Date in year · 1918 · The 1910s

May 14, 1918

On May 14, 1918, cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the Two-minute silence.

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1918

1910s

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1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1918th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 918th year of the 2nd millennium, the 18th year of the 20th…

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What happened

On May 14, 1918

  1. 1918 Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the Two-minute silence.

    British colonial politician (1860–1948)

    Sir Harry Hands was a British colonial politician, who served from 1915 to 1918 as mayor of Cape Town, South Africa. He is credited with instituting the first practice in the world of an official two-minute silence to honour loss of life in conflict, following the death of his eldest son Reginald Hands in World War I, at the suggestion of councillor Robert Rutherford Brydone.

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