January 17: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 348 days remaining (349 in leap years).

Events

• 1562 - France recognized the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.
• 1648 - England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
• 1746 - Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", defeats a Hanoverian army at Falkirk in his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to recover the throne for the Jacobite dynasty.
• 1771 - Johann Friedrich Struensee and Queen Caroline Matilda are arrested, leading to his execution and her banishment from Denmark
• 1773 - Captain James Cook becomes the first explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.
• 1781 - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.
• 1819 - Simón Bolívar proclaims the Republic of Colombia.
• 1852 - United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
• 1873 - First Battle of the Stronghold in the US Modoc War.
• 1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
• 1893 - The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrow the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
• 1899 - The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1912 - Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
• 1916 - The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) is formed.
• 1917 - The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
• 1929 - Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appeared in a newspaper comic strip.
• 1941 - Kuomintang forces under the order of Chiang Kai-Shek opened fire at communist force, Chinese Civil War resumes after WWII.(This event is known as 皖南事变).
• 1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw. The Liberate of Warsaw.
• 1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
• 1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
• 1946 - The UN Security Council holds its first session.
• 1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs.
• 1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release their second album, Sounds of Silence, on Columbia Records.
• 1966 - A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.
• 1966 - Carl Brashear, the first African American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident on a routine mission which amputates his leg.
• 1969 - UCLA Black Student Union members John Huggins and Bunchy Carter, also members of the Black Panther Party, were shot and killed in Campbell Hall.
• 1973 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.
• 1974 - Joni Mitchell releases Court and Spark, arguably her most mainstream album.
• 1975 - Bob Dylan releases Blood on the Tracks, often considered one of his best albums.
• 1977 - Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on the death penalty in the United States.
• 1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States sees temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
• 1985 - British Telecom announces the retirement of Britain's famous red telephone boxes.
• 1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm began early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
• 1991 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
• 1992 - Punk rock band Green Day releases their second full-length album, Kerplunk.
• 1994 - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs in Northridge, California; see 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
• 1995 - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake called "the Great Hanshin earthquake" occurs near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,433 people.
• 1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
• 1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
• 2002 - Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.

