Timeline March 1917

Events in March 1917 8

• 1917 Zimmermann Telegram revealed German proposal to Mexico exposed British intelligence intercepted a coded German telegram proposing a military alliance with Mexico against the United States. Its publication on 1 March inflamed American public opinion and helped push the US toward entering the war. It remains one of the most consequential intercepted messages in diplomatic history.
• 1917 – 1977 Robert Lowell (1917-1977) Died 12 September 1977, aged 60 Robert Lowell was an American poet and a leading figure of the confessional poetry movement. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice during a career that shaped mid-20th-century American poetry.
• 1917 – 1986 Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) Died 2 December 1986, aged 69 Cuban-born actor and bandleader who co-starred in and produced the pioneering sitcom I Love Lucy with his wife Lucille Ball. Through their company Desilu, he helped pioneer the multi-camera format and rerun syndication model still used in television today. He died in California of lung cancer.
• 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans US citizenship US Congress extends citizenship to island residents The act conferred statutory US citizenship on residents of Puerto Rico and reorganized the territory's government structure. It also made Puerto Rican men eligible for the military draft shortly before US entry into the war.
• 1917 Jeannette Rankin takes her seat in Congress First woman elected to the US House of Representatives Rankin, a Montana Republican, was sworn into the House of Representatives, becoming the first woman to hold federal elected office in the United States. She would go on to be one of few members of Congress to vote against US entry into both world wars.
• 1917 The February Revolution Petrograd, Russia Bread queues became strikes, the garrison refused to fire, and within a week the Tsar had abdicated — ending three hundred years of Romanov rule. The provisional government kept Russia in the war, which destroyed it.
• 1917 British capture of Baghdad Ottoman forces driven from Mesopotamia's largest city British Empire forces under General Frederick Maude took Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire, reversing earlier setbacks in the Mesopotamian campaign. The capture was a significant propaganda victory for Britain during a difficult year on the Western Front.
• 1917 – 2020 Vera Lynn (1917-2020) Died 18 June 2020, aged 103 Vera Lynn was an English singer known as "the Forces' Sweetheart" for songs including "We'll Meet Again" that boosted morale among British troops during the Second World War. She died on 18 June 2020 at the age of 103.