by architectural historians. Syon Park in the suburbs of London is an example of this. In Britain a "country house" is not simply a house in a rural location. The term is generally only applied to houses which are large enough to be regarded as mansions. There are several types of smaller houses which are common in the British countryside, but are not "country houses" in the sense in which the term is generally used, these include farmhouses, cottages, rectories, oast houses and barn conversions; anyone who owns one of these and refers to it as their "country house" is likely to be considered extremely pretentious by most people in Britain. (Current usage errs towards the opposite tendency of referring to medium-sized homes in the country as "cottages", especially if they are "second homes".) The term stately home is closely related to "country house", but it does not have quite the same meaning. "Country house" is the term usually preferred by architectural historians and by the owners of the houses. On the other hand, the term "stately home" is frequently used in the media, by tourist operators and members of the public. When someone refers to a "stately home", they are probably thinking of one of the largest and grandest ten per cent of country houses, especially those which are open to the public. The usage of the term "stately home" is discussed in more detail in a separate article. This article will use the term "country house".

Who built the houses, and why

The architectural historian Mark Girouard argues in Life in the English Country House, that country houses were essentially "power houses" built to enhance the ability of the owners to influence local and national politics. Some of the great houses, such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall, were certainly built to impress and to dominate the landscape. It should also be noted that not all country house builders had an interest in politics, even in an informal sense. Nevertheless, country houses often served as meeting places for the ruling class to discuss, for example, election campaigns. Also, many country house owners and members of their families served as Lord Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace, and local courts were still sometimes held in country houses well into the 19th century; this practice was a holdover from the Medieval manor courts. Country-house-owning members of the aristocracy and gentry continued, in diminishing degrees, to hold high office into the twentieth century. Lord Carrington was perhaps the last of this breed. In the 19th Century, the political power of the landowning class began its slow decline with the Great Reform Act of 1832, and the new class of industrialists slowly began, in many cases, to eclipse the wealth of the aristocracy and gentry. Many of these men bought or built new country houses, and the previously vital link to land ownership was slowly eroded. Some late 19th- and early 20th-century houses, such as Cragside, were never supported by an agricultural estate.

The architectural history of the country house

The headings in this section are merely intended to provide a rough indication of the main periods in the architectural history of the country house: styles did not suddenly come and go in specific years, and many individual houses evolved slowly over several centuries.

The first country houses: before 1500

Baddesley Clinton

The Tudor and Jacobean periods:1500–1630


- Montacute House
- Oxon Hoath

The dissolution of the monasteries

Many country houses in Britain were converted from ecclesiastical properties of the great abbeys and priories following the dissolution of the monasteries by the Henry VIII. Further information:
- Woburn Abbey

Prodigy houses


- Longleat
- Wollaton Hall
- Hardwick Hall
- Hatfield House

The formal house:1630–1720

First Palladian period

Further information:- Inigo Jones Wilton House

The Baroque country house

The baroque style arrived in England circa 1680. While Sir Christopher Wren and his contemporaries were influenced by baroque architecture from Europe, the first baroque house in England was Chatsworth House, designed by Richard Talman for the Duke of Devonshire, built during the 1690s. The style was quickly developed by such architects as Sir John Vanbrugh into what became known as English or Queen Anne baroque. The best known baroque house in England is probably Blenheim Palace, completed in the early 1720s. However, the truest example of baroque in England is Vanbrugh's first notable house, Castle Howard, begun in 1699. Baroque never became truly popular in England and by the mid 1720s had been almost completely superseded by the Palladian revival movement. Other English baroque houses include:- ::
- Seaton Delaval Hall ::
- Easton Neston It should be noted that throughout this period, many smaller country houses continued to be built in semi-vernacular styles with only minimal baroque influence.

The classical ideal: 1730–1790

The 18th century was the period when academic interest in architecture was at its peak among the British ruling class. The baroque style dominated the first twenty years of the century, but other major movements soon followed.

