17 Feb History.

<< Feb 16| HISTORY “4” “2”DAY |Feb 18 >>
Events, deaths, births, of FEB 17
[For Feb 17 Julian go to Gregorian date: 1583~1699: Feb 27 — 1700s: Feb 28 — 1800s: Mar 01 — 1900~2099: Mar 02]

ALTERNATE SITES ALL FOR 030217 ANY DAY OF THE YEAR IN HISTORY ART “4” FEB 17

On a February 17:

^ 2001: Armenian Chuch's 1700 anniversary.
     Pope John Paul II, 80, pays homage to the Armenian church's history of martyrdom on its 1700th anniversary and says that the world should not forget the country's bloody history. "The whole Armenian culture and spirituality has been pervaded by boldness characterized by the supreme sign of giving one's life in martyrdom," he writes in an apostolic letter to mark the anniversary.
      The Pope specifically mentions "unheard-of violence" in 1915 — the beginning of an eight-year period in which Armenia says 1.5 million people were killed by Ottoman Turkish armies. "It is a memory which must not be forgotten," the Pontiff writes, although he stops short of mentioning Turkey or using the word "genocide".
      Turkey denies the historical evidence of genocide and pretends that thousands of Armenians may have been victims of the Russo-Turkish war raging at the time.
      Armenia was the first organized state to adopt Christianity as a state religion, when King Trdat III proclaimed it a Christian country in 301, 36 years before the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.
      The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the Ancient Churches of the East that split from Byzantine Christianity before the Great Schism of 1054, which divided the Eastern and Western Churches.
      Rome and the Armenian Church maintain good relations and the Pope has been invited to go to Armenia later this year by the church's leader Garegin II.

^ 2000 From Chechnya there are more reports about mass atrocities and sadistic tortures in the Russian concentration camp Chernokozovo. Prisoners escaped from the concentration camp report that the guards commit satanic ritual murders of the prisoners. Eyewitness Ibragim Vakhayev from Urus-Martan reports that raping of victims tormented to death is a common at Chernokozovo. The rape of the corpses is practiced in full view of other prisoners. The guards wear black masks. After these acts of necrophily the guards announce to the prisoners who is going to be the next victim.
Ibragim Vakhayev witnessed the murder of a 10 years old boy. The corpse was raped by five guards with black masks, cut to pieces afterwards and put into a plastic sack. The Attorney General of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria is directing investigations.

After several unsuccessful attempts to move towards river Arzh-Akhk, the Russians are concentratung their forces around Elistanzhi and bringing more troops into the sector. Since yesterday positional fighting is taking place in this region. Chechen patrols report that the Russians are preparing an attack, supported by heavy tanks, on the Chechen positions. The Chechen mujahideen are carrying out a mobile defense and constantly attacking the enemy. In two such attacks during the last 24 hours. they killed 60 Russians and destroyed 2 armored vehicles. No reports on Chechen casualties.

The Russians are moving towards the river Vashtar Valley, as they regroup and reinforce their units at the entrance to the Argun Valley. North of the river Vashtar, fighting has benn going on for three days. Russian units have occupied a dominating height and are shelling the valley intensively. Mobile mujahideen units are attacking the Russians uninterruptedly. Several mujahideen units have occupied one of the dominating heights.

2000 A US House of representatives committee said in a report that the program to inoculate all 2.4 million American military personnel against anthrax was based on "a paucity of science" and should be suspended. The Pentagon defended the program and insisted on continuing the inoculations.
2000 Viktor Klima dimite de su cargo de jefe del Partido Socialdemócrata Austriaco (SPÖ) después de obtener el 03 octubre el peor resultado electoral desde el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
2000 La policía israelí detiene a dos responsables de la campaña electoral del primer ministro, Ehud Barak, por supuesta utilización ilegal de fondos durante los comicios del pasado mes de mayo.
2000 El presidente de Microsoft, Bill Gates, lanza el programa Windows 2000.

^ 1999 Clinton's legal problems
Attorneys for President Bill Clinton won't try to disqualify the judge in Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit, who is considering holding the president in contempt of court for his deposition testimony in the case.

US District Judge Susan Webber Wright in Little Rock, Arkansas, had given both sides the opportunity to ask for her recusal because of her contact with House impeachment manager Rep. Asa Hutchinson during Clinton's Senate trial. Hutchinson asked Wright to give testimony in the impeachment case. She declined, but her law clerk provided an affidavit.

Hutchinson said that an affidavit by Wright would assert that Clinton was looking at Bennett when Bennett told the judge that there "is no sex" between Lewinsky and the president — based on the Lewinsky affidavit.
Wright said she was not willing to be a witness in the impeachment proceeding and suggested that other people could provide the same evidence. Her law clerk, Barry Ward, later provided an affidavit about Clinton's deposition.

Though the Jones case has already been settled out of court, Wright informed lawyers on both sides Feb. 16 that she is considering citing Clinton for contempt for his deposition testimony about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Contempt of court citations can result in hefty fines or even jail time. Wright gave no indication of what the result of the citation against Clinton might be or when a ruling could be expected.

Wright also said she would hold a hearing Feb. 19 on the recusal issue, but she said she didn't think her contact with Hutchinson was sufficient to disqualify her from the case. If she were to withdraw, the contempt matter would be decided by another judge. Wright said Hutchinson wanted her testimony about Clinton's demeanor during his deposition testimony, including where his attention was directed.

1998 A surprise: Finland's Nokia selects Spyglass over Microsoft and Netscape as the Web software provider for Europe's digital television set-top boxes. Nokia's set-top boxes, slated for a fall 1998 release, allows users in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Scandinavia to surf the Web through their television sets.

^ 1997 CompuServe chief resigns
CompuServe chief Robert Massey tendered his resignation, ending his brief, but tumultuous run at the helm of the company. After a successful stint as the head of CompuServe’s network service division, Massey was tabbed to take control of the entire company in late 1995. However, his tenure atop CompuServe was plagued by fiscal woes and failed business decisions, as the company, which was making a heated push in the burgeoning online services field, ultimately wilted under the furious competition of its rival service provider, America Online (AOL). The key moment in Massey’s brief reign was his decision to launch an aggressive marketing campaign designed to help CompuServe control the online service market. Though the campaign initially lured a batch of new subscribers, it couldn’t stave off the competition and eventually helped cripple the company’s bottom line. In 1996, CompuServe went public with an initial offering price of $35.50 a share; by the time of Massey’s resignation, the stock had plummeted to a paltry $10.8125. And, to add insult to injury, CompuServe’s subscription base began to dwindle, prompting the company to withdraw from the rough-and-tumble world of online services and instead focus on its more profitable business services work.

^ 1996 Kasparov defeats Deep Blue . . . this time
      In Philadelphia world chess champion Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue conclude their first best of six-games match. Kasparov had easily defeated Deep Blue’s predecessor — Deep Thought — in 1994, but Deep Blue would prove to be one of the most difficult opponents in the world champion’s career.
     On 10 February 1996, in Game 1, Deep Blue made history by defeating a visibly frustrated Kasparov. Deep Blue’s victory was the first time that a current world champion had ever been beaten by a computer opponent under regular tournament conditions.
      But Kasparov would not go down so easily. The world champion, known for his tenacity and his ferocious will to win, used his signature ability to switch strategies mid-game to take Game 2 on 11 February. Game 3 (13 Feb) and Game 4 (14 Feb), although tightly contested, ended up in draws. Then, on 16 February, in Game 5, Kasparov again changed tactics mid-game to defeat Deep Blue. He needs no more than a draw in game six to win the match.
      Deep Blue, playing the Black pieces, comes out swinging after a Slav defense opening in Game 6, but Kasparov expertly fends off the computer’s belligerent attacks. Kasparov wins this final game and takes the match by a score of 4 - 2. Citing the match as one of the most difficult of his career, Kasparov issues a rematch challenge for 1997, and IBM's Deep Blue team immediately accepts on Deep Blue's behalf. Kasparov would lose the rematch, ending on 11 May 1997. It would be the first time that he ever loses a six-game match in championship play

The game:
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nbd2 Nf6 5. e3 c5 6. b3 Nc6 7. Bb2 cxd4 8. exd4 Be7 9. Rc1 O-O 10. Bd3 Bd7 11. O-O Nh5 12. Re1 Nf4 13. Bb1 Bd6 14. g3 Ng6 15. Ne5 Rc8 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. Nf3 Bb4 18. Re3 Rfd8 19. h4 Nge7 20. a3 Ba5 21. b4 Bc7 22. c5 Rde8 23. Qd3 g6 24. Re2 Nf5 25. Bc3 h5 26. b5 Nce7 27. Bd2 Kg7 28. a4 Ra8 29. a5 a6 30. b6 Bb8 31. Bc2 Nc6 32. Ba4 Re7 33. Bc3 Ne5 34. dxe5 Qxa4 35. Nd4 Nxd4 36. Qxd4 Qd7 37. Bd2 Re8 38. Bg5 Rc8 39. Bf6+ Kh7 40. c6 bxc6 41. Qc5 Kh6 42. Rb2 Qb7 43. Rb4. Black resigns.

