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January 17: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – January 17 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 17th Jan 1377: The Papacy was moved back to Rome from Avignon by Pope Gregory XI.
2. 17th Jan 1524: Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano begins his voyage to find a passage to China.
3. 17th Jan 1584: The Gregorian calendar was adopted by Bohemia on this day.
4. 17th Jan 1595: War was declared on Spain by King Henri IV of France on this day.
5. 17th Jan 1601: France enters into a treaty with Spain. It gains Bresse, Bugey, Valromey and Gex.
18th Century – What Happened on January 17 – The 1700s
6. 17th Jan 1746: Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeated Hanoverian forces.
7. 17th Jan 1718: Avalanche in Leukerbad, Switzerland destroys every building in Leukerbad. It leaves 53 dead.
8. 17th Jan 1773: Explorer Captain James Cook on this day became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle.
9. 17th Jan 1775: Bad harvest in Kalisk, Poland was believed to have been caused by witches and 9 old women were burnt as witches.
10. 17th Jan 1799: Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with several other patriots were executed.
19th Century – January 17 This Day That Year – The 1800s
11. 17th Jan 1821: On this day the Government of Mexico permits Moses Austin and 300 US families to settle in Texas and after his death left to his son Stephen F Austin.
12. 17th Jan 1827: On this day Duke of Wellington was appointed British supreme commander.
13. 17th Jan 1832: Johannes van den Bosch was appointed Governor General of the Dutch Indies.
14. 17th Jan 1852: On this day the Independence of Transvaal in South Africa was recognized by the British.
15. 17th Jan 1863: On this day there were some Civil War skirmishes near Newtown, Virginia.
16. 17th Jan 1871: On this day Andrew S Hallidie patented the first cable car.
17. 17th Jan 1873: In the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War, a group of Modoc warriors defeated the United States Army.
18. 17th Jan 1874: The Texas government was seized by armed Democrats ending Radical Reconstruction.
19. 17th Jan 1882: Aletta Jacobs opens an office and becomes the first Dutch female physician to do so.
20. 17th Jan 1885: In the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan the British beat Mahdists.
21. 17th Jan 1893: Queen Liliuokalani was deposed on this day and the kingdom of Hawaii became a republic.
22. 17th Jan 1895: French President Casimir-Perier resigned on this day.
23. 17th Jan 1895: Félix Faure was installed as president of France.
24. 17th Jan 1899: On this day the US takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day January 17th – The 1900s
25. 17th Jan 1905: Charles Brewer and C G Scannell patented punchboards on this day in Chicago.
26. 17th Jan 1911: On this day there was an assassination attempt on Premier Briand in the French Assembly which failed.
27. 17th Jan 1912: Naval officer and explorer Captain Robert Scott’s expedition arrives at the South Pole, 1 month after Amundsen.
28. 17th Jan 1913: Raymond Poincaré is elected as president of France.
29. 17th Jan 1915: Russia occupies Bukovina and Western Ukraine.
30. 17th Jan 1917: US pays Denmark $25million for Virgin Islands.
31. 17th Jan 1920: On this day prohibition comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th Amendment.
32. 17th Jan 1920: On this day Paul Deschanel was elected president of France.
33. 17th Jan 1923: Belgian Working People Party protest against occupied Ruhrgebied.
34. 17th Jan 1928: On this day a fully automatic photographic film-developing machine was patented.
35. 17th Jan 1924: US President Coolidge approved the sale of surplus war material to the Mexican government. The sale began despite members of both the House and Senate from both Political parties opposing this action.
36. 17th Jan 1938: On this day the first jazz concert was performed in the Carnegie Hall by Benny Goodman and his orchestra.
37. 17th Jan 1941: Chinese Military and Political leader Chiang Kai-Shek orders Kuomintang forces to open fire at communist forces, thus resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.
38. 17th Jan 1942: The US Asiatic fleet sank three Japanese ships while the US was heading towards the Japanese supply lines in the Pacific.
