Merriam-Webster dictionary defines history as a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events. It’s a chronological record of significant events often including an explanation of their causes. The earliest known use of the word history was in the 14th century.
This website utilizes entries from Wikipedia to extract historical events from 3761 BC up to the present. There are currently 105,060 records in our database. The present day Gregorian calendar was adopted to show dates of interest.
Let us begin with what happened today in history. You may also enter a specific day using the form on the right sidebar. It is optional to input the year. If you do give a complete date with month, day and year then only events that happened on that specific date will be shown.
About January 17
January 17, 2025 is the 17th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 348 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.
You can browse the full year calendar in case you need it.
Capricorn is the sun sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 12 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
What Happened On January 17
- 1562 –France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.
- 1773 –Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.
- 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.
- 1799 –Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
- 1885 –A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
- 1912 –Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
- 1929 –Inayatullah Khan, king of the Emirate of Afghanistan abdicates the throne after only three days into his reign.
- 1945 –World War II: Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
- 1983 –The tallest department store in the world, Hudson’s, flagship store in downtown Detroit closes due to high cost of operating.
- 1995 –The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.
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