January 1917

Monday, January 1, 1917

• British troopship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German submarine, with the loss of 125 lives.
• University of Oregon defeated University of Pennsylvania 14–0 in the third annual U.S. college football Rose Bowl Game, in front of a crowd of 27,000 at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California.
• The Luftstreitkräfte disbanded three Kampfgeschwader and redesignated their squadrons as Schutzstaffeln. Operating two-seat Albatros, Rumpler, Gotha Taube, and Fokker aircraft, the new "Schusta" squadrons are tasked with escorting two-seat observation planes of the Feldflieger Abteilungen and Artillerieflieger Abteilungen during their reconnaissance flights, and are based with them.
• The 5th Guards Infantry Division for the Imperial German Army was established to support the Western Front. It was dissolved in 1919.
• The Great Falls Dam for Caney Fork River in central Tennessee began operations.
• The Leipzig Transport Authority was established through a merger of two other transit companies in Leipzig.
• The Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company merged with the Morse Chain Works to form Thomas-Morse Aircraft in Ithaca, New York.
• The Istanbul University State Conservatory was established as the Darülelhan, a four-year academy that focused mainly on Turkish music.
• The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia was formed as part of the Bell System for service in West Virginia. It is now known as Frontier West Virginia.
• The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation was established through the merger of three British industrial trade unions.
• The Ise Electric Railway extended the Nagoya Line in the Mie Prefecture, Japan, with stations Chisato and Edobashi serving the line.
• The comic opera Eileen, written by Victor Herbert and Henry Blossom, premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Cleveland as Hearts of Erin before moving to Boston and changing to its current title.
• The Argentine football club Los Andes was established in Lomas de Zamora, Argentina.
• Born:
• * Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer, best known for her stage work in Damn Yankees, The Golden Apple, Take Me Along, The Little Foxes and Desire Under the Elms; in Spencer, South Dakota, United States
• * Ruzi Nazar, Uzbek spy, leading CIA agent in Turkey and Germany during the 1950s and 1960s; in Margilan, Russian Provisional Government

  Tuesday, January 2, 1917

• The Royal Bank of Canada took over Quebec Bank.
• The Maduro Bank was established in the Curaçao and Dependencies Dutch Caribbean colony, and later merged to become Maduro & Curiel's Bank in 1932.
• Southeastern High School opened its doors to secondary students in Detroit.
• Born:
• * Vera Zorina, German ballet dancer and actress, best known for her performance work with Gaiety Theatre, London and Original Ballet Russe; as Eva Brigitta Hartwig, in Berlin, German Empire
• * Zainab al Ghazali, Egyptian activist, founder of the Muslim Women's Association; in Egypt
• Died:
• * Léon Flameng, 39, French cyclist, three-time medalist at the 1896 Summer Olympics; killed in action
• * Edward Burnett Tylor, 84, English anthropologist, founder of cultural anthropology

  Wednesday, January 3, 1917

• Dmitry Shuvayev was replaced by Mikhail Belyaev as Minister of War in the Russian Government.
• Two trains collided at Ratho Station in Scotland, killing 12 people and injuring 46 others. An inquiry found inadequate signaling procedures led to the crash.
• Born:
• * Roger Williams Straus Jr., American publisher, co-founder of publishing company Farrar, Straus and Giroux; in New York City, United States
• * Jesse White, American actor, best known as the Maytag repairman in television commercials from 1967 to 1988; as Jesse Marc Weidenfeld, in Buffalo, New York, United States
• * Vernon A. Walters, American army officer and diplomat, 19th Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations; in New York City, United States

  Thursday, January 4, 1917

• Russian battleship struck two mines and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt, with the loss of 167 of her 771 crew.
• An earthquake measuring 6.5 in magnitude struck Pingtung County, Taiwan, killing 54 people, injuring another 85, and destroying 130 homes.
• Battle of Behobeho - A colonial British unit led by Captain Frederick Selous encountered and fought a German column on the Rufiji River in German East Africa. In the ensuing firefight, Selous was killed by a German sniper.
• Chilean news publisher Eliodoro Yáñez founded Empresa Periodística as a news company which included the daily newspaper La Nación. It was expropriated by the state during the dictatorship of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and remained part of the Chilean government since then.
• The Patent and Trademark Office Society was established to address ongoing standards and processes of the U.S. patent system.
• Died: Carl Ludwig Jessen, 83, German painter, known for works including The Blue Living Room and ''A Knitting Italian Woman''

