November 17

Holidays

• Slovakia - Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day commemorating the beginning of the Velvet Revolution in 1989.
• Life Day
• International Students Day
• R.C. Saints - Elisabeth of Hungary; Gregory of Tours; Hilda of Whitby; Hugh of Lincoln
• Also see November 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
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Events

• 2018 Syrian Civil War: After months of fighting, Syrian government forces retake control of Tulul al-Safa in southern Syria from ISIL. (The New Arab)
• 2017 Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017): 2017 Western Iraq campaign: The Iraqi Army captures the town of Rawa from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It was the last town held by ISIL in Iraq. (AP)
• 2016 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports a car bomb has killed at least ten people in the city of Azaz, Aleppo Governorate. (Reuters)
• 2015 Metrojet Flight 9268: Russia's Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian), (Reuters)In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia's Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters)
• 2014 After months fending off a takeover bid from Canada's Valeant, the board of U.S. biopharm firm Allergan accepts a $66 billion offer from an Irish white knight, Actavis. (Reuters)
• 2013 Post-civil war violence in Libya:: Libya's deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Noah is kidnapped outside Tripoli airport. (Reuters)
• 2012 Suspected insurgents detonate a motorcycle bomb in Mueang Yala District, southern Thailand, killing one person and wounding 20, one day ahead of the United States President Barack Obama’s visit to the country. (Washington Post) (Bangkok Post)
• 2011 2011 Syrian uprising: Explosions and gunfire are reported in the Syrian capital Damascus. (CNN)
• 2010 Researchers at CERN trap 38 antihydrogen atoms for a sixth of a second, marking the first time in history that humans have trapped antimatter.
• 2009 A prominent human rights campaigner for the Western Sahara region, Aminatou Haidar, who is on hunger strike at an airport in the Canary Islands, is to appear in a Spanish court on charges of public disorder. (Reuters) (AFP)
• 2008 Citigroup will cut 75,000 jobs by early 2009. (BBC News)
• 2007 War in Afghanistan: Two NATO Canadian soldiers and an interpreter are killed by a roadside bomb in Panjawi, Kandahar province. Three more soldiers are wounded. (BBC)
• 2006 Sony releases the PlayStation 3 video game system in the USA.
• 2005 Sri Lankan presidential election, 2005: Sri Lanka holds its presidential election to appoint the fifth executive president. The election was conducted peacefully despite a few minor incidents. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa defeats former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the election. (Times of India) (Reuters)
• 2004 Kmart Corp. announces that it is buying Sears, Roebuck and Co. for $11 billion USD and naming the newly merged company Sears Holdings Corporation.
• 2003 Lord Black of Crossharbour is pushed to resign as chief executive of his media empire, which may be sold.
• 2002 The UK government has refused to either confirm or deny the putative poison gas attack revealed on November 16, although it is known that three men are currently being held and investigated under the terms of the Terrorism Act 2000.
• 2001 The animated Justice League cartoon premieres on Cartoon Network in America.
• 2000 Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru. 4,097 children born in us
• 1998 Voyager 1 overtakes Pioneer 10 as the most distant man-made object from the Solar System, at a distance of 69.419 AU (1.0384910 km).
• 1997 Mario Lemieux enters NHL Hall of Fame
• 1996 Present Laughter opens at Walter Kerr Theater, New York City
• 1994 Sunset Boulevard opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 977 performances
• 1993 Grand Night For Singing opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 52 performances
• 1992 Gypsy Passion opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 55 performances
• 1991 Brigadoon closes at New York State Theater NYC after 12 performances
