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17th February

All events from this date in history

12
Events
8
Birthdays
5
Deaths

World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war…

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First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians during the Capture of Garadaghly.

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994 in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan between the majority…

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World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

Operation Hailstone was a large-scale United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon on 17–18 February 1944, conducted as part of the American offensive drive against the Imperial Japanese…

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NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program, as well as research in aeronautics…

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War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormant.

The War of the Sixth Coalition, sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation saw a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number…

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American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United…

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Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.

Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia…

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United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College 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.

Presidential elections were held in the United States from October 31 to December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", the Democratic-Republican Party candidate, Vice…

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The Ukrainian People's Republic asks the Entente and the United States for help fighting the Bolsheviks.

The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 as a result of the February…

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Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.

Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States, by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied…

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The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.

The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the United States Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and…

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American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina and the second-most populous city in the state. With an estimated population of 147,035 in 2025, it is the principal city of the Columbia…

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Hans Hofmann
1966Hans Hofmann

Hans Hofmann was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both…

Bruno Walter
1962Bruno Walter

Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he left Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the…

José López Portillo
2004José López Portillo

José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco was a Mexican writer, lawyer, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th…

Heinrich Heine
1856Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of…

Jiddu Krishnamurti
1986Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti was an Indian spiritual figure, speaker, and writer. Adopted by members of the Theosophical Society as a child, Krishnamurti was raised to fill the mantle of…

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
1836
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida, better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer, also a playwright, literary…
Mori Ōgai
1862
Mori Ōgai
Lieutenant-General Mori Rintarō , known by his pen name Mori Ōgai , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and…
Ronald Fisher
1890
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. He has been…
Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger
1752
Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger
Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger was a German dramatist and novelist. His play Sturm und Drang (1776) gave its name to the Sturm und Drang artistic…
Michael Bay
1965
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting,…
Jozef Murgaš
1864
Jozef Murgaš
Jozef Murgaš was a Slovak inventor, architect, botanist, painter and Roman Catholic priest. He contributed to radio development, which at the time…
Gene Pitney
1940
Gene Pitney
Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer, songwriter and musician known predominantly for emotive, dramatic ballads heightened by an expansive…
Margaret Truman
1924
Margaret Truman
Mary Margaret Truman Daniel was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite.…
17th February in History — World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle