On This Day
What Happened on November 17 in History
8 events that happened on November 17, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1558 (Julian calendar)
Queen Mary I of England died, and her half-sister Elizabeth I took the throne.
Elizabeth, then 25, was a Protestant whom the Catholic Mary had once imprisoned in the Tower of London. Her reign gave its name to the Elizabethan Age.
Source: history.com
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1800
Congress met for the first time in the unfinished Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Lawmakers had moved from the temporary capital of Philadelphia. Only the building's north wing was complete, so both chambers, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress shared it.
Source: history.house.gov; aoc.gov
1839
Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, premiered at La Scala in Milan.
Its favorable reception led the theater's impresario to commission three more operas from the young composer. Verdi later won lasting fame with works such as Nabucco, Rigoletto and La Traviata.
Source: history.com
1869
The Suez Canal opened, linking the Mediterranean and Red seas.
French Empress Eugenie attended the elaborate inauguration in Egypt. Ferdinand de Lesseps had organized the project, and construction began in 1859.
Source: history.com
The Cold War
1968
NBC cut away from a Jets and Raiders game to air the movie Heidi, and viewers missed a stunning finish.
With 65 seconds left, the network switched to its scheduled film. Oakland scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to win, and the outcry taught networks not to leave NFL games early.
Source: history.com
1969
American and Soviet negotiators opened the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in Helsinki.
The talks sought limits on nuclear weapons and missile defenses. They led to the ABM Treaty and an interim agreement signed by Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow in 1972.
Source: history.state.gov; history.com
1973
President Richard Nixon declared that he was not a crook as the Watergate scandal deepened.
Nixon spoke during a televised question and answer session with Associated Press managing editors at Walt Disney World in Florida, defending his personal finances.
Source: presidency.ucsb.edu; history.com
1989
Students marched in Prague against Czechoslovakia's communist government, setting off the Velvet Revolution.
The protest fell on International Students Day, 50 years after a Nazi crackdown on Czech universities. The nonviolent movement went on to topple the communist regime.
Source: history.com