WORLD HISTORY · 1917 日本語
Events of 1917Taisho 6 (Japan) · Year of the Snake
What happened in 1917?
In 1917, Japan founded the RIKEN research institute and signed the Lansing–Ishii Agreement with the United States. Around the world, the Russian Revolution forced the czar to abdicate and brought the Bolsheviks to power, and the United States declared war on Germany.
- RIKEN research institute foundedAsia
- Japanese cabinet approves sending fleet to EuropeAsia
- Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicatesEurope
- United States declares war on GermanyEurope
- Japan suspends the gold standardAsia
- Lansing–Ishii Agreement concludedAsia
- Britain issues the Balfour DeclarationEurope
- Russia's October Revolution takes placeEurope
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
1917 at a glance
| Japanese era | Taisho 6 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Snake |
| Age of people born in 1917 | Turn 109 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1916 (Taisho 5) ／ 1918 (Taisho 7) |
| Events | 94 |
| AP World History | Unit 7 (Global Conflict) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 7 |
Famous people born in 1917
Our birthday pages list 402 people born in 1917. Here are some of them.
- John F. KennedyBorn May 29 · turns 109 this year · 35th president of the United States, who created the Peace Corps and launched A…
- Anthony BurgessBorn February 25 · turns 109 this year · English novelist and composer best known for the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange.
- Ella FitzgeraldBorn April 25 · turns 109 this year · American jazz singer known as the First Lady of Song, famed for her scat singin…
- I. M. PeiBorn April 26 · turns 109 this year · Chinese-born American architect who designed the Louvre's glass pyramid and the…
- Lena HorneBorn June 30 · turns 109 this year · American singer and actress famous for her signature song "Stormy Weather" and…
- Red AuerbachBorn September 20 · turns 109 this year · Legendary Boston Celtics coach and executive who led the team to nine NBA champ…
- Thelonious MonkBorn October 10 · turns 109 this year · American jazz pianist and composer who helped create bebop and wrote standards…
- Dizzy GillespieBorn October 21 · turns 109 this year · American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who helped create bebop and wrote standa…
- Arthur C. ClarkeBorn December 16 · turns 109 this year · British science fiction writer who co-created 2001: A Space Odyssey and foresaw…
- Shannon BolinBorn January 1 · turns 109 this year
- Vera ZorinaBorn January 2 · turns 109 this year
- Albert MolBorn January 3 · turns 109 this year
Show 28 more
- Roger Williams Straus, Jr.Born January 3 · turns 109 this year
- Francis L. KelloggBorn January 5 · turns 109 this year
- Jane WymanBorn January 5 · turns 109 this year
- Wieland WagnerBorn January 5 · turns 109 this year
- Koo Chen-fuBorn January 6 · turns 109 this year
- Peter Matthew Hillsman TaylorBorn January 8 · turns 109 this year
- Jerry WexlerBorn January 10 · turns 109 this year
- John RobartsBorn January 11 · turns 109 this year
- Jimmy SkinnerBorn January 12 · turns 109 this year
- Walter HendlBorn January 12 · turns 109 this year
- K. A. ThangaveluBorn January 15 · turns 109 this year
- Carl KarcherBorn January 16 · turns 109 this year
- M. G. RamachandranBorn January 17 · turns 109 this year
- Nicholas OreskoBorn January 18 · turns 109 this year
- Wang Yung-chingBorn January 18 · turns 109 this year
- Erling PerssonBorn January 21 · turns 109 this year
- Bruce ShandBorn January 22 · turns 109 this year
- Ernest BorgnineBorn January 24 · turns 109 this year
- Ilya PrigogineBorn January 25 · turns 109 this year
- Jânio QuadrosBorn January 25 · turns 109 this year
- Louis ZamperiniBorn January 26 · turns 109 this year
- John RaittBorn January 29 · turns 109 this year
- Paul FrèreBorn January 30 · turns 109 this year
- Eiji SawamuraBorn February 1 · turns 109 this year
- José Luis SampedroBorn February 1 · turns 109 this year
- Mary EllisBorn February 2 · turns 109 this year
- Đỗ MườiBorn February 2 · turns 109 this year
- Shlomo GorenBorn February 3 · turns 109 this year
Events of 1917 (timeline · 94)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party are rescued after being stranded for several months.
