February 17Birthdays & History

On this day: February 17 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1370Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.Europe
2. 1411Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.Middle East
3. 1500Duke Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein and King John of Denmark attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.Europe
4. 1600On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.Europe
5. 1616Nurhaci proclaims himself Khan of the Later Jin, precursor to the Qing Dynasty.Asia
6. 1621Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.EuropeNorth America
7. 1674An earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Ambon. It triggers a 100 m (330 ft) megatsunami which drowns over 2,300 people.Asia
8. 1676Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate's expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.Latin America
9. 1739The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.Europe
10. 1753In Sweden, February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.Europe
11. 1801United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College 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.North America
12. 1814War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.Europe
13. 1819The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.North America
14. 1838In the Weenen massacre, hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.Africa
15. 1854The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.Europe
16. 1859Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captures the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.EuropeAsia
17. 1863A group of citizens of Geneva found an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.Europe
18. 1864American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.North America
19. 1865American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.North America
20. 1905Russian Revolution of 1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia is assassinated in the Moscow Kremlin by Socialist Revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev.Europe
21. 1913The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who subsequently become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.North America
22. 1919The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.EuropeNorth America
23. 1944World 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.North AmericaAsia
24. 1944World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.North America
25. 1948The Al-Waziri coup briefly ousts the ruling Hamidaddin dynasty of Yemen; Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din is killed.Middle East
26. 1949Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.Middle East
27. 1959A Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes near Gatwick Airport, killing 14; Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes survives the crash.Middle East
28. 1959Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.North America
29. 1964Gabonese president Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.Africa
30. 1964In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.North America
31. 1965Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.North America
32. 1966Aeroflot Flight 065 crashes during take-off from Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing 21.Europe
33. 1969American aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair a leak in the SEALAB III underwater habitat. The SEALAB project was subsequently abandoned.North America
34. 1970The family of Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, is found murdered in their home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, US. Eventually, MacDonald was charged with and convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.North America
35. 1972Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.EuropeNorth America
36. 1974Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.North America
37. 1978The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.Europe
38. 1979The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.Asia
39. 1980First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.AsiaEurope
40. 1991Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, killing both pilots, the aircraft's only occupants.North America
41. 1992First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.Europe
42. 1995The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.Latin America
43. 1996In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.North America
44. 1996The 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 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.Asia
45. 1996NASA'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.North America
46. 2006A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.Asia
47. 2008Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.Europe
48. 2011Arab Spring: In Bahrain, security forces launch a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.Middle East
49. 2011Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.Middle EastAfrica
50. 2015Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.Latin America
51. 2016Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "February 17" / CC BY-SA 4.0