What happened on September 17? There are more than 327 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About September 17
September 17 is the 261st day of the year 2024. There are 105 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 38th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Staunton, Indiana 47881 sunrise will occur at 06:31 AM and sunset will occur at 06:54 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Virgo. The modern birthstone for this month is Sapphire while the mystical birthstone is Agate.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 134 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 22 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For September 17
- 1111Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as “King of Galicia”.
- 1176The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
- 1462The Battle of Świecino (also known as the Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years’ War.
- 1577The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
- 1630The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
- 1631Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
- 1683Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing “animalcules”: the first known description of protozoa.
- 1775American Revolutionary War: The Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
- 1776The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
- 1778The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
- 1787The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1809Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
- 1814Francis Scott Key finishes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later to be the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
- 1849American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
- 1859Joshua A. Norton declares himself “Emperor Norton I” of the United States.
- 1862American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
- 1862American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
- 1894The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1900Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
- 1908The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
- 1914Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- 1916World War I: Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
- 1920The American Professional Football Association (later renamed National Football League) is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.
- 1924The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
- 1928The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
- 1939Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
- 1939World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
- 1939World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
- 1940World War II: Following the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.
- 1941World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued
- 1943World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
- 1944World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the “Market” half of Operation Market Garden.
- 1948The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.
- 1948The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.
- 1949The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
- 1957Malaysia joins the United Nations.
- 1961The world’s first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh.
- 1974Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
- 1976The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
- 1978The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
- 1980After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
- 1980Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
- 1983Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
- 1991Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
- 1991The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
- 1992An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.
- 1993Last Russian troops leave Poland.
- 2001The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
- 2006An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.
- 2006Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
- 2007AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.
- 2011Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zucotti Park, New York City.
Who Were Born On September 17?
- 879King Charles III of France (d. 929)
- 1192Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
- 1550Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
- 1630Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1694)
- 1639Hans Herr, Mennonite bishop (d. 1725)
- 1677Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d. 1761)
- 1687Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d. 1772)
- 1688Maria Luisa of Savoy, first queen of Philip V of Spain (d. 1714)
- 1730Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d. 1794)
- 1739John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
- 1743Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d. 1794)
- 1771Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d. 1816)
- 1773Jonathan Alder, American settler (d. 1849)
- 1819Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, first President of the South African Republic (d. 1901)
- 1820Émile Augier, French dramatist (d. 1889)
- 1826Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d. 1866)
- 1839Ira Davenport, American magician (d. 1911)
- 1854David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d. 1929)
- 1857Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1935)
- 1859Frank Dawson Adams, Canadian geologist (d.1942)
- 1868James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (d. 1956)
- 1869Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 1938)
- 1874Sir Walter Murdoch, Australian academic and essayist (d. 1970)
- 1878Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (d. 1950)
- 1879Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social Reformer (d. 1973)
- 1879Rube Foster, American baseball player, manager and executive (d. 1930)
- 1881Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (d. 1955)
- 1883William Carlos Williams, American writer (d. 1963)
- 1884Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d. 1920)
- 1890Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (d. 1972)
- 1897Earl Webb, baseball player (d. 1965)
- 1900Hughie Critz, baseball player (d. 1980)
- 1900John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d. 1985)
- 1901Francis Chichester, English adventurer (d. 1972)
- 1902Bea Miles, Australian eccentric and writer (d. 1973)
- 1903Frank O'Connor, Irish-American short-story writer (d. 1966)