The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs, possibly as a result of German sabotage.
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.
American entry into World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.
Sinking of the SS Laurentic after hitting two German mines off the coast of northwest Ireland.
World War I: Kaiser Wilhelm II orders the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
World War I: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).
World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
International Women's Day protests in Petrograd mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23 in the Julian calendar).
World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Frederick Stanley Maude.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne, ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.
The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.
World War I: First Battle of Gaza: British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.
World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
The Imperial War Graves Commission is established through royal charter to mark, record, and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the British Empire's military forces.
Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for 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 B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as "Army registration day".
World War I: Battle of Messines: Allied soldiers detonate a series of mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops.
King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father, Constantine I, is deemed to have abdicated under pressure from allied armies occupying Athens.
World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.
World War I: The American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France. They will first enter combat in the Battle of Hamel on July 4.
World War I: Russia launches the "Kerensky offensive" against Austria-Hungary to capture Galicia, its final offensive of the war.
Chinese General Zhang Xun seizes control of Beijing and restores the monarchy, installing Puyi, last emperor of the Qing dynasty, to the throne. The restoration is reversed just shy of two weeks later, when Republican troops regain control of the capital.
In the leadup to the Battle of Aqaba, T. E. Lawrence and his Arab forces defeat a battalion of Ottomans at Abu al-Lissan.
World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
Sir Robert Borden introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
Anti-lynching movement: The Silent Parade takes place in New York City, in protest against murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans.
World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
World War I: The Republic of China, which had heretofore been shipping labourers to Europe to assist in the war effort, officially declares war on the Central Powers, although it will continue to send to Europe labourers instead of combatants for the remaining duration of the war.
A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece, destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
Ten suffragists, members of the Silent Sentinels, are arrested while picketing the White House in favor of women's suffrage in the United States.
Vietnamese prison guards led by Trịnh Văn Cấn mutiny at the Thái Nguyên penitentiary against local French authority.
World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.
World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single-day loss of life in New Zealand history.
The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Portugal.
World War I: Italy suffers a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caporetto on the Austro-Italian front.
World War I: Battle of Beersheba: The "last successful cavalry charge in history".
The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting.
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".
World War I: The Third Battle of Gaza ends, with British forces capturing Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.
The October Revolution, which gets its name from the Julian calendar date of 25 October, occurs, according to the Gregorian calendar; on this date, the Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace.
The first Council of People's Commissars is formed, including Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
World War I: beginning of the First Battle of Monte Grappa (in Italy known as the "First Battle of the Piave"). The Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces, despite help from the German Alpenkorps and numerical superiority, will fail their offensive against the Italian Army now led by its new chief of staff Armando Diaz.
Eduskunta declares itself the supreme state power of Finland, prompting its declaration of independence and secession from Russia.
World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins: British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
In Milwaukee, nine members of the Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb, the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1,200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania.
The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France.
P. E. Svinhufvud becomes the chairman of his first senate, technically the first Prime Minister of Finland.
The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.
World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.
The Finnish Senate submits to the Parliament of Finland a proposal for the form of government of the Republic of Finland and issues a communication to Parliament declaring the independence of Finland.
Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time.
World War I: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.
World War I: The Kingdom of Romania signs the Armistice of Focșani with the Central Powers.
World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1917 in the Japanese calendar?
1917 was Taisho 6 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1917?
1917 is the Year of the Snake.
How old is someone born in 1917?
They turn 109 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1917?
In 1917, Japan founded the RIKEN research institute and signed the Lansing–Ishii Agreement with the United States. Around the world, the Russian Revolution forced the czar to abdicate and brought the Bolsheviks to power, and the United States declared war on Germany.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.