2023 Nyingchi avalanche
2023
An avalanche strikes Nyingchi, Tibet, killing 28 people..
January-17
Historical Events on January 17
January
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Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is announced to be suspended.
2017
Barack Obama
President Barack Obama announces the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement intended to limit Iran's nuclear program.
2016
Lance Armstrong
Former cyclist Lance Armstrong confesses to his doping in an airing of Oprah's Next Chapter.
2013
Murder of Shahzad Luqman
Shahzad Luqman is murdered by members of Golden Dawn in Petralona, Athens, leading the creation of new measures to combat race-based attacks in Greece.
2013
2010 Jos riots
2010
Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, results in at least 200 deaths..
British Airways Flight 38
British Airways Flight 38 crashes short of the runway at Heathrow Airport, injuring 47.
2008
Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's nuclear testing.
2007
Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2002
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.
1998
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
1997
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad..
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic applies for membership in the European Union.
1996
Kobe earthquake
The 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of 7, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
1995
1994 Northridge earthquake
The 6.7 Mw Northridge earthquake shakes the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.
1994
Prime Minister of Japan
During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
1992
Gulf War
1991
Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq, it is also the first major combat sortie for the F-117. LCDR Scott Speicher's F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-81 is shot down by a Mig-25 and is the first American casualty of the War. Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation..
Harald V
Crown Prince Harald of Norway becomes King Harald V, following the death of his father, King Olav V.
1991
President of the Philippines
President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
1981
Capital punishment in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah.
1977
Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.
1969
1966 Palomares accident
1966
Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea..
Dwight D. Eisenhower
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military–industrial complex" as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.
1961
Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered together with former Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of the Congo Maurice Mpolo and former Senator from Kasai Province Joseph Okito in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
1961
Great Brink's Robbery
The Great Brink's Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in Boston.
1950
United Nations Security Council Resolution 79
United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.
1950
Renville Agreement
1948
The Renville Agreement between the Netherlands and Indonesia is ratified..
United Nations Security Council
The UN Security Council holds its first session.
1946
Vistula–Oder offensive
World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw.
1945
SS-Totenkopfverbände
The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as the Red Army closes in.
1945
Raoul Wallenberg
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.
1945
Allies of World War II
1944
World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties..
World War II
World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.
1943
Franco-Thai War
Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.
1941
Prohibition in the United States
Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect.
1920
Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
1918
United States Virgin Islands
1917
The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands..
Russia
Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
1915
Robert Falcon Scott
British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
1912
Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1904
El Yunque National Forest
El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
1903
Wake Island
1899
The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean..
Lorrin A. Thurston
Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
1893
Dervish
A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1885
Modoc people
A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.
1873
Sand River Convention
The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.
1852
Mexican War of Independence
1811
Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries..
Malta
Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
1799
American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1781
James Cook
Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.
1773
Second Ormonde Peace
The Second Ormonde Peace creates an alliance between the Irish Royalists and Confederates during the War of the Three Kingdoms. The coalition was then decisively defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
1649
Long Parliament
1648
England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War..
Susenyos I
Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.
1608
French Wars of Religion
During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
1595
Huguenots
France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain.
1562
Giovanni da Verrazzano
Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
1524
Pope Gregory XI
1377
Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon..
Saint Marcellus's flood
Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
1362
Augustus
Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
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