This Day in History on 17 November
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 17 November. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
World Prematurity Day
International Students’ Day
Martyrs’ Day (Orissa, India)
Important Events
1525: Babur came to India , and conquered it through Sindh in his fifth attempt.
1831: Gran Colombia was divided into two states, Ecuador and Venezuela.
1857: Sir Colin Campbell, British Army Officer, managed to supress Indian Mutiny sepoys at Lucknow.
1869: The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, was inaugurated. However, the construction of this canal was completed 10 years ago.
1921: Princes of Wales came to India.
1932: The Third Round Table Conference began in London. It was not attended by the Congress as the real Indian participation in the making of the constitution was negligible. Since Gandhi was in prison because of his civil disobedience movement he could not attend it either. This conference ended on 24th November 1932 without achieving anything.
1933: The United States recognized the Soviet Union.
1939: Nazis entered Prague University and killed students. International Student Day is celebrated on 17 November in memory of those children.
1947: Rajendra Prasad elected the President of Indian National Congress.
1948: Despite the scepticism on the part of the US and British advisers concerning the feasibility of the scheme, the first half-dozen HAL-reconditioned B-24s were ready by November 1948 and, on the 17th of that month, No. 5 Squadron was formed with these heavy bombers.
1950: Lhamo Dondrub officially became the 14th Dalai Lama.
1966: India’s beauty queen Rita Faria was crowned as ‘Miss World’ in World Beauty contest held in London. She was a medical student.
1986: Georges Bess, head of French car company Renault, was murdered in Paris. His killers came on a motorcycle and opened fire on him in front of his house.
1986: SAARC Summit at Bangalore decides to set up permanent secretariat at Kathmandu; India elected new Chairman.
1994: Russia’s Mir spacecraft created a new world record by completing 50,000 orbits.
1994: North Eastern Council decides to include Sikkim in the Council.
1994: Dr. Harbhajan Singh, Punjabi poet, wins Saraswati Samman.
1997: 68 foreign tourists were killed in southern Egypt when extremists attacked the bus of tourists.
2013: A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected by tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes.
2019: The first known case of COVID-19 was traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Birth/Birth Anniversary
09 AD: Vespasian, the Roman emperor.
1749: Nicolas Appert, founder of Canning.
1755: Louis XVIII, King of France.
1901: Walter Holstein, the first President of the European Commission.
1906: Soichiro Honda, co-founder of Honda Motor Company.
1920: Gemini Ganesan, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)
1923: Aristides Pereira, the first president of Cape Verde.
1925: Rock Hudson, American actor.
1932: The third Round Table Conference starts on November 17, 1932, in London.
1938: Ratnakar Matkari, writer, playwright, producer.
1961: Chanda Kochhar, the former managing director, and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank.
1979: Neeti Mohan, an Indian singer.
1982: Yusuf Pathan, an Indian International cricketer.
1986: Nani, a Portuguese association football player.
Death/ Death Anniversary
1812: John Walter, founder of The Times.
1835: James Todd, researcher and writer of Rajput history, passed away.
1915: Robert Hofstadter, an American physicist.
1915: Vishnu Gopal Pingle was hanged for revolting against the Indian Army in Talegaon prison of Pune.
1928: Lala Lajpat Rai died in Lahore after being seriously wounded in the barbarous lathi charge of 30th October. He is referred as the “Lion of Punjab” or “Punjab Kesari” and is remembered as freedom fighter, nationalist, educationist, lawyer, thinker, writer, social reformer, orator and a passionate fighter for the revival of the ancient Indian culture and values.
1931: Hariprasad Shastri, Indian-Sanskrit scholar, educationist, and historian.
1935: Gopal Krishna Deodhar, a founding member of the ‘Servants of India Society.’
1953: Sadanand Swaminathan, famous journalist, passed away.
1973: Mirra Alfassa, French-Indian spiritual leader (b. 1878). she was also known as Mother Pondicherry.
1986: Georges Bess, head of French car company Renault.
2003: Surjit Bindrakhia, Indian singer (b. 1962)
2007: Raghunandan Swarup Pathak, the 18th Chief Justice of India.
2012: Ponty Chadha, Indian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1957)
2012: Bal Thackeray, Indian cartoonist and politician (b. 1926)
2015: Ashok Singhal, President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.