Year 1917 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1917. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, entertainment news, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1917, Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, and Thomas R. Marshall was the nation’s 28th vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.6%, and the nation’s inflation rate was a whopping 17.43%.
3. Adjusted for inflation, $1.00 in 1917 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $25.00 today.
4. At the grocery store, four quarts of apples cost 25 cents, eggs were 39 cents a dozen, and mixed nuts cost 22 cents a pound. Quaker oats were 22 cents for a five-pound box, apple jelly cost 35 cents for a five-pound crock, and you could buy 15 oranges for 25 cents.
5. A Dodge touring car cost $785.00, cleanser was eight cents a can, and washboards were 39 cents apiece. A wool blanket cost $5.45 to $6.98, curtains were 95 cents a pair, and malt tonic was nine cents a bottle.
6. In 1917, canned foods were a primary food source for many Americans because many homes did not have refrigeration. They were also vital to the American diet during World War I because of chronic shortages of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and bread. Popular canned foods at the time included baked beans, chicken, condensed milk, corn, green beans, peas, soups, tomatoes, and tuna.
7. American companies and brands launched in 1917 included Books-A-Million, Inc., Cushman & Wakefield, G&L Clothing, Magnavox, Omaha Steaks, and Starkist.
8. World War I: On January 11, German saboteurs set off an explosion at a munitions factory in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, that manufactured weaponry for the Allies in Europe. A fire quickly spread through the plant and destroyed around 500,000 pieces of ammunition. This was just one in a series of events leading to U.S. involvement in World War I.
9. On January 25, the United States purchased the Danish West Indies from Denmark for $25 million. The islands later became known as the U.S. Virgin Islands.
10. World War I: On February 3, the United States broke diplomatic ties with Germany.
11. On February 5, Congress overrode President Wilson’s veto and reinstated the Immigration Act of 1917, “which significantly restricted immigration to the United States, particularly by imposing a near-total ban on people from most of Asia.” The law also implemented a literacy test for potential immigrants, intended to reduce immigration from certain European countries.
12. On March 26, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first USA-based ice hockey team to win the Stanley Cup.
13. World War I: On April 6, Congress “passed a resolution declaring war on Germany,” which President Wilson promptly signed into law.
14. World War I: On May 18, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, granting President Wilson the authority to implement a military draft as the United States entered World War I.
15. On May 21, the Great Atlanta Fire ravaged an estimated 73 blocks. It destroyed over 1,500 houses, including the birthplace of novelist Margaret Mitchell.
16. World War I: On June 5, military conscription (aka, the draft) officially began in the U.S.
17. On November 7, New York became the first eastern U.S. state to grant women the right to vote.
18. World War I: On November 17, the United States Navy destroyers USS Fanning and USS Nicholson “engaged and captured” a German U-boat off the southwest coast of Ireland. It was “the first time a U.S. warship had taken down a submarine in combat, with the U-boat subsequently being scuttled by its crew.”
19. In December, the Mistletoe Girl Scout Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was the first to sell Girl Scout cookies. The troop “sold the cookies in their high school cafeteria.”
20. World War I: On December 6, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Jacob Jones was “torpedoed and sunk” by the German submarine U-53.
21. The year 1917 was the second-driest year on record in the U.S., with an average coast-to-coast precipitation rate of 25.35 inches. (The average annual precipitation in the contiguous United States is 28-30 inches.)
22. In 1917, Monsignor Edward Joseph Flanagan founded Boys Town, “a farm village for wayward boys” located near Omaha, Nebraska.
23. Clarence Saunders, the founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain, received a patent for a “self-service grocery store.”
24. The D.L. Clark Candy Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, launched the Clark Bar. It consists of a thin milk chocolate shell surrounded by a non-chocolate filling.
25. The Chattanooga Bakery in Tennessee introduced the MoonPie—“a marshmallow-filled graham cracker sandwich dipped in chocolate.”
26. The J. B. Williams Company began to market Aqua Velva grooming products for men.
27. Famous people born in 1917 included John F. Kennedy, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Desi Arnaz, Lena Horne, Raymond Burr, Joan Fontaine, and Payton Jordan.
28. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody passed away. He was a “bison hunter, Pony Express rider, U.S. Army scout, and Indian fighter. He also became an actor, impresario, and showman who dramatized the American West through his popular Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.”
29. Other famous people who died in 1917 were Albert Ball (pilot), Auguste Rodin (sculptor), Emma Miller (civil rights leader), Scott Joplin (composer), and William Walter Chapman (poet).
30. America’s most beloved songs were Over There (Nora Bayes), Over There (the American Quartet), and At the Darktown Strutter’s Ball (the Original Dixieland Jazz Band).
31. Popular movies for the year included Coney Island, Easy Street, His Wedding Night, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, The Adventurer, The Butcher Boy, The Cure, The Immigrant, and Wild and Woolly.
32. In 1917 as well, the words “aircraft carrier,” “airfare,” “autopilot,” “big band,” “bubblehead,” “cash-and-carry,” “ketosis,” “narcissist,” “pet peeve,” “razzmatazz,” “stainless steel,” “test pilot,” “toiletry,” and “workmen’s compensation insurance” all appeared in print for the first time.
33. American League baseball champions: Chicago White Sox
34. Boston Marathon winner: Bill Kennedy
35. Indianapolis 500 winner: Not held because of World War I
36. Kentucky Derby winner: Omar Khayyam
37. National League baseball champions: New York Giants
38. NCAA football champions: Georgia Tech
39. Stanley Cup champs: Seattle Metropolitans
40. U.S. Tennis (Men/Women): Robert Lindley Murray/Molla Bjurstedt
41. World Series champions: Chicago White Sox

Reference

1. https://popculturemadness.com/1917-history-fun-facts-and-trivia/
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1917
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1917.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_in_the_United_States
5. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1917
6. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi
7. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1917
8. https://www.britannica.com/list/timeline-of-world-war-i
9. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1916.html
10. https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1917
11. https://www.flickchart.com/charts.aspx?year=1917
12. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-1910s/Historic-Prices-1917

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor