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There are many events that happened on this date in history. Here are just a few of them!

February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 317 days remain until the end of the year (318 in leap years).

EVENTS

1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.

1801 – United States presidential election: A tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.

1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.

1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.

1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.

1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.

1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

1969 – American aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair a leak in the SEALAB III underwater habitat. The SEALAB project was subsequently abandoned.

1970 – Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, is charged with murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters.

1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

BIRTHS

1723 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (d. 1762)

1758 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (d. 1826)

1762 – John Cooke, English captain (d. 1805)

1781 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (d. 1826)

1832 – Richard Henry Park, American sculptor (d. 1902)

1843 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (d. 1913)

1879 – Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American educational reformer, social activist and author (d. 1958)

1881 – Mary Carson Breckinridge, American nurse midwife, founded Frontier Nursing Service (d. 1965)

1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990)

1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (d. 2001)

1923 – Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2014)

1924 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (d. 2008)

1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director (d. 2021)

1934 – Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003)

1935 – Christina Pickles, English-American actress

1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor (d. 2023)

1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (d. 2014)

1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)

1959 – Rowdy Gaines, American swimmer and sportscaster

1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director

1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor

1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player, executive, and businessman

1972 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer

1974 – Jerry O'Connell, American actor, director, and producer

1980 – Jason Ritter, American actor

1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman

1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

DEATHS

1339 – Otto, Duke of Austria (b. 1301)

1371 – Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria

1673 – Molière, French actor and playwright (b. 1622)

1946 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (b. 1889)

1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)

1982 – Lee Strasberg, American actor and director (b. 1901)

2006 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)

2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (b. 1922)

2013 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (b. 1975)

2021 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author (b. 1951)

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