The Palladian country house (2nd)

Further information:- ::
- Giacomo Leoni ::
- William Kent ::
- Edward Lovett Pearce ::
- Richard Cassels ::
- Lord Burlington ::
- Palladian Architecture ::
- Holkham Hall

The Neoclassical country house

Further information:- ::
- Robert Adam ::
- Kedleston Hall ::
- Syon Park

The Gothic Revival and 19th-century eclecticism

::
- Tyntesfield ::
- Strawberry Hill ::
- Fonthill Abbey ::
- Cragside ::
- Waddesdon Manor ::
- Eaton Hall

Twentieth century postscript

Life in the country house

Social structures

The country house was the centre of its own world, providing employment to literally hundreds of people in the vicinity of its estate. In previous eras, when state benefits were unheard of, those working on an estate were among the most fortunate, receiving secured employment and rent free accommodation. At the summit of these fortunate people were the indoor staff of the country house. Until the 20th century, unlike many of their contemporaries, they slept in proper beds, wore well-made, adequate clothes, received three proper meals a day and a small wage. In an era when many still died for lack of medicine or from malnutrition, the long working hours were a small price to pay. The movie Gosford Park accurately recreated the stratified and repressed but secure atmosphere of the English country house just surviving into the age of the automobile. Many aristocrats owned more than one country house and would visit each according to the season (grouse shooting in Scotland, and pheasant shooting and fox hunting in England). The Earl of Rosebery, for instance, had Dalmeny in Scotland, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire and another near Epsom just for the racing season.

Old and new money

Changes in the country house lifestyle since 1830

In 1830 the first passenger railway in England was opened, and within twenty years, most Britons had access to passenger train service. This was an important event in the history of the country house because travelling times within Britain began to fall sharply. The introduction of the motor car in the 20th century would accelerate this trend. The country house served as a wonderful place for relaxing, hunting, and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week. So necessary was the country house deemed to be, that following the election of the first Labour Government in 1921, Lord Lee of Farham donated his country house Chequers to the nation for the use of a Prime Minister who might not possess one of his own. Chequers still fulfils that need today as do both Chevening House and Dorneywood country houses, donated for sole use of high ranking ministers of the crown.

The decline of the country house

The decline of the English country house began during the Agricultural Depression of the 1870s and was dramatically accelerated by World War I. The huge staff required to maintain them had either left to fight and never return, departed to work in the munitions factories, or to fulfil the void left by the fighting men in other work places. On the cessation of war, of those who returned, many left the countryside for better paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came following World War II, when many houses which had been requisitioned by the government for use as barracks, hospitals and the like were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many of whom having lost their heirs, if not in the immediately preceding war, then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes from the accompanying estates had dropped; thus, the solution appeared to be to demolish the house and sell its stone, fireplaces, and panelling. And this is exactly what happened to many of Britain's finest houses. The majority have fallen to the deprivations of modern life and become schools, hospitals, and prisons. Reduced from being 'Stately Homes', they are neither stately nor homes. Many, for example Cliveden and Hartwell House, have become luxury hotels, and many more, less luxurious hotels. These are among the fortunate few. In Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s thousands of country houses were demolished.

The country house in recent years

At some point in recent decades—perhaps after the exhibition, The Destruction of the Country House, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1974, or after the election of the Thatcher government in 1979 which led to reductions in taxes on the rich—the precipitous decline of the British country house, which many people, both sympathetic and hostile, had assumed would continue until there were very few survivors, none of them occupied as private residences, levelled off, and arguably it has now been reversed. The role of the country house has continued to evolve, however, and the link between country houses and agriculture, the activity that gave birth to them, grows less significant each year. Today in Britain, country houses are in a variety of ownerships and serve a variety of functions. Many, such as Montacute House, West Wycombe Park, and Lyme Park, are owned by public bodies including the National Trust and are open to the public as museums as part of the "Stately home industry". Some, including Wilton House and Chatsworth House and many smaller houses such as Pencarrow in Cornwall and Rousham House in Oxfordshire, are still owned by the families who built them, retain their treasures and are open during summer months to the public. A large number are still owned by an individual and are not open to the public, but some of these have been separated from their agricultural estates, and few houses of the highest architectural or historic importance fall into this category. Compton Wynyates and Badminton House are exceptions. Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, one of the last of the architecturally important country houses never to have been opened to public viewing, has just (2004) been offered for sale by Lord Hesketh. Today owning a 'Country House' can be a mixed blessing. Usually listed as a building of historic interest, they can only be maintained under Government supervision, often interpreted by the owners as interference as it is usually the most costly method that the Government inspectors insist upon. This system does, however, ensure that all work is correctly and authentically done; the negative side is that many owners cannot afford the work, so a roof remains leaking for the sake of a cheap roof tile. For all the hardships of owning a country house, many people still aspire to own one. Those that do often labour night and day to retain the houses they feel privileged to have inherited.

Outside England

Welsh country houses were perhaps only different from their English counterparts in minor ways, but Scottish, Irish, and Continental European country houses differed more substantially.