  Friday, January 5, 1917

• Christmas Battles - Russian forces launched a surprise attack against German defenses near Riga, Latvia, on what was supposed to be Christmas in the Julian calendar.
• British cargo ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German submarine. All crew survived, but the captain was taken as a prisoner of war.
• The first prototype of the Sage aircraft took flight.
• Born:
• * Adolfo Consolini, Italian discus thrower, gold medalist in the 1948 Summer Olympics and silver medalist in the 1952 Summer Olympics; in Costermano sul Garda, Kingdom of Italy
• * Lucienne Day, British textile designer, best known for her award-winning contemporary designs, such as Calyx for fashion and interior, recipient of the Order of the British Empire; as Désirée Lucienne Lisbeth Dulcie Conradi, in Surrey, England
• * Jane Wyman, American actress, best known for her role as Angela Channing in the television soap opera Falcon Crest, recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actress for Johnny Belinda, first wife of Ronald Reagan; as Sarah Jane Mayfield, in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States

  Saturday, January 6, 1917

• Born:
• * Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese business leader, head of the Koos Group; in Taihoku Chō, Japanese Taiwan
• * Maeve Brennan, Irish writer, known for her The Long-Winded Lady articles in The New Yorker and her novella The Visitor; in Dublin, Ireland
• * Sydney Banks, Canadian broadcaster, founder and director of CUC Broadcasting; in Toronto, Canada
• Died:
• * Frederick William Borden, 69, Canadian politician, 15th Minister of Militia and Defence, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia
• * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, 82, Dutch economist and historian, author of ''De socialisten: Personen en stelsels''

  Sunday, January 7, 1917

• Mikhail Rodzianko, Chairman of the State Duma, warned Tsar Nicholas that the constant changes in the Russian cabinet was weakening the government: "All the best men have been removed or have retired. There remain those of ill repute."
• The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 81, No. 82, No. 83, and No. 84.
• Born:
• * Alfred Freedman, American psychiatrist, advocate to the American Psychiatric Association in removing homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders; in Albany, New York, United States
• * Milton Resnick, Russian-American painter, member of the abstract expressionist movement; in Bratslav, Russian Empire

  Monday, January 8, 1917

• Kaiser Wilhelm made a decision that would ultimately bring the United States into World War I, directing that the Imperial German Navy begin unrestricted submarine warfare on all ships traveling to or from the British Isles. Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller would recount later, "At 7 o'clock in the evening report to the Kaiser, who had suddenly and rather unexpectedly convinced himself of the need for ruthless U-boat warfare and declared himself very strongly in its favour, even if the Chancellor were to oppose it. He took the most remarkable view that U-boat warfare was a purely military matter." As the Kaiser signed the orders, Müller recalled, "he remarked that he reckoned almost certainly with America's declaration of war."
• Born: Sylvia Agnes Sophia Tait, British chemist, known for her collaborations with husband James Francis Tait on the discovery of the hormone aldosterone; as Sylvia Wardropper, in Tyumen, Russia
• Died:
• * George Warrender, 56, British naval officer, commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron during World War I
• * Mary Arthur McElroy, 75, American socialite, sister to U.S. President Chester A. Arthur and acting First Lady of the United States
• * Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen, 66, German army officer, one of the figures involved in the Dreyfus affair

  Tuesday, January 9, 1917

• Battle of Rafa - The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force captured the last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula. Ottoman casualties included 1,434 prisoners, 200 killed and 168 wounded. British casualties were 71 killed and 415 wounded.
• Royal Navy battleship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German submarine, with the loss of 15 of her 720 crew.
• Pete Herman defeated Kid Williams over 20 rounds at New Orleans to take the World Bantamweight Championship, which he held until 1920.
• Born:
• * Abdullah al-Sallal, Yemeni state leader, first President of the Yemen Arab Republic; in Sanaa, Ottoman Empire
• * Roland J. Barnick, American air force officer, commander of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing during World War II and the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing in the 1960s, recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal and Order of the Sword; in Max, North Dakota, United States
• Died: Luther D. Bradley, 63, American cartoonist, known for his editorial cartoons for the ''Chicago Daily News''