(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: '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: '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: '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)
Video: 'Paths of Glory' trailer
(Friday, November 1, 1957) — Paths of Glory, an American anti-war film about a military lawyer who comes to question the status quo when he defends three men accused of cowardice, premiered today in Munich, West Germany. Continue reading ‘Paths of Glory’ premieres in Munich 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 1 1957)
Video: 'mata hari firing squad execution scene'
(Monday, October 15, 1917, at 6:15 a.m. CET) — Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was executed today by firing squad in the Parisian suburb of Vincennes having been convicted of spying for Germany during World War I. She was 41. Continue reading Mata Hari executed by firing squad in France 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 15 1917)
(Tuesday, September 4, 1917, late evening CEST; on the Western Front during World War I) – The American Expeditionary Forces in France suffered their first fatalities today during the Great War when a German plane attacked a British-run base hospital near Dannes-Camiers in Pas-de-Calais, France.
Lt. W.T. Fitzsimmons was killed along with Pvt. Oscar Tugo, Pvt. Rudolph Rubino and Pvt. Leslie Woods.
(Friday, August 10, 1917, early afternoon; during World War I) — Herbert Hoover was named formally as the first director of the U.S. Food Administration today by President Woodrow Wilson, under authority invested in him by Congress, and immediately served notice on speculators and profiteers that the time of reckoning had come for those who would not cooperate in the efforts of the government to obtain lower prices for the consumer and help the allies of America in the war against Germany.
