This Day in History
17 Feb 1461
Wars of the Roses Second Battle of St Albans - Lancastrian army defeats Yorkists and recapture King Henry VI
17 Feb 1500
Battle of Hemmingstedt - German peasant army repels ducal army of Schleswig and Holstein
17 Feb 1568
Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II agrees to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire for peace
17 Feb 1600
Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de Fiori in Rome charged with heresy.
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Brian Wilson rolls tape on Good Vibrations, take one
From the very beginning the Beach Boys had a sound that was unmistakably their own but without resident genius Brian Wilson pushing them into deeper waters wi...
Deadlock over presidential election ends
After one tie vote in the Electoral College and 35 indecisive ballot votes in the House of Representatives Vice President Thomas Jefferson is elected the third...
China invades Vietnam
In response to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia China launches an invasion of Vietnam.Tensions between Vietnam and China increased dramatically after the en...
Gromyko becomes foreign minister
Andre Gromyko was installed as Soviet Foreign Minister on February 17 1957. Gromyko was called to foreign service in 1939 and began by serving under a policy o...
Madame Butterfly premieres
On this day in 1904 Giacomo Puccinis opera Madame Butterfly premieres at the La Scala theatre in Milan Italy.The young Puccini decided to dedicate his...
U.S. casualty rate reaches record high
American officials in Saigon report an all-time high weekly rate of U.S. casualties543 killed in action and 2547 wounded in the previous seven days. T...
Taylor testifies on Operation Rolling Thunder
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Gen. Maxwell Taylor states that a major U.S. objective in Vietnam is to demonstrate that wars...
Kasparov defeats chess-playing computer
In the final game of a six-game match world chess champion Garry Kasparov triumphs over Deep Blue IBMs chess-playing computer and wins the match 4-2...
Thomas Jefferson is elected
On this day in 1801 Thomas Jefferson is elected the third president of the United States. The election constitutes the first peaceful transfer of power from on...
Senate passes Missouri Compromise
The Senate passes the Missouri Compromise an attempt to deal with the dangerously divisive issue of extending slavery into the western territories.From colonia...
Lee Strasberg dies
On this day in 1982 the American director actor and drama coach Lee Strasberg who popularized Method acting dies of a heart attack at age 80.B...
Ferry sinks near Haiti
Approximately 900 people drown when a passenger ferry the Neptune overturns near Port-au-Prince Haiti on this day in 1993. The ferry was dangerously overloa...
The first Trial of the Century
Union leaders Bill Hayward Charles Moyer and George Pettibone are taken into custody by Idaho authorities and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They are put on ...
Voice of America begins broadcasts to Russia
With the words Hello This is New York calling the U.S. Voice of America (VOA) begins its first radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union. The VOA e...
Sherman sacks Columbia, South Carolina
On this day in 1865 the soldiers from Union General William Tecumseh Shermans army ransack Columbia South Carolina and leave a charred city in their ...
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