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

November 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

November 17 is the 321^st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 44 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is November 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, 489,816 hours 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 ‘trihectaicosahenagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 92 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 4,714 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

November 17 Historical Events

• 794 –
  Japanese Emperor Kammu changes his residence from Nara to Kyoto.
• 1603 –
  English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
• 1812 –
  Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi.
• 1871 –
  The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.
• 1947 –
  The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
• 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.
• 1969 –
  Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
• 1970 –
  Luna program: 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.
• 1982 –
  Duk Koo Kim dies unexpectedly from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, Nevada, prompting reforms in the sport of boxing.
• 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).

Who were born on November 17?

• 1868 –
  Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist (d. 1918)
• 1887 –
  Bernard Montgomery, British World War II commander (d. 1976)
• 1901 –
  Walter Hallstein, German politician (d. 1982)
• 1945 –
  Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
• 1946 –
  Martin Barre, English rock musician (Jethro Tull)
• 1961 –
  Robert Stethem, U.S. Navy Seabee diver murdered by terrorists on TWA Flight 847 (d. 1985)
• 1976 –
  Brandon Call, American actor
• 1978 –
  Glen Air, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1982 –
  Lucy Durack, Australian Singer/Performer
• 1983 –
  Christopher Paolini, American novelist

Who died on November 17?

• 1600 –
  Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander (b. 1542)
• 1794 –
  Jacques François Dugommier, French general (b. 1738)
• 1929 –
  Herman Hollerith, American statistician (b. 1860)
• 1959 –
  Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
• 1973 –
  Mirra Alfassa, “The Mother”, Sri Aurobindo Ashram (b. 1878)
• 1979 –
  John Glascock, British bassist (Jethro Tull) (b. 1951)
• 1990 –
  Peter Schilperoort, Dutch musician Dutch Swing College Band (b. 1919)
• 2003 –
  Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi artist (b. 1962)
• 2004 –
  Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (b. 1970)
• 2011 –
  Kurt Budke, American basketball coach (b. 1961)