Editing January 17 (section)

===1901–present===
*[[1903]] &ndash; [[El Yunque National Forest]] in [[Puerto Rico]] becomes part of the United States [[National Forest System]] as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
*[[1904]] &ndash; [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' receives its premiere performance at the [[Moscow Art Theatre]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kirk|first=Irina|title=Anton Chekov|location=Boston|publisher=Twayne Publishers|date=1981|isbn=9780805764109|page=151}}</ref>
*[[1912]] &ndash; British polar explorer Captain [[Robert Falcon Scott]] [[Terra Nova Expedition|reaches the South Pole]], one month after [[Roald Amundsen]].
*[[1915]] &ndash; [[Russia]] defeats [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkey]] in the [[Battle of Sarikamish]] during the [[Caucasus Campaign]] of [[World War I]].
*[[1917]] &ndash; The United States pays Denmark {{$}}25 million for the [[United States Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Waldo A.|title=The Virgin Islands of the United States: A General Report by the Governor|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|date=1928|url=https://archive.org/details/abk7602.0001.001.umich.edu|page=[https://archive.org/details/abk7602.0001.001.umich.edu/page/29 29]}}</ref>
*[[1918]] &ndash; [[Finnish Civil War]]: The first serious battles take place between the [[Red Guards (Finland)|Red Guards]] and the [[White Guard (Finland)|White Guard]].
*[[1920]] &ndash; [[Prohibition in the United States|Alcohol Prohibition]] begins in the United States as the [[Volstead Act]] goes into effect.<ref>{{cite web | title =History of Alcohol Prohibition | publisher = National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse | url = http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2a.htm | access-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref>
*[[1941]] &ndash; [[Franco-Thai War]]: [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] forces [[Battle of Ko Chang|inflict a decisive defeat]] over the [[Royal Thai Navy]].
*[[1943]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: [[Greek submarine Papanikolis (Y-2)|Greek submarine Papanikolis]] captures the 200-ton sailing vessel ''Agios Stefanos'' and mans her with part of her crew.
*[[1944]] &ndash; World War II: [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces launch the first of [[Battle of Monte Cassino|four assaults]] on [[Monte Cassino]] with the intention of breaking through the [[Winter Line]] and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.
*[[1945]] &ndash; World War II: The [[Vistula–Oder Offensive]] forces German troops out of [[Warsaw]].
*  1945   &ndash; The ''[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]]'' begin the evacuation of the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]] as the [[Red Army]] closes in.
*  1945   &ndash; Swedish diplomat [[Raoul Wallenberg]] is taken into [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.<ref>{{cite book|last=Felix|first=Christopher|title=A Short Course in the Secret War|location=Lanham, Md.|publisher=Madison Books|date=2001|isbn=9781568331799|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7wwc6WMmCoC|page=267}}</ref>
*[[1946]] &ndash; The [[UN Security Council]] holds its first session.
*[[1948]] &ndash; The [[Renville Agreement]] between the [[Netherlands]] and [[Indonesia]] is ratified.
*[[1950]] &ndash; The [[Great Brink's Robbery]]: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stickle|first=Benjamin F.|chapter=Great Brink's Robbery (1950)|title=Crimes of the Centuries: Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History|editor-last1=Chermak|editor-first1=Steven M.|editor-last2=Bailey|editor-first2=Frankie Y.|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2016|isbn=9781610695930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=li1ZCwAAQBAJ|page=222}}</ref>
*  1950   &ndash; [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 79]] relating to [[arms control]] is adopted.
*[[1961]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] delivers a televised [[Eisenhower's farewell address|farewell address to the nation]] three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "[[military–industrial complex]]" as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.
*  1961   &ndash; Former [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Congolese]] Prime Minister [[Patrice Lumumba]] is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
*[[1966]] &ndash; [[1966 Palomares B-52 crash|Palomares incident]]: A [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] bomber collides with a [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton [[B28 nuclear bomb|nuclear bombs]] near the town of [[Palomares, Almería|Palomares]] and another one into the sea.
*[[1969]] &ndash; [[Black Panther Party]] members [[Bunchy Carter]] and [[John Huggins]] are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of [[UCLA]].
*[[1977]] &ndash; [[Capital punishment in the United States]] resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer [[Gary Gilmore]] is [[execution by firing squad|executed by firing squad]] in Utah.
*[[1981]] &ndash; [[President of the Philippines]] [[Ferdinand Marcos]] lifts [[Martial law in the Philippines|martial law]] eight years and five months after declaring it.
