Today in History

German submarine U-20 sinks the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner carrying both civilians and military supplies from the United States. The attack killed 1,198 people, over half of the passengers, including many American citizens, and helped turn American public opinion against Germany.

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German authorities sign an unconditional surrender in Reims, France, instituting an armistice between Allied and Axis forces in Europe. The surrender did not include the Soviet Union; on the following day, Germany would surrender in Berlin to American, British, French, and Soviet officers.