From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 105 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 480 BC – The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between 300 Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas, and the Achaemenid Empire begins
- 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
- 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
- 1462 – The Battle of Świecino (also known as the Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
- 1577 – The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
- 1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
- 1631 – Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
- 1683 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.
- 1776 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
- 1778 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
- 1787 – The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
- 1814 – Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to be the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
- 1859 – Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Emperor Norton I" of the United States.
- 1862 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
- 1894 – The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1900 – Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
- 1908 – The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
- 1914 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- 1916 – World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
- 1920 – The American Professional Football Association (later renamed National Football League) is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.
- 1924 – The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
- 1928 – The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
- 1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
- 1939 – World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
- 1939 – Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
- 1940 – World War II: Following the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.
- 1941 – World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued
- 1943 – World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
- 1944 – World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.
- 1947 – James V. Forrestal is sworn in as the first Secretary of Defense of United States.
- 1948 – The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.
- 1948 – The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.
- 1949 – The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
- 1956 – Television is first broadcast in Australia.
- 1957 – Malaysia joins the United Nations.
- 1961 – The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh.
- 1974 – Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
- 1976 – The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
- 1978 – The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
- 1980 – After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
- 1980 – Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
- 1983 – Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
- 1991 – Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
- 1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
- 1992 – An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.
- 1993 – Last Russian troops leave Poland.
- 2001 – The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
- 2006 – Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
- 2007 – AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.
[edit] Births
- 879 – King Charles III of France (d. 929)
- 1192 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
- 1271 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (d. 1305)
- 1550 – Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
- 1630 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1694)
- 1639 – Hans Herr, Mennonite bishop (d. 1725)
- 1677 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d. 1761)
- 1687 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d. 1772)
- 1688 – Maria Luisa of Savoy, first queen of Philip V of Spain (d. 1714)
- 1730 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d. 1794)
- 1739 – John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
- 1743 – Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d. 1794)
- 1771 – Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d. 1816)
- 1773 – Jonathan Alder, American settler (d. 1849)
- 1819 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, first President of the South African Republic (d. 1901)
- 1820 – Émile Augier, French dramatist (d. 1889)
- 1826 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d. 1866)
- 1839 – Ira Davenport, American magician (d. 1911)
- 1854 – David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d. 1929)
- 1857 – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1935)
- 1859 – Frank Dawson Adams, Canadian geologist (d.1942)
- 1868 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (d. 1956)
- 1869 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 1938)
- 1874 – Sir Walter Murdoch, Australian academic and essayist (d. 1970)
- 1878 – Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (d. 1950)
- 1879 – Rube Foster, American baseball player, manager and executive (d. 1930)
- 1879 – Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social Reformer (d. 1973)
- 1881 – Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (d. 1955)
- 1883 – William Carlos Williams, American writer (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d. 1920)
- 1890 – Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (d. 1972)
- 1897 – Earl Webb, baseball player (d. 1965)
- 1900 – John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d. 1985)
- 1900 – Hughie Critz, baseball player (d. 1980)
- 1901 – Francis Chichester, English adventurer (d. 1972)
- 1902 – Bea Miles, Australian eccentric and writer (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Frank O'Connor, Irish-American short-story writer (d. 1966)