• 1990 Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan becomes active again and erupts.
• 1989 Bret Saberhagen signs record $2,966,667 per year Kansas City Royals contract.
• 1988 Linda Petursdottir of Iceland, 18, crowned 38th Miss World
• 1987 George Bell is 1st Blue Jay ever to win the AL MVP
• 1986 Oh Coward! opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 56 performances
• 1985 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on 92.3 WXRK FM, New York
• 1984 Golden State Warriors' player scores 59 points losing to New Jersey Nets 124-110.
• 1983 La Tragedie de Carmen opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 187 performances
• 1982 Dale Murphy wins NL MVP
• 1981 1st opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 37 performances
• 1980 John Lennon releases Double Fantasy album in the UK
• 1979 Daniel Okrent sketches out 1st draft rules for Rotisserie Baseball
• 1978 Gerald Lascelles (under English Princess Mary) weds Elizabeth Colvin
• 1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat formally accepts invitation to visit Israel.
• 1974 Bonnie Bryant wins Bill Branch LPGA Golf Classic
• 1973 Greek regime attacks students with tanks, 100s killed
• 1970 British newspaper Sun puts 1st pinup girl on pg 3 (Stephanie Rahn)
• 1969 SALT-discussions open in Helsinki Finland
• 1968 Zorba opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 305 performances
• 1967 Beatles Ltd and Apple Music Ltd swap names
• 1966 Leonids meteor shower peaks (150,000+ per hour).
• 1965 General Meeting of the UN refuses admittance of China PR
• 1964 British Labour Party installs weapon embargo against South Africa
• 1963 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Mary Mills Miss Gulf Coast Golf Invitational
• 1962 Little Me opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 257 performances
• 1961 Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles of New Guinea.
• 1960 New Washington franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada
• 1959 Giants slugger Willie McCovey wins NL Rookie of Year
• 1958 KAII TV channel 7 in Wailuku, HI (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1957 WBOY TV channel 12 in Clarksburg, WV (NBC / ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1956 Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43 pts (vs. Colgate)
• 1953 St. Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc
• 1948 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.
• 1947 The U.S. Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
• 1946 Eight British servicemen are killed in Jerusalem by Jewish nationalists.
• 1945 Girl from Nantucket closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 12 performances
• 1940 Green Bay Packers become first NFL team to travel by plane.
• 1939 German U-boat torpedoes passenger ship
• 1938 Italy passes their own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg laws.
• 1936 Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy become overnight success on radio
• 1934 Lyndon B Johnson marries Claudia Alta Taylor
• 1933 US recognizes USSR, opens trade
• 1932 German government of von Papen, resigns
• 1931 Bradman scores 135 NSW vs. South Africa, 128 mins, 15 fours
• 1930 Musical Sweet & Low with Fanny Brice premieres in New York City
• 1929 Pascual Ortiz Rubio elected President of Mexico
• 1928 Boston Garden officially opens
• 1927 Tornado hits Washington DC.
• 1922 Turkish Sultan Mehmed VI flees to Malta on British warship
• 1920 The council of the League of Nations accepts the constitution for the Free City of Danzig.
• 1918 Social Democratic Party becomes Communistc Party Holland: CPH
• 1917 Lenin defended temporary removal of freedom of the press
• 1914 US declares Panama Canal Zone neutral
• 1911 The Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the first African-American fraternity at an historically black college or university, is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
• 1904 George Cohans musical Little Johnny Jones, premieres in New York City
• 1903 The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for ''majority'') and Mensheviks (Russian for ''minority'').
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Famous Birthday

