April 1917 in History

Events in History

Apr 2 Jeannette Rankin (Rep-R-Montana) begins her term as 1st woman member of US House of Reps

Apr 2 US President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany

Apr 3 Alfred Stieglitz opens 1st one-person show of Georgia O'Keeffee's work at 291 art gallery in New York

Apr 3 Vladimir Lenin arrives in Petrograd from Switzerland [NS=April 16]

Apr 4 US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI
Apr 6 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
Apr 7 J.M. Barrie's play "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" premieres in London
Apr 7 Manuel de Falla's ballet "El Sombrero de tres Picos" ("The Three-Cornered Hat") premieres at Teatro Eslava in Madrid, Spain
Apr 9 Battle of Arras begins
Apr 9 Vimy Ridge in France stormed by Canadian troops
Apr 10 Munition factory explosion at Eddystone, Pennsylvania, kills 133 workers
Apr 12 Bijou Theater opens at 222 W 45th St NYC (Demolished 1982)
Apr 12 Domenico Scarlatti & Jeab Cocteaus ballet premieres in Rome
Apr 16 Vladimir Lenin issues his radical "April Theses" calling for Soviets to take power during the Russian Revolution [OS Apr 4]
Apr 16 [OS Apr 3] Lenin arrives back from exile in Russia at Finland Station, Petrograd to join the Russian Revolution
Apr 24 US Congress passes the Liberty Loan Act, authorizing the Treasury to issue a public subscription for 2 billion in bonds for the war

Apr 4 Joseph Ortiz, French-Algerian extremist and rebel (barricade uprising), born in Guyotville, Algeria (d. 1995)
Apr 5 Robert Bloch, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Psycho), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1994)
Apr 6 Leonora Carrington, British-Mexican Surrealist artist, born in Clayton-le-Woods, England (d. 2011)
Apr 9 Johannes Bobrowski, German poet and writer, born in Tilsit, East Prussia (d. 1965)
Apr 10 Robert B. Woodward, American organic chemist (Nobel 1965), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1979)
Apr 11 David Westheimer, American novelist (Von Ryan's Express), born in Houston, Texas (d. 2005)
Apr 16 Charlotte Salomon, German-Jewish artist, born in Berlin, Germany
Apr 17 Bill Clements, American politician, Governor of Texas (1987-91), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2011)
Apr 18 Frederica of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece, born in Blankenburg am Harz, Duchy of Brunswick (d. 1981)
Apr 21 Emanuel Vardi, Jerusalem Israel, violist, SD Symph 1978-82)
Apr 22 Leo Abse, Welsh politician and biographer, born in Cardiff (d. 2008)
Apr 22 Sidney Nolan, Australian painter and illustrator (Ned Kelly), born in Carlton, Victoria, Australia (d. 1992)
Apr 23 Jacob Kistemaker, Dutch nuclear physicist (ultra centrifuge), born in Kolhorn, Netherlands (d. 2010)
Apr 28 Joop Waasdorp, Dutch writer (Naked Life), born in Amsterdam (d. 1988)
Apr 28 Robert Anderson, American writer (Tea & Sympathy, I Never Sang for My Father), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2009)

Apr 3 Arthur Graeme West, British writer and war poet (The Diary of a Dead Officer), killed by a sniper at about 25
Apr 9 Edward Thomas, poet, killed in WW I
Apr 9 James Hope Moulton, British scholar of Classical Greek (b. 1863)
Apr 14 L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician and linguist (Esperanto), dies at 57
Apr 18 Moritz von Bissing, Prussian general, dies at 73
Apr 18 Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist, dies at 59
Apr 24 Oskar Blumenthal, German playwright and critic, dies at 65