Today's 17 January Major Events in History

Photo for the article Today's 17 January Major Events

1287 King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca
1377 Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon
1501 Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna

Verrazzano Sets Out to Find China

1524 Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano's sets sail aboard French ship La Dauphine to find a passage to China - finds North America instead

1536 Francois Rabelais absolved of apostasy by Pope Paul III

Edict of St Germain

1562 French regent Catherine de' Medici issues the Edict of St Germain recognizing Huguenots in France

1584 Bohemia adopts Gregorian calendar

1601 France gains Bresse, Bugey, Valromey & Gex in treaty with Spain
1656 Frederick William I of Brandenburg and King Charles X Gustav of Sweden sign the Treaty of Königsberg
1718 Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switzerland; kills 53
1746 Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeat Hanoverian forces
1757 German Diet declares war on Prussia

Cook Crosses Antarctic Circle

1773 Captain James Cook becomes the first to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S)

1775 9 old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests in Kalisk, Poland
1775 Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play "The Rivals" premieres in London
1779 Captain James Cook's last notation in Discovery's ship's log
1781 Battle of Cowpens: American revolutionary forces led by Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat the British under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton in a decisive double envelopment near the town of Cowpens, a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina
1799 Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed

Mexico Grants Austin Settlement

1821 Mexico permits Moses Austin and 300 US families to settle in Texas. After his death his son Stephen leads a colony to Texas.

1832 Johannes van den Bosch appointed governor general of Dutch East Indies
1852 British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)
1862 -Jan 22nd) BBT Ft Henry, Tennessee by USS Lexington
1863 Civil War skirmish near Newtown, Virginia
1864 General James Longstreet's command ends heavy fighting at Dandridgem, Tennessee
1871 First cable car is patented by Andrew Smith Hallidie in the US (begins service in 1873)
1873 Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War
1874 Armed Democrats seize Texas government ending Radical Reconstruction
1882 First Dutch female physician Aletta Jacobs opens her practice
1885 Battle of Abu Klea (Battle of Abu Tulayh), Sudan: British Desert Column defeat Mahdist forces: 76 British and 1,100 Mahdists killed
1893 -17°F (-27°C), Millsboro, Delaware (state record)
1893 Franco-Russian Alliance is signed
1893 Queen Liliuokalani is deposed by an American coup, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic
1895 French president Casimir-Perier resigns; Félix Faure installed.
1899 US takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific

1905 Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago

Attempt on French PM

1911 Failed assassination attempt on French Prime Minister Aristide Briand in the French Assembly

1911 Percy Mackaye's "Scarecrow" premieres in NYC

1912 Captain Robert Scott's expedition arrives at the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen

Battle of Sarikamish

1915 Battle of Sarikamish ends with a Russian victory over Ottoman forces led by Enver Pasha with loss of over 30,000 men of the Turkish Third Army during Caucasus Campaign

1915 Russia occupies Bukovina & Western Ukraine
1916 Rodman Wanamaker organises a lunch to discuss forming a golfers association (later the PGA) at the Taplow Club, Martinique Hotel, New York City
1917 US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands (or 3/21)
1920 First day of prohibition of alcohol comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution
1920 Paul Deschanel elected President of France
1923 Belgian Working people Party protest against occupied Ruhrgebied
1923 Origin of Brown lunation numbers
1928 First fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented
1929 Popeye makes his first appearance in the comic strip "Thimble Theatre"
1934 Electric Home & Farm Authority incorporated
1936 King Vidor is elected as first president of the newly formed Screen Directors Guild in Hollywood

Kennedy US Ambassador

1938 Joseph P. Kennedy becomes the 44th United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom

1938 Supreme Soviet elects Michail Kalinin as presidium chairman
1939 Ed Barrow is elected Yankee president succeeding deceased J Ruppert

New Fourth Army Disbanded

1941 Chiang Kai-Shek disbands the Communist New Fourth Army after the New Fourth Army incident at Maolin, Anhui Province between the nationalist and communist armies leaves many dead

1943 Tin Can Drive Day in the US, salvage collected for the war effort
1944 British corvette HMS Violet sinks U-641 in Atlantic Ocean
1945 Gilbert Dodds, record miler (4:05.3), retires to do gospel work

Auschwitz Begins Evacuation

1945 Nazis begin evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp to other camps in Austria and Germany as the Red Army advanced across Poland