The Scottish country house

The Irish country house

Beyond the British Isles

While almost all European countries possessed wealthy and powerful, landowning elites in past centuries, and probably all of them contain large houses located in the country, the social and architectural history of landowners' houses in these countries was generally very different from what happened in Britain and Ireland. Houses with many similarities to the British country house can also be found outside Europe.

See also


- Stately home
- Historic house
- English country house
- List of historic houses
- Manor house
- National Trust
- Historic Houses Association
- Treasure Houses of England
- Country House (song)

External links


- [http://www.hudsons.co.uk Hudsons - an online country house directory]
- [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk The National Trust - owns many country houses]
- [http://www.nts.org.uk The National Trust for Scotland]
- [http://www.hha.org.uk Historic Houses Association - represents privately owned houses] Category:Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Category:Mansions

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.

Terminology


- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.

History

Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.

Government and politics

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.

Subdivisions

The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Military

The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.

Geography

Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Society

Demographics

At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.

Culture

Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.

Sport

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.

Miscellaneous topics

External links


- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

1914

1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. (see link for calendar)

Events

January-April


- January 4 - 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador.
- January 5 - Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
- January 10 - Mexican Revolution - Pancho Villa's troops take Ojinaga in the Mexican state of Chihuahua
- February 13 - Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
- March 1 - The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
- March 10 - Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velasquez painting Rokeby Venus in London’s national gallery with a meat chopper.
- March 16 - Wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux shoots Gaston Calmet, the editor of Le Figaro because he threatened to publish Caillaux's love letters to her during his previous marriage. (She is later acquitted.)
- March 27 - Belgian surgeon A. Hustin makes the first successful blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.
- March 29 - Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive in Easter Island to make the first true study of it (departs August 1915)
- April 14 - The city of Irving, Texas is incorporated.
- April 20 - Colorado coalfield Massacre or Ludlow Massacre. Colorado National guard attacks 1200 tent colony of striking coal miners in Ludlow - 24 people dead.
- April 21 - 3000 US marines land in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
- The American Radio Relay League is founded.

May-July


- May 9 - J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.
- May 14 - Woodrow Wilson signs Mother's Day proclamation.
- May 14 - The Hellenic Holocaust begins in the Ottoman Empire.
- May 25 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
- May 29 - The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,024 lives lost. Gulf of St. Lawrence, World War I has now become inevitable]]
- June 1 - Woodrow Wilson's envoy Edward Mandell House meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- June 18 - Constitutionals take San Luis Potos - Venustiano Carranza demands Victoriano Huerta's surrender
- June 23 - Kiel Canal reopened (owing to its having been deepened) by the Kaiser: Visit of the British Fleet under Sir G. Warrender: Kaiser inspects the Dreadnought H.M.S. "King George V".
- June 28 - The assassination in Sarajevo: Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife, the Archduchess Sophie are killed by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
- June 29 - Austria-Hungary: Secretary of the Legation at Belgrade sends despatch to Vienna suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo.Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo and throughout Bosnia generally.
- June 30-Great Britain: Addresses in Parliament on the murdered Archduke: Lords Crewe and Lansdowne in House of Lords; Messrs. Asquith and Law in House of Commons.
- July 2 -Announcement that the Kaiser will not attend the Archduke's funeral.
- July 4 - Austria-Hungary: Funeral of the Archduke at Artstetten (50 miles west of Vienna).
- July 5 - Council at Potsdam.
- July 6 - Kaiser leaves Kiel for a cruise in Northern waters.
- July 7 - Austria-Hungary: Council of Ministers, including Ministers for Foreign Affairs and War, Chief of General Staff and Naval Commander-in-Chief: Council lasts from 11.30 a.m. to 6.15 p.m.
- July 8 -Count Tisza makes grave statement in Hungarian Chamber concerning the murder of the Archduke.
- July 9 -The House of Lords completed the recasting of the Amendment Bill(Ireland).Among the Amendments adopted with one excluding the Unionists of the West and South (as well as Ulster )from the jurisdiction of the judiciary appointed by the Home Rule Government;and another withdrawing of the Land Purchase Acts from the conrol of the Irish Parliment. Austria-Hungary.-Emperor recieves report of Austro-Hungarian investigation into the Sarajevo crime.The London Times publishes account of Austro-Hungarian press campaign against Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").
- July 10 - Mr.Hartwig,Russian Minister to Serbia, dies suddenly at Austrian Legation in Belegrade.
- July 12 - Demonstrations in Ulster suggesting Civil War.
- July 13 - Reports of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belegrade.
- July 15 - Victoriano Huerta resigns and leaves for Colón. July 17 he leaves for exile in Spain
- July 18 - The Signal Corps of the United States Army is formed, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.
- July 28 - World War I begins: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after it fails to meet the conditions of an ultimatum it set on July 23 following the Sarajevo assassination.
- July 31 - French pacifist Jean Jaures is assassinated.

