February 17



Events

Up to 1900 
 364 – Roman Emperor Jovian dies under suspicious circumstances, after a short reign of eight months.
 1164 – A major flood on what is now Germany's North Sea coast, kills 20,000 people.
 1370 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
 1400 - The body of Richard II of England is put on display at the Old St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned to death for heresy in Rome.
 1621 - Myles Standish is appointed as the first commander of Plymouth Colony.
 1753 – Sweden changes from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. February 17 is followed by March 1.
 1801 – The United States House of Representatives chooses Thomas Jefferson to become the next President of the United States.
 1854 – The United Kingdom recognises the independent Orange Free State.
 1863 - A group of citizens from Geneva founds the International Committee for Relief of the Wounded, which later becomes the International Red Cross.
 1864 - American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
 1865 - American Civil War: Union troops capture Columbia, South Carolina. As this state is particularly seen as responsible for starting the war, the city is virtually flattened.
 1867 – Gyula Andrassy is declared Prime Minister of Hungary after the creation of the co-operative monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris after the end of the Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War.
 1900 - Wilhelm II of Germany declares the Western Samoan Islands a "German Protectorate".

1901  2000 
 1904 – Madame Butterfly premieres at La Scala opera house in Milan.
 1913 - The Armory Art Show begin in New York City, showing works by artists who become influential later in the 20th century.
 1917 – The French troop transporter Athos is sunk, killing 754 people.
 1924 – Johnny Weissmuller sets a world record in the 100-metre freestyle swimming.
 1933 – Newsweek magazine is published for the first time.
 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins, ending in an American victory over Japanese forces on February 22.
 1949 - Chaim Weizmann becomes President of Israel.
 1959 - Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
 1962 - Parts of northern Germany are severely flooded in the night from February 16, causing 300 deaths in the city of Hamburg alone.
 1964 - President of Gabon Leon M'ba is removed from office in a coup by his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame. M'ba is reinstated by France the next day.
 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 space probe is launched to the "Sea of Tranquility" on the Moon.
 1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
 1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon visits China.
 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
 1980 – Krzyzstof Wielicki and Leszek Clichy becomes the first people to reach the top of Mount Everest during the winter season.
 1992 – American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced to life imprisonment.
 1993 - The Neptune ferry sinks off Haiti. It is not known exactly how many people were killed, though it is thought to have been at least 1,500.
 1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador is ended by a United Nations ceasefire.
 1996 - An earthquake of magnitude 8.2 strikes Irian Jaya, the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea, killing 166 people.
 1996 – The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft is launched to the asteroid 433 Eros.
 1996 – After being defeated in a game of chess on February 10, Garry Kasparov wins a six-match series 4-2 against the computer Deep Blue.
 1998 – Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Armenian troops kill between 70 and 90 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradagli.

From 2001 
 2003 – London's Congestion charging system begins.
 2006 – A massive mudslide in Southern Leyte, Philippines, kills 1,126 people.
 2008 – Kosovo declares independence from Serbia. However, Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as an independent state, and its status is still in dispute as of 2014.
 2011 – Bahraini security forces launch a pre-dawn raid on protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama.
 2011 – Protests begin in Libya against Muammar al-Gaddafi. Soon after, Libya enters into a state of civil war between pro- and anti-Gaddafi fighters. Gaddafi is killed in October.
 2012 – President of Germany Christian Wulff resigns over a home-loan scandal, becoming the shortest-serving President ever of the Federal Republic of Germany. Horst Seehofer becomes interim-President until a successor can be found. Joachim Gauck becomes President just over a month later.
 2014 - A building collapse in Geongju, South Korea, kills at least 10 people, most of them students.

Births

Up to 1800 
 624 - Wu Zetian, Chinese Empress of the Zhou Dynasty (d. 705)
 1192 - Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
 1490 - Charles III, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1527)
 1519 – Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (d. 1563)
 1524 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574)
 1581 - Fausto Poli, Italian cardinal (d. 1653)
 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713)
 1699 – Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Prussian soldier, painter and architect (d. 1753)
 1718 - Matthew Tilgh, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790)
 1723 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1762)
 1740 - John Sullivan, American general, politician and Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795)
 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831)
 1754 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803)
 1781 – René Laennec, French physician (d. 1826)
 1782 – Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, Russian aristocrat (d. 1846)
 1792 - Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (d. 1876)
 1796 – Giovanni Pacini, Italian opera composer (d. 1867)
 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1886)

