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 48th 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, 28,995,840 minutes 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.
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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.
Do people and celebrities interest you? Discover all the February 17 famous birthdays who share your special day. Learn some fun facts about your birthday!
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February 17 Historical Events
- 1370 –Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
- 1864 –American Civil War: The Ship becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
- 1865 –American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
- 1933 –Newsweek magazine is published for the first time.
- 1959 –Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
- 1968 –In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
- 1969 –New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Earth Rooster in Chinese astrology.
- 1979 –The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
- 1996 –In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
- 1998 –Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops kill 70–90 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı.
Who were born on February 17?
- 1864 –Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (d. 1929)
- 1933 –Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007)
- 1948 –José José, Mexican singer and actor
- 1948 –Rick Majerus, American basketball coach
- 1955 –Mo Yan, Chinese novelist
- 1956 –Richard Karn, American actor
- 1972 –Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
- 1972 –Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)
- 1972 –Yuki Isoya, Japanese singer (Judy and Mary)
- 1991 –Bonnie Wright, English actress
Who died on February 17?
- 1371 –Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
- 1680 –Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist (b. 1637)
- 1919 –Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
- 1962 –Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1982 –Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (b. 1922)
- 1990 –Erik Rhodes, American actor (b. 1906)
- 1994 –Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951)
- 2007 –Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born musician, producer and songwriter (b. 1943)
- 2009 –Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter (b. 1922)
- 2009 –Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (b. 1931)
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