Almanac - February 17

Gene Pitney 1941-2006

Events

• 364 – Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
• 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
• 1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
• 1600 – The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori in Rome for heresy.
• 1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
• 1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
• 1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
• 1809 – Miami University is chartered by the State of Ohio.
• 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormans.
• 1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
• 1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
• 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The  H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
• 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades though Paris, France after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
• 1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
• 1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
• 1924 – In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100 meters freestyle swimming competition with a time of 57.4 seconds.
• 1933 – Newsweek magazine is published for the first time.
• 1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
• 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
• 1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
• 1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
• 1964 – Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
• 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
• 1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
• 1972 – Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
• 1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
• 1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
• 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
• 1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.
• 1996 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
• 1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
• 1998 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops kill 70–90 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradagli.
• 2003 – The London Congestion Charge scheme begins.
• 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
• 2008 – Kosovo declares independence.
• 2011 – Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly Pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.

Births

• 1490 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Constable of France (d. 1527)
• 1519 – Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (d. 1563)
• 1524 – Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574)
• 1581 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1653)
• 1646 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (d. 1714)
• 1653 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713)
• 1718 – Matthew Tilghman, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790)
• 1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1762)
• 1740 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and founder of alpinism (d. 1799)
• 1752 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831)
• 1754 – Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803)
• 1781 – René Laënnec, French physician (d. 1826)
• 1792 – Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (d. 1876)
• 1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1866)
• 1816 – Haller Nutt, Southern Plantation owner (d. 1864)
• 1820 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898)
• 1820 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881)
• 1821 – Lola Montez, Irish dancer (d. 1861)
• 1836 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870)
• 1844 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American department store founder (d. 1913)
• 1848 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner, the last to carry out capital punishment in Sweden (d. 1920)
• 1848 – Louisa Lawson, Australian suffragist and writer (d. 1920)
• 1854 – Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902)
• 1861 – Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (d. 1922)
• 1862 – Mori Ogai, Japanese novelist and poet (d. 1922)
• 1863 – Fyodor Sologub, Russian symbolist novelist and poet (d. 1927)
• 1864 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (d. 1929)
• 1864 – Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941)
• 1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American computer manufacturer (d. 1956)
• 1877 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and writer (d. 1904)
• 1877 – André Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)
• 1877 – Isidora Sekulic, Serbian prose writer, novelist and essayist (d. 1958)
• 1885 – Steve Evans, American baseball player (d. 1943)
• 1887 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (d. 1947)
• 1888 – Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1969)
• 1890 – Sir Ronald Fisher, Statistician and Geneticist (d. 1962)
• 1891 – Abraham Fraenkel, German-born Israeli mathematician and recipient of the Israel Prize (d. 1965)
• 1893 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player (d. 1965)
• 1903 – Sadegh Hedayat, Iranian writer (d. 1951)
• 1904 – Hans Morgenthau, German political philosopher (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Red Barber, American baseball announcer (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2005)
• 1910 – Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1910 – Marc Lawrence, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Oskar Seidlin, Silesian-born American literary scholar (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Orrin Tucker, American bandleader and composer (d.2011)
• 1912 – Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Jean Le Moyne, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Wayne Morris, American actor (d. 1959)
• 1916 – Raf Vallone, Italian actor (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and Rugby Union footballer (d. 1940)
• 1917 – Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (d. 1965)
• 1919 – J.M.S. Careless, Canadian historian (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Enrico Banducci, American nightclub owner (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Tommy Edwards, American singer (d. 1969)
