On This Day in History - Feb. 17

• 0197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire.
• 0197 - Clodius Albinus dies killed in battle. Would-be Roman emperor.
• 0364 - Jovian dies. Roman Emperor
• 0440 - Mesrop Mashtots dies.
• 0763 - Shi Chaoyi's head is delivered to Chang'an, ending the An Shi Rebellion.
• 1339 - Duke Otto of Austria dies (b. 1301).
• 1370 - At the Battle at Rudau, Germany beat Lithuania.
• 1371 - Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria dies.
• 1490 - Charles III, Duke of Bourbon was born (d. 1527). Constable of France.
• 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt.
• 1519 - Francis, Duke of Guise was born (d. 1563). French soldier and politician.
• 1524 - Charles of Guise was born (d. 1574). French cardinal.
• 1581 - Fausto Poli was born (d. 1653). Italian Catholic priest.
• 1596 - Friedrich Sylburg dies (b. 1536). German classical scholar.
• 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno dies burned at skate (b. 1548). Religious reformer advocate of Copernican theory.
• 1609 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany dies (b. 1549).
• 1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
• 1624 - Juan de Mariana dies (b. 1536). Spanish historian.
• 1646 - Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert was born (d. 1714). French economist.
• 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli was born (d. 1713). Italian composer.
• 1659 - Abel Servien dies (b. 1593). French diplomat.
• 1673 - Molière dies (b. 1622). French writer.
• 1680 - Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles dies (b. 1599). English statesman and writer.
• 1680 - Jan Swammerdam dies (b. 1637). Dutch scientist.
• 1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff was born (d. 1753). Master builder.
• 1715 - Antoine Galland dies (b. 1646). French archaeologist.
• 1718 - Matthew Tilghman was born (d. 1790). American Continental Congressman.
• 1723 - Tobias Mayer was born (d. 1762). German astronomer.
• 1732 - Louis Marchand dies (b. 1669). French organist and harpsichordist.
• 1752 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger was born (d. 1831). German writer.
• 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar.
• 1754 - Nicolas Baudin was born (d. 1803). French explorer.
• 1768 - Arthur Onslow dies (b. 1691). English politician.
• 1774 - Raphael Peale was born (d. 1825). American painter.
• 1780 - Andreas Felix von Oefele dies (b. 1706). German historian and librarian.
• 1781 - René Laënnec was born (d. 1826). French physician.
• 1792 - Karl Ernst von Baer was born (d. 1876). German biologist.
• 1796 - Philipp Franz von Siebold was born (d. 1866). German physician.
• 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.
• 1814 - Battle of Mormans.
• 1817 - King William III of the Netherlands was born (d. 1890).
• 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise.
• 1820 - Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau was born (d. 1898). Catholic cardinal.
• 1820 - Henri Vieuxtemps was born (d. 1881). Belgian composer.
• 1821 - Lola Montez was born (d. 1861). Mexican dancer, actress and friend of monarchs
• 1827 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, muere, pedagogo reformador suizo.
• 1831 - Se aprueba en Bruselas la primera Constitución de Bélgica como país independiente.
• 1836 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer was born (d. 22 Dec 1870). Spanish poet.
• 1841 - Ferdinando Carulli dies (b. 1770). Italian guitarist.
• 1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward was born (d. 1913). American department store founder.
• 1845 - Luís Caetano Pereira Guimarães Juníor was born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 19 May 1898 in Lisbon). Brazilian poet and diplomat.
• 1848 - Louisa Lawson was born (d. 1920). Australian feminist, suffragist, writer.
• 1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State.
• 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp was born (d. 1902). German industrialist.
• 1854 - John Martin dies (b. 1789). English painter.
• 1856 - Heinrich Heine dies (b. 1797). German writer.
• 1861 - Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany was born (d. 1922).
• 1862 - Mori Ōgai was born (d. 1922), Japanese novelist and poet.
• 1863 - Fyodor Sologub was born (d. 1927). Russian symbolist novelist and poet.
