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April 1917

{{short description|Month in 1917}}

{{about|the month|the novel|The Red Wheel}}

{{Events by month|1917}}

{{calendar|year=1917|month=April}}

Image:Richard Jack-The Taking of Vimy Ridge (CWM 19710261-0160).jpg.}}]]

The following events occurred in April 1917:

Sunday, April 1, 1917

Monday, April 2, 1917

  • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked the United States Congress for a declaration of war on Germany, stating that the war would "make the world safe for democracy" and later that it would be a "war to end war".{{cite news|title=President Calls for War Declaration, Stronger Navy, New Army of 500,000 Men, Full Cooperation With Germany's Foes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0402.html|accessdate=14 July 2017|work=The New York Times|issue=April 3, 1917|date=April 2, 1917}}
  • The Lillestrøm football club was founded after the merger of two local clubs. The team currently plays out of the Åråsen Stadion in Lillestrøm, Norway.{{cite web|title=Welcome to Lillestrøm Sports Club's history| url=http://www.lskhistorikk.com/| website=Lillestrøm Sports Club|language=no|accessdate=7 April 2017}}
  • Born: Dabbs Greer, American actor, best known for the role of Reverend Robert Alden on the television show Little House on the Prairie; as Robert William Greer, in Fairview, Missouri, United States (d. 2007){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Tuesday, April 3, 1917

File:Lenin.gif

  • Vladimir Lenin left Switzerland for Russia using a "sealed train" to cross Germany.{{cite book|author=Moorehead, Alan|title=The Russian Revolution|location=New York|publisher=Harper|year=1958|pages=183–187}}
  • Louis J. Wilde was elected 17th mayor of San Diego, beating George Marston with 58 percent of the vote.{{cite web|title=Election History - Mayor of San Diego|url=https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/city-clerk/pdf/mayorresults.pdf|publisher=City of San Diego|accessdate=April 15, 2017}}
  • Battle of Toboly - Central Powers troops captured in a rapid attack Russian bridgehead over the Stochod river around the villages of Toboly and Helenin, Volynska Oblast, nowadays north-western Ukraine.{{cite journal |journal=The New York Times |date=5 April 1917 |page=1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/05/archives/defeat-russians-cross-the-stokhod-petrograd-admits-that-germans.html |access-date=31 December 2024 |publisher=The New York Times Company |language=en |title=DEFEAT RUSSIANS, CROSS THE STOKHOD}} Action also showed a successful strategy of coordination of infantry and artillery implemented by German general Georg Bruchmüller.
  • The Brazilian football club Maruinense was established in Maruim, Brazil as the Socialista Sport Club before it was renamed in the 1960s.{{cite book|title=Escudos dos Times do Mundo Inteiro|publisher=Panda Books|author=Rodolfo Rodrigues|year=2009|page=94}}
  • Died:
  • Arthur Graeme West, 25, British poet, author of The Diary of a Dead Officer; killed in action (b. 1891){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Milton Wright, 88, American religious leader, bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, father to the Wright brothers (b. 1828){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Wednesday, April 4, 1917

Thursday, April 5, 1917

File:Hindenberg line bullecourt.jpg at Bullecourt, France 1920.}}]]

