History of 17th January

38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla.
1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.
1377 - Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
1501 - Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna
1524 - Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China.
1536 - Francois Rabelais absolved of apostasy by Pope Paul III
1562 - Edict of St Germain recognizes Huguenots in France
1584 - Bohemia adopts Gregorian calendar
1595 - French king Henri IV declares war on Spain
1595 - Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
1601 - France gains Bresse, Bugey, Valromey & Gex in treaty with Spain
1605 - First publication of Don Quixote.
1656 - Brandenburg & Sweden sign Treaty of Königsberg
1718 - Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switz; kills 53
1746 - Battle of Falkirk, Scotland-Edward I defeats & massacres Scots
1757 - German Diet declares war on Prussia
1773 - Capt James Cook becomes 1st to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S)
1775 - 9 old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests, Kalisk, Pol
1775 - R B Sheridan's "Rivals," premieres in London
1779 - Capt Cooks last notation in ship's log Discovery
1799 - Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, was executed.
1821 - Mexico permits Moses Austin & 300 US families to settle in Texas
1827 - Duke of Wellington appointed British supreme commander
1832 - Johannes van den Bosch appointed gov-gen of Dutch-Indies
1852 - British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)
1861 - Flush toilet patented by Mr Thomas Crapper (Honest!)
1862 - -Jan 22nd) BBT Ft Henry, TN by USS Lexington
1863 - Civil War skirmish near Newtown, Virginia
1864 - General Longstreet's command ends heavy fighting at Dandridgem TN
1871 - 1st cable car patented, by Andrew S Hallidie (begins service in 1873)
1873 - A group of Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War.
1874 - Armed Democrats seize Texas govt ending Radical Reconstruction
1882 - 1st Dutch female physician Aletta Jacobs opens office
1885 - Brits beat Mahdists at Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan
1893 - -17°F (-27°C), Millsboro, Delaware (state record)
1893 - Queen Liliuokalani deposed, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic
1895 - French president Casimir-Perier resigns
1895 - Félix Faure installed as president of France
1899 - US takes possession of Wake Island in Pacific
1904 - Anton Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard" opens at Moscow Art Theater
1905 - Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago
1911 - Failed assassination attempt on premier Briand in French Assembly
1911 - Percy Mackaye's "Scarecrow," premieres in NYC
1912 - Robert Scott expedition arrives at South Pole, 1 month after Amundsen
1913 - Raymond Poincaré elected president of France
1914 - Gerhart Hauptmann's "Der Bogen des Odysseus," premieres in Berlin
1915 - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek's Hospital in Amsterdam opens
1915 - Russia occupies Bukovina & Western Ukraine
1916 - 1st PGA Championship: Jim Barnes at Siwanoy CC Bronxville NY
1916 - Professional Golfer Assn (PGA) forms in NYC
1917 - US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands (or 3/21)
1920 - Paul Deschanel elected president of France
1923 - Belgian Working people Party protest against occupied Ruhrgebied
1923 - Origin of Brown lunation numbers
1926 - George Burns marries Gracie Allen
1928 - 1st fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented
1929 - Popeye makes 1st appearance, in comic strip "Thimble Theater"
1933 - Bradman takes second Test wicket, Hammond, bowled
1934 - Carl Hubbell, NL MVP winner, gets $18,000 contract by the NY Giants
1934 - Electric Home & Farm Authority incorporated
1934 - NY Giants reward MVP pitcher Carl Hubbell with $18,000 contract
1938 - Supreme Soviet elects Michail Kalinin as presidium chairman
1939 - Ed Barrow is elected Yankee president succeeding deceased J Ruppert
1941 - Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.
1943 - Tin Can Drive Day
1944 - Korvet Violet sinks U-641 in Atlantic Ocean
1945 - Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation
1945 - Gilbert Dodds, record miler (4:05.3), retires to do gospel work
1945 - Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops (end of Nazi occupation)
1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, arrested by secret police in Hungary
1946 - United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting
1947 - Muiden Neth ammunition factory explodes, 16 die
1948 - Netherlands & Indonesia agree to a cease fire
1948 - Trial of 11 US Communist party members begins in NYC
1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.
