A.D. 1917 | YEAR of the week

Advancements
- "separable fastener" (zipper) patented
- toggle light switch patented
- marshmallow creme invented
- 100-inch telescope completed (largest in its day)

Facts
- A little less than 5% of Americans owned a car, truck, or motorcycle.
- 1917 had the most (recorded) consecutive days above 120 °F (43 days in Death Valley, California).
- The year also had the coldest temperatures ever recorded in Tennessee (−32 °F) and West Virginia (−37 °F).

Firsts
- 1st jazz recording commercially released
- 1st Pulitzer Prizes given

Deaths
- William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody
- Louisa M. R. Stead (wrote the words to "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus")
- Andrew Murray
- Ferdinand von Zeppelin
- Emil von Behring
- Scott Joplin
- Asa Hull
- Adolf von Baeyer

Births
- Robert Lowell
- Hans Conried
- John F. Kennedy

Literature
- J. R. R. Tolkien, on medical leave from the British Army, began writing The Book of Lost Tales (the first version of The Silmarillion).
- James Weldon Johnson published his first poetry collection (Fifty Years and Other Poems).
- Edna St. Vincent Millay published her first volume of poetry (Renascence and Other Poems).

Hymns
- Thomas O. Chisholm wrote the words for the hymn "Living for Jesus."
- Frederick M. Lehman wrote the hymn "The Love of God."
- Haldor Lillenas wrote the hymn "The Bible Stands."

WW1
- In the Zimmerman Telegram, Germany offered to give Mexico land in the West if they would declare war on the U.S.
- The U.S. declared war on Germany.
- Conscription began in the U.S. after the Selective Service Act was passed.
- The first major German bombing raid on London by fixed-wing aircraft took place.
- Greece joined the Allies.
- In Canada, the Military Service Act allowed the government to conscript men for the war effort.
- China declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.
- Brazil joined the Allies.
- The previously-secret Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 was released to the public.
- Russia-German peace talks began.

Events
- The U.S. bought the Danish West Indies for $25 million.
- The SS Laurentic sank, and 354 people died.
- A new Mexican constitution was adopted.
- The SS Mendi sank, and 646 people died.
- The Jones Act allowed Puerto Ricans to have U.S. citizenship.
- Woodrow Wilson began his second term as President of the U.S.
- Jeanette Rankin became the first woman member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
- The February Revolution took place in Russia.
- Emperor Nicholas II of Russia abdicated his throne.
- A fire in Atlanta destroyed 300 acres of the city.
- A tornado struck Mattoon, Illinois, killing 101 people.
- A fire at a Montana mine killed at least 168 workers.
- The Espionage Act was passed in the U.S.
- A labor dispute ignited a race riot in East St. Louis, Illinois that left 250 people dead.
- C. S. Lewis entered Oxford University.
- 1300 Arizona striking mine workers, their supporters, and citizen bystanders were illegally deported by members of a deputized posse.
- Lenin escaped to Finland, and Trotsky was arrested.
- King George V issued a proclamation, stating that thenceforth the male line descendants of the British Royal Family would bear the surname Windsor.
- Nippon Kogaku, K.K. (Japan Optical Co.) was formed, the company that would later be renamed Nikon Corporation.
- A fire destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.
- Dallas Love Field airport was opened.
- In Russia, the October Revolution destroyed the Provisional Government, and the Russian Civil War began.
- The British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour proclaimed British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
- Georges Clemenceau became the prime minister of France.
- The Quebec Bridge, still the world's longest cantilevered bridge, opened to traffic.
- Two freighters collided in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, causing a huge explosion that killed at least 1,963 people, injured 9,000, and destroyed part of the city.
- The United States Railroad Administration officially took control of American railroads.

"When years of time shall pass away,

And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,

When men, who here refuse to pray,

On rocks and hills and mountains call,

God’s love so sure, shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;

Redeeming grace to Adam's race—

The saints' and angels' song."

Frederick M. Lehman