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Today in History: U.S. Enters World War I

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From time to time, I’d like to blog about notable historical events or otherwise interesting advents in our nation’s past, courtesy of Today in History, which mines the American Memory collections to discover what happened in our nation’s history on each date throughout the year.

Today’s “TIH” marks the day in 1917 the United States entered World War I. The immediate cause of America’s entry into the war was the German announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare and the subsequent sinking of ships with Americans on board.

American troops arrived in France at the rate of 10,000 a day. More than 2 million U.S. troops were deployed through the course of the conflict. Among those American troops was Cpl. Frank Buckles, who was the last known World War I veteran until he passed away last year at the age of 110. His oral history collection is part of the Library’s Veterans History Project (VHP). As a tribute, its “The Great War” presentation provides a virtual tour of some of the most compelling collections in VHP archives and features stories of nearly two dozen men and women who served in WWI.

On Nov. 1 11, 1918, an armistice was signed, ending the war.

Further resources on this important day in history can be found here.

Comments

  1. “On Nov. 1, 1918, an armistice was signed, ending the war”

    The armisitice was signed on November 11 at 5.15 LH…

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