November 17

Historic Events

2020

A Vega rocket carrying SEOSat-Ingenio and TARANIS fails after liftoff. ›

2019

The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. ›

2013

Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia. ›

2013

A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes. ›

2012

At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt. ›

2003

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure as the governor of California begins. ›

2000

A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years. ›

2000

Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru. ›

1997

In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre. ›

1993

United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement. ›

1993

In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup. ›

1990

Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts. ›

1989

Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29). ›

1986

The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska. ›

1983

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico. ›

1973

Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook." ›

1973

The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital. ›

1970

Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre. ›

1970

Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft. ›

1969

Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. ›

1968

British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service. ›

1968

Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S. ›

1967

Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress." ›

1962

President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region. ›

1957

Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft. There are no fatalities. ›

1953

The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, County Kerry, Ireland, are evacuated to the mainland. ›

1950

Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama. ›

1950

United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted. ›

1947

The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath. ›

1947

American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century. ›

1940

The Tartu Art Museum is established in Tartu, Estonia. ›

1939

Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. All Czech universities are shut down and more than 1,200 students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic. ›

1903

The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"). ›

1896

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino. ›

1894

H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts. ›

1885

Serbo-Bulgarian War: The decisive Battle of Slivnitsa begins. ›

1878

First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, who was armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg. ›

1869

In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated. ›

1863

American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: During the Knoxville campaign, Confederate forces under General James Longstreet besiege the city of Knoxville, Tennessee and its Union defenders led by General Ambrose Burnside. ›

1858

Modified Julian Day zero. ›

1858

The city of Denver, Colorado is founded. ›

1856

American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase. ›

1837

An earthquake in Valdivia, south-central Chile, causes a tsunami that leads to significant destruction along Japan's coast. ›

1831

Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia. ›

1820

Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. (The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him.) ›

1811

José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile. ›

1810

Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place. ›

1800

The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C. ›

1796

French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy. ›

1777

Articles of Confederation (United States) are submitted to the states for ratification. ›

1775

The city of Kuopio, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden. ›

1603

English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason. ›

1558

Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I. ›

1511

Henry VIII of England concludes the Treaty of Westminster, a pledge of mutual aid against the French, with Ferdinand II of Aragon. ›

1494

French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy. ›

1405

Sharif ul-Hāshim establishes the Sultanate of Sulu. ›

1292

John Balliol becomes King of Scotland. ›

1183

Genpei War: The Battle of Mizushima takes place off the Japanese coast, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka's invasion force is intercepted and defeated by the Taira clan. ›

887

Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November. ›