What are the important events that happened on February 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 17 is the 48^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 4, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,739,750,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘tetracontaoctagon’ day.

Aquarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 365 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,441 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 17 Historical Events

• 1370 –
  Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
• 1904 –
  Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
• 1931 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Metal Sheep in Chinese astrology.
• 1933 –
  Newsweek magazine is published for the first time.
• 1933 –
  The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
• 1964 –
  In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
• 1968 –
  In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
• 1995 –
  The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.
• 1998 –
  Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops kill 70–90 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı.
• 2006 –
  A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.

Who were born on February 17?

• 1718 –
  Matthew Tilghman, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790)
• 1820 –
  Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898)
• 1820 –
  Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881)
• 1821 –
  Lola Montez, Irish dancer (d. 1861)
• 1863 –
  Fyodor Sologub, Russian symbolist novelist and poet (d. 1927)
• 1877 –
  Isidora Sekulić, Serbian prose writer, novelist and essayist (d. 1958)
• 1893 –
  Wally Pipp, American baseball player (d. 1965)
• 1914 –
  Wayne Morris, American actor (d. 1959)
• 1968 –
  Bryan Cox, American football player
• 1972 –
  LG Petrov, Swedish singer (Entombed)

Who died on February 17?

• 1856 –
  Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
• 1883 –
  Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1845)
• 1890 –
  Christopher Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)
• 1905 –
  William Bickerton, Mormon prophet (b. 1815)
• 1961 –
  Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)
• 1997 –
  Zein Isa, Palestinian militant
• 1998 –
  Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (b. 1921)
• 2001 –
  Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)
• 2004 –
  José López Portillo, President of Mexico (b. 1920)
• 2009 –
  Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (b. 1931)