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Germans hit and sank the British passendger liner, the Lusitania.
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President Woodrow Wilson signs into law the National Defense Act, expaniding the size and scope of the National Guard, the network of states' militias that had been developing steadily since colonial times, and guaranteed its status as the nation's permanent reserve force.
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British code breakers discovered an encrypted message from Arthur Zimmermann intended for the German ambassador to Mexico. The missive was basically instructions to form an alliance with Mexico's President, if the US began the war on the side of the Allies.