1995 Federal judge allows lawsuit claiming US tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive and manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked.
1995 Colin Ferguson ias convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings. He would be sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.

*^ 1993 La canción Els Segadors* es aprobada como himno de Catalunya** Els Segadors es una canción popular del siglo XVII que habla de la guerra de los catalanes contra el rey Felipe IV y su valido, el conde-duque de Olivares, que se vieron ayudados por los payeses. Este enfrentamiento desarrollado en los años 1639 y 1640 incorporó a los símbolos nacionalistas las imágenes de campesinos enarbolando sus herramientas de trabajo. Unas imágenes que explícitamente se mantienen en la letra del actual himno oficial de Cataluña. . Aunque en la letra más antigua incluso se afirmaba que «de la sang dels castellans en farem tinta vermella», la letra actual es de finales del siglo XIX y durante los regímenes dictatoriales del siglo XX (de los generales Primo de Rivera y Franco) estuvo prohibida. El Departament de Ensenyament de la Generalitat dispuso que Els Segadors se enseñe a los alumnos de primaria a partir del curso 2001~2002.
Catalunya, triomfant, Tornarà a ser rica i plena! Endarrera aquesta gent Tan ufana i tan superba! Bon cop de falç! Bon cop de falç, defensors de la terra! Bon cop de falç!	Ara és hora, segadors! Ara és hora d’estar alerta! Per quan vingui un altre juny Esmolem ben bé les eines! Bon cop de falç! Bon cop de falç, defensors de la terra! Bon cop de falç!	Que tremoli l’enemic en veient la nostra ensenya: com fem caure espigues d’or, quan convé seguem cadenes! Bon cop de falç! Bon cop de falç, defensors de la terra! Bon cop de falç!

1992 Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced in Milwaukee to life in prison (He was beaten to death in prison in November 1994.)
1989 Concluye la segunda cumbre magrebí en Marrakech, con un pacto defensivo y el nacimiento de la Unión del Magreb Árabe.
1989 6-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone "hole"
1986 Libyan bombers attack N'djamena Airport in Chad.
1986 Técnicos de la compañía de aviación española Iberia descubren sabotajes en sus aviones.

^ 1986 The Accidental Tourist wins award
Anne Tyler wins the National Book Critics Circle Award for her novel The Accidental Tourist (1985). The book, about the life of a travel-book writer after the death of his son and his subsequent divorce, became a bestseller and was later made into a movie starring William Hurt. Tyler was born in Minneapolis in 1941, the oldest of four children born to a chemist and a social worker. The family lived in Quaker communes in rural areas until Tyler was 11 and the family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. She had never used a telephone by the time the family left the commune, but she was an avid reader. She entered Duke University at age 16 and majored in Russian while also experimenting with creative writing. She worked as a university librarian and bibliographer, then married an Iranian child psychiatrist in 1963.
Tyler published her first novel, If Morning Ever Comes, in 1964 and published several more over the next few years while raising two daughters. Her 1975 novel, Waiting for Caleb, about five generations of a Baltimore family, won national praise, but it wasn't until 1982 that she broke through as a bestselling novelist, with Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Her 1988 novel, Breathing Lessons, exploring three decades of a marriage, won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize.

1985 US first class postage rises from 20¢ to 22¢
1983 Netherlands adopts constitution.
1983 Se aprueban en España los Estatutos de Autonomía de Baleares, Castilla y León, Extremadura y Madrid.
1981 Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate losses in US history.
1981 El filólogo español Antonio Tovar Llorente es galardonado con el premio Goethe de la Fundación FVS, de Hamburgo.
1981 La organización Amnistía Internacional afirma que el gobierno de Guatemala es responsable de más de 30'000 muertos en los últimos 10 meses.
1979 China invades Vietnam
1976 Organic statute makes Macao autonomous
1976 Macau adopts constitution (Organic Law of Macau)

^ 1972 More VW Bugs than Ford Model Ts
The 15'007'034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled out of the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, surpassing the Ford Model T’s previous production record to become the most heavily produced car in history. The Beetle or the "Strength Through Joy" car, as the Germans initially called it, was the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche. He developed the Volkswagen on orders from the German government to produce an affordable car for the people. Developed before World War II, the Beetle did not go into full-scale production until after the war. It became a counter-culture icon in the US during the 1960s largely because it offered an alternative to the extravagant American cars of the time. In 1998 Volkswagen released the "New Beetle" to rave reviews. The "Old Beetle," however, hasn’t completely disappeared, as it is still being produced in Mexico. 1911 A Real Self-Starter The first self-starter, based on patented inventions created by GM engineers Clyde Coleman and Charles Kettering, was installed in a Cadillac. In the early years of fierce competition with Ford, the self-starter would play a key role in helping GM to keep pace. The Ford Model T’s crank starter caused its share of broken jaws and ribs. Charles Kettering, the founder of Delco (Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company), devised countless improvements for the automobile, including lighting and ignition systems, lacquer finishes, antilock fuels, and leaded gasoline. Prior to his work with cars, Kettering also invented the electric cash register.

1972 President Nixon leaves Washington DC for China
1972 British Parliament votes to join European Common Market
1969 Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's first female prime minister

1969 Russian-born, Milwaukee-raised Golda Meir (n‚e Mabovitch [Myerson]), 70, was sworn in as Israel's first female prime minister. (She would hold the office for five embattled years.)
1968 Bishop John Joseph Carberry [31 Jul 1904 – 17 Jun 1998] is appointed Archbishop of Saint Louis MO. He would be made a cardinal on 28 April 1969.

^ 1966 US general claims that wars of liberation will fail.
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, General Maxwell Taylor states that a major US objective in Vietnam is to demonstrate that "wars of liberation" are "costly, dangerous and doomed to failure." Discussing the American air campaign against North Vietnam, Taylor declared that its primary purpose was "to change the will of the enemy leadership." The decision to launch a bombing campaign against North Vietnam was controversial. President Lyndon B. Johnson deliberated for a year before deciding to undertake the sustained bombing of North Vietnam. Earlier in the month, he had ordered Operation Flaming Dart in response to communist attacks on US installations in South Vietnam. It was hoped that these retaliatory raids would cause the North Vietnamese to cease support of Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam, but they did not have the desired effect. Out of frustration, Johnson initiated Operation Rolling Thunder. The new bombing campaign was designed to interdict North Vietnamese transportation routes in the southern part of North Vietnam and thereby slow infiltration of personnel and supplies into South Vietnam. The first Rolling Thunder mission took place on March 2, 1965, when 100 US Air Force and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) planes struck the Xom Bang ammunition dump 100 miles southeast of Hanoi. Rolling Thunder continued, with occasional suspensions, until President Johnson, under intense domestic political pressure, halted it on October 31, 1968. Operation Rolling Thunder was closely controlled by the White House and at times targets were personally selected by President Johnson. From 1965 to 1968, an estimated 643'000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam. A total of nearly 900 US aircraft would be lost during Operation Rolling Thunder.

1964 US House of Representatives accepts Law on the civil rights.
1964 US Supreme court rules - 1 man 1 vote (Westberry v. Sanders): congressional districts within each state have to be roughly equal in population.
1958 Se concede la encomienda de Alfonso X el Sabio, Rey de Castilla y León, al dibujante Carlos Sáenz de Tejada.
1957 Suez Canal reopens.
1949 Chaim Weizman elected first President of Israel.