- 1903 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1904 – Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Jerry Colonna, American comedian and entertainer (d. 1986)
- 1904 – Edgar G. Ulmer, Austrian-American film director (d. 1972)
- 1906 – J.R. Jayewardene, Sri Lankan politician and statesman (d. 1996)
- 1906 – Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist (d. 2010)
- 1907 – Warren Burger, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)
- 1908 – John Creasey, English crime and science fiction novelist (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Irena Kwiatkowska, Polish actress and comedian
- 1914 – Thomas J. Bata, Canadian shoemaker (Bata Shoes) (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (d. 1996)
- 1915 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter
- 1916 – Mary Stewart, English novelist
- 1918 – Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (d. 1997)
- 1920 – Dinah Sheridan, English actress
- 1922 – Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d. 1979)
- 1923 – Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953)
- 1925 – John List, American murderer (d. 2008)
- 1926 – Bill Black, American musician (d. 1965)
- 1926 – Curtis Harrington, American film director (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Jean-Marie Lustiger, French Jewish Roman Catholic Cardinal (d. 2007)
- 1927 – George Blanda, American football player
- 1928 – Roddy McDowall, English actor (d. 1998)
- 1929 – Sir Stirling Moss, English race car driver
- 1929 – Pat Crowley, American actress
- 1930 – David Huddleston, American actor
- 1930 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist
- 1930 – Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut
- 1930 – Jim Rohn, American business philosopher (d. 2009)
- 1930 – Thomas Stafford, American astronaut
- 1931 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Jean-Claude Carrière, French writer, screenwriter and actor
- 1933 – Chuck Grassley, American politician
- 1933 – Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1933 – Claude Provost, National Hockey League player (d. 1984)
- 1934 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d. 1969)
- 1935 – Ken Kesey, American author (d. 2001)
- 1937 – Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- 1938 – Bobby Wine, American Major League Baseball player
- 1939 – Shelby Flint, American singer
- 1939 – David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1940 – Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat
- 1940 – Sotiris Moustakas, Greek actor (d. 2007)
- 1941 – Stavros Damianides, Greek musician (d. 2001)
- 1941 – Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d. 2005)
- 1942 – Des Lynam, English television presenter
- 1942 – Robert Graysmith, Zodiac killer researcher
- 1944 – Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer
- 1945 – David Emerson, Canadian politician
- 1945 – Bhakti Caru Swami, Indian spiritual leader
- 1945 – Phil Jackson, American basketball player and NBA head coach
- 1945 – Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
- 1946 – Billy Bonds, English footballer
- 1947 – Tessa Jowell, British politician
- 1948 – Jeff MacNelly, American political cartoonist (d. 2000)
- 1948 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1950 – Narendra Modi, Indian politician
- 1950 – Chris Heister, Swedish politician
- 1950 – Fee Waybill, American musician (The Tubes)
- 1951 – Cassandra Peterson, American actress
- 1953 – Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
- 1954 – Joël-François Durand, French composer
- 1955 – Koralia Karanti, Greek actress
- 1955 – Charles Martinet, American actor
- 1955 – Scott Simpson, American golfer
- 1956 – Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
- 1956 – Thad Bosley. American major league baseball player
- 1956 – Rita Rudner, American comedian
- 1957 – Richie Ramone, American musician (The Ramones)
- 1958 – Tom Waddell, Scottish former Major League Baseball player
- 1959 – Charles Lawson, Northern Irish actor
- 1960 – Damon Hill, English race car driver and 1996 F1 world champion
- 1960 – Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
- 1960 – John Franco, American baseball player
- 1961 – Jim Cornette, American professional wrestling manager
- 1961 – Nives Meroi, Italian mountaineer
- 1961 – Ty Tabor, American guitarist and singer (King's X)
- 1962 – Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director
- 1962 – Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese American actor
- 1963 – Masahiro Chono, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1963 – Steven Dye, English musician (Scarlet Party), (The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1963 – Wendy Northcutt, Author of the Darwin Awards
- 1963 – Amy Roloff, American reality star
- 1963 – Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator
- 1963 – James Urbaniak, American actor
- 1965 – Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
- 1965 – Guy Picciotto, American musician (Rites of Spring, Fugazi)
- 1965 – Bryan Singer, American director
- 1965 – Kyle Chandler, American actor Early Edition
- 1966 – Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer
- 1966 – Stéphane Rousseau, Canadian humorist and actor
- 1967 – Malik Yoba, American actor
- 1968 – Anastacia, American singer
- 1968 – Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
- 1969 – Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
- 1969 – Keith Flint, British musician (The Prodigy)
- 1969 – Matthew Settle, American actor
- 1970 – Mark Brunell, American football player
- 1970 – Jim Conroy, American Voice Actor (Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman)
- 1971 – Mike Catt, English rugby player
- 1971 – Mauro Milanese, Italian footballer
- 1971 – Adriana Sklenaříková, Slovak supermodel
- 1971 – Ian Whyte (actor), Welsh actor and basketball player
- 1972 – Brian Henry, American poet
- 1972 – Bobby Lee, American comedian
- 1973 – Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
