On this date, President Woodrow Wilson signed the declaration of war.
On April 2, 1917, he had gone before a Joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war on Germany. An overwhelming majority of Congress voted to accept it, with just 50 opposing it.
It read "that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government and the Government and People of the United States."
War had been declared on Germany, but none of the other Central Powers. War was declared on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 7, 1917, but never declared against Bulgaria or the Ottoman Empire.
Of interest, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a lifelong pacifist, was one of the 50 voting against the declaration in 1917 and she was the only member of Congress voting against the declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941.
Today Marks the 100th Anniversary of That Declaration. The Centennial.
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