1917 ( MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sundayof the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). Events of 1917January- *An anti-prostitution drive in San Francisco attracts huge crowds to public meetings. At one meeting attended by 7,000 people, 20,000 are kept out for lack of room. In a conference with Rev. Paul Smith, an outspoken foe of prostitution, 300 prostitutes make a plea for toleration, explaining they had been forced into the practice by poverty. When Smith asks if they will take other work at $8 to $10 a week, the ladies laugh derisively, which loses them public sympathy. The police close about 200 houses of prostitution shortly thereafter.
- January 26 – The sea defences at the English village of Hallsands are breached, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable.
February- February 24 – World War I: United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Walter H. Page, is shown the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
 President Woodrow Wilson of the United States announces to Congress the breaking of diplomatic relations with Germany March- * Women calling for bread in Petrograd start riots, which spontaneously spread throughout the city.
- March 31 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies, which become the US Virgin Islands, after paying $25 million to Denmark.
April- April 11 – World War I: Brazil severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
May- May 23 – A month of civil violence in Milan, Italy ends after the Italian army forcefully takes over the city from anarchists and anti-war revolutionaries. Fifty people are killed and 800 people are arrested.
June- June 13 – World War I: The first major German bombing raid on London leaves 162 dead and 432 injured.
July- July 16–17 – Russian troops mutiny, abandon the Austrian front, and retreat to the Ukraine; hundreds are shot by their commanding officers during the retreat.
August- August 10 – A general strike begins in Spain; it is smashed after 3 days with 70 left dead, hundreds of wounded and 2,000 arrests.
October- October 12 – World War I: The biggest loss of life in a single day for New Zealand. Over 800 men and 45 officers were killed at the First Battle of Passchendaele, roughly 1 in 1000 of the nation's population at the time.
November- November 2 – Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
- * Militants from Trotsky's committee join with trusty Bolshevik soldiers to seize government buildings and pounce on members of the provisional government.
- *World War I – Battle of Cambrai: British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are soon beaten back.
- *The Ukraine is declared a republic.
DecemberUndatedOngoingBirthsJanuary–FebruaryMarch–April- * Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor, bandleader, and musician (I Love Lucy) (d. 1986)
May–JuneJuly–AugustSeptember–OctoberNovember–December- November 20 – Robert Byrd, U.S. senator from West Virginia and President pro tempore of the United States Senate
DeathsJanuary–JuneJuly–DecemberNobel Prizes
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