Directory

1917 CE

The Zimmermann Telegram reveals Germany's secret offer to Mexico, helping push the United States into World War I; The Russian Revolution sees the fall of Tsar Nicholas II and the rise of Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks, beginning the Russian Civil War; France's Nivelle Offensive fails, causing huge losses and mutinies; The Battle of Passchendaele inflicts over half a million casualties in Flanders with little gain; The Battle of Jerusalem ends with British capture of the city from the Ottoman Empire; The Halifax Explosion devastates the Canadian port city when a munitions ship detonates, killing nearly 2,000 people and leveling much of Halifax.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 1 – WWI: Atlantic U-boat Campaign: Germany announces its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare, rescinding the Sussex Pledge'.source
  • March 2 – The enactment of the Jones Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.source
  • March 4 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives.source
  • March 11 – Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza is elected president of Mexico; the United States gives de jure recognition of his government.source
  • March 12 – The Russian Duma declares a Provisional Government. It is dissolved 4 months later.source
  • March 31 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies, which become the US Virgin Islands, after paying $25 million to Denmark.source
  • April 8 (N.S.) (March 26, O.S.) – In Petrograd, 40,000 ethnic Estonians demand national autonomy within Russia.source
  • April 12 (N.S.) (March 30 O.S.) – The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia is formed within Russia, from the Governorate of Estonia and the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia.source
  • May 18 – WWI: The Selective Service Act passes the United States Congress, giving the President the power of conscription.source
  • June 11 – King Constantine I of Greece abdicates for the first time, being succeeded by his son Alexander.source
  • 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 and Gotha (an offshoot of the historic (800+ years) House of Wettin).source
  • July 20 – (July 7, O.S.) – Alexander Kerensky becomes premier of the Russian Provisional Government, replacing Prince Georgy Lvov.source
  • July 20 – The Corfu Declaration, which enables the establishment of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and the Kingdom of Serbia.source
  • July 30 – The Parliament of Finland is dissolved by the Russian Provisional Government. New elections are held in the autumn, resulting in a bourgeois majority.source
  • Suze Groeneweg becomes the first woman elected to sit in the House of Representatives in the Netherlands (although women will not be granted the right to vote until the following year).source
  • August 29 – WWI: The Military Service Act is passed in the House of Commons of Canada, giving the Government of Canada the right to conscript men into the army.source
  • September 14 (September 1 Old Style) – Russia is declared a republic by the Provisional Government.source
  • November 2 – Zionism: The British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour makes the Balfour Declaration, proclaiming British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people..., it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".source
  • November 7 – Women's Suffrage in the United States: Women win the right to vote in New York State.source
  • November 15 – (N.S.) (November 2, O.S.) – The Provincial Assembly of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia declares itself the highest legal body in Estonia, in opposition to Bolsheviks.source
  • November 16 – Georges Clemenceau becomes prime minister of France.source
  • December 6 – The Senate of Finland officially declares the country's independence from Russia.source
  • December 23 (N.S.) (December 10, O.S.) – A local plebiscite supports transferring Narva and Ivangorod (Jaanilinn) from the Petrograd Governorate, to the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia.source
  • December – Annie Besant becomes president of the Indian National Congress.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 26 – WWI: First Battle of Gaza – British Egyptian Expeditionary Force troops virtually encircle the Gaza garrison, but are then ordered to withdraw, leaving the city to the Ottoman defenders.source
  • (February 23, O.S.) – The February Revolution begins in Russia: Women calling for bread in Petrograd start riots, which spontaneously spread throughout the city.source
  • April 17 – WWI: The Egyptian Expeditionary Force begins the Second Battle of Gaza. This unsuccessful frontal attack on strong Ottoman defences along with the first battle, results in 10,000 casualties, the dismissal of force commander General Archibald Murray, and the beginning of the Stalemate in Southern Palestine.source
  • April 17 – The Times and the Daily Mail (London newspapers both owned by Lord Northcliffe) print atrocity propaganda of the supposed existence of a German Corpse Factory processing dead soldiers' bodies.source
  • May 15 – Robert Nivelle is replaced as Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, by Philippe Pétain.source
  • July 1 – WWI: Russian General Brusilov begins the major Kerensky offensive in Galicia, initially advancing towards Lemberg.source
  • July 28 – The Silent Parade is organized by the NAACP in New York City, to protest the East St. Louis massacre of early July, as well as lynchings in Tennessee and Texas.source
  • Battle of Aqaba: Arabian troops, led by T. E. Lawrence, capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire.source
  • September 26–October 3 – WWI: Battle of Polygon Wood (part of the Battle of Passchendaele) near Ypres in Belgium – British and Australian troops capture positions from the Germans.source
  • October 27 – WWI: Battle of Buqqar Ridge – Ottoman forces attack British Desert Mounted Corps units garrisoning El-Buqqar Ridge, during the last days of the Stalemate in Southern Palestine.source
  • November 5 (N.S.) (October 23, O.S.) – Estonian and Russian Bolsheviks seize power in Tallinn, Autonomous Governorate of Estonia, two days before the October Revolution in Petrograd.source
  • November 6 – WWI: The Battle of Hareira and Sheria is launched by the British XX Corps and Desert Mounted Corps, against the central Ottoman defences protecting the Gaza to Beersheba Road.source
  • November 7 – Iran (which has provided weapons for Russia) refuses to support the Allied Forces after the October Revolution.source
  • November 7 – WWI: The Battle of Hareira and Sheria continues, when the XX Corps and Desert Mounted Corps capture Hareira and Sheria, marking the end of the Ottoman Gaza to Beersheba line.source
  • November 7 – WWI – Third Battle of Gaza: The British Army XXI Corps occupies Gaza, after the Ottoman garrison withdraws.source
  • November 16 – WWI: Battle of Ayun Kara: The ANZAC Mounted Division occupies Jaffa.source
  • November 17 – WWI: The Battle of Jerusalem (1917) begins, with the British Imperial Egyptian Expeditionary Force launching attacks against Ottoman forces in the Judean Hills.source
  • November 23 – The Bolsheviks release the full text of the previously secret Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 in Izvestia and Pravda; it is printed in the Manchester Guardian on November 26.source
  • The ANZAC Mounted Division (Desert Mounted Corps) successfully fights the Battle of Ayun Kara, in the aftermath of the Battle of Mughar Ridge against strong German rearguards.source
  • The British Desert Mounted Corps begins the Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe, in the direction of Hebron and Jerusalem.source
  • Battle of Mughar Ridge: The British Imperial Egyptian Expeditionary Force attacks retreating Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group forces, resulting in the capture of 10,000 Ottoman prisoners, 100 guns and 50 mi km of Palestine territory.source
  • December 11 – WWI: General Edmund Allenby leads units of the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force into Jerusalem on foot through, the Jaffa Gate.source
  • December 30 – WWI: The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force secures the victory at the Battle of Jerusalem, by successfully defending Jerusalem from numerous counterattacks by the Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group.source
  • Battle of Jerusalem: The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force accepts the surrender of Jerusalem by the mayor, Hussein al-Husayni, following the effective defeat of the Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party are rescued after being stranded for several months.source
  • Raid on Nekhl: Units of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force completely reoccupy the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.source
  • May 22 – The Commissioned Officer Corps of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey is established.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 10 – The Province of Batangas is formally founded, as one of the Philippines' first encomiendas.source
  • May 13 – Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, is consecrated Archbishop by Pope Benedict XV.source
  • May 27 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law.source
  • October 13 – The Miracle of the Sun is reported at Fátima, Portugal.source
  • November 8 (N.S.) (October 26, O.S.) – Following the October Revolution, Alexandra Kollontai is appointed People's Commissar for Social Welfare in the Council of People's Commissars of the Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the first woman cabinet minister in Europe.source
  • The True Jesus Church is established in Beijing.source

