June 1917

Friday, June 1, 1917

• French Army Mutinies – A French infantry regiment seized Missy-aux-Bois, France, and declared an antiwar military government.
• Tornadoes in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Kansas killed a total 22 people.
• The United States Army established 1st Battalion of the 21st Field Artillery Regiment at Camp Wilson, Texas.
• Hilda Nilsson, a housewife in Helsingborg, Sweden, was brought to trial on eight murder charges, all involving children of infant age that were conceived illegitimately and so brought into her care as a foster mother. During the trial, evidence was presented that Nilsson drowned eight of the children for financial reasons and then burned the bodies.
• U.S. Navy armored cruiser Huntington lofted a kite balloon, the first American naval ship to do so, while stationed for training drills at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida.
• The United States Army established Camp Dix, an army training camp, near Wrightstown, New Jersey. The camp became permanent and was renamed Fort Dix in 1939.
• The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 198 and No. 199.
• The Blast magazine released what turned out to be its final issue. In a column, publisher and editor Alexander Berkman argued that conscription in the United States was an "abdication" of citizens' rights and called for persons who consider themselves conscientious observers to neither register nor be conscripted.
• Former Wright Company engineer Chance M. Vought co-founded with Birdseye Lewis the Lewis & Chance Corporation, the first incarnation of the series of Vought aviation firms to manufacture aircraft specific for aircraft carriers.
• The National Hockey Association forced a motion commanding ice hockey club owner Eddie Livingstone to sell the Toronto Blueshirts.
• The Montfort School was established in Yercaud, India by the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel as a secondary school for boy and girls.
• The patriotic war song "Over There" by American songwriter George M. Cohan was registered with the Library of Congress by publisher William Jerome. It would become the most popular song during the war with over two million copies sold.
• Born: William Standish Knowles, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into enantioselective synthesis; in Taunton, Massachusetts, United States

  Saturday, June 2, 1917

• New York City Subway stations for the IRT Jerome Avenue Line, including Burnside Avenue, Fordham Road, Kingsbridge Road, Mount Eden Avenue, Grand Concourse, 161st Street, 167th Street, 170th Street, 176th Street, and 183rd Street were opened for service.
• Born: Peggy Antonio, Australian cricketer, inaugural member of the Australia women's national cricket team; in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

  Sunday, June 3, 1917

• Tenth Battle of the Isonzo – A major Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive forced the Italians to give up nearly all the ground they had gained at the start of the battle on the border between northern Italy and Austria-Hungary.
• Battle of the Hills – The last German effort to retake ground lost to the French failed, forcing the command to call off further attacks. Since April 16, the Allies had captured and field guns, and more than
• British cargo ship SS Hollington was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Faroe Islands, with the loss of 30 crew members.
• Born: Leo Gorcey, American actor, best known for portraying young hooligans in the film serials Dead End Kids, East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys; in New York City, United States

  Monday, June 4, 1917

• The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded, with the winners selected by trustees from Columbia University. The winners included:
• * Laura E. Richards, Maud Howe Elliott and Florence Hall in biography or autobiography for Julia Ward Howe
• * Jean Jules Jusserand in history for With Americans of Past and Present Days.
• * Herbert Bayard Swope in reporting for article series " "Inside the German Empire" in New York World
• * New-York Tribune in editorial writing for an editorial article on the first anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania
• French diplomat Jules Cambon sent a letter to Zionist leader Nahum Sokolow, expressing French sympathy for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.
• The Order of the British Empire was established as an order of chivalry by King George under the letters patent.
• British troopship Southland was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine, killing four men.
• Norwegian sports club Vestby was established in Vestby, Norway with sections for football, track and field, Nordic skiing and boxing.
• The outdoor amphitheatre for the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, commonly referred to as The Muny, opened with its premiere performance of the Verdi opera Aida.
• Born:
• * Robert Merrill, American opera singer, best known for his work with the Metropolitan Opera; as Moishe Miller, in New York City, United States
• * Howard Metzenbaum, American politician, U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1976 to 1995; in Cleveland, United States
• * Charles Collingwood, American journalist, member of the Murrow Boys at CBS News; in Three Rivers, Michigan, United States
• Died: John M. Haines, 54, American politician, 10th Governor of Idaho

  Tuesday, June 5, 1917

• The first registration of conscription was held in the United States for all men between the ages of 21 and 31.
• The 1st Naval Air Unit of the United States Navy under command of Kenneth Whiting became the first American military unit to arrive in Europe.
• A Luftstreitkräfte squadron of 22 Gotha bombers attacked a Royal Navy facility at Sheerness, England, in broad daylight, killing 13 people in exchange for the loss of one bomber, after the official second raid of Operation Türkenkreuz, failed to reach London, its original target.
• Royal Flying Corps Lieutenant Harold Satchell and Lieutenant Thomas Lewis of No. 20 Squadron shot down and killed German flying ace Lieutenant Karl Emil Schäfer. His 30 victories placed him in a tie with five other pilots as the 28th-highest-scoring German flying ace of World War I.

