What Happened on November 17
Significant Events
- 1558 Elizabeth I aged 25 ascends English throne upon death of her half sister Queen "Bloody" Mary
- 1800 Congress holds its 1st session in Washington D.C. in an incomplete Capitol Building
- 1831 Ecuador and Venezuela separated from Greater Colombia
- 1855 David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls, in what is now Zambia and Zimbabwe
- 1869 Suez Canal in Egypt opens, linking Mediterranean and Red seas
- 1922 The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire Mehmed VI is expelled to Malta on British warship
- 1970 Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse
Famous Birthdays
Vespasian
(9 - 79)
Louis XVIII
(1755 - 1824)
Bernard Montgomery
(1887 - 1976)
Gordon Lightfoot
79 Years Old
Martin Scorsese
75 Years Old
Lorne Michaels
73 Years Old
Would You Believe?
US President Richard Nixon tells AP "...people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook"
On November 17, 1973
Famous Weddings
- 1749 Founding Father of the United States Roger Sherman (28) weds first wife Elizabeth Hartwell in Massachusetts
- 1934 Lyndon B. Johnson marries Claudia Alta Taylor
- 1950 Writer Jack Kerouac (28) weds Joan Haverty
- 1978 Gerald Lascelles, British aristocrat and son of Princess Mary weds 2nd wife Elizabeth Collingwood in Vienna
- 2003 Singer Blake Shelton (27) weds Kaynette Williams in Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Famous Divorces
- 1995 Retired MLB player Johnny Bench (47) divorces Laura Cwikowski after nearly 8 years of marriage
Gregory of Tours
Thomas Pelham-Holles
Catherine the Great
Auguste Rodin
Robert HofstadterNovember in History
The War's Over, But Don't Get Too Excited
It was 'the war to end all wars' that came to a weary climax on this day. But this was no time to lose your inhibitions, at least not for one famous Englishman.
November 11, 1918
All Eyes on Birthplace of British Rock 'n' Roll
Tommy Steele, Britain's first rock 'n' roll star, was discovered on this day at a coffee bar in central London, appearing live on the BBC's first pop music show.
November 16, 1957
Words That Echoed Down The Decades
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered on this day, was as short and simple as it was immensely powerful and memorable.
November 19, 1863
Bare Bones of the Great Ape-Man Hoax
On this day the Piltdown Man skull, which had been hailed as the missing link proving an evolutionary relationship between man and apes, was revealed as a hoax.
November 21, 1953