November 17 is the 321st day of the year (322nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 44 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
Christian Feast Day:
- Acisclus
- Aignan of Orleans
- Elisabeth of Hungary
- Gennadius of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox Church)
- Gregory of Tours (Roman Catholic Church)
- Gregory Thaumaturgus
- Hilda of Whitby
- Hugh of Lincoln
- November 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which National Survivors of Suicide Day can fall, while November 23 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday before Thanksgiving. (United States)
International Students’ Day (International)
Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day (Czech Republic and Slovakia)
History
In 474, Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of 10 months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
In 794, Japanese Emperor Kammu changes his residence from Nara to Kyoto.
In 887, Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt. His nephew Arnulf of Carinthia is elected as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
In 1183, The Battle of Mizushima.
In 1292, John Balliol becomes King of Scotland. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an interregnum during which several competitors for the Crown of Scotland put forward claims. Balliol was chosen from among them as the new King of Scotland by a group of selected noblemen headed by King Edward I of England.
In 1326, Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (b. 1285) was executed, allegedly on the instigation of Mortimer. According to a chronicle account, the use of a blunt sword was ordered, and the executioner needed 22 strokes to sever the earl’s head from his body. He was an English nobleman prominent in the conflict between Edward II and his barons. His father, Richard FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel, died on 9 March 1301, while Edmund was still a minor. He therefore became a ward of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and married Warenne’s granddaughter Alice. In 1306 he was styled Earl of Arundel, and served under Edward I in the Scottish Wars, for which he was richly rewarded.
After Edward I’s death, Arundel became part of the opposition to the new king Edward II, and his favourite Piers Gaveston. In 1311 he was one of the so-called Lords Ordainers who assumed control of government from the king. Together with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, he was responsible for the death of Gaveston in 1312. From this point on, however, his relationship to the king became more friendly. This was to a large extent due to his association with the king’s new favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger, whose daughter was married to Arundel’s son. Arundel supported the king in suppressing rebellions by Roger Mortimer and other Marcher Lords, and eventually also Thomas of Lancaster. For this he was awarded with land and offices.
His fortune changed, however, when the country was invaded in 1326 by Mortimer, who had made common cause with the king’s wife, Queen Isabella. Immediately after the capture of Edward II, the queen, Edward III‘s regent, ordered Arundel executed, his title forfeit and his property confiscated. Arundel’s son and heir Richard only recovered the title and lands in 1331, after Edward III had taken power from the regency of Isabella and Mortimer. In the 1390s, a cult emerged around the late earl. He was venerated as a martyr, though he was never canonized.
In 1511, Spain and England ally against France. Henry VIII of England concluded the Treaty of Westminster, a pledge of mutual aid against the French, with Ferdinand II of Aragon.
In 1558, Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.
In 1659, The Treaty of the Pyrenees is signed between France and Spain.
In 1777, Articles of Confederation (United States) are submitted to the states for ratification.
In 1796, French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole – French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
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In 1796, Catherine the Great, Russian wife of Peter III of Russia (b. 1729) dies of a stroke. Yekaterina Alexeyevna or Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. She was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, and came to power following a coup d’état when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalized under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognized as one of the great powers of Europe.
In both her accession to power and in rule of her empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favorites, most notably Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Pyotr Rumyantsev and Alexander Suvorov, and admirals such as Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars, and Russia colonised the vast territories of Novorossiya along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine’s former lover, king Stanisław August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russia started to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.
In 1810, Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.
In 1811, José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.
In 1820, Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica (the Palmer Peninsula is later named after him).
In 1831, Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.
In 1839, Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi‘s first opera, opens at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.
In 1855, David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia–Zimbabwe.
In 1856, American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
In 1858, Modified Julian Day zero.
In 1863, American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege.
In 1865, James McCune Smith, American physician and author (b. 1813) dies. He was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author. He is the first mixed ancestry American to hold a medical degree and graduated at the top in his class at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He was the first African American to run a pharmacy in the United States.
In addition to practicing as a doctor for nearly 20 years at the Colored Orphan Asylum in Manhattan, Smith was a public intellectual: he contributed articles to medical journals, participated in learned societies, and wrote numerous essays and articles drawing from his medical and statistical training. He used his training in medicine and statistics to refute common misconceptions about race, intelligence, medicine, and society in general. Invited as a founding member of the New York Statistics Society in 1852, which promoted a new science, he was elected as a member in 1854 of the recently founded American Geographic Society. But, he was never admitted to the American Medical Association or local medical associations.
He has been most well known for his leadership as an abolitionist; a member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with Frederick Douglass he helped start the National Council of Colored People in 1853, the first permanent national organization for blacks. Douglass said that Smith was “the single most important influence on his life.” Smith was one of the Committee of Thirteen, who organized in 1850 in New York City to resist the newly passed Fugitive Slave Law by aiding fugitive slaves through the Underground Railroad. Other leading abolitionist activists were among his friends and colleagues. From the 1840s, he lectured on race and abolitionism and wrote numerous articles to refute racist ideas about black capacities.