39. 17th Jan 1944: The British corvette HMS Vilet sinks U-641 in the Atlantic Ocean on this day.
40. 17th Jan 1945: The evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp begins on this day.
41. 17th Jan 1945: The Germans were defeated by the Soviet arm one day in Warsaw, Poland, and were freed from the German army.
42. 17th Jan 1945: Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who was credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis was arrested by the Soviet Secret Police in Hungary.
43. 17th Jan 1946: The United Nations Security Council held its first meeting on this day.
44. 17th Jan 1948: The trial of eleven US communist party members begins in New York City on this day.
45. 17th Jan 1948: On this day the Netherlands and Indonesia agree to a cease-fire.
46. 17th Jan 1949: On this day the first Volkswagen Beetle arrived in the US from Germany. The car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche at the request of Adolf Hitler.
47. 17th Jan 1950: On this day the Great Brinks Robbery took place in Boston. A team of 11 thieves stole more than $ 2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston.
48. 17 Jan 1951: China refuses cease-fire in Korea.
49. 17th Jan 1953: In the 41st Men’s Australian Open championship, Ken Rosewall beat Mervyn Rose in straight sets 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.
50. 17th Jan 1953: In the Women’s Australian Championships Maureen Connolly beat Julia Sampson in -straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
51. 17th Jan 1955: The nuclear-powered test voyage began on this day by Submarine Nautilus.
52. 17th Jan 1961: World War II General and US President Eisenhower allegedly ordered the assassination of Congo’s Lumumba.
53. 17th Jan 1961: On this day President Eisenhower gave his last speech as president of the United States expressing his hopes and voicing his concerns. He strongly urged people to seek peace.
54. 17th Jan 1966: On this day a hydrogen bomb was lost in the Mediterranean when a B-52 bomber made an impact with a KC-135 jet. Two other bombs were dropped in Palomores a small town in Spain.
55. 17th Jan 1966: Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr. opens his campaign in Chicago.
56. 17th Jan 1969: On this day the Russian spacecraft Soyuz 5 lands.
57. 17th Jan 1970: On this day John M Burgess was installed as bishop of Protestant Episcopal (Mass).
58. 17th Jan 1972: Seven men who were held as internees on the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough, North Ireland, escape.
59. 17th Jan 1972: On this day a section of the Memphis’ Highway 51 South was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard.
60. 17th Jan 1973: The new Philippine constitution names Marcos as president for life.
61. 17th Jan 1973: Chrysler Corporation recalled its cars for defects. 5,512 cars for steering defects and 751 for defective assembly in transmission.
62. 17th Jan 1973: The city of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi.
63. 17th Jan 1974: O.J. Simpson won the Male Athlete of the Year award for the previous year. This award was given by the Associated Press.
64. 17th Jan 1976: On this day the European Space Agency launched the Hermes rocket
65. 17th Jan 1977: On this day Gary Gilmore was executed in the US by the firing squad. He became the first prisoner to be executed after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States. He was convicted of a double murder of an elderly couple.
66. 17th Jan 1977: On this day President Mobutu, President of Zaire visited Belgium.
67. 17th Jan 1979: On this day USSR performed an underground nuclear test.
68. 17th Jan 1980: On this day a provisional Irish Republican Army bomb prematurely detonated on a passenger train near Belfast killing three and injuring five. This included the bombers.
69. 17th Jan 1982: This day was considered the “Cold Sunday” as the temperatures fell to the lowest levels in over 100 years in several cities.
70. 17th Jan 1983: George C Wallace, the Governor of Alabama Governor for the record 4th time.
71. 17th Jan 1983: About 2 million illegal aliens mostly Ghanaians were expelled by Nigeria on this day.
72. 17th Jan 1984: On this day the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 judgment, that private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws.
73. 17th Jan 1987: On this day US President Ronald Regan signed a secret order permitting the covert sale of arms to Iran.
