History Events on November 17

English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.

#Courtier

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."

#Vietnam_War

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.

#John_Bardeen

Articles of Confederation (United States) are submitted to the states for ratification.

#Articles_of_Confederation

Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, opens at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.

#Oberto_(opera)

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.

#Cold_War

John Balliol becomes King of Scotland.

#John_Balliol

United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.

#United_States_House_of_Representatives

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.

#Heidi_Game

French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.

#French_Revolutionary_Wars

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

#Watergate_scandal

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.

#Luna_programme

The city of Denver, Colorado is founded.

#Denver

an earthquake in Valdivia, south-central Chile, causes tsunamies that led to significant destruction along Japan's coast.

#1837_Valdivia_earthquake

Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt. His nephew Arnulf of Carinthia is elected as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.

#Charles_the_Fat

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

#President_of_the_United_States

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.

#Landslide

Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.

#Elizabethan_era

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

#BAC_One-Eleven

American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege.

#American_Civil_War

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

#Vietnam_War

At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt.

#Manfalut_railway_accident

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

#Blasket_Islands

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.

#Umberto_I_of_Italy

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.

#Czechs

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).

#Velvet_Revolution

American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.

#American_frontier

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

#H._H._Holmes

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, which is the first black Greek-lettered organization founded at an American historically black college or university, was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

#Omega_Psi_Phi

Japanese Emperor Kanmu changes his residence from Nara to Kyoto.

#Emperor_Kanmu

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.

#Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation

Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts.

#Mount_Unzen

Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. (The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him.)

#Nathaniel_Palmer

In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre.

#Luxor

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March" is given its premiere performance in Moscow, Russia.

#Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky

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

#Egypt

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

#Serbo-Bulgarian_War

José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.

#José_Miguel_Carrera

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.

#British_European_Airways

The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.

#United_States_Congress

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.

#Tornado_outbreak_of_November_17,_2013

Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.

#14th_Dalai_Lama

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

#Russian_Social_Democratic_Labour_Party

Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia.

#Tatarstan_Airlines_Flight_363

Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.

#Alberto_Fujimori

Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.

#Ecuador

In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.

#Sani_Abacha

Brisbane Suburban Railway Electrification. The first stage from Ferny Grove to Darra is commissioned.

The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS, receiving negative reception from critics, fans, and even Star Wars creator George Lucas.

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

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

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

The United States recognizes the Soviet Union.

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.

The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.

Modified Julian Day zero.

Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.

Henry VIII of England concludes the Treaty of Westminster, a pledge of mutual aid against the French, with Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Sharif ul-H?shim establishes the Sultanate of Sulu.

The Battle of Mizushima takes place.