Historical Events on September 17

Events 1 - 200 of 247

• 642 Arab forces under Amr ibn al-'As conquer Alexandria

• 1176 At the Battle of Myriokephalon the Byzantines fail to recover Anatolia from Turkish rule.
• 1394 Jews are expelled from France by order of King Charles VI
• 1462 The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
• 1562 Council of Trente takes ecclesiastical canon
• 1584 Gent surrenders to Duke of Parma

• 1598 Dutch sailors discover island of Mauritius
• 1631 Battle of Breitenfeld: King Gustaaf Adolf of Sweden defeats Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly.
• 1644 French troops occupy Mainz
• 1678 France & Spain sign Treaties of Nijmegen
• 1683 Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first to report the existence of bacteria
• 1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony granted new charter
• 1730 Turkish coup under Mahmud I; Sultan Ahmed III flees
• 1737 Georg-August University opens in Göttingen


• 1745 Edinburgh occupied by Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart (aka the Young Pretender or Bonny Prince Charlie)
• 1776 The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
• 1778 1st treaty between the US & Indian tribes signed (Fort Pitt)
• 1787 Prussian troops conquer Gorinchem

• 1809 Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
• 1819 First whaling ship arrives in Hawaii

• 1850 Fourth great fire in San Francisco

• 1861 First class for escaped slaves taught by Mary Peake at Fortress Monroe Virginia (now Hampton University).
• 1862 Battle of Antietam [Battle of Sharpsburg], bloodiest day in the American Civil War: 22,000 dead, wounded or missing in first battle on Union soil
• 1862 Battle of Cumberland Gap, TN-evacuted by Federals
• 1862 Battle of Mumfordville, Kentucky, US Col J Wilder surrenders city
• 1862 American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war; 78 workers killed.
• 1863 Pope Pius IX encyclical On persecution in New Grenada
• 1864 American Civil War: Grant approves Sheridan's plan for Shenandoah Valley Campaign
• 1871 Mont Cenis railway tunnel Switzerland opens
• 1872 Phillip W Pratt patents his sprinkler system for extinguishing fires
• 1873 19 students attend opening class at Ohio State University
• 1876 Race riots in South Carolina
• 1897 3rd US Golf Open: Joe Lloyd shoots a 162 at Chicago GC in Wheaton Ill


• 1899 1st British troops leave Bombay for South Africa
• 1900 Commonwealth of Australia proclaimed
• 1900 Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
• 1900 USA, Anthracite coal miners go out on strike for better wages until the October 25, by which time the owners are persuaded that their stand is harming President McKinley's campaign
• 1901 Battle of Blood River Port: Boer Gen Botha beats Major Gough's cavalry
• 1901 Battle at Elands River Port: Boer Gen Smuts destroys unit 17th Lancers
• 1902 US protests anti-semitism in Romania
• 1903 Boston Pilgrims clinch AL pennant, beating Cleveland, 14-3

• 1908 Thomas Selfridge becomes first fatality of powered flight
• 1909 Denis Peyrony and Louis Capitan discover the skull of an adult male Neanderthal (La Ferrassie 1) during excavations in a rock shelter near La Ferrassie, France
• 1911 1st transcontinental airplane flight, NY-Pasadena in 82 hrs 4 min
• 1912 Center fielder Casey Stengel breaks in with Brooklyn & hits 4 singles
• 1914 Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
• 1916 40,000 Amsterdam demonstrators demand general voting right

• 1920 Cards set a record of 12 consecutive hits in 4th (10) & 5th (2) innings
• 1920 National Football League is born in Canton, Ohio; 12 teams pay $100 each to join American Professional Football Association; re-named the NFL in 1922
• 1922 Cyclist Piet Moeskops becomes world sprint champ
• 1922 Radio Moscow begins transmitting (12 KWs-most powerful station)
• 1923 Sutton Vane's "Outward Bound," premieres in London
• 1924 Italy signs treaty of Rapallo
• 1926 Hurricane hits Miami & Palm Beach Florida; about 450 die