1801  1900 
 1817 - Edouard Thilges, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904)
 1820 - Elzear-Alexandre Taschereau, French cardinal (d. 1898)
 1820 - Henri Vieutemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881)
 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish dancer (d. 1861)
 1836 - Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)
 1848 - Louisa Lawson, Australian writer and feminist (d. 1920)
 1848 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner (d. 1920)
 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902)
 1861 – Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (d. 1922)
 1862 – Mori Ogai, Japanese novelist and poet (d. 1922)
 1862 - Eugen Schmidt, Danish athlete (d. 1931)
 1863 - Fyodor Sologub, Russian writer (d. 1927)
 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)
 1866 - Henry Hollis Horton, 40th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1934)
 1877 - Isidora Sekulic, Serbian writer (d. 1958)
 1877 - Andre Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)
 1885 – Romano Guardini, German theologian (d. 1968)
 1887 - Joseph Bech, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1975)
 1888 – Otto Stern, German physicist (d. 1969)
 1890 - Ronald Fisher, English statistician, biologist and geneticist (d. 1962)
 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician (d. 1965)
 1892 - Marjorie Fielding, British actress (d. 1956)
 1893 - Wally Pipp, American baseball player (d. 1965)
 1894 - Hendrik Kramers, Dutch physicist (d. 1952)

1901  1950 
 1901 - Philotheus Boehner, German monk and medieval scholar (d. 1955)
 1903 - Sadeq Hedayat, Iranian writer (d. 1951)
 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German political philosopher (d. 1980)
 1908 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2005)
 1908 - Jacobus van Egmond, Dutch cyclist (d. 1969)
 1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)
 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and England rugby player (d. 1940)
 1917 – Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher (d. 2002)
 1917 – Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, Mexican inventor (d. 1965)
 1918 - Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1990)
 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001)
 1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated movie director (d. 2001)
 1920 - Annie Glenn, American activist (d. 2020)
 1923 - Buddy DeFranco, American jazz musician (d. 2014)
 1923 - John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and author (d. 1988)
 1923 - Alden W. Clausen, American banker (d. 2013)
 1924 – Margaret Truman, American writer (d. 2008)
 1925 - Hal Holbrook, American actor
 1925 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor
 1927 – Juan Almeida Bosque, Cuban Communist revolutionary (d. 2009)
 1929 - Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean writer
 1929 – Patricia Routledge, British actress
 1930 – Ruth Rendell, British writer (d. 2015)
 1931 - Buddy Ryan, American football coach (d. 2016)
 1931 - Jirina Jiraskova, Czech actress (d. 2013)
 1933 - Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007)
 1933 - Larry Jennings, American magician (d. 1997)
 1934 – Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian
 1934 – Alan Bates, British actor (d. 2003)
 1935 - Christina Pickles, British actress
 1937 – Willi Koslowski, German footballer
 1937 - Rita Süssmuth, German politician
 1937 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen (d. 2014)
 1939 - Clement Richard, Canadian businessman and politician
 1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
 1941 - Julia McKenzie, English actress and theatre director
 1942 – Huey Newton, American political activist (d. 1989)
 1943 - Costas Azariadis, Greek economist
 1944 – Bruce Fogle, Canadian-born British veterinarian and writer
 1944 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh saxophonist, keyboardist and composer
 1945 - Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
 1946 - André Dussollier, French actor
 1948 - Rick Majerus, American basketball player
 1948 - Don Scardino, American television director and actor
 1948 - José José, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer and actor
 1949 - Fred Frith, English musician and composer
 1949 - Dennis Green, American football coach (d. 2016)
 1950 - Rickey Medlocke, American guitarist
 1950 - Graham Stringer, English politician

1951  1975 
 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
 1955 - Mo Yan, Chinese novelist and Nobel Prize winner
 1957 - Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter, harpist and pianist
 1959 - Aryeh Deri, Israeli rabbi and politician 
 1959 - Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer
 1961 - Andrey Korotayev, Russian anthropologist and economic historian
 1961 - Panna Rittikrai, Thai actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2014)
 1961 - Angela Eagle, English politician
 1961 - Maria Eagle, English politician
 1962 - Sarah Wollaston, English politician
 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor
 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player
 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, British mountain climber (d. 1995)
 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and actor
 1964 - Jim Jordan, American politician
 1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
 1966 - Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player
 1968 – Giuseppe Signori, Italian footballer
 1969 - Tuesday Knight, American actress
 1970 - Dominic Purcell, English-Australian actor
 1971 – Denise Richards, American actress
 1971 - Carlos Gamarra, Paraguayan footballer
 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American lead singer of Green Day
 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American musician
 1973 - Shirley Clamp, Swedish singer