^ 1947 Voice of America begins broadcasts to USSR
With the words, "Hello! This is New York calling," the US Voice of America (VOA) begins its first radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union. The VOA effort was an important part of America's propaganda campaign against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The VOA began in 1942 as a radio program designed to explain America's policies during World War II and to bolster the morale of its allies throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. After the war, VOA continued as part of America's Cold War propaganda arsenal and was primarily directed toward the western European audience. In February 1947, VOA began its first Russian-language broadcasts into the Soviet Union. The initial broadcast explained that VOA was going to "give listeners in the USSR a picture of life in America." News stories, human-interest features, and music comprised the bulk of the programming. The purpose was to give the Russian audience the "pure and unadulterated truth" about life outside the USSR. Voice of America hoped that this would "broaden the bases of understanding and friendship between the Russian and American people." By and large, the first program was a fairly dry affair. Much of it dealt with brief summaries of current events, discussions of how the US budget and political system worked, and a rousing analysis of a "new synthetic chemical substance called pyribenzamine." Music on the program was eclectic, ranging from "Turkey in the Straw" to Cole Porter's "Night and Day." In addition, due to bad weather and technical difficulties, the sound quality for the Russian audience was generally poor. According to US officials in the Soviet Union, Russians rated the program "fair." VOA broadcasts into Russia did improve somewhat over the years, primarily because music played an increasingly prominent role. US observers had discovered that the Soviet people's appetite for American music, particularly jazz, was nearly insatiable. How many Russians actually ever heard the broadcasts is uncertain, but reports from behind the Iron Curtain indicated that many VOA programs, specifically the music segments, were eagerly awaited each night. By the 1960s, VOA was broadcasting to every continent in several dozen languages. Today, VOA continues to operate, bringing "Life in America" to the world. And with "Radio Marti," which is aimed at communist Cuba, it continues its Cold War tradition.

1944 US begins night bombing of Truk

^ 1944 US troops land on Eniwetok atoll
Operation Catchpole is started as American troops devastate the Japanese defenders of Eniwetok and take control of the atoll in the northwestern part of the Marshall Islands. The US Central Pacific Campaign was formulated during the August 1943 Quebec Conference. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed on, among other things, a new blueprint for fighting in the Pacific: an island-hopping strategy; the establishment of bases from which to launch B-29s for a final assault on Japan; and a new Southeast Asia command for British Adm. Louis Mountbatten. The success of the island-hopping strategy brought Guadalcanal and New Guinea under Allied control. Though those areas were important, the Allies also still needed to capture the Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Gilbert Islands, which had comprised an inner defensive perimeter for the Japanese. Each was a group of atolls, with between 20 to 50 islets, islands, and coral reefs surrounding a lagoon. The Allies planned an amphibious landing on the islands — all the more difficult because of this unusual terrain. On February 17, a combined US Marine and Army force under Adm. Richmond Kelly Turner made its move against Eniwetok. Air strikes, artillery and naval gunfire, and battleship fire 1500 m from the beach gave cover to the troops moving ashore and did serious damage to the Japanese defenses. On 22 February, after six days of fighting, the atoll was secured. The loss for the Japanese was significant: only 64 of the 2677 defenders who met the Marine and Army force survived the fighting. The Americans lost only 195. The position on Eniwetok gave US forces a base of operations to finally capture the entirety of the Marianas. Eniwetok was also useful to the United States after the war—in 1952 it became the testing ground for the first hydrogen bomb.

1940 British destroyers board German Altmark off Norway.
1936 -58º F (-50º C), McIntosh SD (state record)
1936 Un pronunciamiento militar en Asunción (Paraguay) provoca la dimisión del presidente Eusebio Ayala y el nombramiento de Rafael Franco.
1935 El general Antonio Oscar de Fragoso Carmona es reelegido presidente de la República portuguesa.
1934 El canciller austríaco, Engelbert Dollfuss, escapa a un atentado nazi.
1933 US Senate accept Blaine Act ending prohibition.
1930 French government of Tardieu, falls.
1915 Edward Stone, first US combatant to die in WWI, is mortally wounded.
1913 first minimum wage law in US takes effect (Oregon)
1913 Thomas Alva Edison presenta en un teatro neoyorquino la primera prueba pública del cine sonoro, consistente en un fonógrafo situado detrás de la pantalla.

1907 Tienen lugar manifestaciones anticlericales en Italia con motivo del 307º aniversario de la muerte de Giordano Bruno.
1906 En una encíclica dirigida al clero y al pueblo francés, el papa Pío X denuncia la ley de separación de la iglesia y el estado.

^ 1906 Union leaders illegally arrested
Bill Hayward, Charles Moyer, and George Pettibone are taken into custody by Idaho authorities and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They are put on a special train in Denver, Colorado, following a secret, direct route to Idaho because the officials had no legal right to arrest the three union executives in Colorado. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), of which Hayward was president, tried in vain to stop the unofficial arrests. Idaho had resorted to this gambit in an attempt to bring the union leaders to justice for the assassination of former governor Frank Steunenberg. On December 30, 1905, a powerful bomb affixed to Steunenberg's front gate exploded and killed him as he was returning to his home in Caldwell, Idaho. The former governor was a target for union miners after his role in breaking a strike in Coeur d'Alene years earlier. In order to solve the crime, Idaho called in the Pinkerton Agency and the country's most famous private detective, James McParland. He was the man responsible for bringing down the Molly McGuires, a secret Irish society that resorted to terrorist acts in Pennsylvania's mining district. All men visiting Caldwell were detained and questioned after the bombing, and police began to focus on a man named Tom Hogan. Through a combination of trickery and intimidation, McParland got Hogan to admit that his name was really Harry Orchard and that he was a terrorist hired by the IWW. Orchard implicated Bill Hayward, Charles Moyer, the president of the Western Federation of Miners, and others in the plot to kill Steunenberg. However, these men were in Colorado, where local authorities were friendly to the unions and would not extradite them based on the confession of a murderer. Government officials in Idaho, including the current governor and chief justice, sanctioned a plan to kidnap Hayward, Moyer, and Pettibone so that they could be put on trial in Caldwell. Despite the blatant illegality of their operation, the union leaders lost their appeals in federal court and were forced to stay in Idaho to be charged with conspiracy to commit murder. However, the union had one more ace up its sleeve. Clarence Darrow, who was on his way to becoming the country's foremost defender of liberal causes, was brought in to defend the case. It was the first "Trial of the Century," drawing national media attention and celebrity attendees like future Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson. When none of Orchard's accomplices would corroborate his story, the case came down to Orchard's testimony alone. At Hayward's trial, Darrow made an impassioned 11-hour closing argument that mercilessly attacked Orchard, and the jury acquitted. Hayward, who was almost certainly guilty, later fled the country to Russia. He was buried at the Kremlin in 1928.

1906 Fallières Président: Armand Fallières jouit d'une grande popularité en France. Républicain de gauche, il fera appel à Clemenceau comme chef du gouvernement.

1889 Billy Sunday, 27, baseball player-turned-preacher, made his first appearance as an evangelist in Chicago. A strong fundamentalist, Sunday preached temperance and opposed scientific evolution. Over 100 million are estimated to have heard Sunday preach before his death in 1935.

1885 Bismarck gives Carl Peters' firm management of East-Africa

^ 1880 Czar Alexander II survives assassination attempt.
In Russia, Czar Alexander II narrowly survives an assassination attempt when a bomb explodes in the imperial dining room at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The perpetrators of the attack were likely members of the "People’s Will," a militant wing of the Narodniki movement advocating socialist reform in Russia and the elimination of the central government. Alexander II ascended to the Russian throne in 1856, and responded to growing peasant unrest in the country by embarking upon a program of modernization and reform. In 1861, he emancipated Russia’s serfs but failed to establish an alternate social system, so many of the newly freed Russians were left with less than he had before. In 1864, a system of limited local self-government was introduced and reforms continued, but liberals regarded them as far too moderate. Radical activities grew among the intelligentsia, and the Narodniki movement gained numerous followers. The czar responded by arresting hundreds of students and other radicals, prompting the establishment of the People’s Will in 1869. The militant group launched an extensive program of terrorism against the state, and assassinated a number of Russian officials. On February 17, 1880, a terrorist bomb in the Winter Palace nearly took Alexander’s life. It was one of several unsuccessful attempts on the czar’s life that culminated on March 13, 1881, when a hand-bomb thrown by a member of the People’s Will hits its target, killing Czar Alexander II.

1871 Thiers est élu à l'Assemblée nationale par vingt-six départements, il est désigné par l'Assemblée repliée à Bordeaux comme chef du pouvoir exécutif provisoire.
1870 Mississippi becomes 9th state re-admitted to US after Civil War
1867 Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary
1867 first ship passes through Suez Canal
1865 Battle of Charleston SC forces its evacuation.
1865 Columbia, S.C., burns as the Confederates evacuate and Union forces move in. (It's not known which side set the blaze.)
1864 CSS "HL Hunley" becomes first submarine to sink an enemy ship
1864 Confederate sub "HL Hunley" sinks Union ship "Housatonic"
1854 British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)
1848 Toscane gets liberal Constitution
1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Tasmania.
1831 Se aprueba en Bruselas la primera Constitución de Bélgica como país independiente.

