November 17 in history — What Happened Today in History

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).

The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.

Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."

The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.

Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.

Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.

Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.

Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S.

Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."

President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region.

Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft. There are no fatalities.

The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, County Kerry, Ireland, are evacuated to the mainland.

Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted.

The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.

American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.

The Tartu Art Museum is established in Tartu, Estonia.

Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. All Czech universities are shut down and more than 1,200 students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic.

The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.

H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts.

Serbo-Bulgarian War: The decisive Battle of Slivnitsa begins.

First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, who was armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.

In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.

American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: During the Knoxville campaign, Confederate forces under General James Longstreet besiege the city of Knoxville, Tennessee and its Union defenders led by General Ambrose Burnside.

Modified Julian Day zero.

Panashe Muzambe, Scottish rugby union player

Raquel Castro, American actress and singer

Rose Ayling-Ellis, British actress

Taylor Gold, American snowboarder

Damiris Dantas, Brazilian basketball player

Katarzyna Kawa, Polish tennis player

Danielle Kettlewell, Australian synchronised swimmer

Elías Díaz, Venezuelan baseball player

Ryan Griffin, American football player

Seth Lugo, American baseball player

Roman Zozulya, Ukrainian footballer

Justin Cooper, American actor

Justine Michelle Cain, English actress

Doris Lessing, British novelist, poet, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919)

Alex Marques, Portuguese footballer (born 1993)

Mary Nesbitt Wisham, American baseball player (born 1925)

Ponty Chadha, Indian businessman and philanthropist (born 1957)

Armand Desmet, Belgian cyclist (born 1931)

Lea Gottlieb, Hungarian-Israeli fashion designer, founded the Gottex Company (born 1918)

Freddy Schmidt, American baseball player (born 1916)

Billy Scott, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)

Bal Thackeray, Indian cartoonist and politician (born 1926)

Margaret Yorke, English author (born 1924)

Kurt Budke, American basketball player and coach (born 1961)

George Stephen Morrison, American admiral (born 1919)

Pete Newell, American basketball player and coach (born 1915)