Economy & Finance

  • July 25 – Sir William Thomas White introduces Canada's first income tax as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).source
  • October 19 – Carl Swartz leaves office as Prime Minister of Sweden, after dismal election results for the right-wing in the Riksdag elections in September. He is replaced by liberal leader and history professor Nils Edén.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 1 – WWI: The U.S. government releases the text of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.source
  • April 16 – (N.S.) (April 3, O.S.) – Vladimir Lenin arrives at the Finland Station in Petrograd after a German-sponsored voyage in a sealed train from his exile in Switzerland through Germany and Scandinavia.source
  • April – Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki, the first anime, is released in Japan.source
  • May 23 – WWI: During the Stalemate in Southern Palestine, the Raid on the Beersheba to Hafir el Auja railway by the British Desert Column takes place: large sections of the railway line linking Beersheba to the main Ottoman desert base are destroyed.source
  • October 19 – Dallas Love Field Airport is opened in Texas.source
  • November 22 – In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the National Hockey Association suspends operations.source
  • 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).source
  • 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 transport troops and materials for the war effort more efficiently.source

Science & Discovery

  • May 13–October 13 (at monthly intervals) – 10-year-old Lúcia Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto report experiencing a series of Marian apparitions near Fátima, Portugal, which become known as Our Lady of Fátima.source

Health & Medicine

  • August 17 – One of English literature's important meetings takes place, when Wilfred Owen introduces himself to Siegfried Sassoon at the Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh.source
  • November 17 – The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals is founded in the United Kingdom.source

Crime & Justice

  • January 28 – The United States ends its search for Pancho Villa.source
  • Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for spying.source
  • May 22 – Ell Persons is lynched in Memphis, in connection with the rape and murder of 16-year-old Antoinette Rappal.source
  • July 12 – Bisbee Deportation: The Phelps Dodge Corporation has over 1,000 suspected IWW members from its metal mines deported from Bisbee, Arizona.source
  • July 16–18 – July Days: Serious clashes occur in Petrograd; Vladimir Lenin escapes to Finland; Leon Trotsky is arrested.source
  • The first Cottingley Fairies photographs are taken in Yorkshire, England, apparently depicting fairies (a hoax not admitted by the child creators until 1981).source

