September 17Birthdays & History

On this day: September 17 in history

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

1. 14The Roman Senate decides to deify the late emperor Augustus.Europe
2. 1111Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".Europe
3. 1176The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empire to recover central Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks.EuropeMiddle East
4. 1382Louis the Great's daughter, Mary, is crowned "king" of Hungary.Europe
5. 1390Manuel drives his nephew John VII, who had declared himself emperor in April of that year, out from Constantinople and ends John's reign.Middle East
6. 1462Thirteen Years' War: A Polish army under Piotr Dunin decisively defeats the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Świecino.Europe
7. 1543The first Finnish-language book, the Abckiria by Mikael Agricola, is published in Stockholm.Europe
8. 1577The Treaty of Bergerac is signed between King Henry III of France and the Huguenots.Europe
9. 1620Polish–Ottoman War: The Ottoman Empire defeats the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Battle of Cecora.EuropeMiddle East
10. 1630The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded in North America.North America
11. 1631Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.Europe
12. 1658The Battle of Vilanova is fought between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War.Europe
13. 1683Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules", later known as protozoa.Europe
14. 1775American Revolutionary War: The invasion of Quebec by the Continental Army begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.North America
15. 1776The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.North AmericaEurope
16. 1778The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe.North America
17. 1787The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.North America
18. 1793War of the Pyrenees: France defeats a Spanish force at the Battle of Peyrestortes.Europe
19. 1794Flanders Campaign: France completes its conquest of the Austrian Netherlands at the Battle of Sprimont.Europe
20. 1809Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War; the territory that will become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.Europe
21. 1849American abolitionist Harriet Tubman makes her first attempt to escape from slavery.North America
22. 1859Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States".North America
23. 1861Argentine Civil Wars: The State of Buenos Aires defeats the Argentine Confederation at the Battle of Pavón.Latin America
24. 1862American Civil War: George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac halts the first invasion of the North by Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history.North America
25. 1862American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.North America
26. 1894Battle of the Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.Asia
27. 1900Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac.AsiaNorth America
28. 1901Second Boer War: A Boer column defeats a British force at the Battle of Blood River Poort.AfricaEurope
29. 1901Second Boer War: Boers capture a squadron of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Elands River.Africa
30. 1908The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes, killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality.North America
31. 1914Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.Oceania
32. 1914World War I: The Race to the Sea begins.Europe
33. 1916World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.Europe
34. 1920The National Football League is organized as the American Professional Football Association in Canton, Ohio.North America
35. 1924The Border Protection Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.Europe
36. 1928The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing more than 2,500 people.North America
37. 1930The Kurdish Ararat rebellion is suppressed by the Turks.Middle East
38. 1932A speech by Laureano Gómez leads to the escalation of the Leticia Incident.Latin America
39. 1935The Niagara Gorge Railroad ceases operations after a rockslide.North America
40. 1939World War II: German submarine U-29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.Europe
41. 1939World War II: The Soviet invasion of Poland begins.Europe
42. 1940World War II: Due to setbacks in the Battle of Britain and approaching autumn weather, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion.Europe
43. 1941World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense restores compulsory military training.Europe
44. 1941World War II: Soviet forces enter Tehran during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.EuropeMiddle East
45. 1944World War II: German forces are attacked by the Allies in the Battle of San Marino.Europe
46. 1944World War II: Soviet troops launch the Tallinn Offensive against Germany and pro-independence Estonian units.Europe
47. 1944World War II: Allied airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden and British XXX Corps advances into the Netherlands as the "Garden" half of the Operation.Europe
48. 1948The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.Asia
49. 1948The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the United Nations to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.Middle East
50. 1949The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.North America
51. 1950The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps (Then known as the PLAAF 1st Ground Forces Brigade) is founded.Asia
52. 1950The Republic of India formally recognised the State of Israel.AsiaMiddle East
53. 1961Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 crashes during takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing all 37 people on board.North America
54. 1961The world's first retractable roof stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.North America
55. 1965The Battle of Chawinda is fought between Pakistan and India.Asia
56. 1974Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.AsiaAfrica
57. 1976The Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA.North America
58. 1978The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.Middle East
59. 1980After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.Europe
60. 1980Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.Latin America
61. 1983Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.North America
62. 1991The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.Europe
63. 1991Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.EuropeAsiaOceania
64. 1992An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin.Middle EastEurope
65. 2001George W. Bush, president of the United States, delivers remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington praising Muslim Americans and condemning Islamophobia in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.North America
66. 2001The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.North America
67. 2006An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.Europe
68. 2006Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the volcano in at least 10,000 years.North America
69. 2011Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park, New York City.North America
70. 2013Grand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.North America
71. 2016Two bombs explode in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and Manhattan. Thirty-one people are injured in the Manhattan bombing.North America
72. 2018A Russian reconnaissance aircraft carrying 15 people on board is brought down by a Syrian surface-to-air missile over the Mediterranean Sea.EuropeMiddle East
73. 2025Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement.Middle EastAsia

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