- 1903Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d. 1984)
- 1903Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1904Edgar G. Ulmer, Austrian-American film director (d. 1972)
- 1904Jerry Colonna, American comedian and entertainer (d. 1986)
- 1904Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
- 1906Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist (d. 2010)
- 1906J.R. Jayewardene, Sri Lankan politician and statesman (d. 1996)
- 1907Warren Burger, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)
- 1908John Creasey, English crime and science fiction novelist (d. 1973)
- 1912Irena Kwiatkowska, Polish actress and comedian (d. 2011)
- 1914Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (d. 1996)
- 1914Thomas J. Bata, Canadian shoemaker (Bata Shoes) (d. 2008)
- 1915M. F. Husain, Indian painter (d. 2011)
- 1916Mary Stewart, English novelist
- 1917Isang Yun, Korean composer who spent most of his creative career in Germany
- 1918Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (d. 1997)
- 1920Dinah Sheridan, English actress
- 1922Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d. 1979)
- 1923Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953)
- 1923Ralph Sharon, American jazz pianist
- 1925John List, American murderer (d. 2008)
- 1926Bill Black, American musician (d. 1965)
- 1926Curtis Harrington, American film director (d. 2007)
- 1926Hovie Lister, American gospel pianist (d. 2001)
- 1926Jack McDuff, American jazz organist (d. 2001)
- 1926Jean-Marie Lustiger, French Jewish Roman Catholic Cardinal (d. 2007)
- 1927George Blanda, American football player (d. 2010)
- 1928Roddy McDowall, English actor (d. 1998)
- 1929Pat Crowley, American actress
- 1929Sil Austin, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2001)
- 1929Sir Stirling Moss, English race car driver
- 1930David Huddleston, American actor
- 1930Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut
- 1930Jim Rohn, American business philosopher (d. 2009)
- 1930Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist
- 1930Thomas Stafford, American astronaut
- 1931Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1931Jean-Claude Carrière, French writer, screenwriter and actor
- 1933Chuck Grassley, American politician
- 1933Claude Provost, National Hockey League player (d. 1984)
- 1933Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1934Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d. 1969)
- 1935Ken Kesey, American author (d. 2001)
- 1936Michael Hennagin, American composer and university professor
- 1937Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- 1938Bobby Wine, American Major League Baseball player
- 1938Perry Robinson, American jazz clarinetist and composer
- 1939David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1939Shelby Flint, American singer
- 1940Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat
- 1940Sotiris Moustakas, Greek actor (d. 2007)
- 1941Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d. 2005)
- 1941Stavros Damianides, Greek musician (d. 2001)
- 1942Des Lynam, English television presenter
- 1942Robert Graysmith, Zodiac killer researcher
- 1944Les Emmerson, Canadian vocalist and guitarist
- 1944Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer
- 1945Bhakti Caru Swami, Indian spiritual leader
- 1945Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
- 1945David Emerson, Canadian politician
- 1945Phil Jackson, American basketball player and NBA head coach
- 1946Billy Bonds, English footballer
- 1947Tessa Jowell, British politician
- 1948Jeff MacNelly, American political cartoonist (d. 2000)
- 1948John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1948Karl Alber, German footballer
- 1948Raphy Leavitt, Puerto Rican composer and salsa orchestra leader
- 1950Chris Heister, Swedish politician
- 1950Fee Waybill, American musician (The Tubes)
- 1950Narendra Modi, Indian politician
- 1951Cassandra Peterson, American actress
- 1953Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
- 1953Steve Williams (rock drummer), drummer for Welsh rock band Budgie
- 1954Joël-François Durand, French composer
- 1955Charles Martinet, American actor
- 1955Koralia Karanti, Greek actress
- 1955Scott Simpson, American golfer
- 1956Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
- 1956Mandawuy Yunupingu, Aboriginal Australian musician
- 1956Rita Rudner, American comedian
- 1956Thad Bosley. American major league baseball player
- 1957Richie Ramone, American musician (The Ramones)
- 1958Tom Waddell, Scottish former Major League Baseball player
- 1959Charles Lawson, Northern Irish actor
- 1960Damon Hill, English race car driver and 1996 F1 world champion
- 1960John Bottomley, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1960John Franco, American baseball player
- 1960Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
- 1961Jim Cornette, American professional wrestling manager
- 1961Nives Meroi, Italian mountaineer
- 1961Ty Tabor, American guitarist and singer (King’s X)
- 1962Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director
- 1962BeBe Winans, gospel and R&B singer
- 1962Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese American actor
- 1963Amy Roloff, American reality star
- 1963James Urbaniak, American actor
- 1963Masahiro Chono, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1963Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator
- 1963Steven Dye, English musician (Scarlet Party), (The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1963Wendy Northcutt, Author of the Darwin Awards
- 1963William Shockley (actor), American actor
- 1965Bryan Singer, American director
- 1965Guy Picciotto, American musician (Rites of Spring, Fugazi)
- 1965Kyle Chandler, American actor
- 1965Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
- 1966Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer
- 1966Stéphane Rousseau, Canadian humorist and actor
- 1967Koen Wauters, Flemish singer, television presenter, and actor
- 1967Malik Yoba, American actor
- 1968Akhenaton French rapper and producer
- 1968Anastacia, American singer
- 1968Jonn Penney lead singer of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
- 1968Lord Jamar American emcee and actor
- 1968Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
- 1969Adam Devlin, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1969Keith Flint, British musician (The Prodigy)
- 1969Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
- 1969Matthew Settle, American actor
- 1969Steady B, American rapper and emcee
- 1970Jim Conroy, American Voice Actor (Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman)
- 1970Mark Brunell, American football player
- 1971Adriana Sklenaříková, Slovak supermodel