Disasters & Accidents

  • April 10 – Eddystone explosion: an explosion at an ammunition plant near Chester, Pennsylvania, kills 139, mostly female workers.source
  • May 21 – Over 300 acres (73 blocks) are destroyed in the Great Atlanta fire of 1917 in the United States.source
  • June 8 – Speculator Mine disaster: A fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator ore mine, outside Butte, Montana, kills at least 168 workers.source
  • August 2 – Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning lands his aircraft on the ship in Scapa Flow, Orkney. He is killed 5 days later during another landing on the ship.source
  • August 18 – The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 in Greece destroys 32% of the city, leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.source
  • October 23 – A Brazilian ship is destroyed by a German U-boat, encouraging Brazil to enter World War I.source
  • November 24 – A bomb kills 9 members of the Milwaukee Police Department, the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history (until the September 11 attacks in 2001).source
  • December 6 – Halifax Explosion: Two freighters collide in Halifax Harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and cause a huge explosion that kills at least 1,963 people, injures 9,000 and destroys part of the city (the biggest man-made explosion in recorded history until the Trinity nuclear test in 1945).source
  • December 6 – WWI: U.S. Navy destroyer is torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of the British Isles by German submarine , killing 66 crew in the first significant American naval loss of the war, the first ever U.S. destroyer loss to an enemy.source

Climate & Environment

  • March 7 – "Livery Stable Blues", recorded with "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" on February 26, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in the United States, becomes the first jazz recording commercially released. On August 17 the band records "Tiger Rag".source
  • May 26 – A tornado strikes Mattoon, Illinois, causing devastation and killing 101 people.source

Culture & Society

  • February 12 – Toluca FC is founded as an Association football club in Mexico.source
  • March 1 – Ōmuta, Japan, is founded by Hiroushi Miruku.source
  • March 16 (N.S.) (March 3, O.S.) – Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia refuses the throne, and power passes to the newly formed Provisional Government, under Prince Georgy Lvov.source
  • March 25 – The Georgian Orthodox Church restores the autocephaly, abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.source
  • April 17 – (N.S.) (April 4, O.S.) – Vladimir Lenin's April Theses are published. They become very influential in the following July Days and Bolshevik Revolution.source
  • June 4 – The 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.source
  • July 7 – The Lions Clubs International is formed in the United States.source
  • August 3 – The New York Guard is founded.source
  • September 11 – The Bellevue Conference is held.source
  • November 26 – The National Hockey League is formed in Montreal, as a replacement for the recently disbanded National Hockey Association.source
  • December 25 – Jesse Lynch Williams's Why Marry?, the first play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre, New York City.source
  • The first edition of the World Book Encyclopedia – simply known as The World Book – is published by the Hanson-Roach-Fowler Company, and is one of the first American encyclopedias to cover the major areas of knowledge to a mass audience.source

Births

  • January 5 – Jane Wyman, American actress, philanthropist, and first wife of Ronald Reagan (d. 2007)source
  • January 17 – M. G. Ramachandran, Tamil Nadu chief minister, actor (d. 1987)source
  • January 25 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist, chemist, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2003)source
  • February 17 – Abdel Rahman Badawi, Egyptian existentialist philosopher (d. 2002)source
  • April 10 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)source
  • May 21 – Raymond Burr, Canadian actor, best known for his role in Perry Mason (d. 1993)source
  • June 8 – Byron White, American football player and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2002)source
  • July 27 – Wu Zhonghua, Chinese physicist, pioneered three-dimensional flow theory (d. 1992)source
  • August 15 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran Roman Catholic Archbishop (d. 1980)source
  • September 7 – John Cornforth, Australian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)source
  • October 2 – Christian de Duve, English-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2013)source
  • November 22 – Andrew Huxley, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)source
  • December 16 – Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English science-fiction author, best known for co-writing the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey (d. 2008)source
  • December 21 – Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)source

Deaths

  • January 8 – Mary Arthur McElroy, de facto First Lady of the United States (b. 1841)source
  • March 31 – Emil von Behring, German winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)source
  • April 1 – Scott Joplin, African-American ragtime composer, pianist (b. c.1868)source
  • May 7 – Albert Ball, British World War I fighter ace, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient (killed in action) (b. 1896)source
  • June 18 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1840)source
  • July 2 – William Henry Moody, 35th United States Secretary of the Navy, 45th United States Attorney General, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1853)source
  • July 27 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1841)source
  • August 20 – Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)source
  • September 23 – Werner Voss, German World War I fighter ace (killed in action) (b. 1897)source
  • October 4 – Dave Gallaher, New Zealand rugby union football player (killed in action) (b. 1873)source
  • October 22 – Bob Fitzsimmons, British boxer, World Heavyweight Champion (b. 1863)source
  • November 11 – Liliʻuokalani, last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii (b. 1838)source
  • December 10 – Sir Mackenzie Bowell, 5th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)source
  • December 22 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, first American canonized as a saint (b. 1850)source