September 17

Events
Up to 1900
1577 The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
1630 The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
1631 Thirty Years' War: The Battle of Breitenfeld ends in victory for Sweden over the Holy Roman Empire.
1683 Anton van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society, describing 'animalcules', the first-known description of protozoa.
1716 Jean Thurel enlists in the Touraine army regiment at age 17, beginning over 90 years of military service lasting until his death at the age of 108.
1775 American Revolutionary War: Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
1776 The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
1787 The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1789 William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Mimas.
1809 The Finnish War between Sweden and Russia ends.
1814 Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to become the lyrics for The Star-Spangled Banner, the national Anthem of the United States.
1843 The Universidad de Chile (University of Chile) is founded in Santiago, Chile.
1849 Abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes Slavery.
1859 Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Emperor of the United States".
1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Antietam is fought. It is the bloodiest day in US military history.
1862 American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the worst civilian disaster of the war.
1894 First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the war.
1900 Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mobitac.
1901 2000
1908 The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes, killing Selfridge.
1914 Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for a third time.
1916 World War I: German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
1928 The Okeechobee Hurricane hits southeastern Florida, killing more than 2,500 people.
1939 World War II: The Soviet Union joins the Nazis' invasion of Poland.
1939 World War II: German U-boat U 29 sinks British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
1939 Taisto Maki becomes the first person to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, doing so in 29 minutes, 52 seconds.
1940 World War II: Adolf Hitler calls off Operation Sealion after defeat in the Battle of Britain.
1943 World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated.
1944 World War II: Allied troops parachute into the Netherlands.
1949 Canadian steamship SS Norronic burns in Toronto Harbour, killing over 118 people.
1957 The Federation of Malaya (later Malaysia) joins the UN.
1974 Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the UN.
1976 The first Space Shuttle, the Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
1978 The Camp David Accords are signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
1980 The Solidarity trade union is established.
1980 In Paraguay, former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed by Sandinista activists.
1983 Vanessa L. Williams becomes the first African American Miss America.
1988 The Summer Olympics in Seoul begin.
1991 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Korea, South Korea, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia join the UN.
1993 The last Russian troops leave Poland.
From 2001
2001 The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
2004 Tamil is declared as the first classical language of India.
2004 The 2004 Summer Paralympics begin in Athens, lasting until September 28.
2005 Helen Clark is elected to a third term in-a-row as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
2006 The Fourpeaked Mountain volcano in Alaska erupts for the first time in over 10,000 years.
2006 Fredrik Reinfeldt is elected Prime Minister of Sweden.
2006 An audio tape of then-Prime Minister of Hungary Ferenc Gyurcsany is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party lied to win the 2006 General Election, sparking widespread protests across the country.
2011 The Occupy Wall Street movement begins in New York City. By October 15, the Occupy movement had spread to protests in cities around the world against economic mismanagement.
2016 Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad dies after a crash in the road race during the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2016 An explosion in New York City injures 29 people.
