539 BC - King Cyrus The Great
of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost 70
years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration.
532 Boniface
II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1091 T8/F4
tornado strikes the heart of London.
1346 Battle
of Neville's Cross: King David II of Scotland is captured by Edward III
of England at Calais, and imprisoned in the Tower of London for eleven years.
1448 Second
Battle of Kosovo, where the mainly Hungarian army led by John Hunyadi were
defeated by an Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II.
1456 The University
of Greifswald is established, making it the second oldest university in
northern Europe (also for a period the oldest in Sweden, and Prussia)
1604 Kepler's
Star: German astronomer Johannes
Kepler observes that an exceptionally bright star had suddenly appeared
in the constellation. Ophiuchus, which turned out to be the last supernova to
have been observed in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
1610 French king Louis
XIII is crowned in Rheims.
1651 Charles
II defeated at the Battle of Worcester, and flees to France after famously
escaping from Oliver Cromwell's forces by hiding in an oak tree
1660 Nine Regicides,
the men who signed the death warrant of Charles I, are hanged, drawn and quartered,
another is hanged.
1662 Charles
II of England sells Dunkirk
to France for 40,000 pounds.
1691 New royal charter for Massachusetts, now including Maine, Plymouth
1777 British military commander General
Burgoyne surrenders his troops to the American Colonists led by General
Horatio Gates at Saratoga
during the American War of Independence
1781 Cornwallis
defeated at Yorktown
1787 Boston blacks, petition legislature for equal school facilities
1797 Treaty
of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria
1800 England takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.
1806 Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques
I of Haiti was assassinated after an oppressive rule.
1814 London
Beer Flood occurs in London killing nine.
1829 Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay Canal formally opened
1855 Bessemer
steelmaking process patented
1860 The
world's first professional golf tournament is held at Prestwick in Scotland,
and won by Willie Park
1868 Constitution of Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg comes into effect
1871 President
Grant suspends writ of habeas corpus
1888 Thomas
Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
1894 Ohio national guard kills 3 lynchers while rescuing a black man
1904 Bank of Italy (Bank
of America) opens its doors
1907 Guglielmo
Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service
between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.
1912 Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining
Montenegro in the First
Balkan War
1914 An earthquake centred on Greece kills more than 3,000
1917 First British bombing of Germany in World War I.
1918 Yugoslavia proclaims itself a republic
1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
created
1927 In Britain, Mona Maclennan admits that her claim to have swum the English
Channel in a record time of 13 hours and 12 minutes was a hoax
1930 France announces the building of a new line of defences along its frontier
with Germany. The hugely expensive line of concrete, pill boxes and gun emplcements,
known as the 'Maginot Line', proves pointless. At the start of World War II
German troops enter France after first invading Belgium
1931 Al Capone
convicted of tax evasion, sentenced to 11 years in prison
1933 Albert
Einstein arrives in the US, a refugee from Nazi Germany
1934 "The
Aldrich Family" premieres on radio
1934 In Germany, an announcement from Berlin says Adolf Hitler is to keep his
titles of Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor for life
1935 Pacific Assoc of AAU votes not to participate in Berlin Olympics
1936 In London, newspaper owner Lord Beaverbrook promises King Edward VI that
he'll arrange for the British press to remain silent on the subject of his relationship
with American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson
1941 1st US destroyer (Kearney) torpedoed in WW II, off Iceland
1945 In Argentina, thousands of trade unionists march through Buenos Aires demanding
that Colonel Juan
Peron is released from prison and re-instated at the head of Government
1951 The German-made Porsche is the main attraction at the opening of the Motor
Show in London
1956 Queen Elizabeth II opens Calder
Hall in Cumbria - Britian's first large scale atomic energy station
1957 Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visit White House
1957 French author Albert
Camus awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
1959 Queen Elizabeth is fined $140 for withdrawing her race horse
1961 NY Museum of Modern Art hung Henri
Matisse's "Le Bateau" upside-down, It wasn't corrected until December
3rd
1961 Scores
of Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the Paris
police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of
the Prefecture of Police
1962 Emerging 'pop' group 'The Beatles' make their first appearance on British
TV
1965 The 1964-1965
New York World's Fair closes after a two year run. More than 51 million
people had attended the two-year event.
