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

• 1659 –
  The Peace of the Pyrenees is signed between France and Spain.
• 1869 –
  In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
• 1919 –
  King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea is first suggested by Edward George Honey.
• 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.
• 1967 –
  Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, US 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.”
• 1970 –
  Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.
• 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.
• 2000 –
  Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.
• 2009 –
  Administrators at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia discover their servers had been hacked and thousands of emails and files on climate change had been stolen, which would serve as the basis of the “Climategate” controversy.

Who were born on November 17?

• 1503 –
  Agnolo di Cosimo, Italian painter (d. 1572)
• 1816 –
  August Wilhelm Ambros, Austrian composer (d. 1876)
• 1928 –
  Rance Howard, American actor
• 1937 –
  Peter Cook, British comedian (d. 1995)
• 1953 –
  Babis Tennes, Greek football manager
• 1964 –
  Susan Rice, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
• 1966 –
  Sophie Marceau, French actress
• 1976 –
  Brandon Call, American actor
• 1980 –
  Isaac Hanson, American musician (Hanson)
• 1984 –
  Park Han-byul, South Korean actress

Who died on November 17?

• 1326 –
  Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (b. 1285)
• 1494 –
  Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (b. 1463)
• 1708 –
  Ludolf Backhuysen, Dutch painter (b. 1631)
• 1796 –
  Catherine II of Russia, Empress of Russia (b. 1729)
• 1982 –
  Eduard Tubin, Estonian composer (b. 1905)
• 1988 –
  Sheilah Graham Westbrook, English-US gossip columnist (b. 1904)
• 1995 –
  Alan Hull, English Rock Musician (Lindisfarne) (b. 1945)
• 2003 –
  Arthur Conley, American singer (b. 1946)
• 2008 –
  Pete Newell, American basketball coach (b. 1915)
• 2011 –
  Olin Branstetter, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)