Also in March 1916
3rd At Schiller’s Café in Chicago, Stein’s Dixie Jass Band, a five-piece group assembled from New Orleans musicians, plays its debut gig. The following year, having changed its name to the Original Dixieland Jass Band after the departure of founding drummer Johnny Stein, it issues the first ever jazz recordings, which prove an instant hit. 4th The German painter Franz Marc, a founder member and leading figure of the Blaue Reiter group of artists, is killed by a shell splinter during the Battle of Verdun. During his time in the army, Marc had provided an additional service by painting artillery tarpaulin covers in a way that would make them harder to spot from the air.
10th Composer Hubert Parry begins work on his setting of William Blake’s poem And did those feet in ancient time. Eighteen days later, his completed hymn, Jerusalem, is sung for the first time by a choir of more than 300 people at a meeting of the patriotic Fight for Right movement at Queen’s Hall in London. 18th After Portugal has agreed to British requests to confiscate any German ships currently interned in its ports, Germany declares war on the country. Portugal reciprocates and starts to organise forces to participate on the Western Front.
30th Don Marquis, a New York journalist, introduces the characters Archy and Mehitabel to his daily column in The Evening Sun newspaper. Archy is a cockroach who writes stories by jumping onto the keys of a typewriter but, unable to press two keys at once, can’t type capital letters. Mehitabel is an alley cat. Illustrated by George Herriman, the pair soon enjoy cult popularity.