The Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force) disbanded three Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) and redesignated their squadrons as Schutzstaffeln (escort squadrons). Operating two-seat Albatros, Rumpler, Gotha Taube, and Fokker aircraft, the new "Schusta" squadrons are tasked with escorting two-seat observation planes of the Feldflieger Abteilungen (field flying detachments) and Artillerieflieger Abteilungen (artillery flying detachments) during their reconnaissance flights, and are based with them.[3]
British cargo ship Lesbian was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by German submarine SMU-35. All crew survived, but the captain was taken as a prisoner of war.[25]
The first prototype of the Sage aircraft took flight.[26]
Mikhail Rodzianko, Chairman of the State Duma (Russian Parliament), warned Tsar Nicholas that the constant changes in the Russian cabinet was weakening the government: "All the best men have been removed or have retired. There remain those of ill repute."[28]
Kaiser Wilhelm made a decision that would ultimately bring the United States into World War I, directing that the Imperial German Navy begin unrestricted submarine warfare on all ships traveling to or from the British Isles. Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller would recount later, "At 7 o'clock in the evening report to the Kaiser, who had suddenly and rather unexpectedly convinced himself of the need for ruthless U-boat warfare and declared himself very strongly in its favour, even if the Chancellor were to oppose it. He took the most remarkable view that U-boat warfare was a purely military matter." As the Kaiser signed the orders, Müller recalled, "he remarked that he reckoned almost certainly with America's declaration of war."[33]
The opening of the Duma (Russian Parliament) was postponed to February 25, furthering upping tensions between the monarchy and the Russian government.[38]
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made his famous "peace without victory" speech before a joint session with United States Congress, maintaining that while the United States would remain neutral during World War I, it could play a role as a major peace broker in the near future.[76]
German submarine SMU-76 collided with a Russian trawler and sank in the Arctic Ocean with the loss of a crew member.[77]
The Charlie Chaplin comedy Easy Street premiered, with Chaplin's The Tramp playing a beat cop assigned to the roughest neighborhood in the city. Edna Purviance, a regular lead in his films, played a damsel in distress.[79]
USS Mississippi anchored off New York City, a year after it was launched.
British merchant ship SSLaurentic struck a mine and sank off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 354 of the 475 passengers and crew on board.[83][84]
A border skirmish between a Utah Army National Guard unit and Mexican rebels resulted in 10 Mexican casualties, the last military engagement before American forces pulled out of Mexico at the end of the Pancho Villa Expedition.[87]
A violent storm breached sea defenses at the English village of Hallsands, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable.[88]
Riots broke out at the El Paso–Juárez border crossing between Mexico and the United States over issues of treatment of Mexicans by U.S. immigrant officials, especially for allegations of abuse during health screenings.[94]
The first test flight of the Junkers aircraft was conducted.[95]
British submarine HMSK13 sank in Gare Loch, Scotland with the loss of 32 of the 80 people on board. She was subsequently salvaged, repaired and returned to service as HMS K22.[96]
French artist Auguste Rodin married his mistress Rose Beuret, but she died two weeks later. Rodin became seriously ill himself and died in November.[98]
The Swedish film drama A Man There Was, directed by Victor Sjöström, was released, and would later be considered the start of the Golden Age of Swedish Cinema.[99]
Riots at the El Paso–Juárez border crossing between Mexico and the United States ended with three arrests.[100]:32 Changes were made to processing migrants, including having an observing Mexican official on the U.S. side and allowing Mexican health certificates to be recognized.[101]:1[102]:2
Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919, (1920), pp.105-107
Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 417.
Preston, Antony (1972). Battleships of World War I: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Battleships of All Nations 1914–1918. New York: Galahad Books. p.207. ISBN0-88365-300-1.
Falls, Cyril; G. MacMunn (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol.1. London: HM Stationery Office. pp.263–271. OCLC610273484.
Falls, C. (1992) [1940]. Military Operations France and Belgium 1917: The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol.I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Pressed.). London: HMSO. pp.66–68. ISBN978-0-89839-180-0.
Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 44.
Dmitry Lyubin (2017) For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland. The Romanovs in the First World War, p. 103. In: 1917 Romanovs & Revolution. The End of the Monarchy. Amsterdam 2017
Becke, Major A.F. (1937). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2B. The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th) with The Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p.117. ISBN1-871167-00-0.
Wendt, Frantz (1951). "Rigsdagen 1915-40". In Bomholt, Jul.; Fabricius, Knud; Hjelholt, Holger; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, Andr. (eds.). Den danske rigsdag 1849-1949[The Danish Parliament 1849-1949] (in Danish). Vol.II - Rigsdagens historie 1866-1949 [History of the Parliament 1866-1949]. Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag. p.314.
West, Nigel (1990). The Sigint Secrets: The Signals Intelligence War, 1990 to Today-Including the Persecution of Gordon Welchman. New York: Quill. p.83. ISBN0-688-09515-1.
Cyrulik, John M. (2003). A Strategic Examination of the Punitive Expedition Into Mexico, 1916–1917, US Army Command and General Staff College, pp. 67-68
Macmunn, G; Falls, C. (1996) [1928 HMSO]. Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine, From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Vol.I. Nashville, TN: Battery Press. p.142. ISBN0-89839-241-1.
Mitchell, W.H.; Sawyer, L.A. (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p.not cited. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
"Submarine Casualties Booklet". U.S. Naval Submarine School. 1966: G-5. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved 2013-08-19.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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