October 17

October 17 is the 290th day of the year (291st in Leap years). There are 75 days remaining.

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances

Events

1346 - King David II of Scotland captured by Edward III of England at Calais
1469 - Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile. Their marriage leads to the unification of Aragon and Castile in a single country, Spain
1662 - Charles II of England sold Dunkerque to France for 40 000 pounds.
1777 - American troops defeat the British in the Battle of Saratoga
1781 - General Charles Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia
1800 - England takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao
1860 - First British golf open
1888 - Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie)
1912 - Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War
1917 - First British bombing of Germany in World War I
1918 - Yugoslavia declared a republic
1931 - Al Capone convicted of income tax evasion
1933 - Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the US
1941 - For the first time in World War II, a German submarine attacks an American ship
1945 - After a coup, Juan Peron becomes dictator of Argentina
1961 - 200 Algerian protesters are massacred by the Paris police
1967 - Premiere of the musical Hair on Broadway
1970 - Anwar Sadat becomes president of Egypt
1970 - Montreal, Quebec: Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
1973 - OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria
1979 - Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1979 - The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the United States Department of Education and United States Department of Health and Human Services. Both replace the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
1989 - Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area.
1994 - Draft peace treaty between Israel and Jordan
1994 - Peace treaty between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels

Births

1563 - Jodocus Hondius, cartographer
1711 - Jupiter Hammond, poet
1864 - Elinor Glyn, writer († 1943)
1898 - Simon Vestdijk, writer
1900 - Jean Arthur, actress († 1991)
1902 - Irene Ryan, actress († 1973)
1903 - Nathanael West, writer († 1940)
1912 - Pope John Paul I, religious leader († 1978)
1914 - Jerry Siegel, cartoonist († 1998)
1915 - Arthur Miller, playwright
1918 - Rita Hayworth, actress († 1987)
1920 - Montgomery Clift, actor († 1966)
1921 - Tom Poston, actor, comedian
1930 - Jimmy Breslin, writer
1938 - Evel Knievel, professional daredevil
1940 - James Seals, musician
1942 - Gary Puckett, musician
1946 - Bob Seagren, pole vaulter, actor
1946 - Sir Cameron Mackintosh, stage producer, director
1947 - Michael McKean, actor, comedian
1948 - Margot Kidder, actress
1948 - George Wendt, actor
1950 - Howard Rollins, actor († 1996)
1956 - Mae Jemison, astronaut
1958 - Alan Jackson, country music performer
1962 - Mike Judge, cartoonist, writer
1968 - Ziggy Marley, reggae musician
1971 - Chris Kirkpatrick, singer
1972 - Eminem, rap music performer
1972 - Wyclef Jean, singer
1974 - John Rocker, baseball player
1982 - Jessica Zucha, actress

Deaths

532 - Pope Boniface II
1849 - Frederic Chopin, musician, composer
1887 - Gustav Kirchhoff, physicist
1910 - Julia Ward Howe, composer
1931 - Alfons Maria Jakob, neurologist
1967 - Henry Pu Yi, last emperor of China
1970 - Pierre Laporte, Vice-Premier of Quebec murdered by FLQ terrorists
1991 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, singer, television performer
1979 - S.J. Perelman, writer
2001 - Rehavam Zeevi, Israeli politician

Holidays and observances

United States: Black Poetry Day

See Also:

October 16 - October 18 - September 17 - November 17 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December