The following events occurred in August 1917:
August 1, 1917 (Wednesday)
Battle of Mărăști – Russian and Romanian forces broke through a 30 km stretch of German line and advanced 20 km into German held territory in eastern Romania. While the victory did not entirely defeat the German Ninth Army, the Russian-Romanian forces took 2,700 prisoners and 70 guns, and inflicted 9,600 German casualties. The Russian-Romanian force sustained 4,879 casualties. Feng Guozhang became President of the Republic of China. British hospital ship ran aground and sank off Nova Scotia while traveling from Liverpool to Halifax. A single person was killed and the rest of the crew were rescued. Japanese navy cruiser ran aground off Daiō, Mie, Japan and sank ten days later. Montana labor leader Frank Little was abducted by six masked men from his room in a boardinghouse, beaten and then dragged by car through the streets of Butte, Montana. His official cause of death was asphyxiation. Little had been in town as representative of the Industrial Workers of the World organization to oversee a miners' strike at Anaconda Copper. His murder was never solved."I.W.W. Strike Chief Lynched At Butte." The New York Times. August 2, 1917. The German Navy Zeppelin L 53 achieved an altitude of , a new record for an airship.Whitehouse, Arch, The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 186. The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 79, No. 80, No. 85, No. 111, and No. 113. The London Underground extended the Bakerloo line with a new tube station at Stonebridge Park. Born: Esme Tombleson, Australian-New Zealand politician, Member of New Zealand Parliament from 1960 to 1972; as Esme Irene Lawson, in Sydney, Australia (d. 2010)
August 2, 1917 (Thursday) Battle of Pilckem Ridge – Days of constant rain turned the battlefield into mud, making it hard for troops and vehicles to traverse and thus slowing the advance. British casualties by then were recorded at 31,820 casualties while German casualties were 30,000, including 5,626 prisoners captured on the opening day of battle. Green Corn Rebellion – Several hundred farmers in central Oklahoma staged an uprising against the World War I draft. Italian flying ace Pier Ruggero Piccio scored his eighth victory by shooting down Austro-Hungarian ace Frank Linke-Crawford, who was flying a two-seat aircraft without a rear gunner on board. Linke-Crawford survived uninjured. British air naval officer Edwin Harris Dunning successfully landed his aircraft on Royal Navy carrier in the Scapa Flow. However, he died while making a third attempt to land on the same ship five days later. The No. 61 Squadron was established by the Royal Flying Corps at Rochford, England. Born: Wah Chang, American designer, best known for designing the futuristic props in Star Trek including the tricorder and communicator; in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, United States (present-day Hawaii, U.S.) (d. 2003)
August 3, 1917 (Friday)
Green Corn Rebellion – An armed group of Oklahoma farmers estimated between 800 and 1,000 met up with an armed posse on the Canadian River where shots were exchanged before the group dispersed. Three people were killed over two days of unrest and 450 were arrested. Of that group, 184 were charged and 150 were convicted and sentenced to prison. The United States Army established the 1st Medical Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas. The state defense force New York Guard was founded as a replacement for the New York National Guard which was drafted for service in World War I.The State Guard Sentinel; Volume 1, No. 3 New York Guard, Spring 2008 American business leader and retired star football player and coach John de Saulles (member of the 1901 College Football All-America Team), was shot by his estranged wife Blanca Errázuriz in front of his home in Westbury, New York. He later died from gunshot wounds in hospital. The two had been going through a high-profile divorce and custody battle over their son that had rising film star Rudolph Valentino involved as a character witness. Born: Antonio Lauro, Venezuelan guitarist, considered one of the best live performers of Spanish guitar; in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela (d. 1986) Died: Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, 67, German mathematician, developed the Frobenius method as a solution for differential equations (b. 1849) John Thomson, 63, Australian politician, member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 1892–1914 (b. 1853)
August 4, 1917 (Saturday) Liberia declared war on Germany. German submarine struck one of her own mines off the coast of Ireland and sank with the loss of all 26 crew on board. The United States Army established the 48th Aero Squadron.Series "E", Volume 23, 400th-500th Aero Squadrons. Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C. The Edwardian musical comedy The Better 'Ole by Bruce Bairnsfather, with music by Herman Darewski, premiered at Oxford Music Hall in Westminster, London, England, and starring Arthur Bourchier in the title role.Bourchier, Arthur. "Who Was Who", A & C Black, 1920–2007, online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 28 October 2008."The Better 'Ole". Broadwayworld.com, accessed 12 September 2010 Born: John Fitch, American racing driver, first American driver to compete in the European racing circuit through the Italian Grand Prix; in Indianapolis, United States (d. 2012) Died: Noel Godfrey Chavasse, 32, British army medical officer, two-time recipient of the Victoria Cross; killed in action (b. 1884)
August 5, 1917 (Sunday) Battle of Passchendaele – German troops launched a surprise attack against British units near Hollebeke, Belgium, capturing the village (although it was later abandoned). The United States Army established the 35th, 82nd, 88th, and 91st Infantry Divisions. As well, the 5th Brigade of the 78th Infantry Division and the 407th Forward Support Battalion were established as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