• 1463 - Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525)
• 1484 - George Spalatin, German reformer (d. 1545)
• 1501 - Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)
• 1504 - Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
• 1560 - Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1624)
• 1600 - Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish playwright (d. 1681)
• 1612 - Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English Civil War general (d. 1671)
• 1686 - Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (d. 1766)
• 1706 - Benjamin Franklin American writer, inventor, publisher, and ambassador (d. 1790)
• 1712 - John Stanley, English composer (d. 1786)
• 1719 - William Vernon, American merchant (d. 1806)
• 1761 - James Hall, Scottish geologist (d. 1832)
• 1763 - John Jacob Astor, American entrepreneur (d. 1848)
• 1789 - August Neander, German theologian (d. 1850)
• 1811 - Joshua A. Norton, "Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico" (d. 1880)
• 1820 - Anne Brontë, British author (d. 1849)
• 1832 - Henry Martyn Baird, American historian and educationalist (d. 1906)
• 1851 - A. B. Frost, American illustrator (d. 1928)
• 1860 - Douglas Hyde, President of Ireland
• 1863 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
• 1867 - Carl Laemmle, German-born film executive (d. 1939)
• 1871 - David Earl Beatty British admiral (d. 1936)
• 1871 - Nicolae Iorga, Romanian writer (d. 1940)
• 1880 - Mack Sennett, Canadian film director and producer (d. 1960)
• 1881 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (d. 1941)
• 1882 - Noah Beery, American actor (d. 1946)
• 1886 - Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer
• 1899 - Al Capone, American gangster (d. 1947)
• 1899 - Nevil Shute, English author (d. 1960)
• 1905 - Guillermo Stábile, Argentine footballer (d. 1966)
• 1911 - George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1914 - William Stafford, American poet and essayist (d. 1993)
• 1921 - Antonio Prohias, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
• 1922 - Luis Echeverría Álvarez, President of Mexico
• 1922 - Nicholas Katzenbach, American politician
• 1922 - Betty White, American actress
• 1925 - Robert Cormier, American author (d. 2000)
• 1925 - Abdul Kardar, Pakistani cricketer
• 1926 - Newton N. Minow, American telecommunications lawyer and statesman
• 1926 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and dancer
• 1927 - Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer
• 1928 - Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973)
• 1928 - Vidal Sassoon, English cosmetologist
• 1929 - Jacques Plante, Canadian hockey player (d. 1986)
• 1931 - James Earl Jones, American actor
• 1931 - Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia
• 1931 - Don Zimmer, baseball coach
• 1933 - Dalida, French singer (d. 1987)
• 1933 - Ray Dolby, American inventor
• 1933 - Sadruddhin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)
• 1933 - Shari Lewis, American puppeteer (d. 1998)
• 1933 - Sheree North, American actress
• 1935 - Ruth Ann Minner, Governor of Delaware
• 1937 - Troy Donahue, American actor
• 1939 - Maury Povich, American talk show host
• 1940 - Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan runner
• 1942 - Muhammad Ali, American boxer
• 1942 - Cus D'Amato, boxing manager (d. 1985)
• 1942 - Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist
• 1942 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1943 - René Préval, President of Haiti
• 1944 - Françoise Hardy, French singer
• 1948 - Davíð Oddsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland.
• 1948 - Mick Taylor, British musician (The Rolling Stones)
• 1949 - Andy Kaufman, American comedian (d. 1984)
• 1952 - Darrell Porter, American baseball player (d. 2002)
• 1955 - Steve Earle, American musician
• 1956 - Paul Young, English musician
• 1959 - Susanna Hoffs, American musician (The Bangles)
• 1959 - Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
• 1962 - Jim Carrey, American actor and comedian
• 1966 - Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer
• 1968 - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch writer
• 1969 - Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film director
• 1970 - Jeremy Roenick, American hockey player
• 1970 - Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born animator
• 1970 - James Wattana, Thai snooker player
• 1971 - Kid Rock, American singer
• 1972 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
• 1980 - Zooey Deschanel, American actress
• 1981 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
• 1982 - Jodie Sweetin, American actress
• 1982 - Alex Varkatzas, American singer (Atreyu)
• 1982 - Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
• 1986 - Chloe Rose Lattanzi, Australian actress and singer
• 1988 - Nikki Reed, American actress

• 395 - Theodosius I, Roman Emperor
• 1229 - Albert of Buxhoeveden, German soldier
• 1369 - King Peter I of Cyprus (murdered) (b. 1328)
• 1468 - Skanderbeg, Albanian leader (b. 1405)
• 1617 - Faust Vrancic, Croatian inventor (b. 1551)
• 1654 - Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (b. 1625)
• 1705 - John Ray, English naturalist (b. 1627)
• 1718 - Captain Benjamin Church, Plymouth Colony settler
• 1737 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
• 1751 - Tomaso Albinoni, Italian composer (b. 1671)
• 1826 - Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (b. 1806)
• 1834 - Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (b. 1762)
• 1861 - Lola Montez, Irish-born adventurer (b. 1821)
• 1884 - Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (b. 1804)
• 1886 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (b. 1834)
• 1893 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
• 1961 - Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)
• 1964 - T.H. White, English author (b. 1906)
• 1967 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (b. 1884)
• 1972 - Betty Smith, American writer and singer (b. 1896)
• 1977 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (executed) (b. 1940)
• 1983 - Doodles Weaver, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1991 - King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
• 1993 - Albert Hourani, English historian (b. 1915)
• 1994 - Helen Stephens, American runner (b. 1918)
• 1996 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
• 1997 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
• 2001 - Gregory Corso, American poet (b. 1930)
• 2001 - Laurent-Desire Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
• 2002 - Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2003 - Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2004 - Czeslaw Niemen, Polish musician (b. 1939)
• 2004 - Ray Stark, publicist, actor's agent, and producer (b. 1915)
• 2004 - Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2005 - Charlie Bell, American fast food executive (b. 1960)
• 2005 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2005 - Albert Schatz, American microbiologist (b. 1920)
• 2005 - Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919)

• Ancient Latvia - Zirgu Diena observed
• Catholicism - Feast day of St. Anthony.
• 2005 - USA - Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

January 16 - January 18 - December 17 - February 17 — listing of all days