  Wednesday, June 6, 1917

• An attack on a British supply train by German aircraft prior the Battle of Messines disrupted the flow of ammunition to the Western Front, forcing British artillery to cease firing after three hours.
• The Sopwith Cuckoo, the first land plane designed for use as a torpedo bomber, was completed for the Royal Naval Air Service.
• Born:
• * Kirk Kerkorian, American business leader, president and CEO of Tracinda, which financed some of the largest resorts in Las Vegas including MGM Grand Las Vegas; as Kerkor Kerkorian, in Fresno, California, United States
• * Moreese Bickham, American prisoner, convicted and later released for the 1958 killing of a sheriff's deputy that was reportedly a local Ku Klux Klan leader

  Thursday, June 7, 1917

• Battle of Messines – The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under the German lines near the Belgium village of Messines, killing 10,000 enemy soldiers in the deadliest deliberate non-nuclear man-made explosion in history.
• Capture of Wytschaete – The Irish 36th and 16th Divisions of the British Army IX Corps captured the municipality of Wytschaete in West Flanders, Belgium, from the German Fourth Army at a cost of 1,883 casualties, while German casualties were 3,563. The most noted casualty was Irish nationalist leader Willie Redmond, brother to Irish politician John Redmond, who was killed while leading an assault. His death was widely reported and he was awarded posthumously the Legion of Honour.
• Arthur Sifton won a fourth consecutive majority in the Alberta election. Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams were elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the first women in Canadian history to be voted into public office.
• Royal Navy ship shelled and sank German submarine SM UC-29, killed all but three of the 25 crew on board.
• Eleven people were injured in a railway accident between Houten and Schalkwijk, Utrecht, Netherlands.
• The second section of the Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway was opened, with a 784 km-long rail line linking the port of Djibouti in French Somaliland to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
• Chicago businessman Melvin Jones founded the first Lions Club in Chicago. As of 2020, the service membership organization had over 1.4 million members worldwide.
• Swedish transit company Akersbanerne was established in Aker, Norway to operate the tramway system in the area.
• Born:
• * Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet, recipient for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Annie Allen; in Topeka, Kansas, United States
• * Dean Martin, American singer, best known for popular hits "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Memories Are Made of This" and "That's Amore", his comedic work with Martin and Lewis, member of the Rat Pack, and films roles including Rio Bravo and Ocean's 11; as Dino Paul Crocetti, in Steubenville, Ohio, United States

  Friday, June 8, 1917

• Tenth Battle of the Isonzo – Italian General Luigi Cadorna called off the battle after an Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive succeeded in pushing Italian forces back to the starting point. Italy sustained 157,000 casualties while Austria-Hungary was lower at 75,000 casualties.
• French Army Mutinies – The French Army began to crack down on mutinying soldiers, resulting in 3,427 courts-martial. Close to 3,000 soldiers were sentenced to hard labor, and 629 were sentenced to death, although only 43 executions were actually carried out. Rather than severe discipline, French army command rebuilt morale through a combination of rest periods, frequent rotations of the front-line units and regular home leave.
• Battle of Messines – The Australian 52nd Battalion was mistaken for a German unit counterattacking and shelled, causing 325 casualties.
• French troopship Sequanna was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by German submarine with the loss of 207 of the 665 people on board.
• Speculator Mine disaster – A fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator ore mine outside Butte, Montana, killed at least 168 workers.
• An earthquake measuring 6.7 in magnitude struck La Libertad Department, El Salvador. Some of the devastation was around San Salvador with at least 101 deaths reported.
• The United States Army established the 1st Infantry Division, famously nicknamed "The Big Red One", at Fort Jay, New York, under command of brigadier general William L. Sibert. It also established the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Wadsworth, New York.
• The U.S. Marines established the 5th Marine Regiment for service in Europe.
• New Zealand flying ace Thomas Culling was killed during a dogfight against a German naval plane. He had six victories to his credit when he died.
• The first test flight of the Beardmore bomber aircraft was conducted.
• Born:
• * George D. Wallace, American actor, best known for his lead role in the science fiction film serial Radar Men from the Moon and lead Broadway roles such as New Girl in Town; in New York City, United States
• * Byron White, American football player and judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 to 1993, played halfback for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Lions from 1938 to 1941; in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
• Died: Charles Henry Brown, 45, New Zealand army officer, commander of the New Zealand 1st Brigade; killed in action during the Battle of Messines