The British government publishes the Balfour Declaration, signed by its foreign secretary, Lord James Arthur Balfour. The Declaration – addressed to Lord Lionel Rothschild who is asked to bring it to the attention of the “Zionist Federation” – includes an expression of support for the founding of a “national home” for the Jews in Palestine. There is great joy throughout the Jewish world, on both fronts.
(Mordecai Naor, Zionism. The First 120 Years. Timeline, Articles, Documents and Glossary. The Jewish Agency for Israel, The Zionist Library, 2002, p. 75)