Software
Free
Download
Audio
Graphics
Utilities
Internet
Screen Savers
Games
Development Tools
Business
Audio
Home/Hobby
Education
|
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining (318 in leap years).
Events
197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire.
1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian 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.
1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise.
1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State.
1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City. It displays works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
1924 - In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds.
1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.
1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
1947 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union.
1955 - Christian Pineau becomes Prime Minister of France
1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress of the United States districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T ?(15 million).
1974 - Robert Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter.
1979 - China invades Vietnam.
1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.
1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence.
1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
2005 - CBS will premiere its 10th season of Survivor, in the wonderful setting of Palau.
Births
1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, composer (d. 1713)
1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, master builder (d. 1753)
1774 - Raphael Peale, painter
1798 - Auguste Comte, "father" of sociology (d. 1857)
1821 - Lola Montez, dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (d. 1861)
1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, department store founder
1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, industrialist (d. 1902)
1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)
1874 - Thomas J. Watson, computer pioneer, first president of IBM
1877 - André Maginot, politician, Maginot Line (d. 1932)
1888 - Otto Stern, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1969)
1908 - Red Barber, baseball announcer, sports journalist (d. 1992)
1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director
1922 - Marshall Teague, race car driver (d. 1959)
1924 - Margaret Truman, novelist, daughter of Harry S. Truman
1925 - Hal Holbrook, actor
1929 - Chaim Potok, author (d. 2002)
1929 - Patricia Routledge, actress
1930 - Ruth Rendell, writer
1934 - Alan Bates, actor (d. 2003)
1934 - Barry Humphries (aka "Dame Edna Everage"), actor, comedian
1936 - Jim Brown, American football star
1937 - Rita Süssmuth, politician
1941 - Julia McKenzie, actress
1941 - Gene Pitney, singer
1942 - Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party
1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress
1953 - Norman Pace, actor, comic
1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, actor
1963 - Michael Jordan, basketball star
1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, musician ("Green Day")
1972 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater
1972 - Denise Richards, actress
1975 - Vaclav Prospal, NHL hockey player
1978 - Jacob Wetterling, kidnapping victim (missing since 1989)
1981 - Paris Hilton, actress and heiress to the Hilton Hotel chain
1990 - Will Schlitzer, actor, designer, heir to Schlitzer Funeral Homes in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Deaths
197 - Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle)
364 - Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332)
1339 - Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria
1600 - Giordano Bruno, religious reformer (b. 1548)
1673 - Molière, writer (b. 1622)
1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)
1854 - John Martin, English painter
1856 - Heinrich Heine, writer (b. 1797)
1883 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist, composer (b. 1806)
1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
1943 - Armand J. Piron, jazz musician (b. 1888)
1962 - Bruno Walter, conductor (b. 1876)
1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (b. 1888)
1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (b. 1917)
1982 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor
1994 - Randy Shilts, author, AIDS activist
1998 - Ernst Jünger, militaristic German author (b. 1895)
2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete
Holidays and observances
Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus
Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed
----
February 16 - February 18 - January 17 - March 17 -- listing of all days
|