August


- August 1 - Germany declares war on Russia, following Russia's military mobilization in support of Serbia.
- August 2 - German troops occupy Luxembourg.
- August 2 - Secret treaty between Turkey and Germany to secure Turkish neutrality
- August 3 - Germany declares war on Russia's ally France.
- August 4 - German troops invade neutral Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany after the latter fails to respect Belgian neutrality. The United States declares neutrality.
- August 5 - USA and Panama sign the Panama Canal Treaty
- August 15 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic.
- August 15 - Venustiano Carranza's troops under general Alvaro Obregon enter Mexico City
- August 17-September 2 - World War I: Battle of Tannenberg
- August 20 - World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
- August 23 - Japan declares war on Germany.
- August 26-27 - The Battle of Le Cateau.
- August 28 - The Battle of Helgoland - British cruisers under admiral Beatty sink three German cruisers Battle of Helgoland]]
- August 29-30 - The Battle of St. Quentin.

September-October


- September 1 - St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd.
- September 1 - The last known passenger pigeon dies in the Cincinnati Zoo.
- September 2 - Moronvilliers occupied by the Germans.
- September 3 - Giacomo della Chiesa is elected as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He becomes pope Benedict XV.
- September 5 - London Agreement - no member of Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with Central Powers.
- September 5 - World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins - Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury attack German forces who are advancing on the capital. Over 2 million troops will fight in the battle and 100,000 will be killed or wounded in this significant Allied victory.
- September 6 - French and British counterattack at Marne ends German advance on Paris.
- September 13-28 - The First Battle of the Aisne.
- September 17 - Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- September 26 - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.
- September 30 - Flying Squadron established to promote temperance movement.
- October 9 - World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.
- October 13 - Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-1, to win baseball's World Series.
- October 29 - World War I: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports: Russia, France, and Britain declare war on November 1-5.

November-December


- November 1 - World War I: Battle of Coronel fought - A Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock is met and defeated by the superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. This is the first British naval defeat of the war.
- November 4 - Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
- November 5 - The United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
- November 16 - A year after being created by passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens for business.
- November 23 - US troops withdraw from Veracruz. Venustiano Carranza's troops take over and Carranza makes the town his headquarters
- November 28 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
- December 7 - Federation of Oriental Jews founds the Oriental Jewish Community of New York

Unknown dates


- Marcus Garvey in Jamaica founds Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
- First everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.
- French Buddhist Alexandra David-Neel is the first European woman to visit Tibet (in disguise).
- Jehovah's Witnesses claim October of this year to be the end of the Gentile Times and the beginning of Jesus Christ's rule in Heaven.
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa to spearhead the Indian independence movement.
- W. H. Carrier patents design of an air conditioner.
- The capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China is moved from Guilin to Nanning.

Ongoing events


- World War I (1914-1918)
- Assyrian Genocide (1914-(1922)
- Mexican Revolution

Births

January-February


- January 1 - Noor Inayat Khan, World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- January 4 - Jane Wyman, American actress
- January 5 - George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)
- January 6 - Danny Thomas, American singer, actor, and comedian (d. 1991)
- January 14 - Harold Russell, Canadian actor (d. 2002)
- January 15 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)
- January 17 - William Stafford, Aerican poet and pacifist (d. 1993)
- January 18 - Arno Schmidt, German author (d. 1979)
- January 30 - John Ireland, Canadian-born actor (d. 1992)
- January 30 - David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
- January 31 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
- February 4 - Alfred Andersch, German writer (d. 1980)
- February 4 - Ida Lupino, English actress, director, and writer (d. 1995)
- February 5 - William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997)
- February 5 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- February 6 - Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (d. 2005)
- February 9 - Ernest Tubb, American singer (d. 1984)
- February 11 - Matt Dennis, American singer (d. 2002)
- February 12 - Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)
- February 19 - Jacques Dufilho, French comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- February 22 - Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 23 - Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
- February 24 - Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)

March-April


- March 1 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (d. 1994)
- March 2 - Martin Ritt, American director (d. 1990)
- March 6 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981)
- March 8 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d.1987)
- March 13 - Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d. 1943)
- March 14 - Bill Owen, English actor (d. 1999)
- March 17 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
- March 19 - Jay Berwanger, American football player (d. 2002)
- March 25 - Norman Borlaug, American agricultural scientist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- March 26 - William Westmoreland, U.S. general (d. 2005)
- March 28 - Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)
- March 30 - Sonny Boy Williamson, American musician (d. 1948)
- March 31 - Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- April 2 - Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
- April 4 - Marguerite Duras, French author and director (d. 1996)
- April 4 - Frances Langford, American singer and actress (d. 2005)
- April 11 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
- April 22 - Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
- April 25 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
- April 26 - Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)
- April 26 - Lilian Rolfe, French-born World War II heroine (d. 1945)

