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February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining (318 in leap years).
Events
- 197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire.
- 1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
- 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar.
- 1801 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
- 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise.
- 1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
- 1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.
- 1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City. It displays works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
- 1924 - In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds.
- 1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.
- 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
- 1947 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union.
- 1955 - Christian Pineau becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that U.S. Congress|congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
- 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
- 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T ?(15 million).
- 1974 - Robert Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter.
- 1979 - China invades Vietnam.
- 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.
- 1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence.
- 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
- 2005 - CBS will premiere its 10th season of Survivor, in the wonderful setting of Palau.
Births
- 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, composer (d. 1713)
- 1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, master builder (d. 1753)
- 1774 - Raphael Peale, painter
- 1798 - Auguste Comte, "father" of sociology (d. 1857)
- 1821 - Lola Montez, dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (d. 1861)
- 1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, department store founder
- 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, industrialist (d. 1902)
- 1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)
- 1874 - Thomas J. Watson, computer pioneer, first president of IBM
- 1877 - André Maginot, politician, Maginot Line (d. 1932)
- 1888 - Otto Stern, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1969)
- 1908 - Red Barber, baseball announcer, sports journalist (d. 1992)
- 1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director
- 1922 - Marshall Teague, race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1924 - Margaret Truman, novelist, daughter of Harry S. Truman
- 1925 - Hal Holbrook, actor
- 1929 - Chaim Potok, author (d. 2002)
- 1929 - Patricia Routledge, actress
- 1930 - Ruth Rendell, writer
- 1934 - Alan Bates, actor (d. 2003)
- 1934 - Barry Humphries (aka "Dame Edna Everage"), actor, comedian
- 1936 - Jim Brown, American football star
- 1937 - Rita Süssmuth, politician
- 1941 - Julia McKenzie, actress
- 1941 - Gene Pitney, singer
- 1942 - Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party
- 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress
- 1953 - Norman Pace, actor, comic
- 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, actor
- 1963 - Michael Jordan, basketball star
- 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, musician ("Green Day")
- 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater
- 1972 - Denise Richards, actress
- 1975 - Vaclav Prospal, NHL hockey player
- 1978 - Jacob Wetterling, kidnapping victim (missing since 1989)
- 1981 - Paris Hilton, actress and heiress to the Hilton Hotel chain
- 1990 - Will Schlitzer, actor, designer, heir to Schlitzer Funeral Homes in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Deaths
- 197 - Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle)
- 364 - Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332)
- 1339 - Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria
- 1600 - Giordano Bruno, religious reformer (b. 1548)
- 1673 - Molière, writer (b. 1622)
- 1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)
- 1854 - John Martin, English painter
- 1856 - Heinrich Heine, writer (b. 1797)
- 1883 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist, composer (b. 1806)
- 1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
- 1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
- 1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
- 1943 - Armand J. Piron, jazz musician (b. 1888)
- 1962 - Bruno Walter, conductor (b. 1876)
- 1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (b. 1888)
- 1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (b. 1917)
- 1982 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor
- 1994 - Randy Shilts, author, AIDS activist
- 1998 - Ernst Jünger, militaristic German author (b. 1895)
- 2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete
Holidays and observances
February 16 - February 18 - January 17 - March 17 -- listing of all days
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