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 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 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

• Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus
• Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed

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