Births
Up to 1900
879 King Charles III of France (d. 929)
1192 Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
1216 Robert I, Count of Artois (d. 1250)
1505 Mary of Hungary (d. 1558)
1550 Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
1605 Francesco Sacrati, Italian composer (d. 1650)
1630 Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1694)
1674 Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (d. 1728)
1677 Stephen Hales, English physiologist and chemist (d. 1761)
1688 Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain (d. 1714)
1730 Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d. 1794)
1739 John Rutledge, Chief Justice of the United States and Governor of South Carolina (d. 1800)
1743 Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d. 1794)
1764 John Goodricke, English astronomer (d. 1786)
1771 Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d. 1816)
1776 Langdon Cheves, American politician (d. 1857)
1806 Duchenne de Boulogne, French neurologist (d. 1875)
1811 John Brough, 26th Governor of Ohio (d. 1865)
1819 Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, 1st President of the Republic of South Africa (d. 1901)
1826 Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d. 1866)
1832 Sergey Botkin, Russian physician (d. 1889)
1850 Guerra Junqueiro, Portuguese lawyer, journalist, writer and poet (d. 1923)
1854 David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-born American businessman (d. 1929)
1857 Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1935)
1859 I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (d. 1929)
1864 Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Ukrainian writer (d. 1913)
1869 Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian peace advocate (d. 1938)
1872 Florencio Harmodio Arosemena, 14th President of Panama (d. 1945)
1878 Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (d. 1950)
1879 Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy, Indian businessman, politician and activist (d. 1973)
1883 William Carlos Williams, American poet (d. 1963)
1885 George Cleveland, Canadian actor (d. 1957)
1890 France Bevk, Slovenian writer (d. 1970)
1892 Hendrik Andriessen, Dutch composer and organist (d. 1981)
1895 Princess Margaret of Denmark (d. 1992)
1900 J. Willard Marriott, American businessman (d. 1985)
1901 1950
1901 Francis Chichester, British sailor and adventurer (d. 1972)
1903 Dolores Costello, American actress (d. 1979)
1904 Frederick Ashton, English ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
1904 Jerry Colonna, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1986)
1906 Junius Richard Jayewardene, President of Sri Lanka (d. 1996)
1907 Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)
1914 Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (d. 1996)
1915 M. F. Husain, Indian painter (d. 2011)
1916 Mary Stewart, English novelist (d. 2014)
1917 Isang Yun, Korean-German composer (d. 1995)
1918 Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (d. 1997)
1922 Agostinho Neto, 1st President of Angola (d. 1979)
1922 Virgilio Barco Vargas, President of Colombia (d. 1997)
1923 Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953)
1925 John List, American murderer (d. 2008)
1926 Jean-Marie Lustiger, French cardinal (d. 2007)
1928 Roddy McDowall, British actor (d. 1998)
1929 Stirling Moss, British racing driver
1929 Pat Crowley, American actress
1930 David Huddleston, American actor (d. 2016)
1930 Thomas Patten Stafford, American astronaut
1930 Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut (d. 2016)
1931 Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
1933 Claude Provost, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
1933 Chuck Grassley, United States Senator from Iowa
1934 Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d. 1969)
1935 Ken Kesey, American writer (d. 2001)
1936 Rolv Wesenlund, Norwegian actor and singer (d. 2013)
1937 Nigel Boocock, English speedway rider (d. 2015)
1939 David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1940 Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat
1940 Lorella De Luca, Italian actress (d. 2014)
1942 Des Lynam, English television presenter
1942 Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (d. 2012)
1944 Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer
1945 Phil Jackson, American basketball player and coach
1945 Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
1945 David Emerson, Canadian politician
1946 Billy Bonds, English footballer
1947 Tessa Jowell, English politician
1948 John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
1948 Kemal Monteno, Bosnian singer (d. 2015)
1950 Narendra Modi, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India
1951 1975
1951 Cassandra Peterson, American actress
1951 Russell Brown, Scottish politician
1951 Kermit Washington, American basketball player
1953 Rita Rudner, American actress and comedienne
1953 Tamasin Day-Lewis, English chef
1954 Joel-Francois Durand, French composer
1956 Andreas Starke, Lord Mayor of Bamberg in Bavaria
1956 Almazbek Atambayev, President of Kyrgyzstan
1957 Richie Ramone, American musician (The Ramones)
1958 Janez Jansa, former Prime Minister of Slovenia
1960 Damon Hill, British racing driver
1960 Annabelle Apsion, British actress
1960 Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
1961 Pamela Melroy, American astronaut
1962 Baz Luhrmann, Australian movie director
1962 Hesham Qandil, 51st Prime Minister of Egypt
1962 BeBe Winans, American singer-songwriter and producer