• 1927 US Men's National Tennis Championship, Forest Hills NY: Frenchman Rene Lacoste successfully defends title; beats Bill Tilden 11-9, 6-3, 11-9
• 1928 Hurricane hits Lake Okeechobee Florida drowning 1,800-2500
• 1928 Pitcher Ray Boggs hits 3 batters in 1 inning
• 1928 48th U.S. Men's National Championship: Henri Cochet beats Francis Hunter (4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3)
• 1929 British troops begin withdrawal from occupied Germany
• 1931 1st LP record demonstrated (RCA Victor, NYC), venture failed
• 1931 Operetta "Viktoria & Her Hussar" by Paul Abraham (adapted for English by Harry Graham) premieres in London at Palace Theatre h
• 1931 Red Sox Earl Webb sets record with 65 en route to 67 doubles

• 1934 USSR joins League of Nations (Netherland, Switzerland & Portugal vote no)

• 1937 1st NFL game in Washington, D.C.; Redskins beat NY Giants 13-3

• 1939 German U-29 sinks British aircraft carrier Courageous, 519 die
• 1939 Poland's President Ignacy Mościck and Prime Minister Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski flee to Romania
• 1939 Soviet Union invades Eastern Poland allowing Germans to advance West, taking 217,000 Poles prisoner, without a formal declaration of war
• 1939 Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6

• 1939 53rd U.S. Women's National Championship: Alice Marble beats Helen Jacobs (6-0, 8-10, 6-4)
• 1940 Nazis deprive Jews of possessions

• 1941 World War II: A decree issued by the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch "Universal compulsory military training of the citizens of the USSR" in the face of the "Great Patriotic War"
• 1941 The New Zealand Labour Party abolishes the death penalty (It is reintroduced by the National government in 1950 before being finally removed from the statute book in 1961)

• 1943 Load of "ammunition in transit" explodes at Norfolk Naval Air Station
• 1943 World War II: Soviet city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.

• 1944 Dutch begin railroad strike against German occupiers
• 1944 Operation Market Garden: In the largest airborne operation of WWII, Allied paratroopers land in the Netherlands in a failed attempt to capture the Arnhem bridge over the Rhine
• 1946 "Gypsy Lady" opens at Century Theater NYC for 79 performances
• 1946 "If the Shoe Fits" opens at Century Theater NYC for 20 performances

• 1947 James Forrestal sworn in as 1st US Secretary of Defense
• 1948 KCOP TV channel 13 in Los Angeles/Hollywood, CA (IND) begins
• 1948 WLS TV channel 7 in Chicago, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1949 128 die as fire guts Canadian passenger steamer Noronic in Toronto
• 1949 Ryder Cup Golf, Ganton GC: US beats Great Britain, 7-5; Americans win 6 of 8 singles matches to claim victory
• 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Council meets for 1st time
• 1949 WFAA TV channel 8 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1949 3rd Cannes Film Festival: "The Third Man" directed by Carol Reed wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
• 1950 San Francisco 49ers (formerly AAFC) play 1st NFL game, lose 21-17
• 1951 "Borscht Capades" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 90 performances
• 1951 Romanian bishop A Pacha of Timisoara sentenced to 18 years
• 1952 "I am an American Day" & "Constitution Day" renamed "Citizenship Day"


• 1953 1st successful separation of Siamese (conjoined) twins

• 1955 "Ankles Aweigh" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 176 performances
• 1955 Future Hall of Famer Oriole Brooks Robinson goes 2-4 in his 1st game
• 1956 Black students enter Clay Ky elementary school
• 1956 Yanks clinch pennant #22 on Mantle's 50th homer of year
• 1956 Television is first broadcast in Australia.
• 1957 KETV TV channel 7 in Omaha, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1957 Scott Crossfield takes X-15 up for 1st powered flight
• 1957 Thailand military coup under marshal Sarit Thanarat

• 1957 The North East Humanists group is founded in Newcastle upon Tyne.
• 1958 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1959 59th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Jack Nicklaus
• 1959 Transit 1A, 1st navigational satellite launched; failed to orbit
• 1959 Typhoon kills 2,000 in Japan & Korea
• 1960 "Vintage '60" closes at Brooks Atkinson Theater NYC after 8 performances
• 1960 Cuba nationalizes US banks
• 1960 80th U.S. Men's National Championship: Neale Fraser beats Rod Laver (6-4, 6-4, 9-7)
• 1960 74th U.S. Women's National Championship: Darlene Hard beats Maria Bueno (6-4, 10-12, 6-4)
• 1961 "Car 54, Where are You?" premieres on US TV
• 1961 Minnesota Vikings' 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13)

