What are the important events that happened on October 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

October 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

October 17 is the 291^st day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 75 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is October 4, 2024 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,818,720 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaenneacontahenagon’ day.

Libra is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 104 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,318 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

October 17 Historical Events

• 539 BC –
  Cyrus the Great marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost 70 years of exile. Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Yehud Medinata and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
• 1610 –
  French king Louis XIII is crowned in Rheims.
• 1662 –
  Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for 40,000 pounds.
• 1781 –
  American Revolutionary War: British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
• 1860 –
  First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).
• 1912 –
  Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.
• 1917 –
  First British bombing of Germany in World War I.
• 1945 –
  A massive number of people, headed by CGT and Evita, gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to demand Juan Peron’s release. It calls “el día de la lealtad peronista” (peronista loyalty day)
• 1964 –
  Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra.
• 1977 –
  German Autumn: Four days after it is hijacked, Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all remaining hostages on board.

Who were born on October 17?

• 1760 –
  Claude Henri de Rouvroy, French economist and philosopher (d. 1825)
• 1890 –
  Roy Kilner, English cricketer (d. 1928)
• 1917 –
  Marsha Hunt, American actress
• 1926 –
  Beverly Garland, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1947 –
  Gene Green, American politician
• 1959 –
  Ron Drummond, American writer
• 1962 –
  Mike Judge, American cartoonist, filmmaker and voice actor
• 1976 –
  Sebastián Abreu, Uruguayan footballer
• 1977 –
  Bryan Bertino, American film director and screenwriter
• 1985 –
  Collins John, Dutch footballer

Who died on October 17?

• 1836 –
  Orest Kiprensky, Russian painter (b. 1782)
• 1849 –
  Frédéric Chopin, Polish musician and composer (b. 1810)
• 1937 –
  Joseph Bruce Ismay, Titanic survivor and managing director of the White Star Line (b. 1862)
• 1962 –
  Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter (b. 1882)
• 1987 –
  Abdul Malek Ukil, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1925)
• 1998 –
  Joan Hickson, British actress (b. 1906)
• 2000 –
  Joachim Nielsen, Norwegian rock musician and poet (b. 1964)
• 2002 –
  Aileen Riggin, American swimmer (b. 1906)
• 2006 –
  Christopher Glenn, American newscaster (b. 1938)
• 2006 –
  Daniel Emilfork, French actor (b. 1924)