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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. They were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian student and member of the Serbian secret society "Black Hand". -
Great Britian declares war on Germany
After weeks of speculation and mounting tension, Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. -
A German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania
On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans. -
The presidential elections were held
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 7, 1916. Incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated former associate justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate. -
British navy intercepted and decoded the Zimmerman Note
On January 19, 1917, British naval intelligence intercepted and decrypted a telegram sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Ambassador in Mexico City. -
Congress passed the Declaration of War
On April 6, 1917, Congress passed the Declaration of War. Not unlike the War of 1812, the U.S. went into war to protect shipping and the freedom of trade while in international waters. Since the beginning of that year, 19 U.S. merchant vessels were sunk by German U-boats. -
Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun – The German push towards the Verdun citadel was halted. German casualties were now at c. 200,000 men while French casualties reached c. 185,000. -
The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted
The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted on May 16, 1918 to extend the Espionage Act of 1917. The Sedition Act covered a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds. -
The Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany
The Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany at Compiégne, France, at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, bringing the war now known as World War I to a close. -
The Versailles Peace Treaty signed
The Versailles Peace Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, officially ended World War I. Of note, on the same day, five-years earlier the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo, Bosnia, starting the war.