On this day: November 17

Events on November 17

• 887 Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November. Wikipedia
• 1558 Elizabeth I became Queen of England and of Ireland, marking the beginning of the Elizabethan era. Wikipedia
• 1558 Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I. Wikipedia
• 1775 The city of Kuopio, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden. Wikipedia
• 1811 José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile. Wikipedia
• 1831 Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia. Wikipedia
• 1856 American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase. Wikipedia
• 1858 The city of Denver, Colorado is founded. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: During the Knoxville campaign, Confederate forces under General James Longstreet besiege the city of Knoxville, Tennessee and its Union defenders led by General Ambrose Burnside. Wikipedia
• 1869 In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated. Wikipedia
• 1894 H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Hjalmar Siilasvuo ordered Finnish forces to halt their assault against Soviet forces near Salla, concluding Operation Arctic Fox. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Australian forces launched an assault on Sattelberg, New Guinea, against Japanese forces, initiating the Battle of Sattelberg. Wikipedia
• 1947 The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath. Wikipedia
• 1947 American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century. Wikipedia
• 1950 The 14th Dalai Lama assumed full temporal power as ruler of Tibet at the age of 15. Wikipedia
• 1962 President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region. Wikipedia
• 1967 Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress." Wikipedia
• 1969 Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. Wikipedia
• 1970 Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft. Wikipedia
• 1973 Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook." Wikipedia
• 1989 Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29). Wikipedia
• 2000 Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru. Wikipedia
• 2013 An outbreak of 77 confirmed tornadoes occurred in seven U.S. states; it became the largest November tornado outbreak in Illinois and Indiana. Wikipedia
• 2013 A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes. Wikipedia
• 2019 The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Wikipedia

Born on November 17

• 9 Vespasian, Roman emperor (died 79) Wikipedia
• 1503 Bronzino, Italian painter (died 1572) Wikipedia
• 1749 Nicolas Appert, French chef, invented canning (died 1841) Wikipedia
• 1755 Louis XVIII, king of France (died 1824) Wikipedia
• 1790 August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician and astronomer (died 1868) Wikipedia
• 1887 Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1896 Lev Vygotsky, Belarusian-Russian psychologist and philosopher (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1902 Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1906 Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer and businessman, co-founded the Honda Motor Company (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1922 Stanley Cohen, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1925 Charles Mackerras, American-Australian oboe player and conductor (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1925 Rock Hudson, American actor (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1940 Luke Kelly, Irish singer, folk musician and actor (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1942 Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor Wikipedia
• 1944 Danny DeVito, American actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1944 Lorne Michaels, Canadian-American screenwriter and producer, created Saturday Night Live Wikipedia
• 1945 Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algerian politician, 8th President of Algeria Wikipedia
• 1952 Cyril Ramaphosa, South African businessman and politician, fifth President of South Africa Wikipedia
• 1966 Sophie Marceau, French actress, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1978 Rachel McAdams, Canadian actress Wikipedia
• 1983 Christopher Paolini, American author Wikipedia
• 1986 Nani, Portuguese footballer Wikipedia

Died on November 17

• 375 Valentinian I, Roman emperor (born 321) Wikipedia
• 1492 Jami, Persian poet and saint (born 1414) Wikipedia
• 1494 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher and author (born 1463) Wikipedia
• 1558 Mary I of England (born 1516) Wikipedia
• 1768 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1693) Wikipedia
• 1796 Catherine the Great, of Russia (born 1729) Wikipedia
• 1812 John Walter, English Insurance underwriter and founder of The Times newspaper (born 1738/1739) Wikipedia
• 1917 Auguste Rodin, French sculptor and illustrator (born 1840) Wikipedia
• 1962 Olivia Dahl (born 1955), daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal Wikipedia
• 1990 Robert Hofstadter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 2000 Louis Néel, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 2006 Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer and manager (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2013 Doris Lessing, British novelist, poet, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2014 John T. Downey, American CIA agent and judge (born 1930) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Athens Polytechnic Uprising Remembrance Day (Greece) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Acisclus Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Aignan of Orleans Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Elizabeth of Hungary Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Gennadius of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Gregory of Tours (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Gregory Thaumaturgus Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hilda of Whitby Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hugh of Lincoln Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: November 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Students' Day Wikipedia
• Martyrs' Day (Odisha, India) Wikipedia
• Presidents Day (Marshall Islands) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “November 17” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.