^ 1820 US Senate passes Missouri Compromise on slavery.
The Senate passes the Missouri Compromise, an attempt to deal with the dangerously divisive issue of extending slavery into the western territories. From colonial days to the Civil War, slavery and western expansion both played fundamental but inherently incompatible roles in the American republic. As the nation expanded westward, the Congress adopted relatively liberal procedures by which western territories could organize and join the union as full-fledged states. Southern slaveholders, eager to replicate their plantation system in the West, wanted to keep the new territories open to slavery. Abolitionists, concentrated primarily in the industrial North, wanted the West to be exclusively a free labor region and hoped that slavery would gradually die out if confined to the South. Both factions realized their future congressional influence would depend on the number of new "slave" and "free" states admitted into the union. Consequently, the West became the first political battleground over the slavery issue. In 1818, the Territory of Missouri applied to Congress for admission as a slave state. Early in 1819, a New York congressman introduced an amendment to the proposed Missouri constitution that would ban importation of new slaves and require gradual emancipation of existing slaves. Southern congressmen reacted with outrage, inspiring a nationwide debate on the future of slavery in the nation. Over the next year, the congressional debate grew increasingly bitter, and southerners began to threaten secession and civil war. To avoid this disastrous possibility, key congressmen hammered together an agreement that became known as the Missouri Compromise. In exchange for admitting Missouri without restrictions on slavery, the Compromise called for bringing in Maine as a free state. The Compromise also dictated that slavery would be prohibited in all future western states carved out of the Louisiana Territory that were higher in latitude than the northern border of Arkansas Territory. Although the Missouri Compromise temporarily eased the inherent tensions between western expansion and slavery, the divisive issue was far from resolved. Whether or not to allow slavery in the states of Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska caused the same difficulties several decades later, leading the nation toward civil war.

1817 A street in Baltimore becomes the first to be lighted with gas from the US's first gas company.
1815 In deciding the legal case Terrett v. Taylor, the US Supreme Court declared unconstitutional an act of the Virginia Legislature which denied property rights to Protestant Episcopal churches in the state. The Court ruled that religious corporations, like other corporations, have rights to their property.
1810 Ve la luz un decreto de Napoléon Bonaparte en el que declara a Roma segunda capital del Imperio.
1806 Un décret décide que l'Arc de triomphe sera élevé sur la colline de Chaillot, tandis qu'un autre se dressera place du Carrousel pour célébrer la gloire des armées de Napoléon Bonaparte. Percier et Fontaine sont chargés de celui du Carrousel et Chalgrin construit celui de l'Etoile et cela à Paris bien entendu.

^ 1801 Jefferson at last wins deadlocked presidential election
      After one tie vote in the electoral college and thirty-five tie votes in the House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson [13 Apr {02 Apr Julian} 1743– 04 Jul 1826] is elected the third president of the United States over his running mate, Aaron Burr [06 Feb 1756 – 14 Sep 1836]. In the presidential election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Republican Party (actually a forerunner of the Democratic Party), defeated the incumbent president and Federalist candidate John Adams. However, in the election, as the electoral college members made no distinction between the presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate, Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, both defeated Adams with seventy-three votes. As dictated by Article Two of the US Constitution, the election was sent to the House of Representatives. Beginning on 11 February 1801, the House took thirty-five ballots without breaking the tie, as the Federalists, defeated in the electoral college vote, rallied behind Burr. Finally, on 17 February barely two weeks before the new president was to be inaugurated, a small group of Federalists, reasoning that a peaceful transfer of power required that the majority party have its choice as president, voted in Jefferson’s favor. Jefferson’s triumph brought an end to a serious constitutional crisis, and on 04 March 1801, Jefferson was inaugurated as president of the United States. Three years later, the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, providing for the separate election of presidents and vice presidents, was ratified and adopted.
      After one tie vote in the Electoral College and 35 indecisive ballot votes in the House of Representatives, Vice President Thomas Jefferson is elected the third president of the United States over his running mate, Aaron Burr. The confusing election, which ended just 15 days before a new president was to be inaugurated, exposed major problems in the presidential electoral process set forth by the framers of the US Constitution. As dictated by Article Two of the Constitution, presidents and vice presidents are elected by "electors," a group of voters chosen by each state in a manner specified by that state's legislature. The total number of electors from each state is equal to the number of senators and representatives that state is entitled to in Congress. In the first few presidential elections, these electors were chosen by popular vote, legislative appointment, or a combination of both (by the 1820s, almost all states adopted the practice of choosing electors by popular vote). Each elector voted for two people; at least one of who did not live in his state. The individual receiving the greatest number of votes would be elected president, and the next in line, vice president. A majority of electors was needed to win election, thus ensuring consensus across states. Because each elector voted twice, it was possible for as many as three candidates to tie with a majority — in which case the House of Representatives was to vote a winner from among the tied candidates. If no majority was achieved in the initial electoral vote, the House was to decide the winner from the top five candidates. In both cases, representatives would not vote individually but by state groups. Each state, no matter what its number of representatives, would be entitled to just one vote, and a majority of these votes was needed to elect a candidate president. In the nation's first presidential election, in 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected, and John Adams [30 Oct {19 Oct Julian} 1735 – 04 Jul 1826] — his unofficial running mate — came in second in electoral votes, making him vice president. Both men were conservative and favored a strong federal government as established by the Constitution.
      To balance his Cabinet with a liberal, and thus maintain the widest possible support for the new US government, Washington chose Thomas Jefferson — the idealistic drafter of the Declaration of Independence — as secretary of state. During Washington's first administration, Jefferson often came into conflict with Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury. Jefferson objected to Hamilton's efforts to strengthen the national government at the expense of the states, and the two men also differed significantly on foreign policy, with Hamilton advocating improved relations with conservative England and Jefferson calling for closer ties with Revolutionary France. Although Washington detested the factional fighting, the disagreements gave rise to the nation's first political parties: Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans (the forerunner of the Democratic Party) and Hamilton's Federalists. In 1792, Washington was unanimously re-elected president, and Adams was re-elected vice president. Jefferson, his relations with Hamilton greatly deteriorated, resigned as secretary of state in 1793.
      In 1796, Jefferson ran for president as the candidate of the Democratic-Republicans, and Adams, as the Federalist candidate. When the results of the election were tallied, it became clear that the nation's forefathers had failed to properly anticipate the rise of political parties. Adams won the election with 71 votes, but his Federalist running mate, Thomas Pinckney [23 Oct 1750 – 02 Nov 1828], received only 59 votes, nine less than Thomas Jefferson, who was elected vice president. Jefferson's running mate, Senator Aaron Burr of New York, received only 30 votes. As vice president, Jefferson dedicated himself to his constitutional duty of presiding over the Senate and wrote the Manual of Parliamentary Practice, a book of congressional rules. He had little contact with the Adams administration.
      Meanwhile, tensions rose with France over US-British trade, leading Congress to pass the Alien and Sedition Act, which restricted US citizenship and prohibited public criticism of the president or the government of the United States. Jefferson viewed the acts as the confirmation of the kind of federal tyranny he feared and left Philadelphia for Monticello in 1798 to pen the Kentucky Resolutions in response. He soon returned to the US capital to carry on his duties in the Senate. In the election of 1800, Jefferson and Burr again took on Adams and Pinckney. By this time, America's political tide was sweeping away from the conservative Federalists to Jefferson's more democratic party. In addition, Adams was hampered in his re-election bid by Alexander Hamilton [11 Jan 1756 – 12 Jul 1804], who advocated the election of Pinckney as president and Adams as vice president.
      On 04 November the national election was held. When the electoral votes were counted, the Democratic-Federalists emerged with a decisive victory, with Jefferson and Burr each earning 73 votes to Adams' 65 votes and Pinckney's 64 votes. John Jay [12 Dec 1745 – 17 May 1829], the governor of New York, received 1 vote. Because Jefferson and Burr had tied, the election went to the House of Representatives, which began voting on the issue on 11 February 1801. What at first seemed but an electoral technicality — handing Jefferson victory over his running mate — developed into a major constitutional crisis when Federalists in the lame-duck Congress threw their support behind Burr. Jefferson needed a majority of nine states to win, but in the first ballot had only eight states, with Burr winning six states and Maryland and Virginia. Finally, on 17 February a small group of Federalists reason that the peaceful transfer of power requires that the majority party have its choice as president and votes in Jefferson's favor. The 35th ballot gives Jefferson victory with 10 votes. Burr received four votes and two states voted blank.
      Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated the third president of the United States on 04 March. Three years later, the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution, providing for the separate election of presidents and vice presidents, was ratified and adopted. Under Jefferson, the power of the federal government was reduced but never to such a degree that it threatened the unity of the United States. The crowning achievement of his two terms in office was the Louisiana Purchase, an unprecedented executive action in which Jefferson violated his own constitutional scruples in the name of doubling the size of the United States. Aaron Burr was denied renomination by his party for the office of vice president in February 1804, and George Clinton of New York was chosen in his place. Several months later, Burr challenged his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton to a duel and shot him dead. In 1807, he was put on trial for treason after being accused of plotting to establish an independent republic in the American Southwest. He was acquitted and eventually resumed his law practice in New York. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on 04 July 1826 — the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Adams' last words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives," though his old political adversary had died a few hours before.
— PORTRAITS: Jefferson (B&W) by Savage — Jefferson by Stuart — Jefferson by Saint~Mémin — Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale — Jefferson by Durand — Jefferson Nickel (after a bust by Houdon) — Burr by Vanderlyn — Hamilton in 1792, in 1806 and an 1806 copy of the same (also on $10 bills), by Trumbull — Jay by Stuart — Adams in 1815, in 1821, in 1826, by Stuart — Adams (after Stuart) by Durand — Pinckney (B&W)