• Sophie Marceau

  French actress, seen in her first...

• Rachel McAdams

  Canadian actress.

• Jeff Buckley

  American musician, who emerged in the...

• Martin Scorsese

  American award-winning film director who...

• Rock Hudson

  American actor, a matinee idol whose...

• Lauren Hutton

  American perennial supermodel, actress...

• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
• Jonathan Ross

  TV Show Host.

• Leslie Bibb

  American actress.

• Peter Cook

  British comedian and satirist, called...

• Diane Neal
• Dylan Walsh
• Tania Zaetta
• Claudia Pandolfi

  Italian actress, acclaimed from youth...

• Bojana Novakovic
• Viva Bianca

  Australian actress producer and...

• Leonard Roberts

  American actor.

• Heli Finkenzeller
• David Ramsey

  TV Actor.

• Raquel Castro

  Movie Actress.

• Zoë Bell

  New Zealand actress and stuntwoman.

• Rance Howard

  American actor producer and...

• Alvin Patrimonio

  Filipino basketball player and manager.

• Shanica Knowles

  American actress.

• Frank Fay

  American actor singer and screenwriter...

• Gemini Ganesan

  Indian actor and director (d. 2002).

• Betty Bronson

  Trenton, New Jersey -- Actress (Evel...

• Stephen Root

  American actor.

• Mischa Auer

  Russian-born American actor who moved to...

• Brandon Call

  Actor (Baywatch, Blind Fury, Step by...

• Frank Fay

  American light actor and vaudeville star...

• Tom Ellis

  TV Actor.

• RuPaul

  American transvestite, a black, 6' 5"...

• Danny Devito
• Kat Deluna
• Florence Cassez

  French woman who was accused to belong...

• Astrid of Sweden
• Daisy Fuentes

  Cuban model and actress.

• Rem Koolhaas

  Dutch architect and academic designed...

• John Boehner

  American politician and Republican Party...

• Katie Feenstra

  American basketball player.

• Gordon Lightfoot

  Canadian singer, songwriter and...

• Lee Strasberg

  Austria -- Acting coach / actor...

• Edith Lefel
• Sarah Harding

  Pop Singer.

• Jeff Nelson

  Baltimore, Maryland -- Pitcher (New York...

• Jean-Michel Saive

  Belgian table-tennis champion, placed...

• Harry Lloyd

  English actor producer and screenwriter.

• Alexandre Delpérier
• Isaac Hanson

  American musician (Hanson).

• Howard Dean

  American politician and physician, Dean...

• Elvin Hayes

  American basketball player, playing...

• Howard Dean

  American politician and physician, Dean...

• Stephanie Clement

  American pro astrologer with a pragmatic...

• Gene Clark

  American musician, vocalist and guitar...

• Gene Clark

  American musician, vocalist and guitar...

• Mademoiselle K
• Jean-Michel Baylet
• Félix Hemmen
• Soichiro Honda

  Japanese engineer and businessman...

• Roland Joffé

  English-French director producer and...

• Jacques Maillot

  French entrepreneur, the founder of...

• Tom Ellis (actor)
• Susan Rice

  American academic and politician 24th...

• Fenella Fielding

  British actress, a femme fatale with...

• Pierre Nora

  French historian elected to the Académie...

• Michael Adams
• Barbara Gibb

  British-American noted family, wife of...

• Arman (artist)
• Annette Sergent

  French cross-country running champion...

• Frédy Girardet

  Swiss chef and restaurateur of his own...

• Francis Regardie

  British occultist, the prolific...

• Merete Van Kamp
• Paul Sorrento

  American baseball player, a first...

• Carlo Verdone
• Domenico Schiattarella
• Michel Reyt

  French business executive, the Director...

• Tom Seaver

  American professional baseball player...

• Pierre Véry

  French novelist and screenwriter, who...

• Luxor massacre
• Isamu Noguchi

  American sculptor and architect (d....

• André Arbus
• Misha Auer
• John Wells
• Christian Fouchet

  French politician, a Gaullist government...

• Nani

  Portuguese football player.

• Alexei Urmanov

  Russian figure skater and coach.

• Fabrice Salanson
• Rachel de Queiroz
• Brent Carver

  Canadian actor, winner of the Canadian...

• Ronnie Devoe

  Boston, Massachusetts -- Vocals (New...

• Véra Belmont
• Tom Bachman

  First generation Chinese-American...

• Toni Sailer

  Austrian skier and actor (d. 2009).

• Dino Martin

  American actor, musician and tennis pro,...

• Christopher Paolini

  American novelist.

• David Hayward

  American jazz musician and a trumpeter...

• Lucien Michard

  French cyclist who won a Gold Medal at...

• Bob Mathias

  American athlete who was the sole...

• Eunice Barber

  French-Sierra Leonean athlete, she won...

