http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Nov 17, 1558: Elizabethan Age begins
Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.
The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made efforts to restore the pope to supremacy in England. A Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth survived several Catholic plots against her; though her ascension was greeted with approval by most of England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant queen. Under the early guidance of Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the Calvinist reformers in Scotland.
In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the pope, who refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the time, was destroyed by storms and a determined English navy.
With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.
The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the "Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage, coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her death in 1603, England had become a major world power in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England's greatest monarchs
Nov 17, 1869: Suez Canal opens
The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work.
Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869--four years behind schedule. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes. In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the canal.
After World War II, Egypt pressed for evacuation of British troops from the Suez Canal Zone, and in July 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, hoping to charge tolls that would pay for construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. In response, Israel invaded in late October, and British and French troops landed in early November, occupying the canal zone. Under pressure from the United Nations, Britain and France withdrew in December, and Israeli forces departed in March 1957. That month, Egypt took control of the canal and reopened it to commercial shipping.
Ten years later, Egypt shut down the canal again following the Six Day War and Israel's occupation of the Sinai Peninsula. For the next eight years, the Suez Canal, which separates the Sinai from the rest of Egypt, existed as the front line between the Egyptian and Israeli armies. In 1975, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat reopened the Suez Canal as a gesture of peace after talks with Israel. Today, an average of 50 ships navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300 million tons of goods a year.
Nov 17, 1839: Verdi's first opera opens
Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, debuts in Milan. The premiere was held at La Scala, Italy's most prestigious theater. Oberto was received favorably, and the next day the composer was commissioned by Bartolomeo Merelli, the impresario at La Scala, to write three more operas. In 1842, after some personal and professional setbacks, the opera Nabucco made Verdi an overnight celebrity. He would go on to compose such classic operas as Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Aída, and Otello.
Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole in the former duchy of Parma in 1813. His father was a tavern keeper and grocer, and Verdi demonstrated a natural gift for music early. He studied music in the neighboring town of Busseto and at the age of 18 was sent to Milan by a sponsor to enter the Milan Conservatory. He was rejected for being overage but stayed in Milan and studied under Vincenzo Lavigna, a composer and former harpsichordist at La Scala. In 1834, Verdi returned to Busseto and became musical director of the Philharmonic Society.
Five years later, Verdi, at 26 years of age, saw his first opera debut at La Scala, the finest theater in Italy. Oberto was followed by Un giorno di regno (King for a Day, 1840), a comic opera that was a critical and commercial failure. Verdi, lamenting its poor reception and also the recent deaths of his wife and two children, decided to give up composing. A year later, however, the director of La Scala convinced him to write an opera based on the story of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. Nabucco (1842) was a sensational success, followed by I Lombardi (The Lombards, 1843) and Ernani (1844).
Rigoletto (1851) is considered his first masterpiece, and Il Trovatore (The Troubadour, 1853) and La Traviata (The Fallen Woman, 1853) brought him international fame and cemented his reputation as a major composer of opera. Verdi's melodic and dramatic style was further developed in Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859) and La forza del destino (The Power of Destiny, 1862). Aída (1871), commissioned by the khedive of Egypt and first performed in Cairo, is his most famous work.
Late expressions of his genius are Otello (Othello, 1887), completed at age 73, and Falstaff, which premiered in 1893 when Verdi was 80. Falstaff was Verdi's last opera and is considered one of the greatest comic operas. Verdi died in Milan in 1901. He was greatly honored in his lifetime and is credited with transforming Italian opera into true musical drama.
Nov 17, 1973: Nixon insists that he is not a crook
On this day in 1973, in the midst of the Watergate scandal that eventually ended his presidency, President Richard Nixon tells a group of newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, that he is "not a crook."
Nixon made the now-famous declaration during a televised question-and-answer session with Associated Press editors. Nixon, who appeared "tense" to a New York Times reporter, was questioned about his role in the Watergate burglary scandal and efforts to cover up the fact that members of his re-election committee had funded the break-in. Nixon replied "people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got." He did, however, admit that he was at fault for failing to supervise his campaign's fund-raising activities.
