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This day in history

This day in history: 17 February

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

323 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 17 February.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2016: Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Constabilis

Christian feast day: Donatus, Romulus, Secundian, and Companions

Christian feast day: Evermode of Ratzeburg

Christian feast day: February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Fintan of Clonenagh

Christian feast day: Janani Luwum (Anglican Communion)

Christian feast day: Lommán of Trim

Christian feast day: Mesrop Mashtots

Christian feast day: Seven Founders of the Servite Order Alexis Falconieri

Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still partially recognized.

Revolution Day (Libya)

Events

2016Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.

2015Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.

2011Arab Spring: In Bahrain, security forces launch a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.

2011Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.

2008Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.

2006A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.

1996In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

1996NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

1996The 8.2 Mw Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.

1995The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.

1992First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.

1991Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, killing both pilots, the aircraft's only occupants.

1980First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.

1979The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

1978The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.

1974Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.

1972Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.

1970The family of Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, is found murdered in their home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, US. Eventually, MacDonald was charged with and convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.

1969American aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair a leak in the SEALAB III underwater habitat. The SEALAB project was subsequently abandoned.

1966Aeroflot Flight 065 crashes during take-off from Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing 21.

1965Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chose

1964Gabonese president Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.

1964In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.

1959A Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes near Gatwick Airport, killing 14; Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes survives the crash.

1959Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

1949Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.

1948The Al-Waziri coup briefly ousts the ruling Hamidaddin dynasty of Yemen; Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din is killed.

1944World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

1944World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

1919The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.

1913The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who subsequently become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.

1905Russian Revolution of 1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia is assassinated in the Moscow Kremlin by Socialist Revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev.

1865American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

1864American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.

1863A group of citizens of Geneva found an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

1859Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captures the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.

1854The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

1838In the Weenen massacre, hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.

1819The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.

1814War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.

Born on this day

1998Devin White, American football player

1997Gaetano Castrovilli, Italian footballer

1996Sasha Pieterse, South African-American actress and singer-songwriter

1996Sebastian Aho, Swedish ice hockey player

1995Madison Keys, American tennis player

1994Mason Jobst, American ice hockey player

1993Marc Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer

1992Meaghan Martin, American actress and singer

1991Bonnie Wright, English actress, filmmaker, and activist

1991Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1991Jeremy Allen White, American actor

1991Phil Pressey, American basketball player and coach

1990Edin Višća, Bosnian footballer

1990Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian speed skater

1989Chord Overstreet, American actor and singer

1989Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer

1988Case Keenum, American football player

1988Michael Frolík, Czech ice hockey player

1988Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer

1987Ísis Valverde, Brazilian actress

1986Brett Kern, American football player

1985Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper

1984AB de Villiers, South African cricketer

1984Katie Hill, Australian 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player

1984Marcin Gortat, Polish basketball player

1982Adriano, Brazilian footballer

1982Brian Bruney, American baseball player

1981Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer

1981Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman

1981Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (died 2014)

1980Al Harrington, American basketball player

1980Jason Ritter, American actor

1980Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer

1979Conrad Ricamora, American actor

1979Josh Willingham, American baseball player

1978Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright

1976Kelly Carlson, American actress and model

1975Kaspars Astašenko, Latvian ice hockey player (died 2012)

1975Václav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player

1974Jerry O'Connell, American actor, director, and producer

Died on this day

2026Jesse Jackson, American civil rights leader, activist, and politician (born 1941)

2026Shinya Yamada, Japanese musician (born 1970)

2025Frits Bolkestein, Dutch politician (born 1933)

2025James Harrison, Australian blood plasma donor (born 1936)

2025Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer, songwriter and actress (born 1947)

2025Rick Buckler, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (born 1955)

2024Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Sri Lankan politician (born 1941)

2024Josette Molland, WWII French Resistance member and artist (born 1923)

2021Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author (born 1951)

2021Seif Sharif Hamad, Tanzanian politician (born 1943)

2017Michael Novak, American Roman Catholic theologian (born 1933)

2017Robert H. Michel, American politician (born 1923)

2016Andrzej Żuławski, Polish film director (born 1940)

2016Andy Ganteaume, Trinidadian cricketer (born 1921)

2016Claude Jeancolas, French historian, author, and journalist (born 1949)

2016Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (born 1923)

2016Tony Phillips, American baseball player (born 1959)

2015Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (born 1928)

2015John Barrow, American-Canadian football player and manager (born 1935)

2015Liu Yudi, Chinese general and pilot (born 1923)

2014Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (born 1952)

2014Peter Florin, German politician and diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (born 1921)

2014Wayne Smith, Jamaican singer (born 1965)

2013Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (born 1975)

2013Richard Briers, English actor (born 1934)

2013Shmulik Kraus, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (born 1935)

2013Sophie Kurys, American baseball player (born 1925)

2012Michael Davis, American singer-songwriter and bass player (born 1943)

2012Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and theorist (born 1918)

2012Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1916)

Quote of the day

“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.”

Seneca

Questions people ask

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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