Both Smith and his wife were of mixed-race African and European ancestry. As he became economically successful, he built a house in a good neighborhood; in the 1860 census he and his family were classified in that neighborhood as white, whereas in 1850 they were classified as mulatto. He served for nearly 20 years as the doctor at the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York but, after it was burned down in July 1863 by a mob in the New York Draft Riots, in which nearly 100 blacks were killed, Smith moved his family and practice out to Brooklyn for safety. The parents stressed education for their children. In the 1870 census, his widow and children continued to be classified as white. To escape racial discrimination, his children passed into white society: the four surviving sons married white spouses; his unmarried daughter lived with a brother. They worked as teachers, a lawyer, and business people.
In 1869, In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
In 1871, The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.
In 1876, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s Slavonic March is given its premiere performance in Moscow, Russia.
In 1878, First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante. Armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.
In 1896, The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park Casino.
In 1903, The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for “majority”) and Mensheviks (Russian for “minority”).
In 1911, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, which is the first black Greek-lettered organization founded at an HBCU, was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
In 1919, King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea is first suggested by Edward George Honey.
In 1922, Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI goes into exile in Italy.
In 1933, United States recognizes Soviet Union.
In 1939, Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. In addition, all Czech universities are shut down and over 1200 Czech students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students’ Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic.
In 1947, The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
In 1947, American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
In 1950, Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.
In 1953, The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.
In 1957, Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region.
In 1967, Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, “We are inflicting greater losses than we’re taking…We are making progress.”
In 1968, Alexandros Panagoulis is condemned to death for attempting to assassinate Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos.
In 1968, British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.
In 1968, Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S.
In 1969, Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
In 1970, Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.
In 1970, Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
In 1973, Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors “I am not a crook.”
In 1973, The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.
In 1979, Brisbane Suburban Railway Electrification. The first stage from Ferny Grove to Darra is commissioned.
In 1982, Duk Koo Kim dies from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, prompting reforms in the sport of boxing. Mancini went through a period of reflection, as he blamed himself for Kim’s death. After friends helped him by telling him that it was just an accident, Mancini went on with his career, though still haunted by Kim’s death. His promoter, Bob Arum, said Mancini “was never the same” after Kim’s death. Two years later, Mancini lost his title to Livingstone Bramble.
Four weeks after the fatal fight, the Mike Weaver vs Michael Dokes fight at the same Caesars Palace venue ended with a technical knockout declared 63 seconds into the fight. Referee Joey Curtis admitted to stopping the fight early under orders of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which required referees to be aware of a fighter’s health, in light of the Mancini-Kim fight, and a rematch was ordered.
Kim’s mother flew from Korea to Las Vegas to be with her son before the life support equipment was turned off. Three months later, she took her own life by drinking a bottle of pesticide. The bout’s referee, Richard Green, committed suicide July 1, 1983.
Kim left behind a fiancée, Lee Young-Mee, despite rules against Korean boxers having girlfriends. At the time of Kim’s death Lee was pregnant with their son, Kim Chi-Wan, who was born in July 1983. Kim Chi-Wan became a dentist. In 2011 mother and son had a meeting with Ray Mancini as part of a documentary on the life of Mancini called The Good Son.
In 1983, The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.
In 1989, Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).
In 1990, Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts.
In 1993, United States House of Representatives passes resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement after greater authority in trade negotiations was granted to President George Bush in 1991.
In 1993, In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.
In 1997, In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre (The police then kill the assailants).
In 2000, A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
In 2000, Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.
In 2006, Ruth Brown, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1928) dies in a Las Vegas–area hospital on November 17, 2006, from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in the previous month. She was 78 years old. She was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes known as the “Queen of R&B“. She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as “So Long“, “Teardrops from My Eyes” and “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean“. For these contributions, Atlantic became known as “The house that Ruth built” (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).
Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians’ rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award.
In 2012, At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt.
In 2013, Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia.
In 2013, A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes.
In 2014, For the second month in a row, the Supreme Court (in Frost v. Van Boening) summarily and unanimously reverses an opinion authored by Ninth Circuit judge Sidney Thomas. Thomas, a native of Montana, was trotted out in 2010 as a supposed moderate candidate for the Supreme Court vacancy that Elena Kagan ended up filling, but he keeps showing that he’s really just Stephen Reinhardt dressed up in a cowboy hat.
In 2016, In an American Bar Association panel discussion, former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler candidly acknowledges that if the political roles had been reversed—if, that is, a Supreme Court vacancy had arisen in an election year in which the president was a Republican and the Senate was controlled by Democrats—she would have recommended that Senate Democrats take exactly the same course (no hearings, no vote) that Senate Republicans took on the vacancy arising from Justice Scalia’s death. Ruemmler’s remark shows that she (sensibly) rejects the “silly” and “obviously fatuous” claim by Erwin Chemerinsky, Larry Tribe, and some other law professors that the Senate had a constitutional duty to hold a hearing and vote on President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland. But neither her statement nor the obvious lack of merit of the constitutional claim will deter some from continuing to peddle it.
In 2019, The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, or at least that is the story today.
