In history, year 1917 has its own importance and known for many memorable events like famous birthdays, inventions, natural disaster, treaties, change of rulers, special days etc. Find below a list of important historical events which happened during the year 1917.
| Date/Month | Event / Incidence / Incident |
|---|
| 19 january | Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in Silver town in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing more than 70 people and injuring more than 400 others. |
| 26 february | New Orleans' Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded 'LiveryStable Blues', the first jazz single ever released. |
| 15 march | Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate in theFebruary Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. |
| 25 march | Following the overthrow of the Russian tsar Nicholas II,Georgia's bishops unilaterally restored the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church. |
| 26 march | First World War-Attempting to advance into Palestine, British were defeated by Ottoman troops at the First Battle of Gaza. |
| 09 april | First World War-The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France. |
| 16 april | Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd from Switzerland, and joined the Bolshevik movement in Russia. |
| 13 may | Ten-year-old Lúcia Santos and her cousins Francisco andJacinta Marto reportedly began experiencing a Marian apparition nearFátima, Portugal, now known as Our Lady of Fátima. |
| 18 may | The Selective Service Act of 1917 was passed on 18th May, drafted by then –Captain Hugh S. Johnson to authorize the federal government to raise a national army through conscription. According to the draft all the men between the ages of 21-30 were required to register for military services for the American entry into World War I. |
| 22 may | The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 began on 21st May resulted into the damage of $5.5 million. Around 300 acres including 2,000 homes, business and churches were destroyed and about 1,000 people were displaced. There was one fatality of a woman due to heart attack. |
| 07 june | First World War-The British Army detonated 19 ammonal minesunder the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion in history. |
| 11 june | Alexander was crowned King of Greece, succeeding his fatherConstantine, who had abdicated. |
| 30 june | Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji, great Indian, patriot and one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, politician and merchant, died at the age of 92. Dadabhai Naoroji known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader. He was a member of parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a British MP. |
| 02 july | White residents of East St. Louis, Illinois, burned entiresections of the city and shot black inhabitants as they escaped theflames. |
| 12 july | Vigilantes forcibly deported about 1,300 striking mine workers, their supporters, and innocent bystanders from Bisbee, Arizona, US, to New Mexico. |
| 31 july | First World War-The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypresin West Flanders, Belgium, with the Allied Powers aiming to force Germantroops to withdraw from the Channel Ports. |
| 04 october | First World War : The British devastated the German defence in the Battle of Broodseinde, which prompted a crisis among the German commanders and caused a severe loss of morale in the German Fourth Army. |
| 12 october | First World War-New Zealand troops suffered 2,735 casualties,including 845 deaths, in the First Battle of Passchendaele, making itthe nation's largest loss of life in one day. |
| 13 october | At least 30,000 people in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima,Portugal, witnessed the 'Miracle of the Sun'. |
| 14 october | At least 30,000 people in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima,Portugal, witnessed the 'Miracle of the Sun'. |
| 15 october | Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a firing squadfor spying for Germany. |
| 31 october | World War I-Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beershebain Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, often reported as 'the last successful cavalry charge in history'. |
| 02 november | British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the BalfourDeclaration, proclaiming British support for the establishment of aJewish homeland in Palestine. |
| 07 november | World War I-British forces captured Gaza when the Ottomangarrison abandoned the area. |
| 07 november | Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against theProvisional Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the Bolshevik Revolution. |
| 25 november | World War I-German troops invaded Portuguese East Africa in anattempt to escape superior British forces to the north and resupply fromcaptured Portuguese materiel. |
| 26 november | Unable to resolve disputes with Eddie Livingstone, owner of theToronto Blueshirts, the other ice hockey clubs of Canada's NationalHockey Association officially agreed to leave that sports league and toform a new one-the National Hockey League. |
| 06 december | A ship in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, carrying TNT and picric acid caught fire after a collision with another ship and caused the second-largest man-made accidental explosion in history. |
| 09 december | First World War-Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman mayor ofJerusalem, surrendered the city to the British. |
| 12 december | A train derailment in Modane, France has led to the death of 500 soldiers. |
| Date/Month | Name / Profession / Country |
|---|
| 01 April | Sydney Newman / Writer / Canada |
| 01 March | Robert Lowell / Poet / United States of America |
| 02 May | George Gaynes / Actor / United States of America |
| 02 March | David Goodis / Author / United States of America |
| 03 January | Albert Mol / Actor / Netherlands |
| 03 August | Les Elgart / Trumpet Player / United States of America |
| 04 August | John Fitch / Engineer / United States of America |
| 05 September | Pedro E. Guerrero / Photographer / United States of America |
| 05 September | Sören Nordin / Racer / Sweden |
| 06 December | Kamal Jumblatt / Lawyer / Lebanon |
| 08 October | Billy Conn / Boxer / United States of America |
| 11 June | Joseph B. Wirthlin / Business Man / United States of America |
| 14 April | Marvin Miller / Baseball Player / United States of America |
| 16 June | Aurelio Lampredi / Automobile Designer / Italy |
| 18 May | Bill Everett / Author / United States of America |
| 20 March | Vera Lynn / Singer / United Kingdom |
| 23 April | Tony Lupien / Baseball Player / United States of America |
| 25 May | Theodore Hesburgh / Priest / United States of America |
| 25 February | Anthony Burgess / Author / United Kingdom |
| 26 November | Nesuhi Ertegun / Producer / United States of America |
| Year | Name / Profession / Country |
|---|
| 29 December | Ramanand Sagar / Producer / India |
| 17 July | Bijon Bhattacharya / Actor / India |
| 15 January | K. A. Thangavelu / Actor / India |
| 12 March | Googie Withers / Actress / India |
| 10 April | Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri / Politician / India |
| 07 July | Ram Subhag Singh / Politician / India |
| 12 July | Satyendra Narayan Singh / Politician / India |
| 05 November | Banarsi Das Gupta / Politician / India |
| 02 November | Ann Rutherford / Actress / India |
| 12 April | Vinoo Mankad / Cricketer / India |
| 03 November | Annapurna Maharana / Activist / India |
| 23 September | Aashima Chatarjee / Chemist / India |
| 13 November | Vasantdada Patil / Politician / India |
| 19 November | Mrs. Indira Gandhi / Politician / India |
| 05 November | Banarsi Das Gupta / Politician / India |
| 26 November | Biren Mitra / Politician / India |
| 19 November | Indira Gandhi / Politician / India |
| 15 December | Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee / Linguist / India |
| 13 November | Vasantdada Patil / Politician / India |
| 19 November | Indira Gandhi / Politician / India |