August 6, 1917 (Monday)
Battle of Mărășești – The German Ninth Army, composed of 245,000 troops, launched a counter-offensive against the joint Russian-Romanian force of 218,000 soldiers around the Siret River near Mărășești, Romania, in what was the last major battle between Germany and Romania. Railway workers in Sydney officially walked off the job to strike, with eventually over 100,000 industrial workers joining the general strike throughout Australia.General Strike of 1917 , State Records Authority of New South WalesTaksa, Lucy, Defence not defiance: Social protest and the NSW General Strike of 1917, Labour History, vol. 60, 1991, pp. 16-33. The United States Army established the 49th and 50th Aero Squadrons.Gorrell, Series "E", vol. 23 Born: Robert Mitchum, American actor, best known for antihero and villainous roles in Out of the Past, The Night of the Hunter, and Cape Fear; in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States (d. 1997) Died: Richard McBride, 46, Canadian politician, 16th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1870)
August 7, 1917 (Tuesday) British air naval officer Edwin Harris Dunning died when the Sopwith Pup aircraft he was trying to land for a third time on Royal Navy carrier missed the landing strip and fell over the side.Bruce, p. 204 Died: Basil Hood, 53, British composer, best known for libretto contributions to comic operas The French Maid, The Rose of Persia, The Emerald Isle and Merrie England (b. 1864) Francis Earl Johnston, 45, New Zealand army officer, commander of the New Zealand 1st Brigade and New Zealand Rifle Brigade; killed in action (b. 1871)
August 8, 1917 (Wednesday) Third Battle of Oituz – The Austro-Hungarian First Army attacked defending forces of the Romanian Second Army in the Oituz valley of Romania. Royal Navy vessel was torpedoed and shelled in the Bay of Biscay by German submarine , killing one crew member. Survivors were rescued by another Royal Navy vessel before Dunraven sank two days later. American schooner George A. Marsh sank during a storm in Lake Ontario with the loss of 12 lives, including seven children. Born: Earl Cameron, Bermudian-British actor, best known as being the first black actor in lead roles in British cinema and television, including Pool of London, Sapphire and The Interpreter; as Earlston Jewett Cameron, in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda (d. 2020)
August 9, 1917 (Thursday) Royal Navy destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine in the North Sea with 54 crew lost. The Royal Flying Corps established air squadrons No. 102, No. 194, and No. 197. The United States Army established the 55th and 88th Aero Squadrons.Gorrell, Series "E", vol. 23, vol. 9 Died: José Inés Salazar, 32-33, Mexican revolutionary leader; killed in action near Nogales Hacienda, Mexico (b. 1884)
August 10, 1917 (Friday) Third Battle of Oituz – After suffering initial setbacks, Romanian forces pushed back against the combined Austro-Hungarian and German assault in the Oituz valley of Romania.Nitu 2017 The British 18th and 25th Divisions captured portions of West Flanders, Belgium, from the Germans that they failed to gain during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. The 18th suffered 1,291 casualties and the 25th sustained 1,526 casualties. A general strike began in Spain but was smashed in three days with 70 left dead, hundreds wounded and 2,000 arrested. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Food and Fuel Control Act into law.David Pietrusza, 1920: The Year of Six Presidents (NY: Carroll & Graf, 2007), 159-60. Congress passed the Prohibition Amendment, which became the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, on August 1, 1917 Convicted Swedish serial killer Hilda Nilsson committed suicide by hanging herself using linen cloth tied to her cell door, without knowing the court had commuted the original death penalty to life imprisonment that same day. She was the last Swedish death penalty prisoner not to be pardoned. Born: Jackie Robinson, English football player, inside forward for clubs including Sheffield Wednesday from 1934 to 1949 and the England national football team from 1937 to 1938; as John Allan Robinson, in Shiremoor, England (d. 1972)
August 11, 1917 (Saturday) Iskolat, or the executive committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, and the Landless in Latvia, was established in Riga."Iskolat", Great Soviet Encyclopedia Born: Vasiľ Biľak, Slovak politician, leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1989; in Sáros County, Austria-Hungary (present-day Krajná Bystrá, Slovakia) (d. 2014) Dik Browne, American cartoonist, creator of Hägar the Horrible and Hi and Lois; as Richard Arthur Allan Browne, in New York City, United States (d. 1989) Died: Harold Ackroyd, 40, British army officer, recipient for the Victoria Cross; killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele (b. 1877)
August 12, 1917 (Sunday) Battle of Mărășești – The Romanian First Army, with support from Russia, halted an offensive advance from the German Ninth Army.Şerban 2017 German submarine was rammed and sunk in the North Sea by a Royal Navy vessel with the loss of all 44 crew. German Gotha bombers attacked the towns of Shoeburyness and Southend in England in the sixth raid of Operation Türkenkreuz ("Turk's Cross"). Along with a previous raid on July 22, the Germans lost a combined five bombers including one that was shot down and four others wrecked in crashes while returning to base.Fredette, Raymond H., The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain 1917–1918, New York: Harvest, 1976, , p. 263. The British Desert Column was reorganized as the Desert Mounted Corps under command of General Edmund Allenby.