*[[1991]] &ndash; [[Gulf War]]: [[Operation Desert Storm]] begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq, it is also the first major combat sortie for the [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|F-117]]. [[Scott Speicher|LCDR Scott Speicher's]] [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|F/A-18C Hornet]] from [[VFA-81]] is shot down by a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25|Mig-25]] and is the first American casualty of the War. [[Iraq]] fires eight [[Scud]] missiles into [[Israel]] in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
*  1991   &ndash; Crown Prince Harald of Norway becomes [[Harald V of Norway|King Harald V]], following the death of his father, [[Olav V of Norway|King Olav V]].
*[[1992]] &ndash; During a visit to South Korea, [[Prime Minister of Japan|Japanese Prime Minister]] [[Kiichi Miyazawa]] apologizes for forcing Korean women into [[Comfort women|sexual slavery]] during World War II.
*[[1994]] &ndash; The 6.7 {{M|w}} [[1994 Northridge earthquake|Northridge earthquake]] shakes the [[Greater Los Angeles Area]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of IX (''Violent''), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.
*[[1995]] &ndash; The 6.9 {{M|w}} [[Great Hanshin earthquake]] shakes the southern [[Hyōgo Prefecture]] with a maximum [[Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale|Shindo]] of 7, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
*[[1996]] &ndash; The [[Czech Republic]] applies for membership in the [[European Union]].
*[[1997]] &ndash; [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]]: A [[Delta II]] carrying the [[GPS IIR-1]] satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
*[[1998]] &ndash; [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal]]: [[Matt Drudge]] breaks the story of the [[Bill Clinton]]–[[Monica Lewinsky]] affair on his ''[[Drudge Report]]'' website.
*[[2002]] &ndash; [[Mount Nyiragongo]] erupts in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
*[[2007]] &ndash; The [[Doomsday Clock]] is set to five minutes to midnight in response to [[North Korea]]'s nuclear testing.
*[[2008]] &ndash; [[British Airways Flight 38]] crashes short of the runway at [[Heathrow Airport]], injuring 47.<ref name="AAIBFinal">{{cite web |date=9 February 2010 |title=Report on the accident to Boeing 777-236ER, G-YMMM, at London Heathrow Airport on 17&nbsp;January 2008 |url=http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=%2F1-2010%20G-YMMM.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130711221435/http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/1-2010%20G-YMMM.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2013 |access-date=9 February 2010 |publisher=Air Accidents Investigation Branch}}</ref>
*[[2010]] &ndash; [[2010 Jos riots|Rioting]] begins between Muslim and Christian groups in [[Jos|Jos, Nigeria]], results in at least 200 deaths.
*[[2013]] &ndash; Former cyclist [[Lance Armstrong]] confesses to [[Lance Armstrong doping case|his doping]] in an airing of ''[[Oprah's Next Chapter]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldman|first=Russell|date=January 17, 2013|title=Lance Armstrong Admits to Doping|publisher=ABC News|location=United States|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/lance-armstrong-confesses-doping/story?id=18244003|access-date=2013-01-18}}</ref>
*[[2013]] &ndash; Shahzad Luqman is [[Murder of Shahzad Luqman|murdered]] by members of [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]] in [[Petralona]], [[Athens]], leading the creation of new measures to combat race-based attacks in [[Greece]].<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/146983_dikazontai-sto-efeteio-oi-dolofonoi-toy-sahzat-loykman | title= Δικάζονται στο Εφετείο οι δολοφόνοι του Σαχζάτ Λουκμάν | accessdate= 2018-09-16 | date= 2018-04-16 | publisher=efsyn.gr }}</ref>
*[[2016]] &ndash; President [[Barack Obama]] announces the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]], an agreement intended to limit Iran's nuclear program.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-10-07|title=Barack Obama – Key Events {{!}} Miller Center|url=https://millercenter.org/president/barack-obama/key-events|access-date=2022-01-11|website=millercenter.org}}</ref>
*[[2017]] &ndash; [[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|The search for]] [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370]] is announced to be suspended.<ref>{{Cite web|last=CARVALHO|first=NEVILLE SPYKERMAN and MARTIN|title=MH370 underwater search suspended|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/01/17/mh370-underwater-search|access-date=2022-01-17|website=The Star|date=17 January 2017 }}</ref>
* [[2023]] &ndash; [[2023 Nyingchi avalanche|An avalanche strikes Nyingchi, Tibet]], killing 28 people.<ref>{{ cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-64356982 | title = Tibet avalanche kills 28 as search called off | publisher = BBC News | date = 21 January 2023 }}</ref>