- 1971Ian Whyte (actor), Welsh actor and basketball player
- 1971Mauro Milanese, Italian footballer
- 1971Mike Catt, English rugby player
- 1971Nate Berkus, American television host
- 1972Bobby Lee, American comedian
- 1972Brian Henry, American poet
- 1973Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
- 1973Demis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer
- 1974Mirah, American musician
- 1974Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
- 1974Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer
- 1975Austin St. John, American actor
- 1975Constantine Maroulis, American singer
- 1975Jade Esteban Estrada, Latin pop singer, comedian and activist
- 1975Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
- 1976Daniella Rush, Czech pornographic actress
- 1976Peja (musician), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer
- 1977Simone Perrotta, Italian football player
- 1978Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979Akin Ayodele, American football player
- 1979Billy Miller, American actor
- 1979Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
- 1979Flo Rida, American rapper
- 1979Steffen Algreen, Danish footballer
- 1980Danny Haren, American baseball player
- 1981Bakari Koné, Ivorian footballer
- 1981Casey Janssen, American baseball player
- 1981Francis Manioru, Solomon Islander sprinter
- 1982Garth Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982Hope Larson, American illustrator and cartoonist
- 1982Wade Robson, Australian choreographer
- 1983Jennifer Peña, American singer
- 1984De La Ghetto, Puerto Rican reggaeton singer
- 1984Domenico Citro, Italian footballer
- 1984Eugenia Volodina, Russian model
- 1984John Kucera, Canadian alpine ski racer
- 1984Mary Descenza, American swimmer
- 1985Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
- 1985Brendan Clarke, Irish footballer
- 1985José Gonçalves, Portuguese football player
- 1985Mason Raymond, Canadian hockey player
- 1985Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
- 1986Paolo De Ceglie, Italian footballer
- 1986Sanaya Irani, Indian actress
- 1987Paul Huntington, English footballer
- 1990Sean Scannell, Irish footballer
- 1991Ryo Ishikawa, Japanese golfer
- 2008Mia Talerico, American child actress
Who Died On September 17?
- 456Remistus, Roman general of Visigothic origin
- 1179Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b. 1098)
- 1322Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
- 1422Constantine II of Bulgaria
- 1563Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier (b. 1526)
- 1574Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (b. 1519)
- 1575Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b. 1504)
- 1621Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (b. 1542)
- 1630Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
- 1665Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
- 1676Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement (b. 1626)
- 1679John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b. 1629)
- 1727Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b. 1647)
- 1762Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b. 1687)
- 1771Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b. 1721)
- 1803Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Austrian composer (b. 1766)
- 1808Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b. 1755)
- 1836Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
- 1858Dred Scott, American slave who unsuccessfully sued for citizenship (b. 1795)
- 1863Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)
- 1864Walter Savage Landor, English writer (b. 1775)
- 1873Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b. 1781)
- 1877Henry Fox Talbot, English photography pioneer (b. 1800)
- 1878Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (b. 1825)
- 1879Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
- 1894Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
- 1899Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist (b. 1842)
- 1904Raden Ayu Kartini, Indonesian national heroine (b. 1879)
- 1907Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist (b. 1846)
- 1908Henri Julien, Canadian cartoonist (b. 1852)
- 1908Thomas Selfridge, First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (b. 1882)
- 1909Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria (b. 1838)
- 1923Stephanos Dragoumis, Greek judge, writer and Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1842)
- 1933Joseph De Piro, Maltese missionary (b. 1877)
- 1936Ettie Annie Rout, New Zealand activist (b. 1877)
- 1938Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
- 1946Frank Burke, American baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1948Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (b. 1895)
- 1948Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist (b. 1887)
- 1951Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
- 1965Alejandro Casona, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1903)
- 1966Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
- 1971Carlos Lamarca, Brazilian military turned guerrilla leader (b. 1937)
- 1972Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b. 1899)
- 1973Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b. 1909)
- 1980Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
- 1982Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (b. 1937)
- 1984Richard Basehart, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1985Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
- 1987Harry Locke, British character actor (b. 1913)
- 1988Hilde Gueden, Austrian soprano (b. 1917)
- 1991Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
- 1992Roger Wagner, American choral conductor (b. 1914)
- 1993Christian Nyby, American film and television director (b. 1913)
- 1994Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher (b. 1902)
- 1995Lucien Victor, Belgian cyclist (b. 1931)
- 1996Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
- 1997Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1998Geoffrey Dutton, Australian author and historian (b. 1922)
- 1998Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (b. 1907)
- 1998Ted Binion, Las Vegas casino heir (b. 1943)
- 1999Frankie Vaughan, British singer (b. 1928)
- 2000Paula Yates, British TV personality (b. 1959)
- 2003Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
- 2005Alfred Reed, American composer (b. 1921)
- 2005Jacques Lacarrière, French writer (b. 1925)
- 2006Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b. 1924)
- 2009Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist terrorist (b. 1968)
- 2011Colin Madigan, Australian architect (b. 1921)
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