The Silent Sentinels began their sustained picket of the White House, the first group ever to demonstrate outside the presidential residence, demanding women's right to vote.

Kaiser Wilhelm II approved a plan to resume unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships, including neutral vessels, in a gamble that would draw the United States into World War I.

Suffragists from the National Woman's Party began daily silent picketing outside the White House, the first group ever to do so.

The First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets proclaimed Ukraine a Soviet republic in Kharkiv, setting up a rival government against the Ukrainian People's Republic in Kyiv.

Women textile workers in Petrograd walked out demanding bread and the return of their husbands from the front, igniting the February Revolution.

The United States declares war on Germany, ending three years of neutrality and reshaping the outcome of World War I.

Columbia University awarded the first Pulitzer Prizes on May 3, 1917, honoring journalism, letters, and drama according to the will of newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer.

Columbia University confers the inaugural Pulitzer Prizes, honoring journalism, letters, and drama as endowed by the will of newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer.

French soldiers executed exotic dancer Margaretha Zelle, known as Mata Hari, for espionage on behalf of Germany during World War I.

A French military court convicted dancer and courtesan Margaretha Zelle, known as Mata Hari, of spying for Germany, sentencing her to death.

Lenin's Bolsheviks stormed key points across Petrograd overnight, toppling Russia's Provisional Government in what became known as the October Revolution.

British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour pledges support for a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine in a letter to Lord Rothschild.

Lenin's Bolshevik forces seized the Winter Palace in Petrograd, toppling Russia's Provisional Government and igniting the October Revolution.

Lenin's Bolshevik Red Guards seized the Winter Palace in Petrograd, toppling Russia's Provisional Government and launching seven decades of Soviet rule.

Indian lancers of the Jodhpur and Mysore state forces led a rare successful mounted cavalry charge against Ottoman and German positions defending Haifa.

Indira Gandhi, who would become India's first and to date only female prime minister, is born in Allahabad into the influential Nehru family.

British forces launched a surprise mass tank assault at Cambrai, France, using nearly 400 tanks to break through German lines and pioneer modern armored warfare.

Finland's Senate declared independence from Russia amid the chaos of the Bolshevik Revolution, ending over a century of rule from St. Petersburg.

The French munitions ship Mont-Blanc collided with another vessel in Halifax Harbor and detonated, killing roughly 2,000 people in the largest man-made explosion before the atomic age.

Ottoman forces surrendered Jerusalem to British troops under General Edmund Allenby, ending over 400 years of Ottoman rule over the city.

France became one of the first nations to formally recognize Finland's declared independence from Russia amid the chaos of the Russian Revolution.

A day after the Halifax Explosion, rescue crews dug through snow and rubble as the death toll from the harbor collision climbed past 1,600.