1917

Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday^[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar).

[edit] Events of 1917

[edit] January

• January 2 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank.
• January 11 - Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland, NJ (now Lyndhurst, NJ) Due to German sabotage, leading to the U.S. involvement in World War I.
• January 19 - Silvertown explosion: a blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.
• January 22 - World War I: President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.
• January 25
  • The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million
  • Anti-prostitution drive in San Francisco attracts huge crowds to public meetings. At one meeting attended by 7000 people, 20000 are kept out for lack of room. In a conference with Rev. Paul Smith, an outspoken foe of prostitution, 300 prostitutes make a plea for toleration explaining they had been forced into the practice by poverty. When Smith asked if they will take other work at $8 to $10 a week, the ladies laugh derisively, which loses them public sympathy. The police close about 200 houses of prostitution shortly thereafter [1]
• January 26 - The sea defences at the English village of Hallsands are breached, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable.
• January 28 - The United States ends its search for Pancho Villa.
• January 30 - Pershing's troops in Mexico begin to withdraw to USA. They reach Columbus, Ohio February 5
• January 31 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.

[edit] February

• February 3 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany.
• February 5 - The constitution of Mexico is adopted.
• February 13 - Mata Hari is arrested for spying.
• February 23 - First International Women's day (Russia)
• February 24 - World War I: United States ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter H. Page is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico, if Mexico will declare war on the United States.
• February 26 - The Original Dixieland Jass Band record their first commercial record, with "Livery Stable Blues" and "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" tunes.

[edit] March

• March 1
  • U.S. government releases the plaintext of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public
  • Japanese city of Omuta, Fukuoka is founded by Hiroushi Miruku
• March 2 - The enactment of the Jones Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
• March 4
  • US. President Woodrow Wilson, begins second term.
  • Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives.
• March 8
  • (N.S.) (February 23, O.S.) - The Russian February Revolution begins with the overthrow of the Tsar.
  • United States Senate adopts the cloture rule in order to limit filibusters.
• March 10 - The Province of Batangas was formally founded as one of the Philippines' first encomienda.
• March 11 - Mexican Revolution - Venustiano Carranza elected president of Mexico - USA gives recognition of his government de jure
• March 15 (N.S.) (March 2, O.S.) - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates his throne for his son.
• March 17 (N.S.) (March 4, O.S.) - Grand Duke Michael refuses the throne and power in Russia passes to the newly-formed Provisional Government under Prince Georgy Lvov.
• March 21 - The Danish West Indies become the Virgin Islands when Denmark transfers control over the islands to the United States after the purchase of the islands on January 25.
• March 25 - The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.
• March 26 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British cavalry troops retreat after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
• March 31 - The United States takes possession of the Virgin Islands after paying $25 million to Denmark.

[edit] April

• April 2 - World War I: US President Woodrow Wilson asks U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• April 6 - World War I: United States declares war on Germany. text
• April 9-April 12 - World War I: Canadian troops win the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
• April 10 - Ammunition factory explodes in Chester, Pennsylvania - 133 dead.
• April 11 - World War I: Brazil severs relations with Germany.
• April 16
  • Lenin arrives in Petrograd.
  • The Nivelle Offensive commences.
• April 19 - The Second Battle of Gaza, a fiasco for the British, causes the dismissal of the commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Force, General Archibald Murray.

[edit] May

• May 9 - The Nivelle Offensive was abandoned.
• May 13
  • Three peasant children claim to see the Virgin Mary above a Holm Oak tree in Cova da Iria near Fátima, Portugal.
  • The nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, is consecrated Archbishop by Pope Benedict XV^[2]
• May 18 - World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the U.S. Congress giving the President the power of conscription.
• May 21 - Over 300 acres (73 blocks) destroyed in Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
• May 26 - Tornado strikes Mattoon, Illinois causing devastation and killing 101 people.
• May 27 - Over 30.000 French troops refuse to go to the trenches in Missy-aux-Bois.

[edit] June

• June 1 - French infantry regiment seizes Missy-aux-Bois and declares anti-war military government. French army soon apprehend them.
• June 4 - The very first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maud Howe Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for a biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert Bayard Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
• June 5 - World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as "Army registration day."
• June 13 - World War I: First major German bombing raid on London left 162 dead and 432 injured
• June 15 - The United States enacts the Espionage Act.

