1914 August 4th.. WWI

• 1914 – World War I: Germany invades Belgium. In response, Belgium and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.
• August 4th. German troops invade Belgium at 8:02 am (local time). Declaration of war by the United Kingdom on Germany for this violation of Belgian neutrality. This effectively means a declaration of war by the whole British Empire against the German Empire. The United States declares neutrality.
• Imperial German Navy Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon bombards the French Algerian ports of Bône and Philippeville from battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau.
• Gandhi is in the English Channel (en route from South Africa) when he learns that war has been declared. Later this day he arrives in London.
• August 5 Germany declares war on Belgium. The Kingdom of Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary. The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz which is attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war and she is detained; this is said to be the first Allied shot of the War. 
• SS Königin Luise (1913), taken over two days earlier by the Imperial German Navy as aminelayer, lays mines 40 miles (64 km) off the east coast of England. She is intercepted and sunk by the British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Amphion (1911), the first German naval loss of the war. The following day, Amphion strikes mines laid by the Königin Luiseand is sunk with some loss of life, the first British casualties of the war. German zeppelins drop bombs on Liége in Belgium, killing 9 civilians.
• August 5–August 16 – Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians.