On This Day in History
Discover key historical events within the Genesis range (1950–2049) that occurred on this calendar day, and claim their commemorative registry plaques.
February 17
6 historical milestones registered between 1950 and 2049
Vanguard 2 (model pictured), the first weather satellite, was launched to measure cloud cover distribution.
Wikipedia: Vanguard 2
Gabonese military officers overthrew President Léon M'ba, but French forces, honouring a 1960 treaty, forcibly reinstated him two days later.
Wikipedia: 1964 Gabonese coup d'état
A U.S. Army soldier stole a Bell UH-1 helicopter (pictured) and landed it on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Wikipedia: Bell UH-1 Iroquois
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out a bombing of a restaurant near Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing twelve people and injuring thirty others.
Wikipedia: The Troubles
An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 8.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) occurred in the New Guinea Trench, which generated a tsunami that killed 108 people.
Wikipedia: 1996 Biak earthquakeArab Spring: Bahraini security forces killed four protesters in a pre-dawn raid at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, while the "Day of Rage" took place in Libya with nationwide protests against Muammar Gaddafi's government.
Wikipedia: Arab Spring