May-June


- May - Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skating trainer (d. 2003)
- May 8 - Romain Gary, Russian-born writer and diplomat (d. 1980)
- May 9 - Hank Snow, Canadian country musician (d. 1999)
- May 12 - Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
- May 12 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)
- May 13 - Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- May 18 - Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (d. 1993)
- May 19 - Go Seigen, Japanese go player
- May 19 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)
- May 22 - Vance Packard, American author (d. 1996)
- May 22 - Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)
- May 28 - W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot (d. 1996)
- June 3 - Roy Glenn, American actor (d. 1971)
- June 15 - Yuri Andropov, Soviet politician (d. 1984)
- June 19 - Alan Cranston, U.S. Senator (d. 2000)
- June 19 - Harry Lauter, American actor (d. 1990)
- June 21 - William Vickrey, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- June 29 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech-born conductor (d. 1996)

July-September


- July 2 - Frederick Fennell, American conductor (d. 2004)
- July 8 - Sarah P. Harkness, American architect.
- July 15 - Hammond Innes, English author (d. 1998)
- July 19 - John Kenneth Macalister, Canadian World War II hero (d. 1944)
- July 19 - Marius Russo, baseball player (d. 2005)
- July 10 - Joe Shuster, Canadian-born comic book creator, Co-creator of Superman (d. 1992)
- July 30 - Lord Killanin, Irish president of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1999)
- August 2 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)
- August 9 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author (d. 2001)
- August 10 - Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)
- August 15 - Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
- August 17 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1988)
- August 17 - Gabrielle Weidner, Belgian World War II heroine (d. 1945)
- August 26 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)
- September 5 - Sor Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Catholic nun (d. 2000)
- September 10 - Robert Wise, American film producer (d. 2005)
- September 11 - Sidney Hart, British trade unionist and religious administrator (d. 2005)
- September 12 - Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)
- September 12 - Janusz Zurakowski, Polish-born pilot (d. 2004)
- September 14 - Clayton Moore, American actor (d. 1999)
- September 15 - Creighton Williams Abrams, U.S. general (d. 1974)
- September 15 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian writer (d. 1999)
- September 16 - Allen Funt, American television show host (d. 1999)
- September 23 - Bethsabée de Rothschild, English philanthropist and patron of dance (d. 1999)

October-December


- October 1 - Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (d. 2004)
- October 4 - Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d. 2003)
- October 6 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (d. 2002)
- October 10 - Tommy Fine, baseball player (d. 2005)
- October 14 - Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 14 - Dick Durrance, American skier (d. 2004)
- October 16 - Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan
- October 17 - Jerry Siegel, American comic book creator, Co-creator of Superman (d. 1996)
- October 21 - Martin Gardner, American writer on mathematics and games
- October 27 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (d. 1953)
- October 28 - Jonas Salk, American medical scientist (d. 1995)
- October 28 - Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- November 11 - Howard Fast, American novelist and television writer (d. 2003)
- November 13 - Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (d. 2005)
- November 20 - Charles Berlitz, American author (d. 2003)
- November 25 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 1999)
- December 10 - Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d. 1996)
- December 12 - Patrick O'Brian, British writer (d. 2000)
- December 14 - Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)
- December 24 - Herbert Reinecker, German writer
- December 26 - Richard Widmark, American actor
- December 29 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
- December 30 - Bert Parks, American singer and actor (d. 1992)

Deaths


- January 18 - Georges Picquart, French general and Minister of war (b. 1854)
- February 24 - Joshua Chamberlain, American Civil War general (b. 1828)
- March 1 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (b. 1845)
- March 6 - George Washington Vanderbilt II, American businessman (b. 1862)
- March 16 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
- March 19 - Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)
- March 25 - Frédéric Mistral, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
- April 1 - Rube Waddell, baseball player (b. 1876)
- April 2 - Paul von Heyse, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
- April 7 - Ayub Khan, Afghan military leader (b. 1857)
- May 2 - John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, husband of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom (b. 1845)
- June 14 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)
- June 21 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
- June 28 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1873)
- June 28 - Archduchess Sophie Chotek, wife of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1868)
- July 2 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)
- July 31 - Je