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This day in history: 17 October

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

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Key facts

561 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 17 October.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
1941: World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Anstrudis

Christian feast day: Catervus

Christian feast day: Ethelred and Ethelberht

Christian feast day: Florentius of Orange

Christian feast day: François-Isidore Gagelin (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Christian feast day: Hosea

Christian feast day: Ignatius of Antioch

Christian feast day: John of Egypt

Christian feast day: John the Short (John Colobus)

Christian feast day: Marguerite Marie Alacoque (pre-1969 calendar, Visitadines)

Christian feast day: Nothhelm

Christian feast day: October 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Events

1941World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat.

1933Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.

1931Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.

1662Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV of France for 40,000 pounds.

1979Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1777American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.

1919Leeds 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

2017Syrian 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.

1969The Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence is stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo.

1610French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral.

1781American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.

1713Great Northern War: Russia defeats Sweden in the Battle of Kostianvirta in Pälkäne.

1989The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.

1973OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

1975'Salem's Lot, an American vampire novel by Stephen King, is published.

1912Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.

1860First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).

1806Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule.

1961The first attempt of the apartheid analogy by Ahmad Shukeiri.

1346The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years.

2018A mass shooting and bombing at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea kills 21 people including the attacker and injures 70 others.

1965The 1964–65 New York World's Fair closes after two years and more than 51 million attendees.

1943The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed.

1989The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63.

1977The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.

1943Nazi Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.

1956The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.

2019Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest.

1970FLQ terrorists murder Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte.

1814Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.

1604Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus.

1800War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.

1861Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.

1907Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service.

1456The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe.

1961Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters.

1448The second Battle of Kosovo begins between Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi and Ottoman forces under Murad II.

2023An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war.

1797Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria, ending the War of the First Coalition.

2001Israeli 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.

Born on this day

2002Lily, Australian-South Korean singer

2002Matthew Knies, American professional ice hockey player

2001Thomas Strudwick, British motorcycle road racer

1997Robert Williams III, American basketball player

1996Jake DeBrusk, Canadian ice hockey player

1995Ha-seong Kim, South Korean baseball player

1995Jamal Adams, American football player

1993Kenneth Omeruo, Nigerian footballer

1993Vincent Poirier, French basketball player

1992Anthony Gill, American basketball player

1992Jacob Artist, American actor, singer, and dancer

1992Keerthy Suresh, Indian actress

1992Sam Concepcion, Filipino musician and dancer

1991Brenda Asnicar, Argentine actress

1990Maica García Godoy, Spanish water polo player

1990Paolo Campinoti, Italian footballer

1990Patrick Lambie, South African rugby player

1990Ronald González Tabilo, Chilean footballer

1990Saki Kumagai, Japanese footballer

1989Charles Oliveira, Brazilian mixed martial artist

1989David Timor, Spanish footballer

1989Débora García, Spanish footballer

1989Oleksandr Isakov, Ukrainian swimmer

1989Sophie Luck, Australian actress

1988Marina Salas, Spanish actress

1988Sergiy Gladyr, Ukrainian basketball player

1988Tori Matsuzaka, Japanese actor and model

1987Bea Alonzo, Filipino actress and singer

1987Elliot Grandin, French footballer

1987Hideto Takahashi, Japanese footballer

1987Jarosław Fojut, Polish footballer

1986Aija Brumermane, Latvian basketball player

1986Alexandre Bonnet, French footballer

1986Antoni Bou, Spanish motorcyclist

1986Constant Djakpa, Ivorian footballer

1986Nicolás Richotti, Argentine basketball player

1986Yannick Ponsero, French figure skater

1985Carlos González, Venezuelan baseball player

1985Collins John, Dutch footballer

1985Max Irons, English-Irish actor

Died on this day

2024Andrew Schally, Polish-American endocrinologist (born 1926)

2024Mitzi Gaynor, American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1931)

2024Toshiyuki Nishida, Japanese actor (born 1947)

2019Elijah Cummings, American politician and civil rights advocate (born 1951)

2017Gord Downie, Canadian musician (born 1964)

2015Anne-Marie Lizin, Belgian lawyer and politician (born 1949)

2015Danièle Delorme, French actress and producer (born 1926)

2015Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (born 1946)

2015Tom Smith, American businessman and politician (born 1947)

2014Berndt von Staden, German diplomat, German Ambassador to the United States (born 1919)

2014Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (born 1937)

2014Masaru Emoto, Japanese author and activist (born 1943)

2014Tom Shaw, American bishop (born 1945)

2013Arthur Maxwell House, Canadian neurologist and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (born 1926)

2013Lou Scheimer, American animator, producer, and voice actor, co-founded the Filmation Company (born 1928)

2013Mother Antonia, American-Mexican nun and activist (born 1926)

2013Rene Simpson, Canadian-American tennis player (born 1966)

2013Terry Fogerty, English rugby player and coach (born 1944)

2012Émile Allais, French skier (born 1912)

2012Henry Friedlander, German-American historian and author (born 1930)

2012Kōji Wakamatsu, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1936)

2012Milija Aleksic, English-South African footballer (born 1951)

2012Stanford R. Ovshinsky, American scientist and businessman, co-founded Energy Conversion Devices (born 1922)

2011Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman (born 1919)

2009Norma Fox Mazer, American author and educator (born 1931)

2009Vic Mizzy, American composer (born 1916)

2008Ben Weider, Canadian businessman, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (born 1923)

2008Levi Stubbs, American singer (born 1936)

2008Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (born 1955)

2007Joey Bishop, American actor and talk show host (born 1918)

Quote of the day

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Will Durant, on Aristotle

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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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