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Famous Deaths

• Clive Brook

  Actor / director (On Approval), dies at...

• Arthur Conley

  American singer-songwriter (d. 2003).

• Ruth Donnelly

  comedienne, dies at age 86 in New York...

• Ernestine Schumann-Heink

  Austrian opera singer who sang...

• Esther Rolle

  American actress (Born 1920).

• Marek Perepeczko

  Polish actor (Born 1942).

• Gladys Cooper

  Actress (Margaret-The Rogues), dies at...

• Naunton Wayne

  Actor (Dead of Night), dies at 69.

• Louis Neel

  French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate...

• John Glascock

  English singer and bass player (Jethro...

• Kay Johnson

  Mount Vernon, New York -- Actress (Real...

• F-Auguste-R Rodin

  French Sculptor (Baiser, Thinker), dies...

• Adolf A Joffe

  Russian Author / diplomat, commits...

• Georgi Atanasov

  Composer, dies at 50.

• John P Lotsy

  Botanist / geneticist (Resumptio...

• Earnest Udet

  German General / head air pioneer,...

• Paul Charles Rene Landormy

  Composer, dies at 74.

• James Price Johnson

  Composer, dies at 64.

• Wilhelm Lehmann

  Writer, dies at 86.

• Victor Alessandro

  Composer, dies at 60.

• James J "Gene" Tunney

  Heavyweight boxing champ (1926-8), dies...

• John Glassock

  Bass (Jethro Tull), dies at 27 following...

• Jan Novak

  Composer, dies at 63.

• Jimmy Ritz

  Actor (Ritz Brothers), dies of heart...

• Alan Hewitt

  Actor (Det Brennan-My Favorite Martian),...

• Irene Wicker

  Singer / actress (Singing Lady), dies at...

• Emerson Buckley

  Composer, dies at 73.

• Billy Lee

  Actor (Sons of Legion, Biscuit Eater).

• Paul Reid Roman

  Actor (Aviator, Blue Knight), dies of...

• Jthm de Vreeze

  Dutch MP (KVP, 1956.

• G Waller

  German / Swiss movie journalist (NRC /...

• Edward LeBone Molotlegi

  Chief of the Bafokeng, dies at 66.

• John Prickett

  Teacher / ecumenist, dies at 88.

• Peter John Welding

  Record producer, dies at 60.

• Marguerite Young

  Writer, dies at 87.

• Andrew John Fairclough

  Trade union educator, dies at 45.

• Johan Fleming Ramsland

  Broadcaster, dies at 54.

• Ante Trumbic

  Croatian politician (Born 1864).

• Leonid Borisovitch Kogan

  Russian violinist (Born 1924).

• Arthur Vining Davis

  CEO (Alcoa 1910-1957), dies at age 92 in...

• Duk Koo Kim dies unexpectedly from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in

  Nevada, prompting reforms in the sport...

• Bill Baldwin

  announcer (Mayor of Hollywood), dies at...

• Georges Besse

  French industrialist, the President of...

• Ruth Brown

  American black singer nicknamed "Miss...

• Mort Cooper

  baseball player (National League Most...

• Heitor Villa-Lobos

  Brazilian Composer / pianist /...

• Surjit Bindrakhia

  Punjabi artist (Born 1962).

• Mikael Ljungberg

  Swedish wrestler and manager (d. 2004).

• Eduard Tubin

  Estonian composer and conductor (d....

• Flo Sandon's

  Italian singer (Born 1924).

• Bob Eberly

  Mechanicsville, New York -- Singer...

• Robert Comtesse

  Swiss lawyer and politician President of...

• Pete Newell

  American basketball player and coach (d....

• Paul Derringer

  American baseball player (d. 1987).

• Yitzhak Lamdan

  Russian-born Israeli poet and columnist...

• Adolf WAKF

  Duke of Nassau / grand Duke of...

• Sheilah Graham

  gossip columnist, dies of heart failure...

• Philip EFMCBLG

  Earl of Flanders.

