Timeline April 1917

Events in April 1917 12

• 1868 – 1917 Scott Joplin (1868-1917) Died 1 April 1917, aged 48 Scott Joplin was an African American composer and pianist known as the "King of Ragtime" for works including "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer". His music laid groundwork for jazz and later saw a major popular revival decades after his death.
• 1917 French Army mutinies Widespread refusals to attack follow failed Nivelle Offensive After catastrophic losses in the Nivelle Offensive, tens of thousands of French soldiers refused to take part in further attacks, though most continued defensive duties. General Philippe Petain restored order through a mix of reforms to conditions and selective courts-martial.
• 1917 The United States declares war Washington, United States Wilson, re-elected months earlier on having kept America out, asked Congress for a declaration. American troops arrived slowly, but the promise of millions of them changed every calculation on both sides.
• 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge Canadian Corps captures German-held ridge in France All four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked together for the first time, seizing the heavily fortified ridge from German forces. The battle became a defining moment of Canadian national identity. Over 10,000 Canadian soldiers were killed or wounded.
• 1917 Vimy Ridge Arras, France All four Canadian divisions attacked together for the first time and took a ridge that had defeated earlier French and British attempts. It is widely treated as the moment Canada started thinking of itself as a nation.
• 1917 The Nivelle Offensive Chemin des Dames, France Promised as the breakthrough that would end the war in 48 hours. It gained a few hundred yards at a cost of 187,000 French casualties.
• 1917 – 1996 Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (25 April 1917 -- 15 June 1996) was an American jazz vocalist widely considered the greatest female jazz singer in history. Known as the First Lady of Song, her voice combined extraordinary technical range (three octaves), perfect intonation, rhythmic precision and an improvisational gift -- particularly in scat singing -- that placed her alongside the greatest instrumental soloists in jazz. Her Songbook series for Verve Records (1956-1964) -- eight albums dedicated to the great American songwriters -- are the definitive recordings of the American popular song tradition. She won 13 Grammy Awards and sold over 40 million records.
• 1917 Ella Fitzgerald born in Newport News, Virginia Ella Jane Fitzgerald is born on 25 April 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, to William Fitzgerald and Temperance Henry. Her parents separate when she is young and her mother moves with Ella and her stepfather Joseph Da Silva to Yonkers, New York. Her mother dies in a car accident in 1932 when Ella is 15. Her stepfather's abuse of her mother and then Ella drives her away from home; she lives with an aunt in Harlem and briefly on the streets. Her early life is marked by poverty, instability and loss -- a background she rarely discusses publicly but which shapes the emotional depth of her singing.
• 1917 – 2019 I.M. Pei (1917-2019) Died 16 May 2019, aged 102 I.M. Pei was a Chinese-American architect known for landmark modernist designs including the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. He won the Pritzker Prize in 1983. He died in Manhattan at age 102.
• 1917 – 2012 Celeste Holm (1917-2012) American actress, Ado Annie in the original Oklahoma! and Oscar winner for Gentleman's Agreement.
• 1917 Celeste Holm born in New York Celeste Holm is born in New York.
• 1917 The French army mutinies Western Front Units in around half the French divisions refused to attack, though most kept defending the line. Pétain restored order with leave, better food, and 43 executions. The Germans never learned how bad it was.