  • The Imperial German Army completed its withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, the new main defensive line in the Western Front.{{cite book |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations France and Belgium, 1917: The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras |volume=I |last=Falls |first=C. |author-link=Cyril Falls |year=1992 |orig-year=1940 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |edition=Imperial War Museum & Battery Press |isbn=978-0-89839-180-0|pages=138–153}}
  • Brazilian steamship Paraná was torpedoed by a German submarine, killing three crewmen. The attack on shipping from neutral countries boosted public pressure for Brazil to enter the war.{{cite web|last1=Schulze|first1=Frederick|title=Brazil - The War|url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/brazil|website=1914-1918 Online|publisher=International Encyclopedia of the First World War|accessdate=14 July 2017|date=March 16, 2015}}
  • The British government issued a Food Hoarding Order to prevent households from hoarding food in short supply during World War I.{{cite web|title=On This Day - 5 April 1917|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/1917_04_05.htm|work=firstworldwar.com|year=2009|accessdate=2014-02-11}}
  • New U.S. military aircraft began landing at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, to improve military aircraft capacity for the Mexico–United States border.San Antonio Air Logistics Center Office of History, Kelly AFB, Texas. A Brief History of Kelly Air Force Base. San Antonio, June 1993.Location of U.S. Aviation Fields, The New York Times, 21 July 1918Kroll, H. D. (1919), Kelly field in the great world war, San Antonio Printing Company
  • Born: Robert Bloch, American writer, author of many best-selling science fiction and horror fiction including Psycho; in Milwaukee, United States (d. 1994){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died: E. H. Coombe, 58, Australian politician, member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1901 to 1912, and 1915 to 1917 (b. 1858){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Friday, April 6, 1917

Saturday, April 7, 1917

  • Cuba and Panama declared war on Germany as allies to the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/digitized-books/world-war-i-declarations/foreign.php#U |title=World War: Declarations of War from Around the World|publisher=Library of Congress}}{{cite web |url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/declarationsofwar.htm |title=Who Declared War and When|publisher = Firstworldwar.com}}
  • German merchant raider ship {{SMS|Cormoran|1914|6}} was scuttled at Guam shortly after the crew learned the United States had declared war on Germany, but nine crew members were accidentally killed during detonation.{{cite news|title=Germans Destroy Interned Gunboat in Harbor at Guam|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1917-04-07/ed-1/seq-1/|accessdate=7 April 2017|work=Evening Star|date=7 April 1917|location=Washington, D.C.|page=1}}
  • American songwriter George M. Cohan completed the most famous World War I-themed song, "Over There", but would not have it published until June 1.{{cite book|last=Vogel|first=Frederick G.|title= World War I Songs: A history of Popular American Patriotic Tunes, with Over 300 Complete Lyrics |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers |year= 1995|isbn= 0-89950-952-5|oclc= 32241433|page=36}}
  • The American Friends Service Committee was established by members of the Religious Society of Friends to assist civilian victims in World War I.{{Cite web|url=https://afsc.org/story/origin-american-friends-service-committee|title=Origin of the American Friends Service Committee|date=2010-03-29|access-date=2016-07-01|archive-date=2016-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421051057/http://www.afsc.org/story/origin-american-friends-service-committee|url-status=dead}}
  • Born:
  • R. G. Armstrong, American actor, best known for his collaborations with film director Sam Peckinpah including Ride the High Country, Major Dundee and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid; as Robert Golden Armstrong Jr., in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, United States (d. 2012){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Mongo Santamaría, Cuban-American jazz musician and composer, best known for developing Afro-Caribbean Latin jazz including the standard "Afro Blue"; as Ramón Santamaría Rodríguez, in Havana, Cuba (d. 2003){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died:
  • Spyridon Samaras, 55, Greek composer, known for operas including Messidor, Lionella and Rhea (b. 1861){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • George Brown, 81, British missionary, founder of the Piula Theological College in Samoa (b. 1835){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Sunday, April 8, 1917

Monday, April 9, 1917

Image:Positioning18pdrBattleOfArrasApril1917.jpg.}}]]

Image:Vimy Ridge - Canadian machine gun crews.jpeg.}}]]

  • Battle of Arras – Fourteen British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African divisions attacked an {{convert|11|mi|km|abbr=on}} portion of the German line near the city of Arras, France.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/trenchwarfare1910000ashw |url-access=registration |title=Trench Warfare, 1914–1918: The Live and Let Live System |last=Ashworth |first=Tony |location=London |publisher=Pan Books |edition=repr. |year=2000 |orig-year=1980 |isbn=978-0-330-48068-0| pages=[https://archive.org/details/trenchwarfare1910000ashw/page/55 55]–56}}{{cite book |title=If Germany Attacks: The Battle in Depth in the West |last=Wynne |first=G. C. |year=1976 |orig-year=1939 |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |edition=Greenwood Press, NY |isbn=0-8371-5029-9|page=116}} The French Third Army also provided support by attacking the German line at St. Quentin–Arras, France.{{sfn|Falls|1992|pp=494–497}}
  • Battle of Vimy Ridge – Four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked Vimy Ridge held by three divisions of the German Sixth Army as part of the Arras offensive, capturing most of the escarpment on the first day of the attack.{{citation |ref=Sheldon2 |title=The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914–1917 |last=Sheldon |first=Jack |year=2008 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Barnsley (UK) |isbn=978-1-84415-680-1|pages=298–311}}
  • Charles Burke, first commander of the No. 2 Squadron, was killed by a shell burst on the opening day of the Arras offensive while rejoining his old regiment.{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Mike|title=Airfields & Airmen: Arras|year=2004 |publisher=Pen and Sword Books Ltd|isbn=9781844151257 }} Although he wasn't part of the Royal Flying Corps at the time of death, his death became part of Bloody April. The Corps lost 245 aircraft — 140 in the first two weeks — out of an initial strength of 365. Casualties included 211 killed or missing and 108 captured. The opposing Germans lost only 66 aircraft.Blumberg, Arnold, "The First Ground-Pounders," Aviation History, November 2014, p. 40.
  • The Patriot Youth League of Sweden was established to promote the preservation of the monarchy and the official church of Sweden.{{cite web|last1=Tillägg|first1=Öyen|title=Nordisk familjebok|url=https://runeberg.org/nfcr/0391.html|website=Projekt Runeberg|year=1926 |publisher=Riksdagens bibliotek|ref=Uggleupplagan 38 Supplement.|pages=709–710|language=sv}}
  • Born:
  • Brad Dexter, American actor, known for roles in The Magnificent Seven and Run Silent, Run Deep; as Boris Michel Soso, in Goldfield, Nevada, United States (d. 2002){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Irene Morgan, American activist, noted plaintiff in Morgan v. Virginia, which was the first case to successfully challenge state segregation laws; in Baltimore, United States (d. 2007){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Johannes Bobrowski, German poet, known for his lyric poetry collections including The Land of Sarmatia and Shadowland; in Tilsit, East Prussia, German Empire (present-day Sovetsk, Lithuania) (d. 1965){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Vincent O'Brien, Irish horse trainer, trained six champion race horses including the only British Triple Crown winner since World War II; as Michael Vincent O'Brien, in Ireland (d. 2009){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died:
  • Edward Thomas, 39, British poet, known for his poetry collections Six Poems, Poems and Last Poems; killed in action (b. 1878){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • R. E. Vernède, 41-42, English poet, known for poetry collection War Poems, And Other Verses, published posthumously; killed in action (b. 1875){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Charlie Gould, 69, American baseball player, first baseman for the Cincinnati Red Stockings from 1869 to 1870 (b. 1847){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Tuesday, April 10, 1917

  • Battle of Arras – The British 3rd and 12th Divisions captured much of German line along the Scarpe River, known as Monchyriegel, between the French villages of Feuchy and Wancourt. However, Germany still retained control of the village of Neuville-Vitasse in the center.{{cite book |last=Oldham |first=Peter |title=The Hindenburg Line |year=1997 |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-0-85052-568-7|pages=50–53}}
  • Battle of Vimy Ridge – Canadian forces captured the French village of Thélus, forcing the German divisions to evacuate most of Vimy Ridge except for a defensive position on a hill code-named "The Pimple".{{citation |last=Campbell |first=David |year=2007 |contribution=The 2nd Canadian Division: A 'Most Spectacular Battle'| editor-last = Hayes| editor-first = Geoffrey| editor2-last = Iarocci| editor2-first = Andrew| editor3-last = Bechthold| editor3-first = Mike |title=Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment| location = Waterloo |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |pages=179–182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pf5y7sehRwAC&q=Vimy%20Ridge%3A%20A%20Canadian%20Reassessment&pg=PA171 |isbn=978-0-88920-508-6}}
  • An explosion at an ammunition factory in Chester, Pennsylvania, killed 139 workers.{{cite web|last1=O'Neill|first1=Robert F.|title=The Mystery Lives Where 139 Perished|url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-04-19/news/26001794_1_shells-munitions-plant-sabotage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113205816/http://articles.philly.com/1992-04-19/news/26001794_1_shells-munitions-plant-sabotage|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 13, 2016|website=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=April 19, 1992}}
  • Red Cross hospital ship {{HMHS|Salta}} struck a mine and sank at Le Havre, France with the loss of 130 of the 205 people on board.{{cite web|year = 2008|url = http://union-castle.net/ship_Salta_wreck_01.html|title = HMS Salta|publisher = union-castle.net|accessdate = August 21, 2009|last = Marc Leroux|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110831220711/http://union-castle.net/ship_Salta_wreck_01.html|archive-date = August 31, 2011|url-status = dead}} A British patrol boat that came to rescue survivors also struck a mine and sank, with the loss of 19 of 59 crewmen.{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/4629.html |title=P26 |publisher=Uboat.net |accessdate=1 December 2012}}
  • Born: Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into organic synthesis; in Boston, United States (d. 1979){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Wednesday, April 11, 1917

Thursday, April 12, 1917

File:Ahmed Sharif es Senussi.jpg rebel leader Sayed Ahmed]]

  • Battle of Vimy Ridge – Canadian forces captured the hill known as "The Pimple", the last German defense position on Vimy Ridge.Sheldon 2008, pp. 315-317 The victory came at a cost of 10,602 casualties, including 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. German casualties for the battle were unknown but 4,000 men were prisoners. Four Canadian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross: William Johnstone Milne and Ellis Wellwood Sifton (posthumously as both were killed on the first day of battle), and John George Pattison and Thain Wendell MacDowell.{{citation |ref=Moran |last=Moran |first=Heather |year=2007 |contribution=The Canadian Army Medical Corps at Vimy Ridge| editor-last = Hayes| editor-first = Geoffrey| editor2-last = Iarocci| editor2-first = Andrew| editor3-last = Bechthold| editor3-first = Mike |title=Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment| location = Waterloo |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |page=139|isbn=978-0-88920-508-6}}
  • The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia was formed within Russia from the Governorate of Estonia and the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia.Raun 2001, p. 100[https://books.google.com/books?id=TYJbYgNcalgC The Baltic States and Weimar Ostpolitik By John Hiden]
  • Senussi campaign – A peace deal was brokered between the British and the Senussi, with Prince Idris recognized as Emir (ruler) of Cyrenaica in what is present-day Libya.{{cite web |last=Rickard |first=J. |title=Senussi Uprising, 1915–1917 |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_senussi_uprising.html |publisher=Military History Encyclopedia on the Web |date=9 September 2007 |accessdate=25 February 2015}} Senussi rebel leader Sayed Ahmed was able to escape to Constantinople where he remained for the remainder of World War I.{{cite book |title=Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine, From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917 |volume=I |last1=Macmunn |first1=G |last2=Falls |first2=C. |year=1996 |orig-year=1928 HMSO |publisher=Battery Press |location=Nashville, TN |isbn=0-89839-241-1|page=145}}
  • The daily newspaper Tiesa released its first edition, becoming the first official newspaper of Lithuania.{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Žurnalistikos enciklopedija |url=http://www.kf.vu.lt/dokumentai/publikacijos/Zurnalistikos-enciklopedija.pdf |editor=Laimonas Tapinas|title=Tiesa |location=Vilnius |publisher=Pradai |year=1997 |isbn=9986-776-62-7 |pages=519–520|display-editors=etal}}
  • Norwegian football club Grand Bodø was established in Bodø, Norway.{{cite web|url=http://www.ikgrand.no/?ac_id=234&ac_parent=1|title=IK Grands historie|publisher=IK Grand Bodø|language=no|accessdate=15 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309053508/http://www.ikgrand.no/?ac_id=234&ac_parent=1|archive-date=9 March 2012|url-status=dead}}
  • Born:
  • Džemal Bijedić, Yugoslav state leader, 27th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia; in Mostar, Austria-Hungary (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) (d. 1977){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • William A. Campbell, American air force officer, member and commander of the 332d Expeditionary Operations Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen, during World War II, recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and Legion of Merit; in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States (d. 2012){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Helen Forrest, American big band singer, lead vocalist for Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James; as Helen Fogel, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States (d. 1999){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Robert Orville Anderson, American industrialist, founder of the oil company ARCO; in Chicago, United States (d. 2007){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Friday, April 13, 1917