• Gerard D Levesque

  Canadian politician (Born 1926).

• Frank McCarthy

  American artist and realist painter...

• George Stephen Morrison

  American admiral (Born 1919).

• Ricarda Huch

  Pioneering German intellectual.

• Adolphe of Luxembourg

  (Born 1817).

• Alan Hull

  English singer-songwriter and guitarist...

• Mirra Alfassa

  ''The Mother'', Sri Aurobindo Ashram...

• Alexander Ragulin

  Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004).

• Raymond Pearl

  American biologist and botanist (d....

• Herman Hollerith

  German / US statistician (punch card),...

• Ralph Johnstone

  pioneer pilot, 1st 'American' pilot...

• Pa Chay Vue

  Hmong Nationalist.

• Lala Lajpat Rai

  Indian author, politician, & freedom...

• Ben Reitman

  American anarchist, physician (Born...

• Victor Serge

  Russian anarchist, novelist, and...

• James P Johnson

  American pianist and composer (Born...

• Mary Giatra Lemou

  Greek actress (Born 1915).

• Audre Lord

  Caribbean-American writer, poet, and...

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Top #1 songs in the USA

• 2017 Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage - Rockstar
• 2016 The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey - Closer
• 2015 Adele - Hello
• 2014 Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
• 2013 Lorde - Royals
• 2012 Maroon 5 - One More Night
• 2011 Rihanna - We Found Love
• 2010 Rihanna - What's My Name?
• 2009 Jason DeRulo - Whatcha Say
• 2008 T.I. - Live Your Life
• 2007 Chris Brown - Kiss Kiss
• 2006 Justin Timberlake - My Love
• 2005 Kanye West - Gold Digger
• 2004 Usher - My Boo
• 2003 Beyonce - Baby Boy
• 2002 Eminem - Lose Yourself
• 2001 Mary J. Blige - Family Affair
• 2000 Destiny's Child - Independent Women Part I
• 1999 Santana - Smooth
• 1998 Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)
• 1997 Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997
• 1997 Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight
• 1996 BLACKstreet - No Diggity
• 1995 Mariah Carey - Fantasy
• 1994 Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You
• 1993 Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
• 1992 The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel
• 1991 Prince - Cream
• 1990 Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time
• 1989 Bad English - When I See You Smile
• 1988 Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine
• 1987 Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
• 1986 Boston - Amanda
• 1985 Starship - We Built This City
• 1984 Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
• 1983 Lionel Richie - All Night Long (All Night)
• 1982 Joe Cocker - Up Where We Belong
• 1981 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Private Eyes
• 1980 Kenny Rogers - Lady
• 1979 Commodores - Still
• 1978 Donna Summer - MacArthur Park
• 1977 Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life
• 1976 Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)
• 1975 Elton John - Island Girl
• 1974 John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
• 1973 Eddie Kendricks - Keep On Truckin' (Part 1)
• 1972 Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
• 1971 Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft
• 1970 Jackson 5 - I'll Be There
• 1969 The 5th Dimension - Wedding Bell Blues
• 1968 The Beatles - Hey Jude
• 1967 Lulu - To Sir With Love
• 1966 The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On
• 1965 The Supremes - I Hear A Symphony
• 1964 The Supremes - Baby Love
• 1963 Nino Tempo & April Stevens - Deep Purple
• 1962 The 4 Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry
• 1961 Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John
• 1960 Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind
• 1959 Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife
• 1958 Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe
• 1957 Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
• 1956 Jim Lowe - The Green Door
• 1955 Roger Williams - Autumn Leaves
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Top #1 Rock songs

• 2017 Imagine Dragons - Thunder
• 2016 twenty one pilots - Heathens
• 2015 Elle King - Ex's & Oh's
• 2014 Hozier - Take Me To Church
• 2013 Lorde - Royals
• 2012 fun. - Some Nights
• 2011 Bush - The Sound Of Winter
• 2010 Stone Sour - Say You'll Haunt Me
• 2009 Foo Fighters - Wheels