[edit] July

• July 1 - Labor Dispute ignites a Race Riot in East St. Louis, Illinois. Over 250 dead.
• July 6
  • Arabian troops led by Robert Constant capture Aqaba from the Turks.
  • Conscription crisis in Canada leads to passing of the Military Service Act.
• July 12 - Phelps Dodge Corporation deports over 1000 suspected IWW members from Bisbee, Arizona.
• July 17 - King George V of the United Kingdom issues a Proclamation stating that thenceforth the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor vice the Germanic bloodline of House of Saxe-Coburg, which is an offshoot of the historic (800+ years) House of Wettin.
• July 20
  • Corfu Declaration that enabled post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia was signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
  • (July 7, O.S.) - Alexander Kerensky becomes premier of the Russian Provisional Government, replacing Prince Georgy Lvov.
• July 25 - Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
• July 28 - The Silent Protest was organized by the NAACP in New York to protest the East St. Louis Massacre of July 2, as well as lynchings in Texas and Tennessee.

[edit] August

• August - The Green Corn Rebellion, an uprising by several hundred farmers against the World War I draft, takes place in central Oklahoma.
• August 2 - Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning lands his aircraft on the ship HMS Furious in Scapa Flow, Orkney. He was killed five days later during another landing on the ship.
• August 3 - New York Guard founded.
• August 10 - General strike in Spain begins, smashed after three days with 70 left dead, hundreds of wounded and 2000 prisoners.
• August 17 - One of English literature's important meetings takes place when Wilfred Owen introduces himself to Siegfried Sassoon at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh.
• August 18 - A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
• August 29 - World War I: The Military Service Act is passed in the Canadian House of Commons giving the Government of Canada the right to conscript men into the army.

[edit] October

• October 15 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.
• October 19 - Love Field in Dallas, Texas is opened.
• October 25 - Traditional date of coup d'etat that began the Bolshevik Revolution.
• October 26 - World War I: Brazil declared in state of war with Central Powers.

[edit] November

• November 2 - Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
• November 6 - World War I: Third Battle of Ypres ends: After three months of fierce fighting, Canadian forces take Passchendaele in Belgium.
• November 7
  • October Revolution begins: The workers of St. Petersburg in Russia, led by the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, attacked the Kerensky Provisional Government ( Julian Calendar shows an October 25 date).
  • The Safavid Empire of Persia (which provided weapons for Russia) refuses to support the Allied Forces after the October Revolution.
  • World War I: Third Battle of Gaza ends - United Kingdom forces capture Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.
• November 15 - Finland takes a step towards full sovereignty, ending the personal union with Russia.
  • British troops occupy Tel Aviv and Jaffa in Palestine.
  • Georges Clemenceau becomes prime minister of France
• November 18 - Sigma Alpha Rho, Jewish high school fraternity, is founded in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• November 20
  • World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins - British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are soon beaten back.
  • Ukraine is declared a republic.
• November 22 - In Montreal, Canada, the National Hockey Association breaks up.
• November 23 - Bolsheviks release the full text of the previously secret Sykes-Picot Agreement in Izvestia and Pravda; it is subsequently printed in the Manchester Guardian on November 26.
• November 24 - In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nine members of the Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb, the most fatal single event in U.S. police history until the September 11, 2001 attacks.
• November 26 - The National Hockey League is formed as a replacement.
• November 29 - Striking coal miners at Rostov declare Don Republic - it lasts two weeks.

[edit] December

• December 3 - After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic (the bridge partially collapsed on August 29 1907 and September 11 1916).
• December 6
  • Finland's declaration of independence.
  • Halifax Explosion: Two freighters collide in Halifax Harbour at Halifax Nova Scotia and cause a huge explosion that kills at least 1963 people, injures 9000 and destroys part of the city. Until Hiroshima, this was the biggest manmade explosion in recorded history.
• December 11 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire
• December 25 - Why Marry?, first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre in New York City.
• December 26 - United States president Woodrow Wilson uses the Federal Possession and Control Act to place most U.S. railroads under the United States Railroad Administration, hoping to more efficiently transport troops and materials for the war effort.

[edit] Undated

• The last male Carolina Parakeet dies in Cincinnati Zoo.
• Lions Clubs International is formed.
• J.R.R. Tolkien begins writing the original Book of Lost Tales (the first version of The Silmarillion); thus Middle-earth is first written in about this year.
• Female suffrage in the Netherlands
• True Jesus Church is established in Beijing.
• Oreland Boy Scout Troop 1 is established.
• The first of the Cottingley Fairies photos are taken.

[edit] Ongoing

• World War I (1914-1918).
• Encephalitis lethargica (1917-1928).
• Russian Revolution.

