April 6 » In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
June 2 » Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
July 9 » William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
December 17 » Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America, is destroyed in a fire.
Day of death April 17, 1917
The temperature on April 17, 1917 was between -0.7 °C and 6.6 °C and averaged 3.1 °C. There was 2.6 mm of rain. There was 3.4 hours of sunshine (24%). The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north-northwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from August 29, 1913 to September 9, 1918 the cabinet Cort van der Linden, with Mr. P.W.A. Cort van der Linden (liberaal) as prime minister.
March 1 » The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
May 21 » The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
June 28 » World War I: Greece joins the Allied powers.
July 6 » World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
October 31 » World War I: Battle of Beersheba: The "last successful cavalry charge in history".
November 24 » In Milwaukee, nine members of the Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb, the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hans Pruckmuller, "Family tree Van Willigen", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/van-willigen-stamboom/I5553.php : accessed February 27, 2026), "Pieterje van Wilgen (1896-1917)".
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