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What happened on March 17
Every March 17 carries a layer of history: wars that began or ended, inventions, premieres, treaties, and people born or lost on this day across the centuries. We gathered 12 of the most striking events recorded on March 17, plus notable births and deaths, each with its year and a link to the Wikipedia article where the story continues. It is a fast way to answer "what happened on March 17" without digging through many sources: the list arrives ranked by relevance and dated.
Notable events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2011 | First Libyan Civil War: The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973, authorizing military intervention in Libya to protect civilians. Libyan civil war (2011) |
| 2004 | Unrest in Kosovo broke out, resulting in the deaths of 28, the wounding of more than 600 others, and the destruction of several Serb Orthodox churches and shrines. 2004 unrest in Kosovo |
| 2000 | Hundreds of followers of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a Ugandan sect, died in a mass murder committed by its leaders. Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God |
| 1988 | Eritrean War of Independence: Eritrean People's Liberation Front troops encircled Ethiopian forces in the Battle of Afabet, gaining a decisive victory three days later. Eritrean War of Independence |
| 1979 | The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the Scottish Borders collapsed during refurbishing construction, killing two workers, and leading to the abandonment of the tunnel. Scottish Borders |
| 1973 | Slava Veder took his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography |
| 1968 | Six thousand sheep were killed on ranches near Dugway Proving Ground in Utah as a result of the U.S. Army spraying a nerve agent. Dugway Proving Ground |
| 1963 | An eruption of Mount Agung on Bali, Indonesia, killed at least 1,100 people. Mount Agung |
| 1957 | A plane crash on the slopes of Mount Manunggal killed Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash |
| 1955 | Ice hockey fans in Montreal rioted to protest the suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard for hitting an official. Ice hockey |
| 1950 | Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced the synthesis of californium, a radioactive transuranium element. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| 1942 | The Holocaust: The first mass killings of Jews began at Belzec extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first of the Operation Reinhard camps to begin operation. The Holocaust |
Births
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Brandon Aiyuk, American football player Brandon Aiyuk |
| 1997 | Katie Ledecky, American swimmer Katie Ledecky |
| 1997 | Daniel Sprong, Dutch ice hockey player Daniel Sprong |
| 1995 | Claressa Shields, American boxer and mixed martial artist Claressa Shields |
Deaths
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 2025 | John Hemingway, Irish fighter pilot, last surviving Battle of Britain pilot (born 1919) John Hemingway (RAF officer) |
| 2025 | Lee Shau-kee, Hong Kong real estate billionaire (born 1928) Lee Shau-kee |
| 2023 | Lance Reddick, American actor (born 1962) Lance Reddick |
| 2021 | John Magufuli, the fifth President of Tanzania (born 1959) John Magufuli |
A single anniversary does not explain on its own why a day matters: one March 17 can hold a scientific milestone, a tragedy and the birth of an artist, centuries apart. That is why we date every row and link the source, so you can follow what interests you. The selection mixes 12 events, 4 births and 4 deaths; the full list, with every reference, lives on Wikipedia.
Source, license and method
This page curates the day's anniversaries for March 17 from Wikipedia, delivered through the Wikimedia "On this day" feed (the encyclopedia's own open dataset). It is not original research: the facts, years and wording come from Wikipedia and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 4.0), which requires crediting the source and keeping the same license. We pick each day's most relevant items, favouring the editors' own selection and the most prominent articles, and every row links back to the matching entry. For the full list and primary references, see the day's article on Wikipedia (March 17).
Continue in the dates cluster
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Last updated: · Methodology and sources