Saturday, April 14, 1917

Image:MachinGunCorps.jpg

Sunday, April 15, 1917

Monday, April 16, 1917

File:Assaut-chemin-des-dames.jpg line during the Second Battle of the Aisne.}}]]

Tuesday, April 17, 1917

image:Tranchée Monts de Champagne 10009.jpg.}}]]

  • Battle of the Hills – As part of the Nivelle offensive, thirteen divisions with the French Fourth Army attacked an {{convert|11|km|mi|adj=on}} front east of Reims, France defended by 17 divisions with the German Fourth Army, with the bulk of the fighting occurring around the trench lines code-named Konstanzlager.{{cite book|title=Reims and the Battles for its Possession |year=1920 |orig-year=1919 |publisher=Michelin & cie |location=Clermont Ferrand |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924027945744 |accessdate=11 October 2013|oclc=5361169|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924027945744/page/n15 12]}}
  • Second Battle of Gaza – Three infantry divisions with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under command of Lieutenant-General Charles Macpherson Dobell attacked Ottoman-held Gaza, which was well-fortified with some 21,000 troops.{{cite book |title=Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War: Foreword by General Hüseyiln Kivrikoglu |last=Erickson|first= Edward J.|series= No. 201 Contributions in Military Studies |year=2001| publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport Connecticut|oclc=43481698|page=163}}{{cite book |title=Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from the outbreak of war with Germany to June 1917 |last=Falls |first=Cyril |series=Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |author2=G. MacMunn |year=1930 |volume=1 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |location=London |oclc=610273484|page=348}}
  • British hospital ships {{SS|Donegal||2}} and {{HMHS|Lanfranc}} were torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel by German submarines, with each losing 40 passengers and crew.{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1686.html |title=Donegal |publisher=Uboat.net |accessdate=28 November 2012}}{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Fight in the Channel. |date=23 April 1917 |page=8 |issue=41459 |column=A }}{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/3492.html |title=Lanfranc |publisher=Uboat.net |accessdate=6 November 2012}}
  • Vladimir Lenin's April Theses were published, and would become very influential in the following July Days and October Revolution.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/06/dn-j29.html|title=Toward a reconsideration of Trotsky's legacy and his place in the history of the 20th century|last=North|first=David|date=29 June 2001|website=World Socialist Web Site|publisher=ICFI}}
  • London newspapers The Times and the Daily Mail (both owned by Lord Alfred Northcliffe) printed atrocity propaganda of the supposed existence of a German Corpse Factory processing dead soldiers' bodies.{{cite news|title=Germans and their Dead. Revolting Treatment. Science and the Barbarian Spirit|newspaper=The Times|location=London|issue=41454|page=5|date=1917-04-17}}{{cite news|title=Cadavers Not Human.; Gruesome Tale Believed to be Somebody's Notion of an April Fool Joke|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1917-04-20|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/20/102335496.pdf}}{{cite book|last=Badsey|first=Stephen|title=The German Corpse Factory: a Study in First World War Propaganda|location=Solihull|publisher=Helion|year=2014|isbn=9781909982666}}{{cite book|last=Neander|first=Joachim|title=The German Corpse Factory: The Master Hoax of British Propaganda in the First World War|publisher=Saarland University Press|location=Saarbrücken|year=2013|isbn=978-3-86223-117-1}}{{cite book|last=Marlin|first=Randal|title=Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion|publisher=Broadview Press|year=2002|location=Peterborough, Ont.|page=72|isbn=1-55111-376-7}}
  • American fighter pilot Edmond Genet was shot by anti-aircraft artillery and killed in France, the first American flier to die since the United States entered World War I.{{cite news |title=Genet, American Flier, Killed At The Front. Ossining Youth, Who Was a Descendant of Gov. Clinton, Enlisted at Beginning of War |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/18/102334681.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 18, 1917 |accessdate=2015-05-05 }}{{cite news |title=Edmond Charles Clinton Genet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/05/17/archives/edmond-charles-clinton-genet.html |quote=We have just heard of the death of Edmond Charles Clinton Genet of the American Escadrille, killed on April 16. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 17, 1917 |accessdate=2015-05-05 }}
  • The Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party was established in Kiev.[http://history.franko.lviv.ua/IIIu_3.htm Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919024231/http://history.franko.lviv.ua/IIIu_3.htm |date=2016-09-19 }}. Handbook on the History of Ukraine
  • The River Forest Township was established in Cook County, Illinois.{{cite web|title=Township History|url=http://www.riverforesttownship.org/townshiphist.asp|website=River Forest Township|accessdate=3 April 2017}}
  • Born: José Soriano, Peruvian football player, goalkeeper for Club Atlético River Plate and the Peru national football team from 1940 to 1947; in Chiclayo, Peru (d. 2011){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died: Jane Barlow, 60, Irish poet, known for her collections including Irish idylls (b. 1857){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Wednesday, April 18, 1917