[edit] Births

[edit] January-February

• January 2 - Vera Zorina, German dancer and actress (d. 2003)
• January 3 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• January 5 - Jane Wyman, American actress and philanthropist Wife of Ronald Reagen 1940-1948(d. 2007)
• January 5 - Francis L. Kellogg, U.S. diplomat and prominent socialite (d. 2006)
• January 6 - Koo Chen-fu, Nationalist Chinese negotiator (d. 2005)
• January 10 - Jerry Wexler, American record producer
• January 12
  • Jimmy Skinner, Detroit Red Wings head coach (d. 2007)
  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, taught transcendental meditation to The Beatles (d. 2008)
• January 16 - Carl Karcher, founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain (d. 2008)
• January 19
  • John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
  • Graham Higman, British mathematician
• January 24 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor
• January 25 - Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2003)
• January 26 - William Verity Jr., American politician (d. 2007)
• February 1 - James Harry Lacey, a.k.a Squadron Leader James "Ginger" Lacey DFM & Bar, the top scoring RAF fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain (d. 1989)
• February 2 - Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese leader
• February 4
  • Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
  • Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian existentialist philosopher (d. 2002)
• February 6 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-born actress
• February 11 - Sidney Sheldon, American author (d. 2007)
• February 14 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• February 17 - Joseph Conombo, Prime Minister of Upper Volta
• February 18 - Tuulikki Pietilä, Finnish artist
• February 19 - Carson McCullers, American author (d. 1967)
• February 25 - Anthony Burgess, English author (d. 1993)
• February 27 - John Connally, Governor of Texas (d. 1993)
• February 28 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)

[edit] March-April

• March 1
  • Harry Caray, baseball broadcaster (d. 1998)
  • Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)
• March 2
  • Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor, bandleader, and musician (d. 1986)
  • John Gardner, British composer
  • Laurie Baker, English architect (d. 2007)
• March 4 - Clyde McCullough, American baseball catcher (d. 1982)
• March 5 - Raymond P. Shafer, Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
• March 12 - Googie Withers, British actress
• March 14 - John McCallum, Australian actor
• March 16 - Samael Aun Weor, Columbian writer (d. 1977)
• March 19 - Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist (d. 1950)
• March 20 - Vera Lynn, English actress and singer
• March 24 - John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1997)
• March 26 - Rufus Thomas, American singer (d. 2001)
• March 27 - Cyrus Vance, American politician (d. 2002)
• April 1 - Sydney Newman, Canadian-born television producer (d. 1997)
• April 2 - Dabbs Greer, American actor (d. 2007)
• April 5 - Robert Bloch, American writer (d. 1994)
• April 10 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• April 12 - Helen Forrest, American jazz singer (d. 1999)
• April 13 - Robert O. Anderson, American businessman, founder of Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. (d. 2007)
• April 14 - Marvin Miller, baseball executive
• April 17 - Bill Clements, Governor of Texas
• April 22 - Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina
• April 25 - Ella Fitzgerald, American jazz singer (d. 1996)
• April 26 - Virgil Trucks, baseball player
• April 30 - Bea Wain, American singer

[edit] May-June

• May 1 - Fyodor Khitruk, Russian animator
• May 3 - Kiro Gligorov, President of the Republic of Macedonia
• May 8 - John Anderson, Jr., American politician
• May 12 - Frank Clair, Canadian football coach (d. 2005)
• May 14 - Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
• May 16 - George Gaynes, Finnish-born actor
• May 20 - Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
• May 21 - Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (d. 1993)
• May 22 - Georg Tintner, Austrian conductor (d. 1999)
• May 25 - Theodore Hesburgh, American priest and educator
• May 28 - Papa John Creech, American fiddler (d. 1994)
• May 29 - John F. Kennedy, President of the United States (d. 1963)
• June 1 - William S. Knowles, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• June 7 - Dean Martin, American actor (d. 1995)
• June 10
  • Eric Hobsbawm, British historian
  • Ruari McLean, British typographer (d. 2006)
• June 15
  • John Bennett Fenn, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • Lash La Rue, American cowboy actor (d. 1996)
• June 16
  • Irving Penn, American photographer
  • Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
  • Ben Bubar, American presidential candidate. (d. 1994)
  • Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician (d. 2007)
• June 30 - Lena Horne, American singer

[edit] July-August

• July 1 - Humphry Osmond, British psychiatrist (d. 2004)
• July 4 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
• July 7 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)
• July 10
  • Don Herbert, American television personality (d. 2007)
  • Reg Smythe, British cartoonist (d. 1998)
• July 16 - William Woodson, American voice actor
• July 17
  • Phyllis Diller, American comedian
  • Red Sovine, American country & folk singer & songwriter (d. 1980)
• July 18 - Henri Salvador, French singer (d. 2008)
• July 19 - William Scranton, American politician
• August 11 - Dik Browne, American Cartoonist (d. 1989)
• August 14 - Marty Glickman, American sports announcer (d. 2001)
• August 15
  • Jack Lynch, President of Ireland (d. 1999)
  • Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman catholic Archbishop (d. 1980)
• August 18 - Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2006)
• August 22 - John Lee Hooker, American musician (d. 2001)
• August 25 - Mel Ferrer, American actor
• August 28 - Jack Kirby, American comic book artist (d. 1994)
• August 29 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
• August 30 - Denis Healey, British author and politician

