1915

What Was Happening in 1915

Mud, blood, and poison gas — the war's horror becomes undeniable as the trenches consume a generation.

Born in

Number 1 Songs in 1915 — UK and US Charts

UK #1

"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag"

James Powell & Felix Powell

One of the most enduring songs of the First World War, its cheerful marching rhythm belied the grim reality of trench warfare. Soldiers sang it on the march and in the trenches.

US #1

"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"

Morton Harvey

A popular anti-war song reflecting American isolationist sentiment before US entry into the conflict. It sold over 650,000 copies.

Biggest Films of 1915 — Box Office Hits

The Birth of a Nation

Box Office: $10,000,000 (estimated)

D.W. Griffith's technically revolutionary but deeply racist Civil War epic was the highest-grossing film of the silent era. Its innovative editing and camera techniques transformed cinema while its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan remains deeply controversial.

Fashion and Style of 1915

Fashion, clothing and visual culture from the era

Architecture and Buildings of 1915

Buildings completed and structures opened in 1915

More About 1915

What Was Happening — A journey through the years