From 1976 
 1976 - Kelly Carlson, American actress
 1979 – Cara Black, Zimbabwean tennis player
 1981 – Paris Hilton, American socialite and heiress
 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor
 1981 - Pontus Segerström, Swedish footballer (d. 2014)
 1981 - Andrew Stephenson, English politician
 1982 – Daniel Merriwether, Australian singer
 1982 – Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian footballer
 1983 - Nguyen Tien Minh, Vietnamese badminton player
 1984 - AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
 1984 - Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
 1985 - Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
 1985 – Mario Bolatti, Argentine footballer
 1988 – Natascha Kampusch, Austrian kidnapping victim
 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, British swimmer
 1989 - Stacey McClean, British singer
 1989 - Chord Overstreet, American actor
 1991 – Ed Sheeran, British singer-songwriter
 1991 – Bonnie Wright, British actress
 1992 - Meaghan Jette Martin, American actress
 1993 - Marc Marquez, Spanish racing driver
 1993 - Nicola Leali, Italian footballer
 1993 - Philip Wiegratz, German actor
 1996 – Sasha Pieterse, South African-born American actress

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 197 – Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle)
 306 - Theodore of Amasea, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
 364 – Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332)
 1339 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria
 1371 - Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian religious reformer (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)
 1609 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
 1652 - Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)
 1673 – Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)
 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)
 1768 - Arthur Onslow, English lawyer and politician (b. 1691)
 1827 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss educator and reformer (b. 1746)
 1848 - George W. Campbell, Scottish-born 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1769)
 1854 – John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)
 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
 1883 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1855)
 1883 – Napoleon Coste, French guitarist, composer (b. 1806)
 1890 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)
 1891 - Theophil Hansen, Danish-Austrian educator and architect (b. 1813)

1901  2000 
 1901 - Ethelbert Nevin, American pianist and composer (b. 1862)
 1905 - William Bickerton, English-American religious leader (b. 1815)
 1909 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
 1912 - Edgar Evans, Welsh navy officer (b. 1876)
 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
 1924 - Oskar Merikanto, Finnish composer (b. 1868)
 1934 – King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)
 1939 - Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)
 1943 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)
 1943 – Armand J. Piron, American jazz musician (b. 1888)
 1946 - Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)
 1961 - Nita Noldi, American actress (b. 1894)
 1962 - Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
 1962 – Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876)
 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (b. 1888)
 1970 - Alfred Newman, American movie composer (b. 1900)
 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
 1982 – Lee Strasberg, American acting teacher, actor (b. 1901)
 1986 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1895)
 1988 - Karpoori Thakur, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1924)
 1988 - John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (b. 1923)
 1989 - Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
 1990 - Jean-Marc Bolvin, French mountaineer (b. 1951)
 1994 - Gretchen Fraser, American ski racer (b. 1919)
 1994 – Randy Shilts, writer, AIDS activist (b. 1951)
 1998 – Ernst Jünger, militaristic German writer (b. 1895)

From 2001 
 2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948)
 2004 – José López Portillo, former President of Mexico (b. 1920)
 2005 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish movie actor (b. 1919)
 2005 – Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
 2007 – Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910)
 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American singer and actress (b. 1922)
 2011 – Perry Moore, American writer and movie producer (b. 1971)
 2012 - Ulric Neisser, German-born American psychologist (b. 1928)
 2013 - Richard Briers, British actor (b. 1934)
 2013 - Mindy McCready, American country music singer (b. 1975)
 2014 - Frankie Kao, Taiwanese singer (b. 1950)
 2014 - Loni Nest, German-American actress (b. 1915)
 2014 - Joe Bell, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1923)
 2015 - Andrzej Koszewski, Polish composer (b. 1922)
 2015 - Cathy Ubels-Veen, Dutch politician (b. 1928)
 2016 - Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923)
 2016 - Alexander Gutman, Russian film director (b. 1945)
 2016 - Akbar Kakkattil, Indian writer (b. 1954)
 2016 - Andrzej Zulawski, Polish film director and writer (b. 1940)
 2017 - Nicole Bass, American bodybuilder and professional wrestler (b. 1964)
 2017 - Warren Frost, American actor (b. 1925)
 2017 - Börge Hellström, Swedish writer (b. 1957)
 2017 - Erland Kops, Danish badminton player (b. 1937)
 2017 - Robert H. Michel, American politician (b. 1923)
 2017 - Michael Novak, American theologian and writer (b. 1933)
 2017 - Tom Regan, American philosopher (b. 1938)
 2017 - Peter Skellern, English singer-songwriter (b. 1947)

Observances
 Celebrated as Independence Day in Kosovo
 Revolution Day (Libya)

Days of the year