1950 - "Alive & Kicking" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 46 perfs
1950 - 11 men rob Brink's office in Boston of $1.2M cash & $1.5M securities
1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Company's offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
1951 - China refuses ceases-fire in Korea
1954 - Jacques Cousteau's 1st network telecast airs on "Omnibus" (CBS)
1954 - NFL Pro Bowl: East beats West 20-9
1954 - Suggs Louise wins LPGA Sea Island Golf Open (Cloister)
1955 - Submarine Nautilus begins 1st nuclear-powered test voyage
1957 - 9-county commission recommends creation of BART
1957 - Cavern Club opens (home of Beatles' 1st appearance)
1959 - "Say, Darling" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 332 performances
1960 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Sea Island Women's Golf Invitational
1960 - NFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 38-21
1961 - Eisenhower allegedly orders assassination of Congo's Lumumba
1961 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".
1962 - A NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,690 m
1962 - Roy Harris' 8th Symphony, premieres in SF
1963 - Joe Walker takes X-15 to altitude of 82 km
1963 - Wilt Chamberlain of NBA SF Warriors scores 67 points vs LA
1966 - B-52/KC-135 tankers crash near Spanish coast at Palomares, 7 die
1966 - Martin Luther King Jr opens campaign in Chicago
1968 - Soyuz 4 & 5 completed 1st docking of 2 manned spacecraft
1969 - Beatles release Yellow Submarine album in UK
1969 - Debut album of Led Zeppelin released in US
1969 - Soyuz 5 lands

1970 - 357 baseball players are available in the free-agent draft
1970 - AFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 26-3
1970 - John M Burgess installed as bishop of Protestant Episcopals (Mass)
1970 - Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s
1971 - Super Bowl V: Balt Colts-16, Dallas Cowboys-13 in Miami Superbowl MVP: Chuck Howley, Dallas, LB
1972 - Section of Memphis' Highway 51 South renamed Elvis Presley Blvd
1973 - City of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi
1973 - New Philippine constitution names Marcos president for life
1974 - Styne, Comdem & Green's musical "Lorelei," premieres in NYC
1976 - "I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow hits #1
1976 - Hermes rocket launched by European Space Agency
1977 - KC releases Tommy Davis, ends an 18-year career with 10 teams
1977 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 24-14
1977 - Zaire president Mobutu visits Belgium
1979 - NY Islanders didn't get a shot off in 1 period against NY Rangers
1979 - Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran
1979 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1980 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-3
1981 - Philippino president Marcos ends state of siege
1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
1983 - 10th American Music Award: Kenny Rogers
1983 - Alabama Gov George C Wallace, becomes governor for record 4th time
1983 - Nigeria expels 2 million illegal aliens, mostly Ghanaians
1984 - Supreme Court rules (5-4) oks private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
1985 - Azharuddin scores second Test century in second Test (v England)
1986 - Tim Witherspoon beats Tony Tubbs in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1987 - Pres Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran
1988 - "Teddy & Alice" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 77 performances
1988 - Leslie Manigay elected president of Haiti
1989 - Al Arbour wins his 600th NHL game as coach
1989 - Gunman opens fire in Calif schoolyard; 5 students slain, 30 wounded
1989 - Murden & Metz are 1st women to reach South Pole overland (on skis)
1989 - Phoenix Suns cancel game at Miami Heat, due to racial unrest in Miami
1990 - 5th Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards: Bobby Darin
1990 - Dave Stewart signs record $3,500,000 per year Oak A's contract
1990 - Who, Simon & Garfunkel, 4 Seasons, 4 Tops, Hank Ballard, Platters &
1990 - Kinks inducted into Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1991 - Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles on Israel
1991 - Mountie Jacques Rougeau beats Hart for WWF intercontinental title
1991 - Operation Desert Storm begins-US led allies vs Iraq
1991 - Operation Desert Storm: 1st US pilot shot down (Jeffrey Zahn)
1991 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
1992 - Sarah Ferguson attends dinner of Everglades club (club excludes Jews)
1993 - 14th ACE Cable Awards: HBO wins 32 awards
1993 - Russian Irina Privalova cycles world record 300m indoor (35.45")
1994 - 6.6 Earthquake hits Los Angeles killing 60, $30B in damage
1994 - Liz Taylor released from the hospital after hip treatment
1995 - "Carousel" closes at Beaumont Theater NYC after 322 performances
1995 - 7.2 earthquake destroys Kobe Japan (5,372 die)
1995 - Australia beat Australia A 2-0 to win the World Series Cup
1995 - LA Rams announce that they are moving to St Louis
1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
1997 - NBA suspends Dennis Rodman indefinitely/$25,000 for kicking cameraman
1998 - Pres Clinton faces sexual harrament charges from Paula Jones
2001 - President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Meriwether Lewis' rank from Lieutenant to Captain.
2002 - Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2007 - The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.