1772 First partition of Poland-Russia and Prussia, joined later by Austria
1714 Parliament of Paris accepts Pope Clemens XI's "Unigenitus" decree.
1676 Kings Charles II and Louis XIV sign secret treaty
1670 France and Bavaria sign military assistance treaty
1621 Miles Standish appointed first commander of Plymouth colony
1598 Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia.
1568 Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay annual tribute to Sultan for peace.
1454 Le banquet du Faisant. Philippe le Bon organise dans son palais ducal à Lille un mémorable banquet pour raviver l'esprit de croisade. Il y prête le "vœu du faisant" : Si le roi de France acceptait de combattre les Turcs, il le suivrait ainsi que ses chevaliers. De fabuleux spectacles ("entremets") figurant symboliquement la croisade y furent représentés entre les 48 mets servis. Ce fut le banquet le plus riche et le plus somptueux du moyen âge. La croisade n'eut jamais lieu.
1370 Battle of Rudau: Germany beats Lithuania.

TO THE TOP

^ Deaths which occurred on a February 17:
2003 (Presidents' Day national holiday) Kevin Gayden, 24, Michael Wilson, 22, Charita Rhodes, 19, and 18 others trampled or crushed in stampede at a night club on Chicago's Near South Side (a mostly Black entertainment district, after 02:00 (08:00 UT) when security guards use mace or pepper spray to break up a fight started between three women, and fleeing patrons pile on top of each other in the staircase and behind the front door which jams shut; the other doors are locked or obstructed.. About 1500 persons were in the dance club, the E2, on the second floor of the Epitome restaurant building at 2347 South Michigan Avenue. It takes firefighters more than 30 minutes to smash open some doors and pull out the approximately 55 injured, including two firefighters, and the dead.
2003 Riyad Abu Zied, riddled with bullets by Israeli undercover agents, as he was in his car outside the Boureij refugee camp near Gaza City. He was a leader of Hamas' Izz-el-Deen al-Qassam military wing.
2002 Two Palestinians of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, near Hadera, Israel. Israeli traffic policemen noticed a car whose front and back license plates did not match. Checking they found it was listed as stolen. The policemen gave chase and forced the car off the road. One of the Palestinians got out, threw two pipe bombs and was killed in an exchange of gunfice with the policemen. The other Palestinian drove off and soon died when his car exploded as pursuing policemen fired at it. Both the Palestinians had explosives strapped to their bodies.
2002 Eight Hindus (4 men and 4 women), just after midnight, in two adjacent homes in village Narala, 10-hours walk from the nearest highway, Rajouri district, 100 km northwest of Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, India. Suspected Islamic militants shot and killed eight Hindus in a midnight attack on a remote mountainous village in troubled Jammu-Kashmir state, police said Sunday. Another six Hindus are wounded.
2000 Muhammed Muhsin bin Al-Haj, 28, bombed at night by Russians, volunteer for the Chechens, from Medina, Arabia.
1998 Ernst Junger, filósofo alemán.
1997 Modesto Rico Pasarín, policía judicial de 33 años, asesinado por la banda terrorista ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) mediante una bomba colocada debajo del asiento de su coche.
1996 More than 100 people, by tidal waves in Indonesia.
1993 Some 800 to 2000 die as Haitian ferry boat capsizes in storm.
1991 Enrique Bermudez commandant (Contra)
1980 Graham Vivian Sutherland, etcher, lithographer, and painter, born in London on 24 August 1903. — MORE ON SUTHERLAND AT ART “4” FEBRUARY — LINKS — Insect — Devastation: East End Factory Ventilation Shaft
1968 US casualty rate in Vietnam reaches record high American officials in Saigon report an all-time high weekly rate of US casualties — 543 killed in action and 2,547 wounded in the previous seven days. These losses were a result of the heavy fighting during the communist Tet Offensive.
1967 Ciro Alegría, escritor peruano.

^ 1940 Day 80 of Winter War: USSR aggression against Finland.
More deaths due to Stalin's desire to grab Finnish territory.
Heavy fighting continues on the Isthmus
       Heavy fighting continues on the Karelian Isthmus. The enemy manages to break the defensive line in Postilampi near Kämärä station. The outnumbered Finnish troops are fighting enemy tanks on the open snow without anti-tank guns. The Finns are forced to retreat. The Soviet attack grinds to a halt at the intermediary defensive positions.
      The Russians make strenuous efforts to take Suursaari island in Lake Muolaanjärvi. The attempt fails.
      Ladoga Karelia: in recognition of his prowess in the fighting on the River Kollaanjoki, Corporal Simo Häyhä is awarded a Sako target rifle donated by a Swedish sympathiser, Eugen Johansson. Häyhä has shot dead 219 enemy soldiers with his open-sight 'pystykorva' rifle, and approximately the same number again with a submachine gun and a rapid-fire rifle. His most successful tally for a single day has been 25 dead. Häyhä has previously been awarded the Medal of Liberty, a pocket watch and woollen gloves.
      Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim addresses an appeal to his officers: "The whole future of our people hangs in the balance. Only our loyalty and endurance can save the day. I am sure every officer will do his duty."
      Northern Finland: Soviet troops in Kuhmo launch a new assault on the Kuusijoki line in an effort to free the trapped 54th Division.
      Gulf of Bothnia: a road is opened across the frozen sea between Vaasa and Umeå in Sweden.
      Iisalmi suffers heavy enemy bombing. 41 people are killed in a direct hit on a bomb shelter. 130 enemy aircraft bomb Viipuri.
      158 American Finnish volunteers arrive in Oulu.
      An exhibition of captured war materiel opens in Helsinki Exhibition Hall. Proceeds from the exhibition are to be used to help the needy relatives of soldiers fallen in the war. Visitors to the exhibition can keep abreast of the latest figures from the front. There are, for example, two boards presenting the numbers of enemy aircraft shot down and tanks destroyed since the start of the war. Today's figures are 387 aircraft and 1050 tanks.
      Abroad: the Swedish press strongly criticizes Prime Minister Hansson and the Swedish Government's decision not to help Finland. The Swedish Prime Minister's negative reply to Finland is received with satisfaction in Moscow. The Soviet leadership believes Finland's fate has now been finally sealed. The British and French press believe Sweden will come to regret the decision.
      In Geneva, Miss Sophie Mannerheim delivers a hugely popular lecture on her father and the war.

