✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 76th day of the year

March 17

A look at March 17 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Silvio Gesell and Stephen Kramer Glickman, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2004

    2004 unrest in Kosovo

    Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.

    Ethnic violence in Kosovo
  2. 1988

    Eritrean War of Independence

    Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.

    1961–1991 conflict within Ethiopia
  3. 1979

    Penmanshiel Tunnel

    The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.

    Abandoned railway tunnel in
  4. 1963

    Mount Agung

    Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.

    Stratovolcano in Bali, Indonesia
  5. 1957

    1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash

    A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.

    Aircraft accident in the
  6. 1948

    Belgium

    Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.

    Country in Northwestern Europe
  7. 1942

    The Holocaust

    Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.

    Genocide of European Jews
  8. 1891

    SS Utopia

    SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

    British transatlantic passenger steamship
  9. 1776

    American Revolutionary War

    American Revolutionary War: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.

    1775–1783 conflict in North
  10. 1337

    Edward the Black Prince

    Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first duchy in England.

    Heir of the English
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Famous birthday twins

Born on March 17

Silvio Gesell

b. 1862

Belgian merchant and economist

Stephen Kramer Glickman

b. 1979

Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer

Rob Kardashian

b. 1987

American television personality

Giovanni Trapattoni

b. 1939

Italian footballer and manager

Gottlieb Daimler

b. 1834

German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

b. 1665

French harpsichord player and composer

Silke Spiegelburg

b. 1986

German pole vaulter

Siegfried Lenz

b. 1926

Polish-German author and playwright

Deaths

  • 1994Charlotte Auerbach, German-Jewish Scottish folklorist, geneticist, and zoologist
  • 1976Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter
  • 1956Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1917Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist
  • 1406Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar
  • 180Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor

Holidays & observances

  • —Birthday of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangladesh)
  • —Children's Day (Bangladesh)
  • —Christian feast day: Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Gertrude of Nivelles
  • —Christian feast day: John Sarkander
  • —Christian feast day: Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Patrick of Ireland
  • —Christian feast day: March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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