Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's Desert Column. January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party were rescued after being stranded for several months. January 11 – Unknown saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland (modern-day Lyndhurst, New Jersey), one of the events leading to United States involvement in WWI. January 16 – The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million. January 22 – WWI: United States President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Germany. January 25 – WWI: British armed merchantman is sunk by mines off Lough Swilly (Ireland), with the loss of 354 of the 475 aboard. January 26 – The sea defences at the English village of Hallsands are breached, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable. January 28 – The United States ends its search for Pancho Villa. January 30 – Pershing's troops in Mexico begin withdrawing back to the United States. They reach Columbus, New Mexico February 5. February February 1 – WWI: Atlantic U-boat Campaign: Germany announces its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare, rescinding the 'Sussex Pledge'. February 3 – WWI: The United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany. February 13 Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for spying. WWI – Raid on Nekhl: Units of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force completely reoccupy the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. February 21 – British troopship is accidentally rammed and sunk off the Isle of Wight, killing 646, mainly members of the South African Native Labour Corps. February 24 – WWI: Walter Hines Page, United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, is shown the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico, if Mexico will take sides with Germany, in case the United States declares war on Germany. March March 1 WWI: The U.S. government releases the text of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public. Ōmuta, Japan, is founded by Hiroushi Miruku. March 2 – The enactment of the Jones Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship. March 4 Woodrow Wilson is sworn in for a second term, as President of the United States. Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman member