17 October History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1244    -    The Sixth Crusade ends when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilates the Frankish army at Gaza.
  • 1529    -    Henry VIII of England strips Thomas Wolsey of his office for failing to secure an annulment of his marriage.
  • 1346    -    English forces defeat the Scots under David II during the Battle of Neville's Cross, Scotland.
  • 1691    -    Maine and Plymouth are incorporated in Massachusetts.
  • 1777    -    British Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne surrenders 5,000 men at Saratoga, N.Y.
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  • 1815    -    Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he has been banished by the Allies.
  • 1849    -    Composer and pianist Frederic Chopin dies in Paris of tuberculosis at the age of 39.
  • 1863    -    General Ulysses S. Grant is named overall Union Commander of the West.
  • 1877    -    Brigadier General Alfred Terry meets with Sitting Bull in Canada to discuss the Indians' return to the United States.
  • 1913    -    Zeppelin LII explodes over London, killing 28.
  • 1933    -    Due to rising anti-Semitism and anti-intellectualism in Hitler's Germany, Albert Einstein immigrates to the United States. He makes his new home in Princeton, N.J.
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  • 1941    -    The U.S. destroyer Kearney is damaged by a German U-boat torpedo off Iceland; 11 Americans are killed.
  • 1956    -    The nuclear power station Calder Hall is opened in Britain. Calder Hall is the first nuclear station to feed an appreciable amount of power into a civilian network.
  • 1972    -    Peace talks between Pathet Lao and Royal Lao government begin in Vietnam.
  • 1989    -    The worst earthquake in 82 years strikes San Francisco bay area minutes before the start of a World Series game there. The earthquake registers 6.9 on the Richter scale–67 are killed and damage is estimated at $10 billion.

  • 17 October Birthdays

  • 1821    -    Alexander Gardner, American photographer who documented the Civil War and the West.
  • 1859    -    Childe Hassam, American impressionist painter and illustrator.
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  • 1895    -    Doris Humphrey, modern dance choreographer.
  • 1903    -    Nathaneal West, novelist and screenwriter (Miss Lonely Hearts, The Day of the Locust).
  • 1915    -    Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge).
  • 1918    -    Rita Hayworth, film actress.
  • 1930    -    Jimmy Breslin, columnist and novelist.
  • 1938    -    Evel Knievel, U.S. daredevil motorcycle stunt man