Summary of the Day ✨ 17 November (17/11)
The first known case of COVID-19 was traced to a man who visited a market in Wuhan, China, marking the beginning of a global pandemic that would reshape daily life worldwide. On the same day, Arnold Schwarzenegger began his tenure as governor of California while a deadly plane crash in Russia killed 50 people and a rare tornado outbreak devastated the Midwest.
Historical Events 📜
- 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.
- 2013: Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia.
- 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.
- 2012: At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt.
- 2003: Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure as the governor of California begins.
- 2000: A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
- 2000: Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.
- 1997: In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre.
- 1993: United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- 1993: In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.
- 1990: Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts.
- 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).
- 1986: The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska.
- 1983: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.
- 1973: Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors “I am not a crook.”
Famous Births 👶
- 2004: Linda Nosková, Czech tennis player
- 2001: Kate Douglass, American swimmer
- 2000: Joanne Züger, Swiss tennis player
- 1999: Gabi Gonçalves, Brazilian politician
- 1997: Dragan Bender, Croatian basketball player
- 1997: Julian Ryerson, Norwegian footballer
- 1997: Yugyeom, South Korean singer
- 1996: Minkah Fitzpatrick, American football player
- 1996: Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Australian rugby league player
- 1995: Elise Mertens, Belgian tennis player
- 1995: Panashe Muzambe, Scottish rugby union player
- 1994: Raquel Castro, American actress and singer
- 1994: Rose Ayling-Ellis, British actress
- 1993: Taylor Gold, American snowboarder
- 1992: Damiris Dantas, Brazilian basketball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Macoto Takahashi, Japanese manga artist (born 1934)
- 2021: Young Dolph, American rapper (born 1985)
- 2019: Tuka Rocha, Brazilian race car driver (born 1982)
- 2015: John Leahy, English lawyer and diplomat, High Commissioner to Australia (born 1928)
- 2015: Rahim Moeini Kermanshahi, Iranian poet and songwriter (born 1926)
- 2014: John T. Downey, American CIA agent and judge (born 1930)
- 2014: Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (born 1928)
- 2014: Ray Sadecki, American baseball player (born 1940)
- 2014: Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (born 1922)
- 2013: Zeke Bella, American baseball player (born 1930)
- 2013: Alfred Blake, English colonel and lawyer (born 1915)
- 2013: Syd Field, American screenwriter and producer (born 1935)
- 2013: Doris Lessing, British novelist, poet, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919)
- 2013: Alex Marques, Portuguese footballer (born 1993)
- 2013: Mary Nesbitt Wisham, American baseball player (born 1925)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Athens Polytechnic Uprising Remembrance Day (Greece)
- Christian feast days:
Acisclus - Christian feast days:
Aignan of Orleans - Christian feast days:
Elizabeth of Hungary - Christian feast days:
Gennadius of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox Church) - Christian feast days:
Gregory of Tours (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast days:
Gregory Thaumaturgus - Christian feast days:
Hilda of Whitby - Christian feast days:
Hugh of Lincoln - Christian feast days:
November 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - International Students’ Day
- Martyrs’ Day (Odisha, India)
- Presidents Day (Marshall Islands)
- World Prematurity Day