July 1917

[July 1], 1917 (Sunday)

• Canada celebrated its 50th Dominion Day, which was also the second time festivities were organized by the Government of Canada since its official proclamation in 1879.
• Kerensky offensive - Russian General Aleksei Brusilov ordered the 7th, 8th and 11th Russian Armies to attack of the Austro-German line in Galicia in what became the last major Russian military campaign of World War I.
• Over 500,000 anti-war protesters organized by the Congress of Soviets gathered in Petrograd to oppose renewed military offensive against the Central Powers.
• Manchu Restoration - General Zhang Xun, a supporter of the Qing dynasty, marched his army into Beijing and announced the restoration of the monarchy with Puyi as Emperor.
• The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 72, No. 73, and No. 74.
• The first Cottingley Fairies photographs were taken in Yorkshire, England, a hoax not admitted to by the child creators Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths until 1981.
• Born:
• * Humphry Osmond, British psychiatrist, advocate for the use of psychedelic drugs in treatment; in Surrey, England
• * Bob Artley, American cartoonist, best known for news daily editorial cartoons including Memories of a Former Kid; as George Robert Artley, in Franklin County, Iowa, United States

  [July 2], 1917 (Monday)

• Greece joined the war on the side of the Allies.
• Battle of Zboriv - A Russian force composed mostly of 3,530 Czechoslovak volunteers broke through the trench line held by 5,500 Austro-Hungarian soldiers at Zboriv, Galicia, taking 3,300 men prisoner including 62 officers and 20 guns. The Czechoslovak brigade sustained roughly 900 casualties, including 167 dead and 700 wounded.
• East St. Louis massacre - A massive race riot erupted in the predominantly black city of East St. Louis, Illinois, resulting in at least 48 deaths. Thousands of white St. Louis citizens entered the town and began burning homes, leaving 6,000 people homeless. The riot was reprisal for the shooting deaths of two police detectives, who were driving a car that was mistaken for a similar vehicle earlier that opened fire on East St. Louis residents.
• Battle of Aqaba - An Arab rebel force led by Sheikh Auda Abu Tayi and supported by British army officer T. E. Lawrence attacked an Ottoman military station between Ma'an and Aqaba in what is now Jordan, killing 300 Turkish soldiers and taking another 300 prisoner. Lawrence was nearly killed in the fighting when he accidentally shot his own camel mount, but was thrown out of harm's way.
• Bisbee Deportation - Sheriff Harry C. Wheeler of Cochise County, Arizona was declined for requested troops to help break up a strike at Copper Queen Mine near Bisbee, Arizona.
• Born:
• * Leonard J. Arrington, American historian, founder of the Mormon History Association; in Twin Falls, Idaho, United States
• * Harry E. Claiborne, American judge, presided for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from 1978 to 1986, first judge to be impeached and sent to prison; in McRae, Arkansas, United States
• * Ernest S. Tierkel, American physician, campaigned for the eradication of rabies in the United States; in Philadelphia, United States
• * Murry Wilson, American music producer, first manager of The Beach Boys and father to band members Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and uncle to Mike Love, owner of music publisher Sea of Tunes, producer of the album The Many Moods of Murry Wilson; in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States
• Died:
• * William Holmes, 54, Australian army officer, commander of the Australian 4th Division during the Battle of Messines; killed in action
• * Herbert Beerbohm Tree, 64, British actor, best known for stage performances and managing work with Her/His Majesty's Theatre

  [July 3], 1917 (Tuesday)

• Kerensky offensive - German and Austro-Hungarian forces fell back to Lemberg, Galicia.
• Manchu Restoration - Deposed Chinese president Li Yuanhong fled the presidential palace and took refuge in the French and later Japanese diplomatic districts of Beijing.
• Born: Benjamin Abramowitz, American artist, member of the Expressionism movement in the United States; in New York City, United States

  [July 4], 1917 (Wednesday)

• The United States Navy established Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, with 34,000 enlisted men at the base the following year.
• The Public Auditorium in Portland, Oregon, opened to the public with its first concert by the Portland Symphony Orchestra held the following day.
• Born: Manolete, Spanish bullfighter, considered one of the great bullfighters in the world; as Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, in Córdoba, Spain
• Died: Ivan Orlov, 22, Russian air force officer, commander of Escadrille 3, recipient of the Croix de Guerre, author of ''Ways to Conduct an Air Combat''

  [July 5], 1917 (Thursday)

