Information about February 17
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 317 days remaining (318 in leap years). Events * 197 - Battle of Lugdunum, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Roman Empire. * 1621 - Miles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony * 1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar * 1772 - First partition of Poland, by Russia and Prussia, later including Austria * 1801 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives. * 1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise * 1854 - The British recognize the independence of the Orange Free State * 1865 - American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina burns as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces. * 1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal * 1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City. It displays works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century * 1924 - In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds. * 1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time. * 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States * 1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22. * 1947 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union. * 1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population. * 1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens. * 1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T (15 million) * 1979 - China invades Vietnam * 1992 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison. * 1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence. * 1996 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the "Deep Blue" supercomputer in a chess match. Births * 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, composer (+ 1713) * 1699 - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, master builder (+ 1753) * 1774 - Raphael Peale, painter * 1821 - Lola Montez, dancer, actress, friend of monarchs (+ 1861) * 1844 - Montgomery Ward, department store founder * 1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, industrialist (+ 1902) * 1874 - Thomas Watson, computer pioneer, first president of IBM * 1877 - Andre Maginot, politician, Maginot Line (+ 1932) * 1888 - Otto Stern, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1943 (+ 1969) * 1908 - Red Barber, baseball announcer, sports journalist (+ 1992) * 1924 - Margaret Truman, novelist, daughter of President Harry S Truman * 1925 - Hal Holbrook, actor * 1929 - Chaim Potok, author (+ 2002) * 1929 - Patricia Routledge, actress * 1930 - Ruth Barbara Rendell, writer * 1934 - Alan Bates, actor * 1934 - Barry Humphries (aka "Dame Edna Everage"), actor, comedian * 1936 - Jim Brown, American football star * 1937 - Rita Sssmuth, politician * 1941 - Julia McKenzie, actress * 1941 - Gene Pitney, singer * 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress * 1953 - Norman Pace, actor, comic * 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, actor * 1963 - Michael Jordan, basketball * 1972 - Denise Richards, actress * 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater * 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, musician ("Green Day") Deaths * 197 - Clodius Albinus, aspirant to Emperor of Rome (killed in battle) * 1600 - Giordano Bruno, religious reformer * 1673 - Molire, writer * 1856 - Heinrich Heine, writer * 1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada * 1934 - King Albert I of Belgium * 1962 - Bruno Walter, conductor * 1982 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist * 1982 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor * 1994 - Randy Shilts, author, AIDS activist * 1998 - Ernst Jnger, militaristic German author, dies at 102 Holidays and observances * Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus * Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed
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