January 17Birthdays & History

On this day: January 17 in history

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

1. 38 BCOctavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.Europe
2. 1362Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.Europe
3. 1377Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.Europe
4. 1524Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.EuropeNorth America
5. 1562France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain.Europe
6. 1595During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.Europe
7. 1608Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.Africa
8. 1648England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.Europe
9. 1649The Second Ormonde Peace creates an alliance between the Irish Royalists and Confederates during the War of the Three Kingdoms. The coalition was then decisively defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.Europe
10. 1773Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.World
11. 1781American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.North AmericaEurope
12. 1799Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.Europe
13. 1811Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.Latin AmericaEurope
14. 1852The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.EuropeAfrica
15. 1873A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.North America
16. 1885A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.EuropeAfrica
17. 1893Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.North America
18. 1899The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.North America
19. 1903El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.Latin AmericaNorth America
20. 1904Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.Europe
21. 1912British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.Europe
22. 1915Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.EuropeMiddle East
23. 1917The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.North AmericaEurope
24. 1918Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.Europe
25. 1920Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect.North America
26. 1941Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.AsiaEurope
27. 1943World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.Europe
28. 1944World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.Europe
29. 1945Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.Europe
30. 1945The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as the Red Army closes in.Europe
31. 1945World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw.Europe
32. 1946The UN Security Council holds its first session.Europe
33. 1948The Renville Agreement between the Netherlands and Indonesia is ratified.EuropeAsia
34. 1950The Great Brink's Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in Boston.North America
35. 1950United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.World
36. 1961U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military–industrial complex" as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.North America
37. 1961Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered together with former Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of the Congo Maurice Mpolo and former Senator from Kasai Province Joseph Okito in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.AfricaEuropeNorth America
38. 1966Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.Europe
39. 1969Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.North America
40. 1977Capital punishment in the United States resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah.North America
41. 1981President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.Asia
42. 1989Patrick Purdy opens fire at an elementary school in Stockton, California, killing five and wounding 31 others.North America
43. 1991Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq, it is also the first major combat sortie for the F-117. LCDR Scott Speicher's F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-81 is shot down by a Mig-25 and is the first American casualty of the War. Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.Middle EastNorth America
44. 1991Crown Prince Harald of Norway becomes King Harald V, following the death of his father, King Olav V.Europe
45. 1992During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.AsiaAsia
46. 1994The 6.7 Mw Northridge earthquake shakes the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.North America
47. 1995The 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of 7, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.Asia
48. 1996The Czech Republic applies for membership in the European Union.Europe
49. 1997Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.North America
50. 1998Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.North America
51. 2002Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.Africa
52. 2007The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's nuclear testing.Asia
53. 2008British Airways Flight 38 crashes short of the runway at Heathrow Airport, injuring 47.Europe
54. 2010Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, results in at least 200 deaths.Africa
55. 2013Former cyclist Lance Armstrong confesses to his doping in an airing of Oprah's Next Chapter.North America
56. 2013Shahzad Luqman is murdered by members of Golden Dawn in Petralona, Athens, leading the creation of new measures to combat race-based attacks in Greece.Europe
57. 2016President Barack Obama announces the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement intended to limit Iran's nuclear program.Middle East
58. 2017The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is announced to be suspended.Asia
59. 2023An avalanche strikes Nyingchi, Tibet, killing 28 people.Asia
60. 2026Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42 crashed near Mount Bulusaraung in South Sulawesi, after losing contact en route to Makassar.Asia

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