Historical Events on January 17
- 1781: Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and his Continental troops defeat the British forces serving under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1811: At the Battle of Calderon Bridge during the Mexican War, 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries are defeated by 6,000 Spanish troops.
- 1904: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov premiers at the Moscow Art Theater.
- 1917: The U.S buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark for approximately $25 million dollars.
- 1929:C. Segar – an American cartoonist born in Chester, Illinois, has his most popular cartoon, Popeye the Sailor Man premier in the Thimble Theater comic strip.
- 1991: Operation Desert Storm begins. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel.
- 1994: An earthquake hits the Los Angeles Area and kills more than fifty-seven people and wounds another eighty-seven hundred.
- 2007: In response to North Korea’s nuclear tests, the Doomsday Clock is set to 5 minutes to Midnight.
Famous Birthdays on January 17
- American inventor, publisher and politician, Benjamin Franklin is born in 1706.
- American businessman William Vernon is born in 1719.
- English author Ellen Wood is born in 1814.
- English-Australian illustrator and author, May Gibbs is born in 1877.
- American actor Noah Beery, Sr. is born in 1882.
- American gangster and mob boss, Al Capone is born in 1899.
- American philosopher Robert Maynard Hutchins is born in 1899.
- American economist and Nobel Prize laureate, George Stigler is born in 1911.
- American actor Herbert Ellis is born in 1921.
- American actor James Earl Jones is born in 1931.
- American boxer Muhammad Ali is born in 1942.
- English sociologist and author, Ann Oakley is born in 1944.
- English singer-songwriter and guitarist, Mick Taylor is born in 1949.
- English singer-songwriter and guitarist, Paul Young is born in 1956.
- American rapper and producer, Lil’ Jon is born in 1971.
- American singer-songwriter Kid Rock is born in 1971.