Chicago Tribune, Feb. 8, 1917.

A hundred years ago today, the U.S. was clearly getting closer to war.

On February 1, Germany had announced unrestricted submarine warfare, and on February 3, the American freighter Housatonic was boarded and sunk. And a hundred years ago today, the British passenger ship SS California, en route from New York to Glascow, was attacked by a German U-Boat near the Irish coast, with the loss of 41 lives.

With the subsequent publication of the Zimmermann telegram, U.S. involvement in the war was becoming inevitable, with the declaration of war coming on April 6.