- 1973 – Demis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer
- 1974 – Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
- 1974 – Mirah, American musician
- 1974 – Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer
- 1975 – Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
- 1975 – Austin St. John, American actor
- 1975 – Constantine Maroulis, American singer
- 1976 – Daniella Rush, Czech pornographic actress
- 1977 – Simone Perrotta, Italian football player
- 1978 – Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Akin Ayodele, American football player
- 1979 – Billy Miller, American actor
- 1979 – Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
- 1979 – Steffen Algreen, Danish footballer
- 1979 – Flo Rida, American rapper
- 1980 – Danny Haren, American baseball player
- 1981 – Casey Janssen, American baseball player
- 1981 – Bakari Koné, Ivorian footballer
- 1981 – Francis Manioru, Solomon Islander sprinter
- 1982 – Hope Larson, American illustrator and cartoonist
- 1982 – Garth Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Wade Robson, Australian choreographer
- 1983 – Jennifer Peña, American singer
- 1984 – Domenico Citro, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Mary Descenza, American swimmer
- 1984 – John Kucera, Canadian alpine ski racer
- 1984 – Eugenia Volodina, Russian model
- 1985 – Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
- 1985 – Brendan Clarke, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
- 1985 – Mason Raymond, Canadian hockey player
- 1985 – José Gonçalves, Portuguese football player
- 1986 – Sanaya Irani, Indian actress
- 1987 – Paul Huntington, English footballer
- 1990 – Sean Scannell, Irish footballer
- 1991 – Ryo Ishikawa, Japanese golfer
- 2008 – Mia Talerico, American child actress
[edit] Deaths
- 456 – Remistus, Roman general of Visigothic origin
- 1179 – Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b. 1098)
- 1322 – Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
- 1422 – Constantine II of Bulgaria
- 1563 – Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier (b. 1526)
- 1574 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (b. 1519)
- 1575 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b. 1504)
- 1621 – Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (b. 1542)
- 1630 – Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
- 1665 – Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
- 1676 – Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement (b. 1626)
- 1679 – John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b. 1629)
- 1727 – Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b. 1647)
- 1762 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b. 1687)
- 1771 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b. 1721)
- 1803 – Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Austrian composer (b. 1766)
- 1808 – Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b. 1755)
- 1836 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
- 1858 – Dred Scott, American slave who unsuccessfully sued for citizenship (b. 1795)
- 1863 – Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)
- 1864 – Walter Savage Landor, English writer (b. 1775)
- 1873 – Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b. 1781)
- 1877 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photography pioneer (b. 1800)
- 1878 – Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (b. 1825)
- 1879 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
- 1894 – Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
- 1899 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist (b. 1842)
- 1904 – Raden Ayu Kartini, Indonesian national heroine (b. 1879)
- 1907 – Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist (b. 1846)
- 1908 – Henri Julien, Canadian cartoonist (b. 1852)
- 1908 – Thomas Selfridge, First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (b. 1882)
- 1909 – Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria (b. 1838)
- 1933 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese missionary (b. 1877)
- 1936 – Ettie Annie Rout, New Zealand activist (b. 1877)
- 1938 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
- 1946 – Frank Burke, American baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1948 – Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist (b. 1887)
- 1948 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (b. 1895)
- 1951 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
- 1966 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
- 1971 – Carlos Lamarca, Brazilian military turned guerrilla leader (b. 1937)
- 1972 – Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b. 1909)
- 1980 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
- 1982 – Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (b. 1937)
- 1984 – Richard Basehart, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
- 1987 – Harry Locke, British character actor (b. 1913)
- 1988 – Hilde Gueden, Austrian soprano (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
- 1992 – Roger Wagner, American choral conductor (b. 1914)
- 1993 – Christian Nyby, American film and television director (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher (b. 1902)
- 1995 – Lucien Victor, Belgian cyclist (b. 1931)
- 1996 – Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
- 1997 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Ted Binion, Las Vegas casino heir (b. 1943)
- 1998 – Geoffrey Dutton, Australian author and historian (b. 1922)
- 1998 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (b. 1907)
- 1999 – Frankie Vaughan, British singer (b. 1928)
- 2000 – Paula Yates, British TV personality (b. 1959)
- 2003 – Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
- 2005 – Jacques Lacarrière, French writer (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Alfred Reed, American composer (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist terrorist (b. 1968)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