At one point during the discussion, Nixon gave a morbid response to an unrelated question about why he chose not to fly with back-up to Air Force One when traveling, the usual security protocol for presidential flights. He told the crowd that by taking just one aircraft he was saving energy, money and possibly time spent in the impeachment process: "if this one [plane] goes down," he said, "they don't have to impeach [me]."
Nixon was trying to be funny, but in fact the scandal was taking a toll on his physical and mental health. In Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's book All the President's Men, Nixon is described at this time as being "a prisoner in his own house—secretive, distrustful... combative, sleepless." Nixon's protestations of innocence with regard to the Watergate cover-up were eventually eroded by a relentless federal investigation.
Richard Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974.
Nov 17, 1970: My Lai trial begins
The court-martial of 1st Lt. William Calley begins. Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade (Light) of the 23rd (Americal) Division, had led his men in a massacre of Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, at My Lai 4 on March 16, 1968. My Lai 4 was one of a cluster of hamlets that made up Son My village in the northern area of South Vietnam.
The company had been conducting a search-and-destroy mission as part of the yearlong Operation Wheeler/Wallowa (November 1967-November 1968). In search of the 48th Viet Cong Local Force Battalion, the unit entered the village but found only women, children, and old men. Frustrated by unanswered losses due to snipers and mines, the soldiers took out their anger on the villagers, indiscriminately shooting innocent people as they ran from their huts. They then systematically rounded up the survivors, allegedly leading them to nearby ditch and killing them.
Calley was charged with six specifications of premeditated murder. During the trial, Chief Army Prosecutor Capt. Aubrey Daniel charged that Calley ordered Sgt. Daniel Mitchell to "finish off the rest" of the rounded-up villagers. The prosecution stressed that all the killings were committed despite the fact that Calley's platoon had met no resistance and that no one had fired on the men.
The My Lai massacre was initially covered up, but came to light a year later. An Army board of inquiry, headed by Lt. Gen. William Peers, investigated the massacre and produced a list of 30 persons who knew of the atrocity, but only 14, including Calley and his company commander, Capt. Ernest Medina, were charged with crimes. All eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted by courts-martial except Calley, whose platoon allegedly killed 200 innocent people.
Calley was found guilty of personally murdering 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to 20 years by the Court of Military Appeals and further reduced to 10 years by the Secretary of the Army. Proclaimed by much of the public as a "scapegoat," Calley was paroled in 1974.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
473 - The future Zeno I is named associate emperor by
Emperor Leo I.
1183 - Battle of Mizushima.
1278 - 680 Jews arrested (293 hanged) in England for
counterfeiting coins
1292 - (O.S.) John Balliol becomes King of Scots.
1511 - England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire sign
anti-French covenant The Treaty of Westminster
1555 - William of Orange becomes member of Council of State
1558 - Elizabeth I ascends English throne upon death of her
half sister Mary "Bloody Mary", Queen of England (1553-58), aged 42
1603 - English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter
Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
1659 - Peace of the Pyrenees is signed between France and
Spain.
1734 - John Zenger, arrested for libel against NY col gov;
later acquitted
1785 - Church of England organizes in New England
1796 - Battle of Arcole-Napolean I's French forces beat
Austrians in Italy
1798 - -21) Snow storms in New England, hundreds die
1800 - Congress held 1st session in Wash DC in incompleted
Capitol building
1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi.
1827 - The Delta Phi fraternity, America's oldest continuous
social fraternity, was founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
1831 - Ecuador and Venezuela were separated from Greater
Colombia.
1839 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Oberte Conti Di"
premieres in Milan
1842 - Fugitive slave George Latimer, captured in Boston
Composer Giuseppe VerdiComposer Giuseppe Verdi 1842 - Opera
"Linda di Chamounix" is produced (London)
1853 - Street signs authorized at San Francisco
intersections
1855 - David Livingstone becomes the first European to see
Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.
1856 - 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.
