February 17

February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining (318 in leap years). \n

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances

Events

\n* 197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire. \n* 1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.\n* 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar.\n* 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.\n* 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise.\n* 1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State.\n* 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.\n* 1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal.\n* 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.\n* 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.\n* 1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.\n* 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.\n* 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.\n* 1947 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union. \n* 1955 - Christian Pineau becomes Prime Minister of France\n* 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.\n* 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.\n* 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T ?(15 million).\n* 1979 - China invades Vietnam.\n* 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison. \n* 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. \n* 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the "Deep Blue" supercomputer in a chess match.

Births

\n* 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, composer (d. 1713)\n* 1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, master builder (d. 1753)\n* 1774 - Raphael Peale, painter\n* 1798 - Auguste Comte, "father" of sociology (d. 1857)\n* 1821 - Lola Montez, dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (d. 1861)\n* 1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, department store founder\n* 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, industrialist (d. 1902)\n*1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)\n* 1874 - Thomas Watson, computer pioneer, first president of IBM\n* 1877 - Andre Maginot, politician, Maginot Line (d. 1932)\n* 1888 - Otto Stern, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1969)\n* 1908 - Red Barber, baseball announcer, sports journalist (d. 1992)\n* 1924 - Margaret Truman, novelist, daughter of Harry S. Truman\n* 1925 - Hal Holbrook, actor\n* 1929 - Chaim Potok, author (d. 2002)\n* 1929 - Patricia Routledge, actress\n* 1930 - Ruth Rendell, writer\n* 1934 - Alan Bates, actor (d. 2003)\n* 1934 - Barry Humphries (aka "Dame Edna Everage"), actor, comedian\n* 1936 - Jim Brown, American football star\n* 1937 - Rita Süssmuth, politician\n* 1941 - Julia McKenzie, actress\n* 1941 - Gene Pitney, singer\n* 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress\n* 1953 - Norman Pace, actor, comic\n* 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, actor\n* 1963 - Michael Jordan, basketball star\n* 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, musician ("Green Day")\n* 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater\n* 1972 - Denise Richards, actress\n* 1975 - Vaclav Prospal, NHL hockey player\n* 1978 - Jacob Wetterling, kidnapping victim (missing since 1989) \n

Deaths

\n* 197 - Clodius Albinus, would-be Roman emperor (killed in battle)\n* 364 - Jovian, Roman emperor (b. ca. 332)\n* 1600 - Giordano Bruno, religious reformer (b. 1548)\n* 1673 - Molière, writer (b. 1622)\n* 1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637)\n* 1854 - John Martin, English painter\n* 1856 - Heinrich Heine, writer (b. 1797)\n* 1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)\n* 1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)\n* 1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)\n* 1943 - Armand J. Piron, jazz musician (b. 1888)\n* 1962 - Bruno Walter, conductor (b. 1876)\n* 1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (b. 1917)\n* 1982 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor\n* 1994 - Randy Shilts, author, AIDS activist\n* 1998 - Ernst Jünger, militaristic German author (b. 1895)\n* 2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete

Holidays and observances

\n*Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus\n*Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed

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February 16 - February 18 - January 17 - March 17 -- listing of all days \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n