• 1922 – Valentino Mazzia, American forensic anesthesiologist (d. 1999)
• 1923 – John Marco Allegro, English scholar (d. 1988)
• 1924 – Margaret Truman, American novelist (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor
• 1928 – Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress & singer
• 1929 – Paul Meger, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1929 – Chaim Potok, American author (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Patricia Routledge, English actress
• 1930 – Roger Craig, American baseball player and manager
• 1930 – Ruth Rendell, English writer
• 1933 – Bobby Lewis, American singer
• 1933 – Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian
• 1935 – Christina Pickles, UK-born American actress
• 1936 – Jim Brown, American football player
• 1938 – Buck Trent, American banjo player
• 1938 – Martha Henry, American/Canadian actress
• 1938 – Yvonne Romain, British film and television actress
• 1939 – John Leyton, British singer
• 1939 – Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen
• 1939 – Clément Richard, Canadian businessman and politician
• 1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006)
• 1941 – Julia McKenzie, English actress and theatre director
• 1942 – Huey P. Newton, American political activist (d. 1989)
• 1943 – Costas Azariadis, Greek macroeconomist
• 1944 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer
• 1945 – Zina Bethune, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
• 1946 – Dodie Stevens, American singer
• 1948 – José José, Mexican singer and actor
• 1948 – Rick Majerus, American basketball coach
• 1948 – Don Scardino, American television director and actor
• 1949 – Fred Frith, English musician and composer
• 1951 – Rashid Minhas, Pilot officer in Pakistan Air Force during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 (d. 1971)
• 1952 – Karin Janz, East German gymnast
• 1953 – Norman Pace, British actor and comic
• 1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
• 1955 – Mo Yan, Chinese novelist
• 1956 – Richard Karn, American actor
• 1957 – Loreena McKennitt, Canadian musician
• 1958 – Alan Wiggins, American baseball player d. 1991
• 1959 – Aryeh Deri, Israeli rabbi and politician
• 1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer
• 1959 – Neil Lomax, American football player
• 1962 – Samuel Bayer, American music video director
• 1962 – David McComb, Australian musician (The Triffids) (d. 1999)
• 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor
• 1963 – Alison Hargreaves, British mountaineer (d. 1995)
• 1963 – Jen-Hsun Huang, American entrepreneur and businessman
• 1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and actor
• 1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player
• 1963 – Rene Syler, American journalist
• 1964 – Buster Olney, American sports columnist
• 1965 – Michael Bay, American film director
• 1966 – Michael Lepond, American musician (Symphony X)
• 1966 – Quorthon, Swedish musician (Bathory) (d. 2004)
• 1966 – Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Chanté Moore, American singer
• 1968 – Bryan Cox, American football player
• 1969 – David Douillet, French judoka
• 1969 – Tuesday Knight, American actress
• 1969 – Willi Kronhardt, German footballer
• 1970 – Tommy Moe, American skier
• 1970 – Dominic Purcell, English/Australian actor
• 1971 – Martyn Bennett, Canadian composer (d. 2005)
• 1971 – Jeremy Edwards, British actor
• 1971 – SaRenna Lee, American pornographic actress
• 1971 – Denise Richards, American actress
• 1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)
• 1972 – Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
• 1972 – Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)
• 1972 – Yuki Isoya, Japanese singer (Judy and Mary)
• 1972 – Ralphie May, American comedian
• 1972 – Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model
• 1972 – LG Petrov, Swedish singer (Entombed)
• 1973 – Drew Barry, American basketball player
• 1973 – Raphaël Ibañez, French rugby player
• 1974 – Kaoru, Japanese musician
• 1974 – Jerry O'Connell, American actor
• 1974 – Bryan White, American singer
• 1975 – Harisu, South Korean singer, model and actress
• 1975 – Todd Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Vaclav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 – Kelly Carlson, American actress
• 1976 – William Roussel, French musician (Mütiilation)
• 1976 – Scott Williamson, American baseball player
• 1977 – Wong Choong Hann, Malaysian badminton player
• 1978 – Jacob Wetterling, American kidnapping victim
• 1979 – Dee, Puerto Rican pornographic actress
• 1979 – Sarah Lee Guthrie, American musician
• 1979 – Josh Willingham, American baseball player
• 1980 – Al Harrington, American basketball player
• 1980 – Jason Ritter, American actor
• 1980 – Klemi Saban, Israeli footballer
• 1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor
• 1981 – Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress
• 1982 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 – Brian Bruney, American baseball player
• 1982 – Daniel Merriweather, Australian singer
• 1983 – Gérald Cid, French footballer
• 1983 – Marios Kaperonis, Greek boxer
• 1983 – Kevin Rudolf, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Nguyen Tien Minh, Vietnamese badminton player
• 1984 – Jimmy Jacobs, American professional wrestler
• 1984 – Kenta Kamakari, Japanese actor and voice actor
• 1984 – Drew Miller, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Sadha, Indian film actress
• 1984 – AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
• 1985 – Anne Curtis, Filipino actress and model
• 1985 – Anders Jacobsen, Norwegian ski jumper
• 1986 – Joey O'Brien, Irish footballer
• 1986 – Ricardo Rodriguez, American wrestler and ring announcer
• 1988 – Natascha Kampusch, Austrian kidnapping victim
• 1989 – Rebecca Adlington, English swimmer
• 1989 – Stacey McClean, British singer
• 1989 – Chord Overstreet, American actor
• 1990 – Marianne St-Gelais, Canadian short track speed skater
• 1991 – Ed Sheeran, English signer
• 1991 – Bonnie Wright, English actress
• 1992 – Meaghan Jette Martin, American actress and singer
• 1993 – AJ Perez, Filipino actor and model (d. 2011)
• 1993 – Philip Wiegratz, German actor
• 1996 – Sasha Pieterse, South African/American actress

