17 November

November 17 is the 321st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 44 days remain until the end of the year.

We have some interesting facts & historic events all about November 17^th, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.

Keep reading for more interesting facts about November 17^th in history!

Global Celebrations

National Homemade Bread Day
National Take A Hike Day
World Prematurity Day
National UnFriend Day
International Students Day
National Epilepsy Day
Guinness World Record Day

Historic Events

What Happened On This Day – November 17

2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as Californian Governor

The bodybuilder and actor best known for his role as a cyborg in the science fiction movie, The Terminator, replaced then Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was elected for another term as governor in 2007.

1989: Velvet Revolution begins

A week after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a demonstration of by students commemorating International Students Day in Prague was violently shut down by riot police. The incident led to mass strikes and nonviolent around the country that ended communist rule in erstwhile Czechoslovakia and paved the way for the first democratic elections in the country in 41 years.

1973: Athens Polytechnic Uprising Ends

The popular protests against the military junta under Georgios Papadopoulos began on November 14 when students at the polytechnic went on a strike. On the morning of November 17, the military crashed into the campus grounds using a tank and put an end of the protests. While no one was thought to have been killed on the polytechnic campus, many people were killed in clashes around the city. Today, all schools and universities are closed on November 17 to commemorate the uprising.

1869: Construction on Suez Canal finished

The 120 miles (193 kms) long artificial waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea took 10 years to be built and was opened to ships. The canal connected Europe to Asia without ships having to go all the way around Africa.

1858: The start of Modified Julian Date

Mostly used by astronomers and astrophysicists, the Modified Julian Date (MJD) is a dating method that is defined by subtracting 2,400,000.5 days from the current Julian date (JD), which is calculated by counting the number of days past since Noon January 1, 4713 B.C.E. The MJD gives the number of days past Midnight November 17, 1858. MJD was first used in 1957 by scientists at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory to track satellites.

1970: On this day in 1970: the computer peripheral device mouse was patented