• The American Expeditionary Forces were established under the command of General John J. Pershing to support the other Allied forces against the German Empire in World War I. The initial force was 14,000 but by 1918 over a million American soldiers were stationed in Europe.
• Manchu Restoration - Duan Qirui, warlord and former Premier of the Republic of China, ordered his troops to seize the Beijing-Tianjin railway 40 kilometers outside the Chinese capital. At the same time, General Zhang Xun, leader of the Manchu Restoration, met overwhelming opposition from the entire Chinese northern army and was forced to give up to more railways leading to Beijing.
• Unrest in Amsterdam caused by wartime food shortages ended violently when government troops fired into a crowd of protesters, killing nine people and injuring 114.
• German submarine was last sighted in the North Sea before it went missing. It was believed it struck a mine and sank with all 18 crew on board.
• Bisbee Deportation - A striker at the Copper Queen Mine struck the president of Phelps Dodge during an altercation in Jerome, Arizona, instigating a reprisal on all strikers.
• The British Fairey float plane made its first test flight.
• Born: Stella Sierra, Panamanian poet, known for poetry collections including Sinfonía Jubilosa en doce sonetos; in Aguadulce District, Panama

  [July 6], 1917 (Friday)

• Battle of Aqaba - An Arab rebel force of 5,000 men led by Sheikh Auda Abu Tayi and supported by British army officer T. E. Lawrence and the Royal Navy captured the port of Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire with little resistance, opening a pathway for further military operations into Syria and Jordan.
• Royal Navy destroyer was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by German submarine with the loss of eight of her 70 crew.
• The National Party of the United States was formed during a meeting with members of the Progressive Party and pro-war defectors of the Socialist Party of America.
• The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute was established in Pune, Maharashtra, India to collect and preserve manuscripts in Sanskrit and Prakrit languages.
• Born:
• * Albert L. Lewis, American religious leader, president of the Rabbinical Assembly from 1988 to 1990, subject of the Mitch Albom book Have a Little Faith; in New York City, United States
• * Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and athletics coach, coached New Zealand athletes Murray Halberg, Barry Magee and Peter Snell to medal wins at the 1960 Summer Olympics, recipient of the Order of the British Empire; in Auckland, New Zealand
• Died: James Conlin, 35, English football player, outside forward for clubs including Manchester City from 1899 to 1914, member of the England national football team in 1906; killed in action

  [July 7], 1917 (Saturday)

• The fourth raid of Operation Türkenkreuz occurred with 22 German Gotha bombers attacking London in broad daylight, killing 57 to 65 people and injuring 193 to 245. Around 100 British aircraft were scrambled to intercept the German bombers, shooting one down and damaging three others.
• Royal Navy torpedo boat sank German submarine in the North Sea, killing all 40 crew.
• The All-Russian Central Executive Committee was elected at the conclusion of the first All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
• Born:
• * Larry O'Brien, American politician and sports executive, 57th United States Postmaster General, third Commissioner of the National Basketball Association; as Lawrence Francis O'Brien Jr., in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
• * Fidel Sánchez Hernández, Salvadoran state leader, 35th President of El Salvador; in El Divisadero, El Salvador
• * Red Sovine, American country musician, best known for truck-driving songs including "Giddyup Go" and "Teddy Bear"; as Woodrow Wilson Sovine, in Charleston, West Virginia, United States

  [July 8], 1917 (Sunday)

• First Battle of Ramadi - Lieutenant General Stanley Maude, commander of British forces in Mesopotamia, ordered a column in Fallujah to drive a force of 1,000 Ottoman troops out of a garrison in Ramadi in order to relieve Ottoman military pressure on a British-held dam that supplied drinking water to Baghdad. However, a record heat wave saw recorded temperatures of 71 °C in direct sun, making conditions intolerable for British troops.
• Canadian artist Tom Thomson disappeared while on a boating trip on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario shortly after he completed the painting The West Wind. His body was found eight days later with the official cause of death to be drowning. The mysterious circumstances around his disappearance and death led to several conspiracy theories including his body being switched with a local indigenous male.
• Born:
• * Faye Emerson, American talk show host, credited as "The First Lady of Television" for her talk and variety shows including Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town and Author Meets the Critics; in Elizabeth, Louisiana, United States
• * J. F. Powers, American writer, author of the novels Morte d'Urban and Wheat that Springeth Green; as James Farl Powers, in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States
• * Mikhail Devyataev, Soviet air force officer, known for his escape from the German concentration camp on Usedom in the Baltic Sea, recipient of the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union; in Torbeyevo, Russian Empire