74. 17th Jan 1988: On this day Leslie Manigay was elected as president of Haiti.
75. 17th Jan 1989: A gunman opened fire indiscriminately in a California schoolyard. Five students were killed and thirty others were wounded.
76. 17th Jan 1991: On this day Iraq fired eight Scud missiles on Israel.
77. 17th Jan 1991: Harald V became the King of Norway on the demise of his father Olav V on this day.
78. 17th Jan 1991: On this day operation Desert Storm began when aircraft from Britain, America, France, Saudi, and Kuwait bombed strategic targets in Iraq which included the oil refinery and Baghdad airport.
79. 17th Jan 1993: On this day a new world record was created in indoor 300m cycling. Irina Privalova of Russia covered the distance in 35:45”.
80. 17th Jan 1994: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 shook the city of Los Angeles USA. The disaster caused billions of dollars in damage and killed 54 people. This was the largest earthquake in the US.
81. 17th Jan 1995: Japan’s port of Kobe was hit by an earthquake of 7.2 magnitudes. Hundreds of people were feared dead and thousands were injured. Builds, apartment blocks and elevated highways collapsed in the earthquake. This probably was one of the worst earthquakes in Japan.
82. 17th Jan 1998: The 42nd US President Bill Clinton faces sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones.
21st Century – January 17 This Day In History – The 2000s
83. 17th Jan 2001: OPEC in its meeting of ministers agrees to reduce member’s oil production quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day.
84. 17th Jan 2002: Mount Nyiragongo erupts displacing an estimated 400,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
85. 17th Jan 2007: In response to North Korea’s nuclear testing the Doomsday Clock was set to five minutes to midnight.
86. 17th Jan 2007: Heavy snowfall, ice storms, and extremely cold temperatures grip California, Missouri, and Oklahoma, badly affecting power supply and destroying 70% of the state’s crops. A state of emergency was declared in California, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
87. 17th Jan 2008: On this day there was a general agreement between economists, Federal Government Politicians, and others on the possibility of a recession and how to avert it.
88. 17th Jan 2009: Following a joint Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas the war in Gaza came to an end.
89. 17th Jan 2010: In Malaysia, a dragon boat from Chung Ling High School collides with a tugboat and capsizes owing to strong currents in Penang. Six people were reported killed in the mishap and twelve others were injured.
90. 17th Jan 2010: Iran on this day suspended pilgrimages to Muslim holy places in protest against what they called the appalling behavior towards Iranian Shi’ite Pilgrims by the Saudi religious police.
91. 17th Jan 2011: This day marks the return of Jean-Claude Duvalier, former president of Haiti, to the country after being in exile for 25 years.
92. 17th Jan 2013: Massive floods hit Jakarta, Indonesia. Over 2000 people were evacuated, 4 people died.
93. 17th Jan 2013: There was a plane crash in Chiapas, Mexico. Eight people were reported killed in the crash.
94. 17th Jan 2013: A college football player at the University of Notre Dame, Mnti Te’o was involved in a hoax. His girlfriend who had allegedly died of cancer was revealed to be non-existent. He said he had been the victim of a prank and that his girlfriend was someone else who had tricked him into an online romance.
95. 17th Jan 2013: Syrian army forces in Homs massacred 106 people.
96. 17th Jan 2013: Japan said it is planning to build the world’s largest wind farm near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
97. 17th Jan 2013: On this day series of bomb blasts took place across Iraq killing at least 33 people.
98. 17th Jan 2014: A judge in Pennsylvania has overturned a 2012 voter identification law that had asked the voter to show a photo ID to vote. The law which was passed by Republican politicians was banned from enforcement since 2012. The judge ruled that it placed an “unreasonable burden” on voters and did not promote free and fair elections.
99. 17th Jan 2014: There was a suicide bombing in a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan. 21 people were killed.
100. 17th Jan 2016: US Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Senator Bernie Sanders in a debate clash over health care and gun control in Charleston, South Carolina.
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