October 17

Historic Events

2023

An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war. ›

2019

Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest. ›

2019

The 17 October Revolution starts in Lebanon. ›

2018

The recreational use of cannabis is legalized in Canada. ›

2018

A mass shooting and bombing at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea kills 21 people including the attacker and injures 70 others. ›

2017

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last foothold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Raqqa, marking the end of the Battle of Raqqa. ›

2004

A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela. ›

2001

Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by Hamdi Quran, a member of the PFLP, thus becoming the highest-ranking Israeli to be killed by a Palestinian. ›

2000

The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack. ›

1994

Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces. ›

1992

Having gone to the wrong house, Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. ›

1991

Rudrapur bombings by Sikh separatists, who explode two bombs, during a Ramlila Hindu celebration in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, killing 41 people. ›

1989

The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63. ›

1989

The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary. ›

1988

Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashes at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, in Rome, Italy, killing 33 people. ›

1980

As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican. ›

1979

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. ›

1979

The Department of Education Organization Act creates the U.S. Department of Education. ›

1977

The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued. ›

1975

'Salem's Lot, an American vampire novel by Stephen King, is published. ›

1973

OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War. ›

1970

FLQ terrorists murder Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte. ›

1969

The Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence is stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo. ›

1966

The 23rd Street Fire in New York City kills 12 firefighters. ›

1965

The 1964–65 New York World's Fair closes after two years and more than 51 million attendees. ›

1961

Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters. ›

1961

The first attempt of the apartheid analogy by Ahmad Shukeiri. ›

1956

The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England. ›

1952

Indonesian Army elements surrounded the Merdeka Palace demanding President Sukarno disband the Provisional People's Representative Council. ›

1945

A large demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, demands Juan Perón's release. ›

1943

The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed. ›

1943

Nazi Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed. ›

1941

World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat. ›

1940

The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg is found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery. ›

1933

Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States. ›

1931

Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion. ›

1919

Leeds United F.C. founded at Salem Chapel, Holbeck after the winding up of Leeds City F.C. for making illegal payments to players during World War I ›

1912

Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War. ›

1907

Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service. ›

1861

Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre. ›

1860

First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open). ›

1850

Riots start, which lead to a massacre in Aleppo. ›

1814

Eight people die in the London Beer Flood. ›

1811

The silver deposits of Agua Amarga are discovered in Chile becoming in the following years instrumental for the Patriots to finance the Chilean War of Independence. ›

1806

Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule. ›

1800

War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao. ›

1797

Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria, ending the War of the First Coalition. ›

1781

American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown. ›

1771

Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15. ›

1713

Great Northern War: Russia defeats Sweden in the Battle of Kostianvirta in Pälkäne. ›

1662

Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV of France for 40,000 pounds. ›

1660

The nine regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered. ›

1610

French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral. ›

1604

Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus. ›

1558

Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded. ›

1534

Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass. ›

1456

The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe. ›

1448

An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo. ›

1346

The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years. ›

1091

London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London. ›

690

Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China. ›