Thursday, April 19, 1917

image:Machine gun corps Gaza line WWIb edit2.jpg machine gun corps defending Gaza against the British.]]

  • Battle of the Hills – French forces captured the commune of Aubérive, France from the Germans.{{sfn|The Times|1918|pp=87-93}}
  • Second Battle of Gaza – The Egyptian Expeditionary Force failed to breach Ottoman defenses out of Gaza. With the cost heavy at 6,444 casualties and ammo running low, the attack was called off.Falls 1930 Vol. 1 p]. 347-348 Commander-in-Chief General Archibald Murray and Lieutenant-General Charles Macpherson Dobell were dismissed as a result and the stalemate in Southern Palestine began.Erickson 2007 p. 99
  • U.S. Army transport ship Mongolia fired the first American shots in anger in World War I when her gun crew drove off a German U-boat in the English Channel seven miles southeast of Beachy Head, England.{{cite DANFS|title=Mongolia|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/mongolia.html|accessdate=2017-04-25}}{{cite news|title=Camden-Built Liner Sinks a Submarine|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1917-04-25/ed-1/seq-1/|work=Evening Public Ledger|date=25 April 1917|location=Philadelphia, PA|page=1}}
  • The All-Ukrainian National Congress was established in Kiev.Khmil, I. [http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Vseukrainskyj_natsionalnyj_1917 All-Ukrainian National Congress]. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. "Naukova dumka". Kiev, 2003.
  • German cruiser {{SMS|Seeadler|1892|6}} was destroyed in an accidental explosion after it was stripped down to a hulk in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. No casualties were reported but the wreck was never salvaged.{{cite book|last=Gröner|first=Erich|title=German Warships 1815–1945|year=1990|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=0-87021-790-9|page=98}}
  • Born: John Bushemi, American photographer, best known for his war photography during the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II; in Centerville, Iowa, United States (d. 1944, killed in action){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died: Georgina Hogarth, 90, English literary editor, adviser and sister-in-law to Charles Dickens and editor of two volumes of his letters (b. 1827){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Friday, April 20, 1917

Saturday, April 21, 1917

Sunday, April 22, 1917

image:Doiran Front.jpg.]]

  • Battle of Doiran – A British force of 43,000 men under command of Lieutenant-General George Milne engaged a Bulgarian force of 30,000 men commanded by Colonel Vladimir Vazov entrenched at Doiran Lake in Serbia, beginning with a bombardment that while massive in shells spent failed to do significant damage on Bulgarian defenses.Вазов, Вл. Пос. съч., с.25
  • British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour met with the U.S. government on a formal diplomatic mission to discuss the country's role in World War I.{{cite book |last=Towne |first=Charles Hanson |title=The Balfour Visit: How America Received Her Distinguished Guest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9L7jwEACAAJ |date=1 September 2015 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |isbn=978-1-341-06014-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421093431/https://books.google.com/books?id=F9L7jwEACAAJ |archive-date=21 April 2017 |page=15 }}{{cite book |last=Venzon |first=Anne Cipriano |title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wlEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |date=2 December 2013 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-135-68453-2 |page=63 |chapter=Balfour Mission |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203200547/http://books.google.com/books?id=0wlEAgAAQBAJ |archive-date= 3 February 2014}}
  • The Uruguayan football Club Plaza Colonia de Deportes was established in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.{{cite web|title=History - Plaza Colonia|url=http://www.plazacolonia.com.uy/historia.php|website=Plaza Colonia|accessdate=3 April 2017|language=es|archive-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912183017/http://www.plazacolonia.com.uy/historia.php|url-status=dead}}
  • Born:
  • Yvette Chauviré, French ballet dancer, considered one of the greatest performers with the Paris Opera Ballet, recipient of the Legion of Honour; in Paris, France (d. 2016){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Sidney Nolan, Australian artist, known for paintings including The Trial; in Carlton, Victoria, Australia (d. 1992){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Leo Abse, Welsh politician and activist, Member of Parliament for Pontypool from 1958 to 1983, leading advocate for gay rights; as Leopold Abse, in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2008){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died:
  • Anton Eilers, 78, American industrialist, co-founder of the American Smelting and Refining Company (now Asarco) (b. 1839){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Marijan Varešanin, 70, Croatian state leader, 7th Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina (b. 1847){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Monday, April 23, 1917

  • Samarra offensive – British forces captured Samarra in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and took control of the {{convert|130|km|mi|abbr=on}} railroad that ran south to Baghdad, ensuring control of much of the region from the Ottoman Empire. British casualties were 18,000, along with 38,000 who had taken ill. Casualties from the Ottoman Empire were 15,000.{{cite book|editor1-last=Tucker|editor1-first=Spencer C.|title=World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection - 5 volumes|date=2014|location=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851099658|page=1411}}
  • Battle of Arras – The British Third Army launched new assaults against German-held positions along the Scarpe River, capturing the French villages of Guémappe, Gavrelle, and Cojeul.{{cite book

|last1=Stewart |first1=J. |last2=Buchan |first2=J. |title=The Fifteenth (Scottish) Division 1914–1919 |year=2003 |orig-year=1926 |publisher=Blakwood |location=Edinburgh |edition=repr. The Naval & Military Press, Uckfield |isbn=978-1-84342-639-4|pages=129–133}}

  • Buster Keaton made his film debut in the comedy short The Butcher Boy, which was also the first of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's series of films with the Comique Film Corporation.{{cite book|last=Knopf|first=Robert|title=The theater and cinema of Buster Keaton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fU5qDx7tawIC&pg=PA179|accessdate=21 October 2010|date=2 August 1999|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-00442-6|page=179}}
  • Born: Dorian Leigh, American model, considered one of the first supermodels; as Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker, in San Antonio, United States (d. 2008){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died: Robert Koehler, 66, German-born American painter, known for works such as Rainy Evening on Hennepin Avenue and First Snow Minnesota (b. 1850){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Tuesday, April 24, 1917