• 1961 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

• 1962 Justice Department files 1st suit to end segregation in public schools
• 1962 US space officials announce selection of 9 new astronauts
• 1963 "The Fugitive" starring David Janssen premieres on ABC TV
• 1963 Train struck makeshift bus full of migrant workers, killing 32
• 1964 "Bewitched" premieres on ABC TV
• 1964 Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 for a concert (Kansas)

• 1964 Supremes release "Baby Love"
• 1965 WPHL TV channel 17 in Philadelphia, PA (IND) begins broadcasting
• 1965 CBS premiere of WWII sitcom "Hogan's Heroes"
• 1966 Cleve pitchers set AL record striking out 19 batters in 1st 9 innings
• 1966 "Mission Impossible" premieres on CBS-TV
• 1967 Mount Washington cog railway train derails, kills 8 (NH)


• 1967 New Orleans Saints 1st NFL game, they lose to LA Rams 27-13
• 1968 Gaylord Perry (Giants) no-hits St Louis Cardinals, 1-0
• 1968 Zond 5 completes circumnavigation of Moon
• 1970 Jordan launches offensive against guerrilla army
• 1970 WSWP TV channel 9 in Grandview, WV (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1972 "M*A*S*H," premieres on CBS TV
• 1972 BART begins passenger service in San Francisco
• 1972 Tanzania troops march in to Uganda
• 1974 Courageous (US) beats Southern Cross (Aust) in 23rd America's Cup
• 1975 Rollout of 1st space shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101)
• 1976 Amnesty International receives Erasmus-prize
• 1976 NASA publicly unveils space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, California, named after Star Trek Enterprise with cast attending

• 1977 Ryder Cup Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes: US wins 12½-7½; last time a Great Britain & Ireland team competes for Ryder Cup
• 1977 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
• 1977 Dave Kingman hits his 1st Yankee homer, Reggie hits 2 more
• 1977 Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" is #1 for 19th straight week
• 1978 30th Emmy Awards: All in the Family, Ed Asner & Sada Thompson win

• 1978 Red Sox finally beat Yanks in Sept 1978, 7-3
• 1979 Pietro Mennea runs world record 200 m (19.72")

• 1980 Iraq under Saddam Hussein signs accord with Algeria
• 1980 South Korea opposition leader Kim Dae Jung sentenced to death
• 1980 Oak A's Rick Langford is removed with 2 outs in 9th inning ending his consecutive complete-game streak at 22
• 1980 Iraq breaks 1975 treaty with Iran and proclaims sovereignty over Shatt al-Arab waterway

• 1981 Fernando Valenzuela sets NL rookie record with 8th shutout of season
• 1983 Chicago White Sox clinch their 1st-ever AL West championship
• 1983 Vanessa Williams (NY), 20, crowned 56th Miss America 1984, 1st black
• 1983 8th Toronto International Film Festival: "The Big Chill" directed by Lawrence Kasdan wins the People's Choice Award

• 1984 Dwight Gooden ties record of 32 strikeouts in consecutive games

• 1984 USSR performs underground nuclear test
• 1985 Soyuz T-14 carries 3 cosmonauts to Salyut 7 space station
• 1986 Bomb attack in Paris, 6 killed
• 1986 Marina Stepanova of USSR sets 400m hurdle woman's record (52.94)
• 1986 Mets clinch NL East Championship
• 1986 US Senate confirms William Rehnquist as 16th chief justice
• 1987 Philadelphia celebrates 200th anniversary of Constitution

• 1988 24th Olympic games open at Seoul, Korea
• 1988 Jeff Reardon becomes 1st to record 40 or more saves in both AL & NL
• 1988 13th Toronto International Film Festival: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" directed by Pedro Almodovar wins the People's Choice Award
• 1989 -21] Hurricane Hugo, kills 85 in Charleston, South Carolina
• 1989 41st Emmy Awards: LA Law, "Cheers", Dana Delany & Candice Bergen win
• 1989 Hurricane Hugo begins 4 day sweep through Caribbean, killing 62

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