^ Ankarat taistelut jatkuvat Karjalan kannaksella Talvisodan 80. päivä, 17.helmikuuta.1940
      Ankarat taistelut jatkuvat Karjalan kannaksella. Vihollinen saa murtuman puolustuslinjaan Postilammen maastossa Kämärän aseman lähellä. Suomalaiset taistelevat panssarivaunuilla operoivaa vihollisylivoimaa vastaan avomaastossa paljaalla hangella ilman panssarintorjuntatykkejä. Suomalaiset ovat pakotettuja perääntymään. Neuvostojoukkojen hyökkäykset torjutaan väliasemassa.
      Muolaanjärvellä venäläiset yrittävät voimakkaasti vallata Suursaarta. Vihollisen hyökkäykset torjutaan.
      Kollaanjoen taisteluissa kunnostautunut alikersantti Simo Häyhä palkitaan ruotsalaisen Eugen Johanssonin lahjoittamalla Sakon tarkkuuskiväärillä. Häyhä on ampunut pystykorva-kiväärillään 219 vihollista ja suurin piirtein saman verran konepistoolilla ja pikakiväärillä. Paras yhden päivän tulos: 25 hengiltä otettua vihollista. Aikaisemmin Häyhä on palkittu vapaudenmitalilla, taskukellolla ja villakäsineillä.
      Ylipäällikkö Mannerheim osoittaa vetoomuksensa puolustusvoimien upseereille:"Kansamme koko tulevaisuus on nyt vaakalaudalla. Vain meidän kestävyytemme ja uskollisuutemme voi sen pelastaa. Olen vakuutettu, että jokainen upseeri täyttää tehtävänsä."
      Neuvostojoukot aloittavat uuden hyökkäyksen Kuusijoki-linjaa vastaan Kuhmossa 54. Divisioonan pelastamiseksi.
      Jäätie Vaasan ja Uumajan välillä avataan.
      Vihollinen pommitttaa ankarasti Iisalmea, surmansa saa 41 henkilöä vihollisen pommin iskeytyessä väestösuojaan.
      Viipuria pommittaa 130 viholliskonetta.
      158 amerikansuomalaista vapaaehtoista saapuu Ouluun.
      Helsingin Messuhallissa avataan sotasaalisnäyttely, jonka tulot käytetään rintamalla kaatuneiden vähävaraisten sotilaiden omaisten avustamiseen.
      Näyttelykävijä saa numerotietoja mm. kahdesta taulusta, joissa seurataan alasammuttujen viholliskoneiden ja tuhottujen hyökkäysvaunujen lukumäärää.
      Tänään luvut ovat 387 alas ammuttua viholliskonetta ja 1050 tuhottua hyökkäysvaunua.
      Ruotsissa Tukholmassa ilmestyvät sanomalehdet arvostelevat voimakkaasti pääministeri Hanssonin ja Ruotsin hallituksen kantaa olla auttamatta Suomea. Moskovassa Ruotsin pääministerin Suomelle kielteinen lausunto herättää tyytyväisyyttä ja Neuvostoliiton johtavissa piireissä ollaan sitä mieltä, että Suomen kohtalo on nyt lopullisesti ratkaistu. Englannin ja Ranskan sanomalehdistö arvelee Ruotsin vielä katuvan päätöstään.
      Neiti Sophie Mannerheim pitää Genevessä esitelmän "Sota ja isäni" ja saavuttaa myrskyisen menestyksen.

^ De häftiga striderna fortsätter på Karelska näset Vinterkrigets 80 dag, den 17 februari 1940
     Häftiga strider fortsätter på Karelska näset. Fienden lyckas bryta in i försvarslinjen i terrängen kring Postilampi nära Kämärä station. Finnarna strider mot den fientliga övermaktens pansarvagnar i den öppna terrängens oskyddade drivor utan pansarvärnskanoner. Finnarna tvingas retirera. Sovjettruppernas attacker slås tillbaka vid mellanställningen.
      Vid Muolaanjärvi försöker ryssarna intensivt invadera ön Suursaari. Fiendens anfall avvärjs.
      Undersergeant Simo Häyhä som utmärkt sig i striderna vid Kollaanjoki belönas med ett Sako-prickskyttegävär donerat av svensken Eugen Johansson. Häyhä har med sitt armégevär skjutit 219 fiender och ungefär lika många med maskinpistol och snabbeldsgevär. Rekordet för en dag var när han tog livet av 25 ryska soldater. Tidigare har Häyhä belönats med en frihetsmedalj, en fickklocka och yllehandskar.
      Överbefälhavare Mannerheim riktar en vädjan till försvarsmaktens officerare:"Hela folkets framtid ligger nu i vågskålen. Endast vår uthållighet och vår lojalitet kan rädda den. Jag är övertygad om att varje officer utför sin uppgift."
      De ryska trupperna går till ny attack mot Kuusijokilinjen i Kuhmo för att rädda sin 54. Division.
      Isvägen mellan Vasa och Umeå öppnas.
      Fienden bombar häftigt Idensalmi. När ett befolkningsskydd träffas dödas 41 personer. Viborg bombas av 130 fientliga plan.
      158 frivilliga amerikafinnar anländer till Uleåborg.
      I Helsingfors Mässhall öppnas en krigsutställning vars intäkter används för att stöda mindre bemedlade anhöriga till stupade soldater.
      Besökarna får sifferuppgifter bl.a. från två tavlor som visar antalet nedskjutna fientliga jaktplan och förintade stridsvagnar.
      Idag visar siffrorna 387 nedskjutna plan och 1050 förintade stridsvagnar.
      De svenska dagstidningarna som utkommer i Stockholm kritiserar skarpt statsminister Hanssons och den svenska regeringens beslut att inte hjälpa Finland. I Moskva väcker den svenska statsministerns negativa utlåtande till Finland belåtenhet och de ledande sovjetiska kretsarna anser att Finlands öde nu är slutligen avgjort. Den engelska och franska pressen menar att Sverige ännu kommer att ångra sitt beslut.
      Fröken Sophie Mannerheim håller ett föredrag "Kriget och min far" i Geneve och har en stormande framgång.

^ 1934 Albert 1er, le Roi-Chevalier, 3ème roi des Belges.
Né en 1875, à Bruxelles, fils du comte de Flandre, il reçut un enseignement privé avant de rejoindre l'école militaire. Dans les années qui précédèrent son règne, il effectua, parallèlement à des études d'économie et de sciences politiques, plusieurs voyages à l'étranger, dont un aux États-Unis et une grande tournée au Congo belge. En 1900, il épousa Élisabeth de Bavière. Il devint roi de Belgique en 1909, après la mort de son oncle Léopold II, décédé sans laisser de fils. Les premières années de son règne furent perturbées par d'importants conflits sociaux et par le problème flamand. Il parvint cependant à se faire accepter du peuple belge par son tempérament modéré, son respect de la Constitution et son intervention énergique durant la Première Guerre mondiale. En effet, en 1914, n'étant pas parvenu par voie diplomatique à éviter l'occupation de son pays par les troupes de l'empereur d'Allemagne Guillaume II, en dépit du statut de neutralité de la Belgique, Albert Ier assuma le commandement des forces armées belges et combattit, quatre années durant, l'armée allemande. Son attitude courageuse et désintéressée lui valut le surnom de " Roi-Chevalier ". Après la guerre, devenu très populaire, il se lança dans la reconstruction de la Belgique et usa de son prestige pour apaiser les conflits sociaux, économiques et politiques. Partisan de la démocratie, Albert Ier apporta son soutien au projet de loi instituant le suffrage universel (décembre 1918). Son action diplomatique à l'étranger conduisit à l'abolition du traité de Londres, qui consacrait le statut de neutralité de la Belgique (1831), lors de la signature du traité de Versailles en 1919. Avec la reine, il se consacra également à l'épanouissement culturel de la Belgique, et encouragea les sciences en créant la Fondation du fonds national de la recherche scientifique. Alpiniste passionné, il mourut accidentellement en 1934, lors d'une escalade à Marche-les-Dames, des rochers à pic qui longent la Meuse namuroise. Il eut pour successeur son fils aîné, Léopold III. Sur le plan culturel, les Belges doivent à l’initiative personnelle du roi la fondation du Fonds national de la recherche scientifique. La reine Élisabeth et le roi patronnent le développement des arts et des lettres. Singulièrement non-conformiste de caractère, la reine Élisabeth survivra à son époux jusqu’en 1965. Violoniste dilettante (elle avait été l’élève d’Eugène Ysaye, lequel restera d’ailleurs son conseiller musical), elle fondera à Bruxelles, après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le concours international qui porte son nom et dont les prix récompensent tour à tour des violonistes, des pianistes et des compositeurs.