  • Battle of Arras – German counterattacks to regain lost ground around the Scarpe River failed.{{cite book |title=Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches |last=Boraston |first=J. H. |year=1920 |orig-year=1919 |publisher=Dent |location=London |edition=repr. |oclc=633614212 |pages=97–98}}
  • Battle of Doiran – British infantry launched a night attack against Bulgarian forces at Doiran Lake in Serbia.Вазов, Вл. Пос. съч., с.25
  • The U.S. Treasury issued the first liberty bonds through the Emergency Loan Act.{{cite book |last=Sakolski |first=Aaron Morton |title=Wall Street and the Security Markets |year=1925}}
  • German air force pilot Eduard W. Zorer completed the first ever close air support action against enemy troops, when he dropped his Halberstadt aircraft down to an altitude of {{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} and fired 500 rounds from his machine gun on counterattacking British trenches during the Battle of Arras.{{cite magazine |last=Blumberg |first=Arnold |title=The First Ground-Pounders |magazine=Aviation History |date=November 2014 |pages=41–42}}
  • German submarine U-43 sank the British passenger steamer Abosso in the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of Ireland, resulting in 65 casualties.{{cite web |title=Passenger steamer Abosso |url=https://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/18.html |department=Ships hit during WWI |website=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason |access-date=21 April 2024}}{{Self-published source|date=April 2024}} Among the casualties were several officials from the Gold Coast, including E. V. Collins, Inspector General of Police and Prisons; Treasurer E. B. Reece; K. R. Chatfield, Provincial Engineer, Public Works Department; and J. R. Whitaker, Assistant District Commissioner.{{cite book |url=https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/ilharvest/africana/books2011-05/5530214/5530214_1917/5530214_1917_opt.pdf |title=COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. No. 998. Gold Coast. REPORT FOR 1917. |date=August 1919 |via=University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=6 |access-date=21 April 2024}}
  • Washington Federal bank was established as the Ballard Savings and Loan Association and changed to its present name when it merged in 1958 with the Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association.{{cite web |title=Company History |url=https://www.washingtonfederal.com/investor-relations/company-history |website=Washington Federal |access-date=9 April 2017}}
  • Died: Gordon Alexander, 31–32, British Olympic fencer; killed in action at Villers-Plouich, France.{{cite web |title=Gordon Alexander |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/22078 |website=Olympedia |publisher=OlyMADMen |access-date=9 May 2024}}

Wednesday, April 25, 1917

Thursday, April 26, 1917

Friday, April 27, 1917

  • Battle of Doiran – After three days of intense hand-to-hand combat, the British withdrew to their initial positions.Вазов, Вл. Пос. съч., с.25
  • A mine explosion in Hastings, Las Animas County, Colorado, killed 121 people.{{cite book|author=Clare Vernon McKanna|title=Homicide, Race, and Justice in the American West, 1880-1920|url=https://archive.org/details/homicid_mck_1997_00_0288|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=978-0-8165-1708-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/homicid_mck_1997_00_0288/page/93 93]}}
  • Romanian politician George Diamandy formed the Labor Party of Romania to focus on issues of land reform{{cite book|last1=Duca|first1=Ion G.|title=Amintiri politice, II|date=1981|publisher=Jon Dumitru-Verlag|location=Munich|language=ro|pages=179–80}} (some historians also attribute May 1 as the official date of the party's formation).{{cite journal|last1=Popescu|first1=Cornel|last2=Ungureanu|first2=George Daniel|title=Romanian Peasantry and Bulgarian Agrarianism in the Interwar Period: Benchmarks for a Comparative Analysis|journal=The Romanian Review of Social Sciences|date=2014|issue=16|page=21|language=ro}}
  • Born: Tetratema, Irish race horse, thirteen-time race champion including the 2000 Guineas Stakes and July Cup in 1921; in Thomastown, Ireland (d. 1939){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
  • Died: Frederick Gutekunst, 85, German American photographer, best known for his portrait photography that included Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland and Caroline Still Anderson (b. 1831){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Saturday, April 28, 1917

Sunday, April 29, 1917

File:General nivelle.jpg]]

Monday, April 30, 1917

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite book |ref={{harvid|The Times|1918}} |title=The Times History of the War |volume=XIV |author= |year=1914–1921 |location=London |publisher=The Times |url=https://archive.org/details/historywartimes14londuoft |url-access=registration |via=Archive Foundation |access-date=26 October 2013 |edition=online scan |oclc=70406275}}

{{Events by month links}}

1917

*1917-04