Deaths

• 364 – Jovian, Roman Emperor (b. 331)
• 440 – Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian monk and linguist (b. 360)
• 1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)
• 1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
• 1596 – Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar (b. 1536)
• 1600 – Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher (burned at the stake) (b. 1548)
• 1609 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1549)
• 1624 – Juan de Mariana, Spanish historian (b. 1536)
• 1659 – Abel Servien, French diplomat (b. 1593)
• 1673 – Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)
• 1680 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (b. 1599)
• 1680 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist (b. 1637)
• 1715 – Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (b. 1646)
• 1732 – Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (b. 1669)
• 1768 – Arthur Onslow, English politician (b. 1691)
• 1780 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (b. 1706)
• 1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist (b. 1770)
• 1854 – John Martin, English painter (b. 1789)
• 1856 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
• 1874 – Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1796)
• 1883 – Napoleon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806)
• 1883 – Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1845)
• 1890 – Christopher Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819)
• 1905 – William Bickerton, Mormon prophet (b. 1815)
• 1909 – Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
• 1912 – Edgar Evans, Welsh naval officer (b. 1876)
• 1919 – Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841)
• 1934 – King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875)
• 1934 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862)
• 1939 – Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859)
• 1943 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872)
• 1943 – Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer (b. 1888)
• 1958 – Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1897)
• 1962 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1962 – Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876)
• 1970 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
• 1970 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (b. 1900)
• 1976 – Jean Servais, Belgian actor (b. 1910)
• 1977 – Janani Luwum, Ugandan Archbishop (b. 1922)
• 1982 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (b. 1922)
• 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917)
• 1982 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor (b. 1901)
• 1986 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1895)
• 1988 – John Marco Allegro, English scholar (b. 1923)
• 1989 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
• 1990 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1901)
• 1990 – Erik Rhodes, American actor (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951)
• 1996 – Hervé Bazin, French writer (b. 1911)
• 1997 – Zein Isa, Palestinian militant
• 1998 – Ernst Jünger, German author (b. 1895)
• 1998 – Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (b. 1921)
• 2001 – Barry Burman, English artist (b. 1943)
• 2001 – Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948)
• 2003 – Steve Bechler, American baseball player (b. 1979)
• 2004 – José López Portillo, President of Mexico (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (b. 1919)
• 2005 – Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Ray Barretto, Puerto Rican musician (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (b. 1948)
• 2007 – Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2007 – Jurga Ivanauskaite, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961)
• 2007 – Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born musician, producer and songwriter (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910)
• 2008 – Brian Harris, English footballer (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Conchita Cintrón, Chilean bullfighter (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Mike Whitmarsh, American volleyball player (b. 1962)
• 2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Seven Founders of the Servite Order
    • Alexis Falconieri
  • Constabilis
  • Fintan of Clonenagh
  • Lommán of Trim
  • February 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Kosovo in 2008, still under dispute.
• Quirinalia, in honor of Quirinus (Roman Empire)
• The first day of Hachinohe Emburi (Hachinohe)