17 February
Notable Births
Devin White
b. 1998
American football player (born 1998)
Gaetano Castrovilli
b. 1997
Italian footballer (born 1997)
Sebastian Aho (ice hockey, born 1996)
b. 1996
Swedish ice hockey player (born 1996)
Sasha Pieterse
b. 1996
American actress (born 1996)
Madison Keys
b. 1995
American tennis player (born 1995)
Mason Jobst
b. 1994
American ice hockey player (born 1994)
Marc Márquez
b. 1993
Spanish motorcycle racer (born 1993)
Meaghan Martin
b. 1992
American actress and singer (born 1992)
Phil Pressey
b. 1991
American basketball player (born 1991)
Ed Sheeran
b. 1991
English singer-songwriter (born 1991)
Jeremy Allen White
b. 1991
American actor (born 1991)
Bonnie Wright
b. 1991
English actress and filmmaker (born 1991)
Marianne St-Gelais
b. 1990
Canadian short-track speed skater
Edin Višća
b. 1990
Bosnian footballer (born 1990)
Rebecca Adlington
b. 1989
English swimmer (born 1990)
Chord Overstreet
b. 1989
American actor, singer and musician (born 1989)
Michael Frolík
b. 1988
Czech ice hockey player (born 1988)
Case Keenum
b. 1988
American football player (born 1988)
Jim Brown
b. 1936
American football player and actor (1936–2023)
Hans Morgenthau
b. 1904
American political scientist (1904–1980)
Notable Deaths
Jesse Jackson
d. 2026
American minister, activist and politician (1941–2026)
Shinya (musician)
d. 2026
Japanese musician (1970–2026)
Paquita la del Barrio
d. 2025
Mexican singer (1947–2025)
Frits Bolkestein
d. 2025
Dutch politician (1933–2025)
Rick Buckler
d. 2025
English drummer (1955–2025)
James Harrison (blood donor)
d. 2025
Australian blood donor (1936–2025)
Gamini Jayawickrama Perera
d. 2024
Sri Lankan politician (1941–2024)
Rush Limbaugh
d. 2021
American political commentator (1951–2021)
Seif Sharif Hamad
d. 2021
First Vice President of Zanzibar (1943–2021)
Robert H. Michel
d. 2017
American politician (1923–2017)
Michael Novak
d. 2017
American academic and diplomat (1933–2017)
Andy Ganteaume
d. 2016
Trinidadian cricketer
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
d. 2016
Egyptian journalist (1923-2016)
Claude Jeancolas
d. 2016
French writer, art historian and journalist (1949–2016)
Tony Phillips
d. 2016
American baseball player (1959–2016)
Andrzej Żuławski
d. 2016
Polish film director (1940–2016)
John Barrow (Canadian football)
d. 2015
American gridiron football player (1935–2015)
Cathy Ubels-Veen
d. 2015
Dutch politician (1928–2015)
Liu Yudi
d. 2015
Bob Casale
d. 2014
American musician (1952–2014)
On This Day in History
All 51 ›
2016
Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 29 people and injuring 61 others.
February 2016 Ankara bombing
2015
Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.
2015 Haiti Carnival stampede
2011
Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.
Arab Spring
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.
Bahrain
2008
Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
Kosovo
2006
A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
2006 Southern Leyte mudslide
1996
In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
Philadelphia
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.
NASA
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.
1996 Biak earthquake
1995
The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.
Cenepa War
1992
First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
1991
Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, killing both pilots, the aircraft's only occupants.
Ryan International Airlines Flight 590
1980
First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
Mount Everest
1979
The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
Sino-Vietnamese War
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.
The Troubles
1974
Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1974 White House helicopter incident
1972
Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
Volkswagen Beetle
1970
The family of Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, is found murdered in their home in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Eventually, MacDonald himself was charged with and convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.
Jeffrey R. MacDonald
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.
Berry L. Cannon
1966
Aeroflot Flight 065 crashes during take-off from Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing 21.
Aeroflot Flight 065