1965 In America, thousands join a major anti-Vietnam War demonstration
1966 A fire at a building in New York, New York kills 12 firefighters, the New
York City Fire Department's deadliest day until the September
11, 2001 attacks.
1967 Barbra
Streisand stars on "Belle of 14th Street" special on CBS
1967 Memorial service for Brian
Epstein at New London Synagogue
1967 The play "Hair"
is 1st performed
1969 Soyuz 7
returns to Earth
1970 Montreal, Quebec: Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre
Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
1973 The start of a major world oil crisis when oil producing Arab states increase
prices by 70 per cent and cut production in protest at US support for Israel
in the Yom Kippur War against Egypt
1973 OPEC starts
an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped
Israel in its war against Syria.
1977 Canada begins regular live TV coverage of Parliament
1977 German
Autumn : West German commandos storm
hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages and killing
3 of the 4 hijackers
1978 President Carter signs bill restoring Jefferson
Davis citizenship
1979 Mother
Teresa of India, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1986 US Senate approved immigration bill prohibiting hiring of illegal aliens
and offered amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982
1980 In Rome, the first ever meeting between a British monarch,Queen Elizabeth
II and the Pope during a State Visit to the Vatican
1988 31 reported dead as Ugandan jetliner crashes in fog near Rome
1988 Lyndon
LaRouche pleads innocent to fraud, conspiracy indictment
1988 Phillip
Morris announces $11 Billion tender offer for Kraft
1988 Rockin Robin beats "Sensational" Sherri
Martel for WWF women's title
1989 Earthquake
in SF kills 67
1991 In Britain, four independent television companies: TV-am,
Thames, TVS and TSW lose their licences to broadcast following a 'sealed bid'
system of awarding the franchises by the Independent Television Commission
1996 England international footballer Paul
Gascoigne is accused of beating up his wife Sheryl at a hotel in Scotland
1998 At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline explodes killing
about 1200 villagers, some of whom are scavenging gasoline.
2000 Train crash
at Hatfield, north of London, leading to collapse of Railtrack.
2003 The pinnacle was fitted on the roof of Taipei
101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the Petronas
Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by 50 meters (165 feet) and become the World's tallest
highrise.
2003 Eunuchs in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh float the political party
Jiti
Jitayi Politics
2006 The United States population reaches 300 million.
2007 The Dalai
Lama receives the United
States Congressional Gold Medal.
October 17th 2005
Tents crisis hits quake victims
US strikes kill '70 Iraq rebels'
China outlines next space goals
October 17th 2006
N Korea warned over second test
Bush signs US terror trial bill
Iceland begins commercial whaling
October 17th 2007
Turkish MPs back attacks in Iraq
Two killed in clash in Gaza Strip
October 17th 2008
China's press freedoms extended
Iran 'to stop executing youths'
October 17th 2009
Pakistan launches Taliban assault
Indian fireworks blaze 'kills 30'
Ageing plane hits Manila suburb
Birthdates which occurred on October 17th:
1711 Jupiter Hammon 1st American
black to publish poetry (Complete Works)
