WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO DECEMBER 1917
Find out what all happened April to December 1917

The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". (2. November 1917)

World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. (2. April 1917)

The Battle of Broodseinde fought between the British and German armies in Flanders. (4. October 1917)

World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt. (6. July 1917)

Alexander I becomes king of Greece. (30. May 1917)

World War I: In Palestine, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby captures Jerusalem. (9. December 1917)

World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. (7. December 1917)

A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless. (18. August 1917)

World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law. (11. December 1917)

World War I: Third Battle of Ypres ends: After three months of fierce fighting, Canadian forces take Passchendaele in Belgium. (6. November 1917)

The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress. (18. December 1917)

October Revolution: In Tallinn, Estonia, Communist leader Jaan Anvelt leads revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government (As Estonia and Russia are still using the Julian Calendar, subsequent period references show an October 23 date). (5. November 1917)

World War I: Battle of Messines – Allied soldiers detonated ammonal mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops. (7. June 1917)

Sir Robert Borden introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%). (25. July 1917)

The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World. (4. June 1917)

World War I: Battle of Beersheba – the "last successful cavalry charge in history". (31. October 1917)

The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. (13. October 1917)

The Allies reach the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele. (27. July 1917)

In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys. (12. December 1917)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military forces. (21. May 1917)