In Calendar Form

October 17

1651 Charles II, after being defeated by Cromwell at Worcester, flees to France.

1660 Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn: Thomas Harrison, John Jones, Adrian Scrope, John Carew, Thomas Scot and Gregory Clement, who had signed the death warrant; the preacher Hugh Peters; Francis Hacker and Daniel Axter, who commanded the soldiers at the trial and the execution of the king; and John Cook the solicitor who directed the prosecution.

1777 US Revolutionary War: At one of the turning points of the American Revolution, British General John Burgoyne surrenders to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. (Definitive Link: Battle of Saratoga)

1914 WW1: Hindenburg skillfully withdraws, leaving a ravaged Polish countryside behind him.

1914 WW1: Hitler's regiment completes its training and the brigade receives its colors. It would be only a few days before they are sent off to the front. Like two million other German volunteers, Hitler is elated at the prospect of facing the enemy. "I am terribly excited," he writes the Popps, "I hope we shall get to England."

1917 WW1: Oct 17-Nov 2 Dispatch Runner Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler serves during rearguard actions south of Ailette with 3 Company, 16 Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. (Maser)

1918 WW1: The British break through the German defenses on the Selle River. At the same time the Belgians and British under Belgian King Albert begIn to move again in Flanders.

1933 Wittmoor concentration camp is closed by the Gestapo.

1933 Zionism: Chaim Weizmann meets with King Albert of Belgium to discuss the German-Jewish refugee problem and the need for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

1944 Diary of Leon Gladun: At 17:00 hours we set for our position in the region of Sta Sofia. The road was serpentine and quite steep. We arrived in the dark and setting up was very difficult--constantly the vehicles got stuck in the mud and we had to pull them out. One good thing: a house for PD [command post]. We stayed here for several days without firing a shot.

1945 Juan Peron becomes dictator of Argentina. He will remain in power for 11 years before being overthrown.

1973 Arab Oil Embargo: The Arab-dominated Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, commonly known as OPEC, announces that it will cut oil exports to the United States and other nations that provide military aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. A full oil embargo will soon hit the US in December causing a serious energy crisis. Note: This was an interesting time for this humble chronicler; stationed on a US destroyer on a 'Red Sea Cruise,' around Africa and the Middle East. Our ship was strafed by a small plane, sending us to general quarters; first we knew that anything had changed in the world. The 30 days spent in Bahrain was an enlightening experience, but the time in Pakistan was even more educational. In a way, I was 'there' during the first manifestation of anti-US action by an organized Muslim/anti-Isreal coalition and the Arab world in general. Now we are all there.

1979 Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Roman Catholic nun devoted to caring for the sick and poor, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1986 The US Congress passes a landmark immigration bill, the first US immigration law authorising penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens.

1989 The deadliest earthquake to hit the San Francisco area since 1906 strikes at 5:04 p.m. and lasts for 15 seconds. The quake measures 7.1 on the Richter scale, and its aftermath is witnessed on live television by millions of people watching the third game of the World Series of baseball between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, held at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The tremor hits moments before the start of the game, and sportscasters are soon performing the duties of news anchors as they report on the resulting pandemonium in the stadium. The earthquake kills a total of 63 people, while more than 3,000 others are injured and more than 100,000 buildings are damaged.

1990 Desert Sheild: UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar states that military force is a legitimate response to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait if sanctions do not work.

1992 The US Justice Department announces that it will probe the case of a prison inmate who reports he was silenced during the 1988 presidential campaign after claiming he once sold marijuana to Dan ''Inhale' Quayle, the Republican candidate for vice president.

1994 North Korea agrees to freeze its nuclear weapons program and allow international inspections of its facilities.

1998 By request of Spanish authorities, British police arrest former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet for questioning about 'crimes of genocide and terrorism that include murder'.

2000 Vice President Al Gore and his Republican challenger, Texas Governor George W. Bush, meet in St. Louis for the third and final of their presidential debates.

2001 Palestinian gunmen assassinate far-right Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in revenge for the killing of a militant leader, throwing US-led peace efforts into turmoil. The radical Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for shooting Zeevi, a 75-year-old former general who advocated the 'transfer' of Arabs from land claimed by Jews. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the killing mark a major change in Israeli-Palestinian relations. "The situation is different today, and will not again be like it was yesterday."

2001 The US House of Representatives is closed after 31 staffers at Tom Daschle's office test positive for anthrax and spores are found in a ventilation system.

2001 New York Governor George Pataki speaks to the media at a news conference in New York, and says his offices shows the presence of anthrax in a test and has been closed for further testing and decontamination work.

2001 Germany's Bayer company promises it will be able to deliver 200 million Cipro tablets, used to treat anthrax, in the next three months.

2001 US President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney meet with Congressional leaders prior to Bush's departure for a trip to the 21-nation gathering of Asian-Pacific leaders in Shanghai. The trip will take Bush out of the country for five days.

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