^ 1932 Johan Jonsen, the "Mad Trapper of Rat River"
     On 15 July 1904 young Johan Jonsen, 6, the future "Mad Trapper of Rat River," left Norway with his family and headed for the US. His Swedish father settled the family on a barren 320-acre homestead in North Dakota. At an early age, Jonsen became a skilled outdoorsman and hunter, and by the time he was in his teens was bored with the backbreaking life of a high plains farmer. He struck up a friendship with a local rustler and gunslinger named Bert Dekler who helped him refine his expertise with a pistol. In 1915, at the age of 17, Jonsen committed his first robbery, seizing $2800 from the Farmers' State Bank of Medicine Lake, Montana. He managed a successful escape, but was later apprehended in Wyoming for horse theft and returned to Montana. He served three years in the Montana State Penitentiary before being released and quickly returning to a life in crime. Because he used a variety of aliases, it is difficult to know exactly how many crimes Jonsen committed, but they were apparently abundant. Yet, as he grew older Jonsen began to retreat into the wilderness, where he increasingly became an antisocial hermit. By 1930, he was living in a cabin along the Rat River in an isolated far northeastern section of the Canadian Yukon. There he tolerated no visitors and survived by trapping beaver. He had not totally abandoned his larcenous ways, though — other trappers complained that he pillaged their trap lines.
      In late December 1931, an officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and three other men arrived at Jonsen's cabin with a search warrant to investigate the claims that he was pilfering from other trappers' lines. When the Mountie knocked, Jonsen replied by shooting through the door, wounding the officer in the chest. The four men fled, but a larger force returned soon after and began a 15-hour attack with gunfire and dynamite that failed to force Jonsen's surrender. The following day, a blizzard swept in and Jonsen managed to sneak off obscured by the thick curtains of snow. A massive manhunt began that eventually involved scores of men aided by airplanes, dog teams, and skilled Indian guides. Yet, Jonsen-traveling on foot with almost no food-managed to avoid capture for more than month.
      On 17 February 1932, the posse found Jonsen and trapped him on the ice in the middle of a frozen river. Still Jonsen refused to surrender. He shot one of his pursuers before the posse killed him with a massive volley of bullets. Having survived 45 days traveling through some of the roughest country in the world with almost no food, the once robust "Mad Trapper of Rat River" was skin and bones. His corpse weighed less than 100 pounds.

1915 Francisco Giner de los Ríos, pedagogo y escritor español.
1908 Geronimo, 79, Apache chief.

^ 1890 Christopher Sholes, inventor of the typewriter
Born on 14 February 1819 in the US, Sholes was a US printer and newspaper editor by trade. He developed a page numbering machine in the mid-1800s. A friend suggested he modify the machine into a letter-printing device. Sholes patented the typewriter in 1868 and sold the rights to Remington in 1873. The typewriter served as the basis for the modern computer keyboard.

1875 Léopold Fertbauer, Austrian artist born in 1802.

^ 1874 Adolphe Quételet, mathématicien et statisticien belge.
Né à Gand en 1796, Lambert-Adolphe-Jacques Quételet reçut une formation à la française. La Belgique avait été rattachée à la France en 1794, suite aux victoires des armées révolutionnaires (Jourdan et Dumouriez). Orphelin à 7 ans, il dut travailler jeune et se former de par lui-même. Adolphe Quételet fut professeur de mathématiques dans sa ville natale, puis à Bruxelles. Par la suite, il apporta d'importantes contributions à l'étude des sections planes du cône. En 1828, il devint le directeur de l'observatoire de Bruxelles. C'est en appliquant la théorie des probabilités aux sciences morales et politiques qu'Adolphe Quételet se fit connaître. Dans un grand nombre de ses écrits, on découvre ses recherches statistiques sur le développement des qualités physiques et intellectuelles humaines. Adolphe Quételet se proposa, au moyen de la statistique, d'étudier l'homme en tant qu'unité d'un groupe social, en appréhendant les lois de la natalité, de la mortalité et de la croissance. Il contribua donc à créer un modèle scientifique de " l’Homme Moyen " !

1864 USS Housatonic sunk by Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley outside Charleston Harbor, South Carolina

^ 1856 Heinrich Heine, 58, German poet, in Paris (because he was Jewish, his name, but not his poetry, was suppressed during the Nazi era). He left his estate to his wife under the condition that she remarry. His will explains: "Then there will be at least one man to regret my death." Geboren am 13.12.1797 in Düsseldorf als Sohn des jüdischen Schnittwarenhändlers Samson Heine. 1810-1814 Lyzeum Düsseldorf. 1815 kaufmännischer Lehrling in Frankfurt/Main. 1816 im Bankhaus seines vermögenden Onkels in Hamburg. Mit Unterstützung des Onkels Jurastudium in Bonn. 1820 nach Göttingen, relegiert wegen eines Duellvergehens. 1821-1823 Studium in Berlin. 1831 Reise nach Paris zum endgültigen Aufenthalt. 1835 Verbot seiner Schriften in Deutschland. HEINE ONLINE:
Buch der Lieder (1827) Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen (1844) Almansor (Tragödie) Aus den Memoiren des Herren von Schnabelewopski Buch der Lieder Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen	Der Doktor Faust Der Rabbi von Bacherach Die Götter im Exil Die Göttin Diana Florentinische Nächte Geständnisse Memoiren	William Ratcliff Reisebilder Romanzero Gedichte Gedichtsammlung verschiedene Gedichte Nachgelesene Gedichte

1854 Hugues F R de Lamennais, 71, French priest/writer.
1854 John Martin, British painter born on 19 July 1789. — MORE ON MARTIN AT ART “4” FEBRUARY — LINKS — The Assuaging of the Waters — Manfred and the Witch of the Alps — The Great Day of His Wrath — 53 prints at FAMSF — The Bard _ The subject comes from Thomas Gray's poem The Bard

^ 1827 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, 81, Swiss educator
      C'est la mort à Bruq, du promoteur de l’Education active, le pédagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Né en 1746, profondément influencé par le philosophe et moraliste Jean-Jacques Rousseau, il fonda, à Yverdon en 1805, un institut prioritairement destiné aux enfants pauvres et orienté vers l'enseignement agricole et la formation professionnelle.
Cet institut, que fréquentaient des élèves venus de l'Europe entière, comprenait tous les degrés de l'enseignement jusqu'à l'université. Selon la méthode de Pestalozzi, l'enfant était guidé dans son apprentissage par des exercices pratiques, des travaux manuels, l'observation et la perception. Le rôle de l'éducateur était d'apprendre à développer l'individualité de l'enfant plutôt que d'essayer de lui transmettre des connaissances. Les idées et les méthodes de Pestalozzi influencèrent plusieurs systèmes d'enseignement primaire du monde occidental, notamment l'éducation nouvelle.
     PESTALOZZI ONLINE: Il est notamment l'auteur de Die Abendstunde eines Einsiedlers (1780), Über Gesetzgebung und Kindermord (1783), Meine Nachforschungen über der Gang der Natur (1797), Ausgewählte Fabeln (1797), Stanser Brief (1799), Wie Gertrud ihre Kinder lehrt (1801), Le Livre des mères (1803).
     Geb. 12.1.1746 Zürich; gest. 17.2.1827 Brugg/Kt. Aargau. Pestalozzi entstammte einer italienischen Kaufmannsfamilie, die seit Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts in Zürich lebte. Er besuchte die Lateinschule am Fraumünster und am Großmünster in Zürich sowie das Collegium Carolinum, die philosophisch-theologische Hochschule. Unter Rousseauschem Einfluß verließ er das Carolinum vorzeitig und bereitete sich auf politisch-administrative Aufgaben vor; als diese Pläne scheiterten, entschloß er sich nach einjähriger Lehrzeit Bauer zu werden und auf das Birrfeld bei Brugg zu ziehen. Wegen einiger Fehlernten mußte er den Betrieb durch die Weiterverarbeitung von Baumwolle stützen; dazu zog er auch verarmte Kinder aus der Umgebung heran. 1774 wandelte er den Hof in eine Armenanstalt um, die er wegen finanzieller Probleme 1780 wieder aufgeben mußte. Als 1798 die Französische Revolution auch auf die Schweiz übergriff, wurde er durch die neue Zentralregierung beauftragt, in Stans zur Betreuung der Waisenkinder eine Armenanstalt einzurichten, die allerdings unter dem Druck des französisch-österreichischen Krieges nach sieben Monaten wieder geschlossen wurde. 1799 ermöglichte es ein Auftrag der Zentralregierung, in Burgdorf/Emme die in Stans entwickelten Unterrichtsmethoden weiter zu erproben. 1804/05 wurde das Institut nach Iferten verlegt und entwickelte sich dort für etwa zwei Jahrzehnte zu einem pädagogischen Zentrum Europas. 1825 löste er die Anstalt auf und zog sich auf seinen Hof im Birrfeld zurück.

1788 Maurice Quentin de la Tour, French artist born on 05 September 1704. — MORE ON DE LA TOUR AT ART “4” FEBRUARY — LINKS — Self-Portrait (1751) — Self~Portrait (1760) — Maurice, Comte de Saxe, Marshal of France — Mlle Ferrand Meditating on Newton
1781 Jean-Jacques Dumont “le Romain”, French artist born in 1701.