1963 Warren Gatland, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1965 Yuji Naka, Japanese video game designer, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog
1966 Paula Jones, American state employee
1968 Anastacia, American singer
1968 Marie-Chantal, former Crown Princess of Greece
1968 Akhenaton, French rapper and producer
1968 Tito Vilanova, Spanish football manager (d. 2014)
1969 Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
1969 Keith Flint, English singer-songwriter (The Prodigy)
1970 Dallas Campbell, Scottish television presenter
1971 Mauro Milanese, Italian footballer
1971 Mike Catt, English rugby player
1972 Bobby Lee, American comedian and actor
1973 Diego Albanese, Argentine rugby player
1974 Sheed Wallace, American basketball player
1975 Constantine Maroulis, American singer
From 1976
1977 Simone Perrotta, Italian footballer
1979 Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
1980 Shabana Mahmood, English lawyer and politician
1981 Bakari Kone, Ivorian footballer
1982 Shermine Shahrivar, Iranian-German model
1983 Jennifer Pena, American singer-songwriter, producer and actress
1983 Aiza, Filipino singer and actor
1984 John Kucera, Canadian skier
1985 Tomas Berdych, Czech tennis player
1985 Alexander Ovechkin, Russian ice hockey player
1985 Jon Walker, American singer-songwriter
1985 Umit Korkmaz, Turkish footballer
1985 Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala, Crown Prince of Tonga
1989 Kate Deines, American soccer player
1989 Dijon Talton, American actor and singer
1991 Minako Kotobuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
1991 Ryo Ishikawa, Japanese golfer
1994 Taylor Ware, American singer
2008 Mia Talerico, American actress
Deaths
Up to 1900
454 Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria
456 Remistus, Roman general
1179 Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b. 1098)
1312 Ferdinand IV of Castile (b. 1285)
1322 Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
1422 Constantine II of Bulgaria
1574 Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish admiral and explorer (b. 1519)
1575 Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b. 1504)
1665 King Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
1676 Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, founder of the Jewish Sabbatean Movement (b. 1626)
1679 John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b. 1629)
1762 Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b. 1687)
1802 Richard Owen Cambridge, English poet and historian (b. 1717)
1808 Benjamin Bourne, American jurist and politician (b. 1755)
1836 Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
1863 Alfred de Vigny, French author, poet and playwright (b. 1797)
1877 Henry Fox Talbot, British inventor and photography pioneer (b. 1800)
1894 Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
1901 2000
1904 Kartini, Indonesian activist (b. 1879)
1907 Ignaz Brull, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1846)
1908 Thomas Selfridge, First Lieutenant of the United States Army (b. 1882)
1909 Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria (b. 1838)
1916 Hermann Krone, German photographer (b. 1827)
1923 Stephanos Dragoumis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1842)
1948 Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (b. 1895)
1951 Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
1961 Adnan Menderes, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1899)
1965 Alejandro Casona, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1903)
1966 Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
1970 France Bevk, Slovenian writer (b. 1890)
1972 Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b. 1899)
1973 Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b. 1909)
1980 Anastasio Somoza Debayle, former President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
1985 Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
1991 Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
1993 Willie Mosconi, American pool player (b. 1913)
1994 Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher (b. 1902)
1994 Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (b. 1954)
1996 Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
1997 Red Skelton, American entertainer (b. 1913)
2000 Paula Yates, British television personality (b. 1959)
From 2001
2003 Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
2006 Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1924)
2009 Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist militant (b. 1968)
2011 Kurt Sanderling, German conductor (b. 1912)
2012 Russell Train, American politician (b. 1920)
2013 Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrialist (b. 1913)
2013 Marti de Riquer i Morera, Spanish-Catalan linguist (b. 1914)
2014 Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer (b. 1972)
2014 China Zorrilla, Uruguayan actress (b. 1922)
2014 George Hamilton IV, American country music singer (b. 1937)
2014 Peter von Bagh, Finnish movie historian (b. 1943)
2014 Lorna Thomas, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1917)
2015 Dettmar Cramer, German football manager (b. 1925)
2015 Milo Hamilton, American sportscaster (b. 1927)
2015 David Willcocks, British choirmaster (b. 1919)
2015 Vadim Kuzmin, Russian theoretical physicist (b. 1937)
2016 Bahman Golbarnezhad, Iranian Paralympic cyclist (b. 1968)
2016 Charmian Carr, American actress (b. 1942)
2016 Sigge Parling, Swedish footballer (b. 1930)
Observances
Constitution Day (United States)
Heroes' Day (Angola)
Days of the year