(Wednesday, December 12, 1917, 11:15 p.m. CET; during World War I) — A train carrying at least 1,000 French troops on their way home for leave from the Italian front derailed tonight while descending a steep hill in Modane, France, killing at least 700 troops in France’s greatest rail disaster.
Video: 'Boystown Building Families'
(Wednesday, December 12, 1917) — Boys Town, an orphanage for boys, then called the “City of Little Men,” was founded today by Edward J. Flanagan, a Roman Catholic priest, in a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska. Continue reading Father Edward Flanagan establishes Boys Town 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 12 1917)
Video: 'GENERAL ALLENBY'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM'
(Tuesday, December 11, 1917, noon local time; during the Battle of Jerusalem, part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I) – British General Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem today, two days after his forces expelled the Ottoman Turks. Continue reading British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 11 1917)
Video: 'Monongah 1907 Mine Disaster'
(Friday, December 6, 1907, 10:28 a.m. local time) — The worst mining disaster in American history occurred today as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia. Continue reading 362 killed in worst mining disaster in U.S. history 110 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 6 1907)
Video: 'The Halifax Explosion Documentary' (Dec. 6, 1917, at 11:45)
(Thursday, December 6, 1917, 9:04:35 a.m. AST; during World War I) — Some 2,000 people died and another 9,000 were injured today when a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin, setting off a blast that devastated Halifax, Nova Scotia. Continue reading Some 2,000 people die in Halifax Explosion 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 6 1917)
Video: 'NHL History'
(Monday, November 26, 1917) — The National Hockey League (NHL), the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, was formed today at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal as a replacement for the recently disbanded National Hockey Association. Continue reading National Hockey League formed in Montreal 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 26 1917)
(Saturday, November 24, 1917, 7:33 p.m. local time) — Nine members of the Milwaukee police department and one civilian were killed and several injured tonight when a bomb, designed to destroy the Italian Evangelical Church, in the heart of the third ward, an Italian settlement, exploded in Central Police Station, where it had been carried for examination. Continue reading Terrorist attack kills 10 in Milwaukee 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 24 1917)
Video: '1917 Revolution: bloodshed begins'
(Wednesday, November 7, 1917/October 25, 1917 (O.S.), 9:45 p.m. MSD; during October Revolution and World War I) — The Russian cruiser Aurora fired a symbolic blank shot from the Neva River tonight, giving the signal to rebellious workers, soldiers and sailors led by the Bolshevik Party and leader Vladimir Lenin to storm the Winter Palace in Petrograd (modern day Saint Petersburg), Russia. Continue reading Bolshevik Red Guards seize power in Russia 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 7 1917)
Video: 'The Battle of Passchendaele (100th Anniversary of The Great War Documentary) | Timeline'
(Tuesday, November 6, 1917, starting at 6:00 a.m. with completion in less than three hours; on the Western Front during World War I) — The Battle of Passchendaele, fought by the Allies against the German Empire, effectively ended today as Passchendaele village in Belgium was taken by Canadian soldiers and British Field Marshal Douglas Haig used this success as the reason for calling off the three-month battle. Continue reading Battle of Passchendaele effectively ends 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 6 1917)
Video: 'The Great War episode 5 Mutiny'(Nov. 3, 1917, at 22:41)
(Saturday, November 3, 1917) — Wilfred Owen, one of the leading poets of World War I, was discharged today from Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh three months after being diagnosed as suffering from neurasthenia or shell shock. Continue reading War poet Wilfred Owen released from Craiglockhart 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 3 1917)