1945 Soviet army enters the devastated city of Warsaw and clears German resistance
1945 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, arrested by Soviet secret police in Hungary
1946 United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting, at Westminster Central Hall in Westminster, England
1947 Ammunition factory explodes in Muiden, Netherlands, 16 die
1948 Netherlands & Indonesia agree to a cease-fire
1948 Trial of 11 US Communist party members begins in NYC
1949 Radio series "The Goldbergs" by Gertrude Berg premieres on US TV on CBS
1950 The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 men rob $1.2M cash & $1.5M securities from armored car company Brink's offices in Boston, Massachusetts
1951 China refuses ceases-fire in Korea
1952 1952 NFL Draft: Bill Wade QB University of Vanderbilt #1 pick by Los Angeles Rams

1955 US submarine Nautilus begins first nuclear-powered test voyage
1957 9-county commission recommends creation of BART

Eisenhower's Farewell Address

1961 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".

Armstrong Pilots X-15

1962 NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong takes hypersonic research plane X-15 to 40,690m

1962 Roy Harris' 8th Symphony, premieres in San Francisco
1963 Joe Walker takes X-15 to altitude of 82 km
1966 B-52/KC-135 tankers crash near Spanish coast at Palomares, 7 die

King Opens Chicago Campaign

1966 Martin Luther King Jr. opens the Chicago Campaign, a nonviolent campaign aimed at achieving fair housing practices

1968 Al Pacino stars in "The Indian Wants the Bronx" at the Astor Place Theatre, winning an Obie Award for Best Actor
1969 Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 5 lands
1970 357 baseball players are available in the free-agent draft
1970 John M Burgess installed as bishop of Protestant Episcopals (Mass)

Mays Player of the Decade

1970 Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s

1971 At a party conference in Dublin, Sinn Féin end their 65 year abstentionist policy and agree that any elected representative could take their seat at the Dáil
1971 Super Bowl V, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Baltimore Colts beat Dallas Cowboys, 16-13; MVP: Chuck Howley, Dallas, LB
1972 "My Hang-Up Is You" single released by Freddie Hart (Billboard Song of the Year 1972)
1972 Section of Memphis' Highway 51 South renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard
1972 Seven men who were held as internees escape from the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough, North Ireland
1973 City of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi
1973 New Philippine constitution names Marcos president for life

Court and Spark

1974 Asylum Records releases "Court and Spark", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 6th studio album; features the songs "Help Me" and "Free Man In Paris", it becomes her biggest seller

1976 Hermes rocket launched by European Space Agency
1977 Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in the Utah state prison, convicted of murder
1977 KC releases Tommy Davis, ends an 18-year career with 10 teams
1977 Zaire president Mobutu visits Belgium

1978 After a tumultuous final tour the Sex Pistols break up as a band, which is announced the following day

1979 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1980 NASA launches Fltsatcom-3
1980 Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb prematurely detonates on a passenger train near Belfast, kills three and injuring five (including the bombers)

Sessions' 9th Symphony

1980 Roger Sessions' 9th Symphony, his last, premieres in Syracuse, New York with Christopher Keene conducting the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

Marcos Ends Martial Law

1981 President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos ends martial law, that began in September 1972

1982 "Cold Sunday" in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities

Wallace's Record Fourth Term

1983 Alabama Governor George Wallace, becomes governor for a record 4th time

1983 Nigeria expels 2 million illegal aliens, mostly Ghanaians
1984 Supreme Court rules (5-4) that private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
1985 Azharuddin scores second Test century in second Test (v England)
1986 Tim Witherspoon beats defending champion Tony Tubbs by majority decision in 15 rounds at The Omni, Atlanta for WBA heavyweight boxing title

General Secretary Resigns

1987 General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Yaobang is forced to resign, amid demonstrations for greater democracy

Reagan's Covert Arms Sale

1987 US President Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran

1988 Leslie Manigay elected President of Haiti

Arbour's 600th Win

1989 Al Arbour wins his 600th NHL game as coach

1989 Gunman opens fire in California schoolyard; 5 students slain, 30 wounded
1989 Murden & Metz are 1st women to reach South Pole overland (on skis)
1989 Phoenix Suns cancel game at Miami Heat, due to racial unrest in Miami

5th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1990 5th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Hank Ballard; Bobby Darin; The Four Seasons; The Four Tops; The Kinks; The Platters; Simon and Garfunkel; The Who; Louis Armstrong; Charlie Christian; Ma Rainey; Gerry Goffin and Carole King; and Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland

1990 MLB pitcher Dave Stewart signs record $3,500,000 per year Oakland A's contract
1991 Andy Van Hellemond sets NHL record for most games worked by a referee when he appears in his 1,173rd regular season encounter as the St. Louis Blues host the Montreal Canadiens
1991 Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V
1991 Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles on Israel
1991 Operation Desert Storm begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War
1992 Sarah Ferguson attends dinner of Everglades club (club excludes Jews)
1994 6.6 Earthquake hits Los Angeles killing 60, $30B in damage

Taylor Released From Hospital

1994 Actress Elizabeth Taylor released from the hospital after hip treatment

Ewing's 15,000 Points

1994 Patrick Ewing becomes first New York player to reach the 15,000-point mark in his NBA career; scores a game-high 34 points in the Knicks' 106-94 win over visiting Minnesota

1995 7.2 earthquake destroys Kobe, Japan and kills 5,372

1995 NFL Los Angeles Rams announce that they are moving to St. Louis, Missouri

Yzerman Scores 500

1996 Detroit center Steve Yzerman scores his 500th career NHL goal as the Red Wings beat Colorado, 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena and joins Gordie Howe as the only players to score 500 goals for Detroit

1996 Iraq agrees to talks concerning a UN plan to allow for the Iraqi sale of $1 billion of oil; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
1996 The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.

Clinton Sexual Harassment Charge

1998 US President Bill Clinton faces sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones

2001 OPEC agrees at a meeting of ministers in Vienna, to reduce members' oil production quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day

Clinton Honors Lewis and Clark Expedition

2001 President Clinton honors Lewis and Clark Expedition, posthumously raises William Clark's rank from Lieutenant to Captain, makes Honorary Sergeant Shoshone female guide Sacagawea, and York, enslaved by William Clark, who assisted expedition

2002 Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2007 Doomsday Clock set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's 1st nuclear test
2010 A dragon boat from Chung Ling High School capsizes and collides with a tugboat amid strong currents in Penang, Malaysia, killing 6 people and injuring 12
2011 "Sure Thing" single released by Miguel (Billboard Song of the Year 2011)

Youngest Player to Score 20,000 Points

2012 LeBron James becomes youngest player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points during the Miami Heat's 92-75 victory over Golden State; James, 28 years, 17 days, passes Kobe Bryant, 29 years, 122 days

2013 106 people are massacred by Syrian army forces in Homs
2013 33 people are killed by a series of bombs across Iraq
2013 4 people are killed and over 2,000 are evacuated after a massive flood hits Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 8 people are killed in a plane crash in Chiapas, Mexico
2013 Japan unveils plans to build the world’s largest wind farm near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
2014 21 people are killed in a suicide bombing in a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan
2015 American boxer Deontay Wilder wins the WBC heavyweight championship by unanimous decision over Bermane Stiverne at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas; Wilder first American to hold a heavyweight title since Shannon Briggs in 2007

Clinton and Sanders Clash

2016 Fourth Democratic presidential candidates debate: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clash over healthcare and gun control in Charleston, South Carolina

2017 Nigerian military mistakenly bomb refugee camp killing more than 70 in Rann, Borno state

2017 Search for missing aircraft MH370 over the Indian Ocean is called off

WikiLeaks Discloser Sentence Reduced

2017 US President Barack Obama commutes WikiLeaks discloser Chelsea Manning's prison sentence from 35 to 7 years

2019 Car bomb in Bogotá, Colombia, outside the National Police Academy kills at least 8 and injures 41
2019 China executes Cai Dongjia, the country's "godfather of crystal meth" from Boshe, Guangdong
2019 Indian spiritual leader Ram Rahim Singh and two aides sentenced to life in prison for murdering journalist who exposed sexual abuse at the sect
2021 Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is arrested immediately on his return to Russia after recovering from nerve-agent poisoning [1]
2023 Revival of 1980s American TV sitcom "Night Court" premieres on NBC TV; John Larroquette is the sole returning cast member
2024 In a major victory, Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals upholds a lower court decision to block key provisions of HB 900, Texas’s controversial book rating law [1]

2025 Earliest evidence for a human transport vehicle is uncovered with drag marks made by travois—long pieces of wood loaded with goods and dragged—22,000 years old at White Sands, New Mexico [1]
2025 Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Nedeljkovic becomes first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist in same game during 5-2 road win over the Buffalo Sabres