1917

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This article is about the year 1917 Please help improve this article by conforming to date guidelines and by adding citations to reliable sources.

1918 →

This article is a date listing important events for the year 1917.

Events

• April 2 – President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Four days later, Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of a war.
• November 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court decided in Buchanan v. Warley, that residential segregation or ordinances were unconstitutional.
• December 18 – The amendment to establish the prohibition of "intoxicating liquors" in the United States was proposed by Congress. The 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919.
• Daughters of the American Revolution founded a scholarship in the University of Virginia College department that insured an annual income of thirty dollars, and a maximum tenure of one year. Its holder must have graduated from the Charlottesville High School, with the highest mark of his class; and he must also be a resident of the town or the county.

Deaths

• March 6 – Benjamin E. Tonsler
• April 12 – Extra Policeman Meredith A. Thomas, age 41, was shot and killed as he confronted one of two men who he caught stealing hams from a warehouse. The killing of Mr. Thomas was the final of a series of thefts which had been going on in the wholesale section for many weeks.