On This Day — 17 October
2000s
2023
An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war.
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion
2019
Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest.
Culiacán
2019
The 17 October Revolution starts in Lebanon.
17 October Revolution
2018
The recreational use of cannabis is legalized in Canada.
Cannabis Act (Canada)
2018
A mass shooting and bombing at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea kills 21 people including the attacker and injures 70 others.
Kerch Polytechnic College massacre
2017
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last foothold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Raqqa, marking the end of the Battle of Raqqa.
Syrian civil war
2004
A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.
Parque Central Complex fire
2001
Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by Hamdi Quran, a member of the PFLP, thus becoming the highest-ranking Israeli to be killed by a Palestinian.
Rehavam Ze'evi
2000
The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack.
Hatfield rail crash
1900s
1994
Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.
Dmitry Kholodov
1992
Having gone to the wrong house, Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Killing of Yoshihiro Hattori
1991
Rudrapur bombings by Sikh separatists, who explode two bombs, during a Ramlila Hindu celebration in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, killing 41 people.
1991 Rudrapur bombings
1989
The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63.
Seismic magnitude scales
1989
The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.
Erich Honecker
1988
Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashes at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, in Rome, Italy, killing 33 people.
Uganda Airlines Flight 775
1980
As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican.
Holy See–United Kingdom relations
1979
Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mother Teresa
1979
The Department of Education Organization Act creates the U.S. Department of Education.
Department of Education Organization Act
1977
The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.
Lufthansa Flight 181
1973
OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
1973 oil crisis
1970
FLQ terrorists murder Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte.
October Crisis
1969
The Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence is stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo.
Caravaggio
1966
The 23rd Street Fire in New York City kills 12 firefighters.
23rd Street Fire
1965
The 1964–65 New York World's Fair closes after two years and more than 51 million attendees.
1964 New York World's Fair
1961
Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters.
Maurice Papon
1961
The first attempt of the apartheid analogy by Ahmad Shukeiri.
Israeli apartheid
1956
The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.
Sellafield
1952
Indonesian Army elements surrounded the Merdeka Palace demanding President Sukarno disband the Provisional People's Representative Council.
17 October affair
1945
A large demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, demands Juan Perón's release.
Loyalty Day (Argentina)
1943
The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed.
Burma Railway
1943
Nazi Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.
Sobibor extermination camp
1941
World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat.
World War II
1940
The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg is found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.
Willi Münzenberg
1933
Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
Albert Einstein
1931
Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.
Al Capone
1919
Leeds United F.C. founded at Salem Chapel, Holbeck after the winding up of Leeds City F.C. for making illegal payments to players during World War I
Leeds United F.C.
1912
Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.
First Balkan War
1907
Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service.
Marconi Company
1800s
1861
Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.
Cullin-la-ringo massacre
1860
First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).
The Open Championship
1850
Riots start, which lead to a massacre in Aleppo.
Massacre of Aleppo (1850)
1814
Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.
London Beer Flood
1811
The silver deposits of Agua Amarga are discovered in Chile becoming in the following years instrumental for the Patriots to finance the Chilean War of Independence.
Agua Amarga
1806
Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
1800
War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.
Invasion of Curaçao (1800)
Before 1800
1797
Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria, ending the War of the First Coalition.
Treaty of Campo Formio
1781
American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
Siege of Yorktown
1777
American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.
American Revolutionary War
1771
Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15.
Ascanio in Alba
1713
Great Northern War: Russia defeats Sweden in the Battle of Kostianvirta in Pälkäne.
Great Northern War
1662
Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV of France for 40,000 pounds.
Charles II of England
1660
The nine regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered.
List of regicides of Charles I of England
1610
French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral.
Louis XIII
1604
Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
Kepler's Supernova
1558
Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded.
Polish Post
1534
Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass.
Affair of the Placards
1456
The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe.
University of Greifswald
1448
An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo.
Battle of Kosovo (1448)
1346
The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years.
David II of Scotland
1091
London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.
London tornado of 1091
690
Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.
Wu Zetian