^ 1673 Jean-Baptiste Poquelin “Molière” , in Paris, French actor and playwright, the greatest of all writers of French comedy. (His stage name, Molière, is first found in a document dated 28 June 1644). He was baptized on 15 January 1622. Although the sacred and secular authorities of 17th-century France often combined against him, the genius of Molière finally emerged to win him acclaim. Comedy had a long history before Molière, who employed most of its traditional forms, but he succeeded in inventing a new style that was based on a double vision of normal and abnormal seen in relation to each other — the comedy of the true opposed to the specious, the intelligent seen alongside the pedantic. An actor himself, Molière seems to have been incapable of visualizing any situation without animating and dramatizing it, often beyond the limits of probability; though living in an age of reason, his own good sense led him not to proselytize but rather to animate the absurd, as in such masterpieces as Tartuffe, L'école des femmes, Le Misanthrope, and many others. It is testimony to the freshness of his vision that the greatest comic artists working. MOLIERE ONLINE:
Amphitryon Amphitryon : comédie Dépit amoureux : comédie représentée sur le théâtre du Palais Royal Dom Garcie de Navarre Dom Juan, ou Le festin de pierre Georges Dandin L'école des femmes L'école des maris L'étourdi, ou Les contre-temps L'amour médecin L'amour médecin : comédie L'avare L'avare : comédie L'estourdy ou Les contre-temps : comédie représentée sur le théâtre du Palais Royal L'impromptu de Versailles La comtesse d'Escarbagnas La critique de l'École des femmes La gloire du dôme du Val-de-Grâce La gloire du Val-de-grâce La jalousie du barbouillé La princesse d'Élide La princesse d'Elide : comédie du Sieur Mollière [sic] : les plaisirs de l'isle enchantée, course de bague, collation ornée de machines, mêlée de dances & de musique, ballet du palais d'Alcine, feu d'artifice, et autres fêtes galantes de Versailles	Le bourgeois gentilhomme Le bourgeois gentilhomme : comédie-balet [sic] faite à Chambort, pour le divertissement du Roy Le dépit amoureux Le divertissement de Chambord / [intermèdes de M. de Pourceaugnac] Le médecin malgré lui Le médecin volant Le malade imaginaire Le malade imaginaire : comédie mêlée de musique, de chansons, & de dances Le mariage forcé Le misanthrope Le misantrope : comédie Le sicilien Le Tartuffe, ou L'imposteur Le Tartuffe ou L'imposteur : comédie Les amants magnifiques Les amans magnifiques : comédie meslée de musique & d'entrées de balet Les fâcheux Les fâcheux : comédie / [avec le Prologue de P. Pellisson] Les femmes savantes Les femmes savantes : comédie Remercîment au Roi _ Remercîment au Roy	Les fourberies de Scapin Les œuvres de Monsieur Molière... [Volume 1] _ [Volume 2] Les précieuses ridicules Les précieuses ridicules : comédie représentée au Petit Bourbon Monsieur de Pourceaugnac _ Monsieur de Pourceaugnac : comédie faite à Chambord pour le divertissement du Roy Pastorale comique Psyché Sganarelle, ou Le cocu imaginaire _ Sganarelle, ou le Cocu imaginaire : comédie / avec les arguments de chaque scène [les épîtres A Monsieur de Molier et A un amy, par le sieur de Neuf–Villenaine] Œuvres. Tome 1 _ Tome 2_ Tome 3 _ Tome 4 _ Tome 5 _ Tome 6 _ Tome 7 _ Tome 8 _ Tome 9 _ Tome 10 Œuvres complètes . 1 _ Œuvres complètes . 2

MOLIERE ONLINE (in English translations):
Amphitryon The Middle Class Gentleman The Physician in Spite of Himself	The Misanthrope The Miser The School for Wives	Tartuffe, or, The Impostor Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite

1600 Giordano Bruno advocate of Copernican theory and plurality of worlds, burned at stake by the Inquisition in Rome
0364 Flavius Claudus Jovianus, 32, Christian emperor of Rome (363-364)

^ Births which occurred on a February 17:
1952 Andrés Sánchez Robayna, escritor español.
1942 Huey P. Newton, US activist who co-founded the Black Panthers. He died on 22 August 1989.
1933 Newsweek magazine's first issue is published
1932 Un bárbaro en Asia, ensayo de Henri Michaux, se publica.
1929 Yasser Arafat PLO-leader (Achille Lauro, Nobel 1994)
1929 Chaim Potok (rabbi, doctor of philosophy, author: The Chosen, The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev)
1926 Manuel Millares Sall, Spanish painter who died in 1972 — Cuadro 150
1924 Margaret Truman Daniel (Daughter of 33rd US President Harry S Truman; author)
1904 Hans J. Morgenthau, German-born US political scientist and historian who died on 19 July 1980.
1904 Luis Ferré, político puertorriqueño.
1897 National Congress of Mothers, forerunner of the National Parents and Teachers Association, is founded in Washington DC.
1892 Josyf Ivanovycè Slipyj, Ukrainian, ordained a Catholic priest on 30 September 1917; appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Lviv on 25 November 1939, consecrated a bishop on 22 December 1939; succeeded as Archbishop of Lviv on 01 November 1944; imprisoned in Siberia from 1945, freed and sent to Rome on 06 February 1963; made a cardinal on 22 February 1965; died in Rome on 07 September 1984.
1889 Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, US oil tycoon who died on 29 November 1974.
1880 Alvaro Obregon General/President of Mexico (1920-24)
1877 André Maginot, French statesman for whom Maginot Line was named. He died on 07 January 1932.
1876 Eduardo Zamacois, escritor cubano.

^ 1874 Thomas John Watson, Sr., first president of IBM
Thomas Watson, Sr., built IBM into the largest manufacturer of data processing equipment in the world. Watson, who worked in the cash register business for nearly twenty years, joined the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corporation in 1914. The company was a disorganized conglomeration of smaller companies that had merged together to produce punch cards and other early computing systems. Watson unified the company and motivated its workforce. The company grew from 235 employees when Watson took over to more than 60'000 at the time of his death on 19 June 1956. In 1924, the company changed its name to the International Business Machines Corp. The company produced typewriters, as well as a few electromechanical computers, but it did not focus on the computer business until 1952, when Watson's son, Thomas Watson, Jr., took over. By the late 1960s, IBM produced 70% of the world's computers and 80% of the US's computers. In 1981, the company successfully entered the personal computer market; however, the company failed to gain the same level of dominance in personal computing that it enjoyed in mainframe computing.

1867 William Cadbury England, chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury)
1864 Andrew B. Paterson, Australian poet, journalist and songwriter who died on 05 February 1941.
1854 Friedrich A Krupp German arms manufacturer
1844 Aaron Montgomery Ward founded mail-order business (Montgomery Ward). He died on 07 December 1913.
1837 Pierre Auguste Cot, French artist who died on 02 August 1883. — Born at Bédarieux (Hérault), February 17th 1837. A pupil of Duret and of Léon Cogniet. He painted mythological subjects, and also enjoyed a considerable reputatation for his portraits. — LINKS
1836 Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Spanish poet and author who died on 22 December 1870.
1817 Frederick Douglass, famous African-American.
1800 Ludovico Lipparini, Italian artist who died on 10 March 1856.
1781 René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec France, inventor (stethoscope)
1776 The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I , by Edward Gibbon is published. (Volume II — Volume III — Volume IV — Volume V — Volume VI)
1774 Raphael Peale, US painter, specialized in Still Life and Trompe L'Oeil, who died on 25 March 1825, son of Charles Willson Peale, [15 Apr 1741 – 22 Feb 1827], brother of Rembrandt Peale [1778 – 04 Oct 1860], Rubens Peale [1784-1864], and Titian Peale [1799-1881], nephew of James Peale [1749 – 24 May 1831] — LINKS — Blackberries — After the Bath [a hanging bath towel]
1745 Alessandro Giuseppe Volta, físico italiano.
1740 Horace B de Saussure Swiss physicist/geologist.
1675 Dirk Valkenburg (or Valkenborch) “Theodor Gillis”, Dutch artist who died in 1727.
1653 Arcangelo Corelli, Fusignano, Italy, violinist and composer (Concerto Grosso). He died on 08 January 1653.
1580 Historia de la Nueva España: Bernal Díaz del Castillo la termina de escribir.

Dans l’Antiquité Romaine, la fête de Quirinus. Quirinus, dans la mythologie romaine primitive est le dieu de la Guerre adoré par les Sabins. Mais dans la mythologie romaine tardive, Quirinus fut assimilé à Romulus, le fondateur légendaire de Rome. Il est le dieu général de la fécondité.
Santoral: Siete Santos Fundadores; Julián de Capadocia y Alejo de Falconeri.

Thought for the day: “Los hombres guerrean para adquirir un pedazo de tierra donde ser prematuramente enterrados” — Santiago Ramón y Cajal

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