time line

Breaking News: Austrian Heir and His Wife Murdered in Bosnian Capital

Jun 28, 1914

At around 11 a.m. today, two shots rang out from a street corner in the center of this city, mortally wounding the archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Sophie the Duchess of Hohenberg, his wife

The United Kingdom declaration of war upon Germany

Aug 4, 1914

occurred on 4 August 1914. The declaration was a result of German refusal to remove troops from neutral Belgium.

the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania

May 7, 1915

a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans.

President Woodrow Wilson defeated Republican Charles E. Hughes in the U.S. presidential election.

Nov 7, 1916

Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.

British naval intelligence intercepted

Jan 19, 1917

decrypted a telegram sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Ambassador in Mexico City.

the United States declared war on the German Empire

Apr 6, 1917

joining France, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy

First US troops arrive in France

Jun 25, 1917

The first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops landed in France at the port of Saint Nazaire

The Sedition Act

May 16, 1918

The Sedition Act covered a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds.

World War I Ends

Nov 11, 1918

the world war ends

The Versailles Peace Treaty

Jun 28, 1919

for the official end of the world war