[edit] September-October

• September 6 - Philipp von Boeselager, German Wehrmacht officer, failed assassin of Adolf Hitler
• September 7
  • John Cornforth, Australian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • Leonard Cheshire, British war hero (d. 1992)
• September 10 - Miguel Serrano, Chilean diplomat, explorer, and journalist
• September 11
  • Herbert Lom, Czech-born actor
  • Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (d. 1989)
• September 13 - Robert Ward, American composer (d. 1994)
• September 15 - Shanul Haq Haqqee, Pakistani poet, author, lexicographer (d. 2005)
• September 20 - Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (d. 2006)
• September 25 - Johnny Sain, baseball player (d. 2006)
• September 27 - Louis Auchincloss, American novelist
• October 2 - Christian de Duve, English-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• October 7 - June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
• October 8
  • Danny Murtaugh, baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
  • Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
• October 10 - Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (d. 1982)
• October 13 - George Virl Osmond, Osmond family patriarch (d. 2007)
• October 15 - Jan Miner, American actress (d. 2004)
• October 15 - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., American historian and political commentator (d. 2007)
• October 21 - Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (d. 1993)
• October 22 - Joan Fontaine, British-born actress
• October 30 - Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (d. 2005)

[edit] November-December

• November 11 - Madeleine Damerment, French World War II heroine (d. 1944)
• November 18 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
• November 19 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
• November 20 - Robert Byrd, U.S. Senator from West Virginia
• November 22 - Andrew Huxley, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• December 6
  • - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)
  • - Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (b. 2008)
• December 9 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• December 10 - Sultan Yahya Petra, King of Malaysia (d. 1979)
• December 16 - Arthur C. Clarke, British/Sri Lankan science-fiction author (d. 2008)
• December 20 - David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
• December 21 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
• December 22 - Gene Rayburn, American television personality (d. 1999)
• December 27 - Onni Palaste, Finnish writer
• December 28 - Ellis Clarke, President of Trinidad and Tobago
• December 29 - Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)
• December 30 - Seymour Melman, American industrial engineer (d. 2004)

[edit] Deaths

[edit] January - June

• January 2 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
• January 4 - Frederick Selous, explorer (killed in action)
• January 10 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (b. 1846)
• January 16 - George Dewey, U.S. admiral (b. 1837)
• February 5 - Jaber II Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1860)
• February 10 - John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (b. 1849)
• March 5 - Manuel de Arriaga, first president of Portugal (b. 1840)
• March 8 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German inventor (b. 1838)
• March 17 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
• March 31 - Emil Adolf von Behring, German winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)
• April 1 - Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1867-1868)
• April 14 - L. L. Zamenhof, Polish creator of Esperanto (b. 1859)
• May 17 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
• May 20 - Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
• May 25 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (b. 1891)
• June 26 - John Dunville, British Army officer (b. 1896)
• June 30 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (b. 1861)

[edit] July - December

• July 8 - Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
• July 16 - Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (b. 1847)
• July 27 - Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1841)
• July 31
  • Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (killed in action) (b. 1887)
  • Hedd Wyn, Welsh poet (killed in action) (b. 1887)
• August 3 - Stephane Javelle, French astronomer (b. 1864)
• August 13 - Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
• August 20 - Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
• August 30 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (b. 1860)
• September 27 - Edgar Degas, French painter (b. 1834)
• October 13 - Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (b. 1888)
• October 15 - Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (executed) (b. 1876)
• October 23 - Eugène Grasset, Swiss artist (b. 1845)
• October 28 - Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1831)
• November 8 - Colin Blythe, English cricketer (b. 1879)
• November 11 - Queen Liliuokalani of Hawai'i (b. 1838)
• November 15 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (b. 1858)
• November 17 - Neil James Archibald Primrose, MP (killed in action) (b. 1882)
• November 17 - Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (b. 1840)
• December 8 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian Yiddish and Hebrew writer (b. 1836)
• December 10 - Mackenzie Bowell, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1824)
• December 12 - Andrew Taylor Still, American father of osteopathy (b. 1828)
• December 28 - Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian World War One flying ace (b. 1892)

[edit] Nobel prizes

• Physics - Charles Glover Barkla
• Chemistry - not awarded
• Medicine - not awarded
• Literature - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
• Peace - International Committee of the Red Cross

[edit] Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

1917

[edit] External links

• 1917 Coin Pictures

[edit] Table of Contents