History Events on October 17

The Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence was stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo.

#Caravaggio

Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus.

#Kepler's_Supernova

The 1964-65 New York World's Fair closes after two years and more than 51 million attendees.

#1964_New_York_World's_Fair

The Burma Railway (Burma-Thailand Railway) is completed.

#Burma_Railway

The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.

#Lufthansa_Flight_181

Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.

#Al_Capone

The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.

#Erich_Honecker

An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo.

#Battle_of_Kosovo_(1448)

The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years.

#Battle_of_Neville's_Cross

Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, becomes the world's tallest highrise.

#Taipei_101

The Department of Education Organization Act creates the US Department of Education.

#Department_of_Education_Organization_Act

The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack.

#Hatfield_rail_crash

Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.

#London_Beer_Flood

Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi becomes the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.

#Assassination_of_Rehavam_Ze'evi

Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded.

#Poczta_Polska

American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.

#Saratoga_campaign

As part of the Holy See-United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican

#Holy_See-United_Kingdom_relations

The Nine regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered.

#List_of_regicides_of_Charles_I

Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule.

#Jean-Jacques_Dessalines

The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe.

#University_of_Greifswald

The recreational use of cannabis is legalized in Canada.

#Cannabis_Act

Bobby Fischer defeats Donald Byrne in the chess Game of the Century.

#The_Game_of_the_Century_(chess)

The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.

#Sellafield

Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

#Thomas_Edison

Bellini's third opera, Il pirata, is premiered at Milan.

#Il_pirata

Aborigines kill Nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.

#Cullin-la-ringo_massacre

Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.

#First_Balkan_War

The tomb of Pharaoh Seti I is discovered.

#KV17

A massive demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, demands Juan Perón's release.

#Loyalty_Day_(Argentina)

Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15.

#Ascanio_in_Alba

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

#Mother_Teresa

Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.

#Albert_Einstein

World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first US Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat.

#USS_Kearny_(DD-432)

The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.

#Willi_Münzenberg

Kerch Polytechnic College attack in Crimea.

Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.

Having gone to the wrong house, Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing Sixty-three.

OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

FLQ terrorists murder Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte.

The 23rd Street Fire in New York City kills 12 firefighters.

Directed by their chief Maurice Papon, Paris police massacre scores of Algerian protesters.

Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.

RCA is incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America.

Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service.

First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).

War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.

American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.

Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for 40,000 pounds.

French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral.

Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass.

London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.