I've been looking up the Russell stuff in light of the "something happened in 1914, so Russell was right" assertion. Quotes are from this article:
https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/history/timelines/entry?etype=5&eid=120
"In 1870, he heard an Adventist preacher named Jonas Wendell, who impressed the young Russell with his application of logical thinking to the Bible. Wendell, a former follower of millenarian preacher William Miller, predicted the bodily return of Christ in 1873 or 1874. Inspired, Russell started a Bible study in Pittsburgh and eagerly awaited the second coming. Rather than being disheartened by Christ's failure physically to return by 1874, Russell believed that Christ had indeed spiritually manifested himself in the hearts of those waiting for him that year, inspiring Russell to write his first book, The Object and Manner of the Lord's Return."
So Russell did the "invisible return" move to explain away 1874.
"Barbour and Russell believed that Christ's invisible return in 1874 would be followed by 40 years of evangelism and then, in 1914, the Age of Gentiles would end and God's Kingdom on earth would begin."
1914 becomes the new "THE" date.
"When 1914 arrived, and with it World War I, some Russellites began to question Russell's chronology. Mass, industrial warfare did not strike them as the proper fulfillment of the millennial kingdom."
Even Russell's followers at the time weren't convinced that WWI amounted to anything in the prophetic scheme of things!
As we know, 1914 later became the new "invisible return" and, presumably*, the start date for the generation that would not pass away. Good luck finding anyone still alive who could have read Russell's predictions about 1914 before 1914. 🙄
* To any apologists who might argue that I've got this date, or that term, or the other assumption wrong: I don't care. That stuff changes all the time, as it did back then. If I've got something wrong, I'm probably in good company with many people who have tried to get a bead on JW end times doctrine. It's very hard to precisely hit a target that is forever moving and changing.