1858 - Origin of Modified Julian Period
1862 - Confederate Sec of War George B Randolph resigns
1863 - -Dec 4th) Battle of Knoxville, TN
1863 - Lincoln begins 1st draft of his Gettysburg Address
1866 - Opera "Mignon" is produced (Paris)
1869 - Englishman James Moore wins 1st bicycle race (13K
Paris-Rouen)
1869 - Suez Canal (Egypt) opens, links Mediterranean &
Red seas
1874 - Emigrant ship Cospatrick catches fire & sinks off
Auckland, NZ
1875 - Amer Theosophical Society founded by Mme Blavatsky
& Col Olcott
1876 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's patriotic Slavonic March
made its premiere in Moscow to a warm reception by the Russian people.
1877 - Gilbert and Sullivan's operette "Sorcerer"
premieres in London
Composer Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyComposer Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky 1878 - First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy.
1884 - Cops arrest John L Sullivan in 2nd round for being
"cruel"
1888 - Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony premieres in St Petersburg
1889 - Union Pacific begins daily through service,
Chicago-Portland & SF
1894 - Daily Racing Form founded
1903 - Dahomey (Benin) becomes a French protectorate.
1904 - George Cohans musical "Little Johnny
Jones," premieres in NYC
1905 - The Eulsa Treaty is signed between Japan and Korea.
1913 - 1st US dental hygienists course forms, Bridgeport, Ct
1914 - US declares Panama Canal Zone neutral
1917 - Lenin defended "temporary" removal of
freedom of the press
1918 - Social Democratic Party becomes Communistc Party
Holland: CPH
1922 - Turkish sultan Mehmed VI flees to Malta on British
warship
1926 - NHL's Chicago Black Hawks play their 1st game, beat
Tor St Pats 4-1
1927 - Tornado hits Washington DC
Marxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir
LeninMarxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir Lenin 1928 - Boston
Garden officially opens
1928 - Notre Dame finally lost a football game after nearly
25 years
1929 - Pascual Ortiz Rubio elected president of Mexico
1929 - Stalin throws Nicolai Bucharin out of Politburo
1930 - Musical "Sweet & Low" with Fanny Brice
premieres in NYC
1931 - Bradman scores 135 NSW v South Africa, 128 mins, 15
fours
1932 - German government of von Papen, resigns
1933 - United States recognizes Soviet Union, opens trade
1936 - Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy become overnight
success on radio
1937 - Britain's Lord Halifax visits Germany, beginning of
appeasement
1938 - Italy passes its own version of anti-Jewish Nuremberg
laws
1939 - German U-boat torpedoes passenger ship
1939 - Jerome Kern/Hammerstein II's "Very Warm for
May," premieres in NYC
1939 - The Rome-Rio de Janeiro air connection is created.
1940 - Green Bay Packers become 1st NFL team to travel by
plane
Soviet Union Premier Joseph StalinSoviet Union Premier
Joseph Stalin 1941 - Virgil Thomson's 2nd Symphony, premieres
1944 - -Nov 19] Nazi raids in Dutch NE Polder
1945 - "Girl from Nantucket" closes at Adelphi
Theater NYC after 12 perfs
1945 - New world air speed record 606 mph (975 kph) set by
HJ Wilson of RAF
1947 - The U.S. Screen Actors Guild implements an
anti-Communist loyalty oath.
1948 - Britain's House of Commons votes to nationalize steel
industry
1953 - St Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore
Baseball Club Inc
1953 - The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket
Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.
1956 - Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43
pts (vs Colgate)
1956 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1957 - WBOY TV channel 12 in Clarksburg, WV (NBC/ABC) begins
broadcasting
1958 - KAII TV channel 7 in Wailuku, HI (NBC) begins
broadcasting
1959 - De Beers firm of South Africa announces synthetic
diamond
1959 - Giants slugger Willie McCovey wins NL Rookie of Year
1959 - William Shea shows proposed NYC stadium with
transparent roof
1960 - New Washington franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada
1962 - "Nowhere to Go, But Up" closes at Winter
Garden NYC after 9 perfs
1962 - President Kennedy dedicates Dulles Intl Airport
outside Wash DC
1962 - Simon/Coleman/Leigh's musical "Little Me"
opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 257 performances
1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1963 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Mary Mills Miss Gulf Coast
Golf Invitational
1964 - British Labour Party installs weapon embargo against
South Africa
1965 - General Meeting of UN refuses admittance of China PR
1965 - William Eckert is unanimously elected commissioner of
baseball
1966 - Leonids meteor shower peaks (150,000+ per hour)
1967 - Beatles Ltd & Apple Music Ltd swap names
1967 - French author Régis Debray sentenced to 30 years in
Bolivia
1967 - Surveyor 6 becomes 1st man-made object to lift off
Moon
1968 - "Zorba" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for
305 performances
1968 - John Kander/Fred Ebbs musical "Zorba,"
premieres in NYC
1968 - KHNE TV channel 29 in Hastings, NB (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1968 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Pensacola Ladies' Golf
Invitational
1968 - NBC cuts to show "Heidi" and misses
Raider's rally to beat Jets, 43-32
1968 - Alexandros Panagoulis is condemned to death for
attempting to assassinate Greek dictator George Papadopoulos.
1969 - SALT-discussions open in Helsinki Finland
1970 - British newspaper Sun puts 1st pinup girl on pg 3
(Stephanie Rahn)
1970 - Russia lands Lunokhod 1 unmanned remote-controlled
vehicle on Moon
1970 - Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first
computer mouse.
1972 - Juan Peron returns to Argentina
1973 - Greek regime attacks students with tanks, 100s killed
1973 - Teri Garr plays role of a stripper on "The
Nurse"
1973 - Pres Nixon tells AP "...people have got to know
whether or not their pres is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook"
1974 - Bonnie Bryant wins Bill Branch LPGA Golf Classic
1974 - Union of Banana Exporting Countries (UPEB) forms
1974 - Aliança Operário-Camponesa (Worker-Peasant Alliance)
founded in Portugal, as a front of PCP(m-l).
1976 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1977 - Bernard Pomerance's "Elephant Man"
premieres in London
1977 - Egyptian Pres Sadat formally accepts invitation to
visit Israel
1977 - Miss World Contest - Miss UK wears $9,500 platinum
bikini
1979 - Daniel Okrent sketches out 1st draft rules for
Rotisserie Baseball
1979 - Khomeini frees most black & female US hostages
1979 - NY Stars (WBL) home opener at Madison Square Garden
in NYC
1979 - On a flight to Austin, TX, Daniel Okrent sketches out
the first
Musician and Beatle John LennonMusician and Beatle John
Lennon 1980 - John Lennon releases "Double Fantasy" album in UK
1981 - "1st" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for
37 performances
1981 - NBA NY Knick Bill Cartwright, ties record of 19 of 19
free throws
1982 - Dale Murphy wins NL MVP
1983 - "La Tragedie de Carmen" opens at Beaumont
Theater NYC for 187 perfs
1983 - Harm Wiersma retains checkers world championship
1983 - Phila Flyers win 13th straight NHL game
1984 - Golden State Warrior scores 59 points losing to NJ
Nets 124-110
1984 - Islanders score 20 assists against Rangers
1985 - Howard Stern begins broadcasting on 92.3 WXRK FM NY
1985 - NY Jets best offensive production beating Tampa Bay
62-28
1986 - "Oh Coward!" opens at Helen Hayes Theater
NYC for 56 performances
1987 - George Bell is 1st Blue Jay ever to win the AL MVP
1988 - Linda Petursdottir of Iceland, 18, crowned 38th Miss
World
1988 - Neil Simon's "Rumors" premieres in NYC
1989 - Bret Saberhagen signs record $2,966,667 per year KC
Royal contract
1991 - "Brigadoon" closes at New York State
Theater NYC after 12 performances
1991 - 1st TV condom ad aired (FOX- TV)
1991 - Detroit Lion Mike Utley is paralized in a game vs LA
Rams
1992 - "Gypsy Passion" opens at Plymouth Theater
NYC for 55 performances
1992 - Blue Jay Nigel Wilson is 1st pick of Marlins in
expansion draft
1992 - Dateline NBC airs a demonstration show General Motors
trucks, blowing up on impact, later revealed NBC rigged test
1992 - Erling Kagge begins successful exploration at South
pole
1993 - "Grand Night For Singing" opens at
Criterion Theater NYC for 52 perfs
1993 - Antonov AN-124 flies in South Iran against mountain:
17 killed
1993 - US House of Representatives approve Nafta
1994 - "Sunset Boulevard" opens at Minskoff
Theater NYC for 977 performances
1994 - 3rd Germany government of Kohl forms
1994 - Irish government of Reynolds resigns
1996 - "Present Laughter" opens at Walter Kerr
Theater NYC
1996 - Sam's Town Bowling Invitational
1997 - Mario Lemieux enters NHL Hall of Fame
1997 - In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic
militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre (The police
then kill the assailants).
