On This Day in History for January 17
Events in History
- 1287 King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca
- 1377 Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon
- 1501 Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna
- 1524 Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China
- 1536 Francois Rabelais absolved of apostasy by Pope Paul III
- 1562 French regent Catherine de' Medici issues the Edict of St Germain recognizing Huguenots in France
- 1584 Bohemia adopts Gregorian calendar
- 1595 King Henry IV of France declares war on Spain
- More Events in History
Pius V
Benjamin Franklin
David Lloyd George
David Beatty
Arnold Rothstein
Al CaponeWeddings in History
- 38 BC Roman Republican Leader Octavian, later Augustus 1st Roman Emperor, weds Livia Drusilla
- 1955 American murderer Charles Manson (20) weds American waitress Rosalie Jean Willis (17); divorce in 1958
More Weddings & Divorces in History
George Bancroft
Rutherford B. Hayes
Juliette Gordon Low
T. H. WhiteJanuary in History
Prohibition is Ratified
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established prohibition
January 16, 1919
Prohibition and The Rise of Al Capone
Prohibition began in America on this day. The 13-year ban on alcohol led to resentment, gangsterism, bribery, murder and widespread flouting of the law.
January 16, 1920
The President Who Was Never President
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born on this day.
January 17, 1706
Siege of Leningrad
Two young girls help assemble Soviet submachine guns during the Siege of Leningrad
January 18, 1943