• 1863 - David Lloyd George was born (d. 1945). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1864 - American Civil War: The CSS H. L. Hunley is the first submarine to engage and sink a warship.
• 1864 - Banjo Paterson was born (d. 1941). Australian poet.
• 1864 - Jozef Murgaš was born (d. 1929). Slovak inventor.
• 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.
• 1867 - William Cadbury was born. English chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury).
• 1869 - Gago Coutinho was born in Lisbon. Portuguese aviator pioneer.
• 1871 - The victorious Prussian Army parades though Paris after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
• 1874 - Thomas J. Watson was born (d. 1956). American computer pioneer, first president of IBM.
• 1874 - Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet dies (b. 1796). Belgian mathematician.
• 1875 - Fagundes Varela dies in Niterói (b. 17 Aug 1841). Brazilian poet.
• 1877 - André Maginot was born (d. 1932). French politician.
• 1877 - Isabelle Eberhardt was born (d. 1904). Swiss explorer and writer.
• 1880 - O czar Alexandre II da Rússia sobrevive a uma tentativa de assassinato quando uma bomba explode na sala de jantar do Palácio de Inverno, em São Petersburgo.
• 1883 - Napoleon Coste dies (b. 1806). French guitarist and composer.
• 1883 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke dies (b. 1845). Indian revolutionary.
• 1885 - Steve Evans was born (d. 1943). American baseball player.
• 1887 - Leevi Madetoja was born (d. 1947). Finnish composer.
• 1888 - Otto Stern was born (d. 1969). German physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1969).
• 1890 - Christopher Sholes was born (d. 1819). American inventor.
• 1895 - Swan Lake, one of the most famous and critically-acclaimed ballets, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed at full length in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1898 - Múcio Leão was born (d. 1969). Brazilian journalist and poet.
• 1899 - Tito Franco de Almeida was born (d. 1829). Brazilian politician.
• 1901 - Questão Calmon: A filha do cônsul do Brasil no Porto sofre uma tentativa de rapto, com o objectivo de levar a rapariga para uma casa religiosa, para onde desejava entrar contra a vontade dos pais.
• 1904 - Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini) premiers at La Scala in Milan.
• 1908 - Bo Yibo was born (d. 2005). Chinese politician.
• 1908 - Red Barber was born (d. 1992). American baseball announcer, sports journalist.
• 1909 - Geronimo dies (b. 1829). Apache leader.
• 1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt was born (d. 1979). American actor.
• 1910 - Marc Lawrence was born. American actor.
• 1911 - Oskar Seidlin was born (d. 1984). Silesian-born American literary scholar.
• 1912 - Andre Norton was born. American author.
• 1912 - Edgar Evans dies (b. 1876). Welsh naval officer.
• 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.
• 1914 - Arthur Kennedy was born (d. 1990). American actor.
• 1914 - Wayne Morris was born (d. 1959). American actor.
• 1915 - Francisco Giner de los Ríos dies. Spanish pedagogue and writer.
• 1916 - Raf Vallone was born (d. 2002). Italian actor.
• 1916 - Alexander Obolensky was born (d. 1940). Russian prince and famed Rugby Union footballer who played for England.
• 1917 - Abdur Rahman Badawi was born (d. 2002). Egyptian philosopher.
• 1917 - Guillermo González Camarena was born (d. 1965). Mexican inventor.
• 1919 - Kathleen Freeman was born (d. 2001). American actress.
• 1919 - Wilfrid Laurier dies (b. 1841). Seventh Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1920 - Ivo Caprino was born. Norwegian animated film director.
• 1922 - Enrico Banducci was born (d. 2007). American nightclub owner.
• 1922 - Tommy Edwards was born (d. 1969). American singer.
• 1922 - Marshall Teague was born (d. 1959). American race car driver.
• 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.
• 1924 - Margaret Truman was born. American novelist, daughter of Harry S. Truman .
• 1925 - Harold Ross and Jane Grant found The New Yorker magazine; the debut issue is dated February 21, 1925.
• 1925 - Hal Holbrook was born. American actor.
• 1925 - Ron Goodwin was born (d. 2003). English composer and conductor.
• 1928 - Marta Romero was born. Puerto Rican actress & singer.
• 1929 - Paul Meger was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1929 - Chaim Potok was born (d. 2002). American author.
• 1929 - Patricia Routledge was born. English actress.
• 1930 - Roger Craig was born. American baseball player and manager.
• 1930 - Ruth Rendell was born. English writer.
• 1932 - Buck Trent was born. American banjo player.
• 1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.
• 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
• 1933 - Bobby Lewis was born. American singer.
• 1933 - Craig L. Thomas was born (d. 2007). American politician.
• 1934 - Alan Bates was born (d. 2003). English actor.
• 1934 - Barry Humphries was born (aka "Dame Edna Everage"). Australian actor, comedian.
• 1934 - King Albert I of Belgium dies (b. 1875).
• 1934 - Siegbert Tarrasch dies (b. 1862). German chess player.
• 1935 - Portugal: Marechal Carmona is reelected President of Republic.
• 1935 - Christina Pickles was born. British actress.
• 1936 - The world's first superhero, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in comics.
• 1936 - In Paraguay, the army rebelled against President Eusebio Ayala. This resulted in the creation of South America’s first fascist regime.
• 1936 - Jim Brown was born. American football star.
• 1937 - Rita Süssmuth was born in Wuppertal. German politician.
• 1938 - Belmiro de Azevedo was born. Portuguese entrepreneur.
• 1939 - John Leyton was born. British singer.
• 1939 - Mary Ann Mobley was born. American actress and beauty queen.
• 1939 - Willy Hessn dies (b. 1859). German violinist.
• 1940 - Christina Pickles was born. English actress.
• 1940 - Gene Pitney was born (d. 2006). American singer.
• 1941 - Julia McKenzie was born. English actress.
• 1941 - Fernando Gabeira was born. Brazilian writer, journalist and politician.
• 1942 - Huey P. Newton was born (d. 1989). American founder of the Black Panther Party.
• 1943 - Armand J. Piron dies (b. 1888). American jazz violinist and composer.
• 1943 - Konstantin Bogaevsky dies (b. 1872). Russian painter.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
• 1944 - World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
• 1944 - Karl Jenkins was born. Welsh composer.
• 1945 - Zina Bethune was born. American actress.
• 1945 - Brenda Fricker was born. Irish actress.
• 1946 - Dodie Stevens was born. American singer.
• 1947 - The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union.
• 1948 - Henrique Finochietto dies in Buenos Aires. Argentine cirurgeon.
• 1948 - José José was born. Mexican singer and actor.
• 1948 - Rick Majerus was born. American basketball coach.
• 1949 - Fred Frith was born. English musician.
• 1952 - Karin Janz was born. East German gymnast.
• 1953 - Norman Pace was born. British actor and comic.
• 1953 - Janice Dickinson was born. American model.
• 1953 - Peninha [Aroldo Alves Sobrinho] was born. Brazilian singer and composer.
• 1954 - Rene Russo was born in Burbank, California. American actress (Ransom; Lethal Weapon 3 , Letal Weapon 4, The Thomas Crown Affair, etc).
• 1955 - Christian Pineau becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1955 - Mo Yan was born. Chinese novelist.
• 1956 - Richard Karn was born. American actor.
• 1957 - Loreena McKennitt was born. Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter.
• 1957 - A fire at a home for the elderly in Warrenton, Missouri kills 72 people.
• 1958 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television.
• 1958 - Hugh McCrae dies (b. 1876). Australian writer.
• 1959 - Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 - The first weather satellite launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
• 1959 - Aryeh Deri was born. Israeli rabbi and politician.
• 1959 - Neil Lomax was born. American football player.
• 1961 - Nita Naldi dies (b. 1897). American actress.
• 1962 - A storm kills more than 300 people in Hamburg, West Germany.
• 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips was born. American actor.
• 1962 - Samuel Bayer was born. American music video director.
• 1962 - Tyrone "Ty" Jones was born. American screenwriter.
• 1962 - David McComb was born (d. 1999). Australian musician (The Triffids).
• 1962 - Alison Hargreaves was born (d. 1995). British mountaineer.
• 1962 - Bruno Walter dies (b. 1876). German conductor.
  
• 1963 - Larry the Cable Guy was born. American actor and comedian.
• 1963 - Michael Jordan was born. American basketball star.
• 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
• 1964 - Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his archrival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
• 1964 - Buster Olney was born. American sports columnist.
• 1965 - Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on it's mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. The "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
• 1965 - Michael Bay was born. American film director.
• 1966 - Ioannis Kalitzakis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1966 - Quorthon was born (d. 2004). Swedish musician (Bathory).
• 1966 - Luc Robitaille was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1966 - Michael Lepond was born. American musician.
• 1967 - Chanté Moore was born. American singer.
• 1967 - Ciro Alegría dies. Peruvian writer.
• 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
• 1968 - Bryan Cox was born. National Football League player.
• 1969 - Russia and Peru signed their first trade accord.
• 1969 - Tuesday Knight was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Dominic Purcell was born. English-born, Australian actor.
• 1970 - Tim Mahoney was born. American musician (311).
• 1970 - Tommy Moe was born. American Olympic skier.
• 1970 - Alfred Newman dies (b. 1901). American film composer.
  
• 1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon dies (b. 1888). Israeli writer, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1971 - Martyn Bennett was born (d. 2005). Canadian musician and composer.
• 1971 - Carlos Alberto Gamarra was born. Paraguayan soccer player.
• 1971 - Jeremy Edwards was born. British actor.
• 1971 - Denise Richards was born. American actress.
• 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T (15 million).
• 1972 - O Parlamento britânico vota pela união à Comunidade Européia.
• 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong was born. American musician (Green Day).
• 1972 - Philippe Candeloro was born. French figure skater.
• 1972 - Taylor Hawkins was born. American musician (Foo Fighters).
• 1972 - Valeria Mazza was born. Argentinian model.
• 1972 - Yuki Isoya was born. Japanese singer (formerly Judy and Mary).
• 1973 - Pixinguinha [Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Filho] dies (b. 23 Apr 1898]. Brazilian musician and composer.
• 1973 - Amy Van Dyken was born. American swimmer.
• 1974 - Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter.
• 1974 - Kaoru was born. Japanese musician.
• 1974 - Jerry O'Connell was born. American actor.
• 1974 - Bryan White was born. American singer.
• 1975 - Harisu was born. South Korean singer, model and actress.
• 1975 - Todd Harvey was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1975 - Vaclav Prospal was born. Czech ice hockey player.
• 1975 - Wish Bone was born. American rapper.
• 1976 - Kelly Carlson was born. American actress.
• 1976 - Scott Williamson was born. American baseball player.
• 1977 - Janani Luwum dies shot (b. 1922). Ugandan Archbishop.
• 1978 - Jacob Wetterling was born. American kidnapping victim (missing since 1989).
• 1979 - The Sino-Vietnamese War began.
• 1979 - Josh Willingham was born. American baseball player.
• 1980 - Al Harrington was born. American basketball player.
• 1980 - Jason Ritter was born. American actor.
• 1981 - Lupe Fiasco was born. American rapper.
• 1981 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born. American actor.
• 1981 - Paris Hilton was born. American actress and heiress to the Hilton Hotel chain.
• 1982 - Adriano Leite Ribeiro (The Emperor) was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian soccer player (Internazionale).
• 1982 - Brian Bruney was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 - Lee Strasberg dies (b. 1901). Austrian-born actor.
  
• 1982 - Nestor Chylak dies (b. 1922). American baseball umpire.
