Thursday, May 15, 2008

1917. Society (3)

Society
1917. The United States has more than 40,000 millionaires, up from 4,000 in 1892.

1917. U.S. trolley car ridership reaches 11 billion, with 80,000 electric streetcars plying 45,--- miles of track.

1917. The worst train wreck in world history occurs December 12 at Modane, France, where a passenger train jumps the tracks killing 543, injuring hundreds more. Three U.S. train wrecks in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Kentucky kill 20, 30 and 46 respectively.

1917. "I Want You," says Uncle Sam in a recruitment poster painted by New York illustrator James Montgomery Flagg, who has used his own face as a model for the stern-visaged Uncle Sam.

1917. The term "surrealism" coined by French man of letters Guillaume Apollinaire denotes anti-establishment art.

1917. Popular songs: "Over There," by George M. Cohan; "You're in the Army Now"; "Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here"; "Back Home in Indiana"; "For Me and My Gal"; "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny."

1917. The National Hockey League (NHL) is organized November 22 at Montreal with teams from Montreal (the Canadiens and the Wanderers), Quebec, Ottawa and Toronto. The first U.S. team to join will be the Boston Bruins in 1924, followed by the Pittsburgh Pirates (later Penguins) in 1925, and the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars (later Redwings) in 1926, but the U.S. teams will be comprised almost entirely of Canadian-born players.

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