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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
17 January, 2007
Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to N. Korea nuclear testing
17 January, 2002
Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
17 January, 2001
President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Captain Meriwether Lewis rank from Lieutenant to Captain.
17 January, 1998
Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
17 January, 1997
A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
17 January, 1996
The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
17 January, 1995
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake (known as "the Great Hanshin earthquake") hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,433 people.
17 January, 1994
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California; see 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
17 January, 1991
Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
17 January, 1991
Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
17 January, 1989
Stockton massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifle at the Cleveland Elementary School playground, killing five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.
17 January, 1985
British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdoms red telephone boxes.
17 January, 1982
"Cold Sunday" in the United States sees temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
17 January, 1977
Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States.
17 January, 1973
Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.
17 January, 1966
A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.
17 January, 1961
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".
17 January, 1956
Allen Ginsberg writes his poem "America".
17 January, 1950
The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Companys offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
17 January, 1949
The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.
17 January, 1946
The UN Security Council holds its first session.
17 January, 1945
Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
17 January, 1945
The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
17 January, 1945
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
17 January, 1941
Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after WWII.
17 January, 1929
Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
17 January, 1917
The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
17 January, 1916
The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) is formed.
17 January, 1913
Raymond Poincaré is elected President of France.
17 January, 1912
Sir Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
17 January, 1904
Anton Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
17 January, 1899
The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
17 January, 1893
The Citizens Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
17 January, 1885
A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
17 January, 1873
First Battle of the Stronghold in the US Modoc War.
17 January, 1852
The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
17 January, 1819
Simón Bolívar proclaims the Republic of Colombia.
17 January, 1799
Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriot is executed.
17 January, 1781
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.
17 January, 1648
Englands 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.
17 January, 1605
First publication of Don Quixote.
17 January, 1595
Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
17 January, 1562
France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.
17 January, 1524
Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzanos voyage to find a passage to China.
17 January, 1377
Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
17 January, 1287
King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.

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January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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