• 1982 - Thelonious Monk dies (b. 1917). American jazz pianist.
• 1983 - Gérald Cid was born. French footballer.
• 1983 - Marios Kaperonis was born. Greek boxer.
• 1984 - O grupo musical Culture Club, com a música “Karma Chameleon”, recebe disco de ouro pela venda de 500,000 cópias do single.
• 1984 - Jimmy Jacobs was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1984 - Kenta Kamakari was born. Japanese actor and seiyuu.
• 1984 - AB de Villiers was born. South African cricketer.
• 1985 - José Mestre Baptista dies (b. 30 May 1940). Portuguese bullfighter.
• 1986 - Joey O'Brien was born. Irish footballer.
• 1986 - Sandra Nilsson was born. Swedish model.
• 1986 - Jiddu Krishnamurti dies (b. 1895). Indian philosopher.
• 1987 - Setenta pessoas morrem e 300 ficam feridas após o choque entre trens urbanos em São Paulo.
• 1989 - Lefty Gomez dies (b. 1908). American baseball player.
• 1990 - Erik Rhodes dies (b. 1906). American actor.
• 1990 - Hap Day dies (b. 1901). Canadian ice hockey player and manager.
• 1991 - Bonnie Wright was born. British actress.
• 1991 - A. Mascarenhas Monteiro is the first elected president of Cape Vert with 72% votes, beating the former President Aristides Pereita.
• 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.
• 1994 - Randy Shilts dies (b. 1951). American author, AIDS activist.
• 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.
• 1995 - The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ended on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.
• 1995 - Se firma en Brasilia la "Declaración de Paz de Itamaraty", compromiso de paz entre Perú y Ecuador.
• 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
• 1996 - NASA's Discovery program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land upon an asteroid, 433 Eros.
• 1996 - Sasha Pieterse was born. South African child actress.
• 1996 - Hervé Bazin dies (b. 1911). French writer.
• 1997 - Darcy Ribeiro dies (b. 1922). Brazilian antropologist, politician and writer.
• 1997 - Zein Isa dies. Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter.
• 1998 - Bob Merrill dies (b. 1921). American composer and lyricist.
• 1998 - Ernst Jünger dies (b. 1895). German author.
• 2000 - Microsoft releases Windows 2000.
• 2001 - Bob Geary dies (b. 1933). Canadian football player and manager.
• 2001 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed dies (b. 1948). American Nation of Islam spokesman.
• 2003 - Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect John Bechler died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, one day after collapsing during a spring-training workout; doctors later linked the 23-year-old’s sudden death to the dietary supplement ephedra.
• 2003 - The London Congestion Charge scheme begins.
• 2004 - As expected, the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company unanimously rejects a hostile buyout offer by Comcast, saying the cable television giant's $66 billion bid is too low, but does not rule out accepting a higher bid in the future.
• 2004 - José López Portillo dies (b. 1920). President of Mexico.
• 2004 - Parlamento holandês aprova expulsão de 26 mil imigrantes.
• 2005 - Dan O'Herlihy dies (b. 1919). Irish actor.
• 2005 - Omar Sivori dies (b. 1935). Argentine football player.
• 2006 - A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
• 2006 - Bill Cowsill dies (b. 1948). American singer (The Cowsills).
  
• 2006 - Ray Barretto dies (b. 1929). Puerto Rican musician.
• 2006 - Harold Hunter dies (b. 1974). American professional skateboarder.
• 2007 - Jurga Ivanauskaitė dies (b. 1961). Lithuanian writer.
• 2007 - Mike Awesome dies (b. 1965). American professional wrestler.
• 2007 - Dermot O'Reilly dies (b. 1943). Irish-born Canadian musician, producer and songwriter.
• 2007 - Maurice Papon dies (b.1910). French Nazi collaborator.
• 2008 - Presidential elections in Cyprus.
• 2008 - Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
• 2008 - Brian Harris dies (b. 1935). English footballer.