2000 - A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom,
Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst
catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
2000 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president
of Peru.
2004 - Kmart Corp. announces it is buying Sears, Roebuck and
Co. for $11 billion USD and naming the newly merged company Sears Holdings
Corporation.
2005 - Italy's choice of national anthem, Il Canto degli
Italiani, becomes official in law for the first time, almost 60 years after it
was provisionally chosen following the birth of the republic.
2006 - Official naming of element 111, Roentgenium (Rg).
2012 - 50 schoolchildren and a bus driver are killed after a
train collides with a school bus in Manfalut, Egypt
1558 - Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary Tudor. 1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh went on trial for treason. 1796 - Catherine the Great of Russia died at the age of 67. 1798 - Irish nationalist leader Wolfe Tone committed suicide while in jail awaiting execution. 1800 - The U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington, DC, in the partially completed Capitol building. 1869 - The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas. 1880 - The first three British female graduates received their Bachelor of Arts degrees from London University. 1903 - Russia's Social Democrats officially split into two groups - Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. 1904 - The first underwater submarine journey was taken, from Southampton, England, to the Isle of Wight. 1913 - The steamship Louise became the first ship to travel through the Panama Canal. 1913 - In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm banned the armed forces from dancing the tango. 1922 - Siberia voted for union with the U.S.S.R. 1962 - Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by U.S. President Kennedy. 1968 - NBC cut away from the final minutes of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin a TV special, "Heidi," on schedule. The Raiders came from behind to beat the Jets 43-32. 1970 - The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1. The vehicle was released by Luna 17. 1973 - U.S. President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, FL, "people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." 1979 - Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. 1988 - Benazir Bhutto became the first woman leader of an Islamic country. She was elected in the first democratic elections in Pakistan in 11 years. 1990 - A mass grave was discovered by the bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand. The bodies were believed to be those of World War II prisoners of war. 1990 - The Soviet government agreed to change the country's constitution. 1997 - 62 people were killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. The attackers were killed by police. 1997 - Mario Lemieux was voted into the NHL Hall of Fame. 2001 - "Toys "R" Us Times Square - The Center of the Toy Universe" opened in New York City. 2006 - Sony's PlayStation 3 went on sale in the United States. 2010 - Reasearchers trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms. It was the first time humans had trapped antimatter.
1558 Queen Elizabeth I of England ascended to the throne upon the death of her half-sister Queen Mary. 1800 Congress met in Washington, DC, for the first time. 1869 The Suez Canal opened in Egypt. 1917 Sculptor Auguste Rodin died in Meudon, France. 1968 Night of the "Heidi bowl:" NBC switched from football to movie of Heidi. In the missing 42 seconds, the lagging Raiders scored two touchdowns, defeating the Jets. 1973 President Nixon said "I am not a crook." 1989 The beginning of the "Velvet Revolution," which led to the downfall of communism in Czechoslovakia. 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/nov17.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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