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Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. A bomb is thrown at their auto but misses.. -
Britain enacts the Defense of the Realm Act
Britain enacts the Defense of the Realm Act (DORA) granting unprecedented powers to the government to control the economy and daily life. -
A German U-Boat torpedoes
A German U-Boat torpedoes the British passenger liner Lusitania off the Irish coast. It sinks in 18 minutes, drowning 1,201 persons, including 128 Americans. -
American voters re-elect Presiden
American voters re-elect President Woodrow Wilson who had campaigned on the slogan, "He kept us out of war." -
- The British intercept a telegram
- The British intercept a telegram sent by Alfred Zimmermann in the German Foreign Office to the German embassies in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. Its message outlines plans for an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States.
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The village of Passchendaele is captured by Canadian troops
The village of Passchendaele is captured by Canadian troops. The Allied offensive then ceases, bringing the Third Battle of Ypres to an end with no significant gains amid 500,000 casualties experienced by all sides. -
The first American troops land in France.
The first American troops land in France. -
At 5:10 am, in a railway car at Compiègne
At 5:10 am, in a railway car at Compiègne, France, the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Fighting continues all along the Western Front until precisely 11 o'clock, -
At the Palace of Versailles in France,
At the Palace of Versailles in France, a German delegation signs the Treaty formally ending the war. Its 230 pages contain terms that have little in common with Wilson's Fourteen Points as the Germans had hoped.