Did you know
NASA's Discovery Program was established to fund low-cost Solar System exploration missions with a specific scientific goal
February 17 in History
1996 — NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros
February 17 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 1370 to 2016. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
51 events
1370 – 2016
Today in history
More major events on February 17
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1959 Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution. Source
- 1801 United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College 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. Source
- 1864 American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic. Source
Did you know
The program is managed by NASA's Planetary Missions Program Office
Did you know
The cost of each Discovery mission is capped at a lower level than New Frontiers or Flagship Programs
Did you know
The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft was named after planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker
Did you know
The Discovery Program has funded missions to explore planets, moons, asteroids, and comets in the Solar System
1370
Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
12th- and 13th-century crusades around the Baltic Sea
1411
Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
Civil war in the early 15th century Ottoman Empire
1500
Duke Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein and King John of Denmark attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
King of Denmark (1523–1533) and Norway (1524–1533)
1600
On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.
Square in Rome, Italy
1616
Nurhaci proclaims himself Khan of the Later Jin, precursor to the Qing Dynasty.
Founding khan of the Later Jin dynasty
1621
Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.
English military officer (1584–1656)
1674
An earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Ambon.
It triggers a 100 m (330 ft) megatsunami which drowns over 2,300 people.
1676
Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate's expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.
Spanish expedition to Patagonia, 1675–1676
1739
The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.
1739 conflict between the Portuguese and Maratha Empires in India
1753
In Sweden, February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
Day of the year
1801
United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College 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.
4th quadrennial U.S. presidential election
1814
War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.
1813–1814 conflict during the Napoleonic Wars
1819
The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
Lower house of the U.S. Congress
1838
In the Weenen massacre, hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1838 massacre in present-day Weenen, South Africa
1854
The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1854–1902 Boer republic in Southern Africa
1859
Cochinchina Campaign: The French Navy captures the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Viet Nam.
1858–1862 Franco-Spanish military expedition against Vietnam
1863
A group of citizens of Geneva found an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
City in Switzerland
1864
American Civil War: The H.
L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1865
American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
Capital city of South Carolina, United States
1905
Russian Revolution of 1905: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia is assassinated in the Moscow Kremlin by Socialist Revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev.
Political and social unrest in the Russian Empire
1913
The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who subsequently become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
1913 American art exhibition
1919
The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.
1917–18/1918–21 state in Eastern Europe
1944
World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins.
The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
1944
World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S.
naval air, surface and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
1948
The Al-Waziri coup briefly ousts the ruling Hamidaddin dynasty of Yemen; Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din is killed.
1948 conflict in the Kingdom of Yemen
1949
Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
Israeli statesman and British chemist (1874–1952)
1959
Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
U.S. Navy satellite program in the 1950s
1959
A Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes near Gatwick Airport, killing 14; Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes survives the crash.
National airline of Turkey
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 Léon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
Prime Minister (1959–61) and President (1961–67) of Gabon
1965
Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions.
Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
1966
Aeroflot Flight 065 crashes during take-off from Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing 21.
1966 aviation accident
1969
American aquanaut Berry L.
Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair a leak in the SEALAB III underwater habitat. The SEALAB project was subsequently abandoned.
1970
The family of Jeffrey R.
MacDonald, United States Army captain, is found murdered in their home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, US. Eventually, MacDonald was charged with and convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.
1972
Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
Small family car (1938–2003)
1974
Robert K.
Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1978
The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.
1960s–1998 conflict in Northern Ireland
1980
First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
Earth's highest mountain
1991
Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, killing both pilots, the aircraft's only occupants.
1991 aviation accident
1992
First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan (1988–1994)
1995
The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
Brief territorial conflict between Ecuador and Peru in early 1995
1996
In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
Most populous city in Pennsylvania, US
1996
The 8.2 Mw Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).
A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.
2006
A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
Major landslide in the Philippines
2011
Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.
2010s protests and revolutions in the Arab world
2011
Arab Spring: In Bahrain, security forces launch a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
Country in West Asia
2015
Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
Human stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti
2016
Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.
Bombing in Turkey by Kurdish separatists