What Happened in 1917

Al Capone Becomes "Scarface" From Knife Fight

Back in 1917 young burly Al Capone was working in the Harvard Inn on Coney Island for Frankie Yale. Frankie Yale was a mob boss in New York. ... Read more

International Committee of the Red Cross Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties... Read more

Volume I of De Stijl Journal Published

The De Stijl (literally, "the style") art movement was founded by the painter and architect Theo van Doesburg in Leiden in 1917. It encompassed a... Read more

Albert Einstein publishes first paper on cosmology

In 1917, Einstein applied the General theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe as a whole. He wanted the universe to be eternal... Read more

'Prufrock and Other Observations' is Published

T. S. Eliot's first collection of poems, published in 1917 under the imprint of the Egoist magazine. Ezra Pound undertook arrangements for... Read more

Houdini Performs Buried Alive Escape

Throughout his career, Houdini performed three variations on a "Buried Alive" stunt/escape. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1917, and... Read more

De Stijl Movement

After World War I there was a turning away from old forms and philosophies among architects and designers, just as there was among artists and... Read more

William "Buffalo Bill" Cody dies

William F. Cody died of kidney failure on January 10, 1917, surrounded by family and friends at his sister's house in Denver. On his deathbed, Cody... Read more

Silvertown Explosion

On Friday 19 January 1917, a small community in the East End was ripped apart by an enormous explosion – the biggest London had seen before or has... Read more

"Easy Street" (film) is Released

Easy Street is a 1917 short comedy film by Charlie Chaplin. In the film, the police are failing to maintain law and order and so it is Chaplin,... Read more

German Armies Retreat 25 Miles to New Hindenberg Line

As They Withdraw, German Army Destroys 2,000 Villages, Towns and Cities Allied Forces, 2,500,000 General Robert Nivelle, Commander-in-Chief... Read more

The Zimmerman Telegram - Germany Begins Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

United States Adopts a Policy of "Armed Neutrality," Germans Sink 7,000 Vessels Germany, with feverish speed, had been multiplying her fleets of... Read more

United States Severs Diplomatic Relations With Germany

On January 31, 1917, Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador to the United States, notified this Government that on the following day, February... Read more

Carson McCullers Is Born

Novelist Carson McCullers, noted for her exploration of the dilemmas of modern American life in the context of the twentieth-century South, was... Read more

President Wilson Asks Congress to Establish a State of Armed Neutrality

The Germans, while continuing to sink defenceless American vessels, still moved with a degree of caution after the severance of diplomatic... Read more

Woodrow Wilson's second inauguration

March 4 was a Sunday, but the President took the oath of office at the Capitol in the President's Room that morning. The oath was taken again the... Read more

Fall of Baghdad (1917)

On 11 March 1917, the British Indian Army fighting the Ottoman Turks in the First World War, after a series of defeats, captured Baghdad in a... Read more

British Launch the Samarrah Offensive

The Samarrah Offensive (March 13 — April 23, 1917) was launched by the British against the Ottomans as part of the Mesopotamian Campaign in World... Read more

Russian Revolution

Russia in Upheaval When War Broke Out The rumblings of Revolution became audible in 1913, when an epidemic of strikes broke out in Petrograd... Read more

Abdication of Czar Nicholas II of Russia

By the Grace of God, We, Nikolai II, Emperor of All the Russias, Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, and so forth, to all our faithful subjects... Read more

British Forces Capture Falluja

The Samarrah Offensive (March 13 — April 23, 1917) was launched by the British against the Ottomans as part of the Mesopotamian Campaign in World... Read more

First Action at Jebel Hamrin

The first action we fought at Jebel Hamrin, in the third week of March, 1917, was a sanguinary affair. The Turks held us back on the hills when... Read more

First Battle Of Gaza

The First Battle of Gaza was a World War I battle on the southern border of Palestine. After eight months of painstaking advances, British Empire... Read more

US Mobilizes Navy for the War and Seizes 109 German Ships in US Ports

President Wilson had not waited until the actual Declaration of War before setting Uncle Sam's house in order for the inevitable conflict. On March... Read more

Seattle Metropolitans win Stanley Cup

The 1917 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Seattle Metropolitans and the National Hockey... Read more