Something to think about.Something to discover.Something to remember.Every day.
⌕ My Time Capsule
HISTORY & TIMELINE
17 February

A journey through
17 February in history

The seventeenth day of February has seen a hand-cranked submarine sink a warship off Charleston and the audience at La Scala jeer the first night of Madama Butterfly. This timeline follows 17 February from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first.

Begin the Timeline ↓ ← Back to Explore This Day
JUMP THROUGH TIME
III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1600
Ettore Ferrari's bronze statue of Giordano Bruno, raised in 1889 on the Campo de' Fiori in Rome where he was burned.Ettore Ferrari’s bronze statue of Giordano Bruno, raised in 1889 on the Campo de’ Fiori in Rome where he was burned.Image: Livioandronico2013 · CC BY-SA 4.0
culture · Europe

The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned in Rome

Giordano Bruno, a Dominican friar from near Naples, left his order and wandered Europe as a teacher and writer. Going further than Copernicus, he argued that the universe was infinite, with countless suns and worlds, and he held views on God and the soul that the Church judged heretical. Lured to Venice in 1592, he was handed to the Inquisition and sent to Rome, where he was held and questioned for almost eight years. He refused to recant, and on 17 February 1600 he was taken to the Campo de’ Fiori, gagged and burned alive. In 1889 a statue of him was raised on the spot, and he became a symbol of free thought.

Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Giordano Bruno ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1801
Thomas Jefferson, painted by Rembrandt Peale in 1800.Thomas Jefferson, painted by Rembrandt Peale in 1800.Image: Rembrandt Peale · Public domain
politics · Americas

The House of Representatives breaks a deadlock and makes Jefferson president

In the election of 1800, electors cast two votes each without saying which was for president. Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied with 73 votes each, so the choice passed to the House of Representatives, where each state delegation had one vote. From 11 February 1801 the House voted again and again without either man winning the nine states needed. At last the Federalist James Bayard of Delaware and others cast blank ballots, and on 17 February, on the 36th ballot, Jefferson was elected with ten states. It was the first peaceful transfer of power between rival parties in the United States, and the Twelfth Amendment of 1804 gave president and vice-president separate votes.

Source: US House of Representatives, History, Art and Archives: Thomas Jefferson ↗
1864
The submarine H. L. Hunley on a wharf at Charleston, painted by Conrad Wise Chapman in December 1863.The submarine H. L. Hunley on a wharf at Charleston, painted by Conrad Wise Chapman in December 1863.Image: Conrad Wise Chapman · Public domain
science · Americas

A submarine sinks a warship for the first time

During the American Civil War, Union ships blockaded the Confederate port of Charleston, South Carolina. The Confederates tried a secret weapon: the H. L. Hunley, a narrow iron submarine driven by a hand crank turned by seven men, with an eighth to steer. It had sunk twice in trials, and the second accident killed its backer, Horace Hunley, and all his crew. On the night of 17 February 1864 it crept up on the Union sloop Housatonic off Charleston and drove a charge of black powder on a long spar into its hull. The Housatonic sank with five of its crew, the first warship sunk by a submarine. The Hunley never returned; its wreck was found in 1995 and raised in 2000.

Source: Naval History and Heritage Command: H. L. Hunley wreck (1864) ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1904
Leopoldo Metlicovitz's poster for Madama Butterfly, 1904.Leopoldo Metlicovitz’s poster for Madama Butterfly, 1904.Image: Leopoldo Metlicovitz · Public domain
culture · Europe

Madama Butterfly is jeered on its first night

Giacomo Puccini, the most successful Italian opera composer of his day after La Bohème and Tosca, based his new opera on a play about a young Japanese woman abandoned by an American naval officer, and worked on it with great care. At its first performance at La Scala in Milan on 17 February 1904 the audience booed and hissed, mocking its Japanese setting and calling it a copy of his earlier works. Puccini withdrew it at once and revised it, splitting the long second act. The new version, staged at Brescia that May, was a triumph, and Madama Butterfly became one of the most performed operas in the world.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Madama Butterfly ↗
1979
The Friendship Pass gate on the border between China and Vietnam.The Friendship Pass gate on the border between China and Vietnam.Image: Viethavvh at vi.wikipedia · Public domain
world · Asia

China invades Vietnam

China and Vietnam had been allies against the United States, but after 1975 they fell out. Vietnam drew close to the Soviet Union, ethnic Chinese were driven out of Vietnam, and in December 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge, China’s ally. On 17 February 1979 Chinese forces, several hundred thousand strong, crossed the border to ‘teach Vietnam a lesson’. They took several provincial capitals and destroyed much of the frontier region but met fierce resistance, and in March they withdrew. Both sides claimed victory, many thousands died, and clashes along the border went on through the 1980s.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: history of Vietnam ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

2008
The NEWBORN monument in Pristina, unveiled on the day of independence, repainted with the flags of countries that recognise Kosovo, in February 2013.The NEWBORN monument in Pristina, unveiled on the day of independence, repainted with the flags of countries that recognise Kosovo, in February 2013.Image: Arild Vågen · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Europe

Kosovo declares independence from Serbia

After the war of 1998-99 and NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia, Kosovo, a province of Serbia with an Albanian majority, was run by the United Nations. Years of talks on its future failed to bring Belgrade and Pristina to an agreement. On 17 February 2008 the Kosovo Assembly declared independence, with the Serb members absent. The United States and most European Union countries recognised the new state, but Serbia, backed by Russia, rejected it, and the UN Security Council was divided. In 2010 the International Court of Justice advised that the declaration had not broken international law. Kosovo is recognised by many countries but not all.

Source: International Court of Justice: accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 17 February, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

EXPLORED THE DEEPER STORY?

Return to the highlights of 17 February

Discover the lighter side of the date with famous birthdays, culture, firsts and lives remembered.

Explore This Day →
← PREVIOUS DAY16 February
HISTORY & TIMELINE17 February
NEXT DAY →18 February