After a Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, launching World War I. Other nations began to choose sides in the conflict, but the U.S. remained initially neutral. In Central America, the Panama Canal opened after 11 years of construction and the loss of more than 25,000 workers’ lives. On Christmas Eve 1914, British and German soldiers paused their fighting for unofficial Christmas Truce, sharing carols and even a soccer game.
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August.
Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie riding in an open carriage at Sarajevo shortly before their assassination. (Credit: Henry Guttmann/Getty Images)
Henry Guttmann/Getty Images
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The Panama Canal, the American-built waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is inaugurated with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship.
The first boat passes through the Gatun locks following the opening of the Panama Canal, 15 August 1914
ullstein bild via Getty Images
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Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
On Dec. 25, 1914, five months into World War I, British and German troops on the Western Front stopped fighting in a spontaneous ceasefire, soldiers from opposing nations put their weapons aside to enjoy carols and a game of soccer together. Our Picture Shows British officers from Northumberland Hussars meeting their German counterparts in no mans¿ land of the Bridoux-Rouge Banc Sector of the Western Front during the Christmas truce of 1914. (Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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