1817 Samuel Ringgold Ward Maryland, minister/abolitionist/author
1835 Alexandrine-Pieternella-Fran‡oise Tinn‚ explored the White
Nile
1848 William "Candy" Cummings created the curve ball
1859 William "Buck" Ewing hall of fame catcher (NY Giants, Cin Reds)
1864 Elinor Glyn British novelist (3 Weeks)
1886 Spring Byington Colo Springs, actress (Lily Ruskin-December Bride)
19-- Zulu [Gilbert Kauhi], Hilo Hawaii, actor (Det Kono-Hawaii 5-0)
1903 Irene Ryan El Paso Texas, actress (Granny-Beverly Hillbillies)
1903 Jerry Colonna Boston Mass, comedian (Jerry Colonna Show)
1903 Nathanael West American novelist (Day of the Locusts)
1905 Jean Arthur NYC, actress (Shane, Mr Smith Goes to Washington)
1912 John Paul I 263rd Roman Catholic pope (1978)
1915 Arthur Miller playwright (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible)
1917 Marsha Hunt Chicago Ill, actress (Jennifer-Peck's Bad Girl, Jigsaw)
1919 Rita Hayworth NY (Alzheimer victim), actress (Gilda, Pal Joey)
1920 Montgomery Clift actor (From Here to Eternity)
1921 Maria Gorokhovskaya USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1952)
1921 Tom Poston Columbus Ohio, actor (Steve Allen Show, Newhart)
1926 Beverly Garland Santa Cruz Calif, actress (My 3 Sons)
1926 Julie Adams Waterloo Iowa, actress (Yancy Derringer, Code Red)
1926 Karl G Henize Cincinnati Ohio, astronaut (STS 51F)
1928 James "Junior" Gilliam Dodgers (NL rookie of year 1953)
1928 Julie Adams Iowa, actress (Away All Boats, Black Rose)
1930 Jimmy Breslin Queens NYC, columnist (NY Post, News, Newsday)
1932 Paul Anderson US, light super heavyweight lifter (Olympic-gold-1956)
1933 William A Anders Hong Kong, Maj Gen, USAF/astronaut (Apollo 8)
1938 Robert "Evel" Knievel motorcycle daredevil
1941 James Seals Sidney Tx, singer (Seals & Crofts-Summer Breeze)
1942 Gary Puckett vocalist (& the Union Gap-Woman Woman, Young Girl)
1943 Susan Davenny Wyner New Haven Ct, soprano (Walter Naumberg Prize)
1944 Carol Cole West Medford Mass, actress (Ellie-Grady)
1945 Dave Cutler CFL place kicker (Edmonton Eskimos)
1946 Bob Seagren Pomona Calif, actor (Soap)/pole vaulter (Olympic-gold-68)
1947 Charles A Ingene macromarketing researcher
1947 Michael McKean NYC, actor (Lenny-Laverne & Shirley, Grand)
1948 George Wendt Chicago Ill, actor (Norm-Cheers)
1948 Margot Kidder Yellowknife, actress (Lois Lane, Amityville Horror)
1949 Bill Hudson Portland Ore, comedians (Bonkers, Hudson Brothers Show)
1949 Timothy Bottoms Santa Barbara Calif, actor (Adam-East of Eden)
1952 Howard E Rollins Jr Balt Md, actor (Bannister-Wildside)
1955 Sam Bottoms actor (Prime Risk, Savages)
1956 Mae C Jemison Decatur Alabama, MD/astronaut (Sked:STS 47)
1957 Vincent Van Patten Belrose NY, actor (Apple's Way, 3 for the Road)
1958 Alan Jackson rocker (Don't Rock the Jukebox, Here in the Real World)
1959 Dolph Lundgren actor (Rocky 4, Masters of the Universe)
1965 Connie Ann Hearn Anchorage Alaska, actress (New Kind of Family)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deaths which occurred on October 17th:
1806 Jean Jacques Dessalines
Emperor of Haiti, dies
1887 Gustav Kirchoff discoverer of the laws of spectroscopy, dies
1910 Julia Ward Howe composer (Battle Hymn of the Republic), dies at 91
1990 Ralph Abernathy civil rights leader, dies
1991 Tennessee Ernie Ford country singer (16 Tons), dies at 72
Golden
Link 1 On this day 17th October
Golden Link 2 On this day 17th October
Golden Link 3 On this day 17th October