February 17 in History

Historical Events on February 17

364

Roman Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
1370

Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
1411

Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
1500

Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
1600

The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive, for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome.
1621

Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
1753

In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1801

An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr, Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
1814

War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
1819

The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1838

Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1854

The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1859

Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.
1863

A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1864

American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1865

American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1867

The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
1871

The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
1904

Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
1913

The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
1919

The Ukrainian People's Republic asks Entente and the US for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
1933

Newsweek magazine is first published.
1944

World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins: The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
1944

World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
1949

Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
1959

Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1964

In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1964

Gabonese president Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
1965

Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
1968

In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
1972

Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
1974

Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1978

The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.
1979

The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
1980

First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
1992

Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
1995

The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
1996

In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
1996

NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
1996

The 8.2 Mw Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving one-hundred sixty-six people dead or missing and 423 injured.
2006

A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
2008

Kosovo declares independence as the Republic of Kosovo.
2011

Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
2015

Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
2016

Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.

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