17 November 1787

A Saturday in history

Weekday

Saturday

Season

Autumn (N. Hemisphere)

Century

18th century

Records

423

  1. 2013

    An outbreak of 77 confirmed tornadoes occurred in seven U.S. states; it became the largest November tornado outbreak in Illinois and Indiana.

    Source
  2. 2013

    Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashed during an aborted landing at Kazan International Airport, Russia, killing all 50 people on board and leading to the revocation of the airline's operating certificate.

    Source
  3. 2009

    Administrators at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit discovered that their servers had been hacked, and thousands of emails and files on climate change had been stolen.

    Source
  4. 1997

    Sixty-two people were killed by Islamist terrorists outside Deir el-Bahari (temple pictured) in Luxor, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.

    Source
  5. 1989

    Walt Disney Pictures released The Little Mermaid to theatres, beginning the Disney Renaissance.

    Source
  6. 1968

    NBC controversially cut away from an American football game between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets to broadcast Heidi, causing viewers in the Eastern United States to miss the game's dramatic ending.

    Source
  7. 1950

    The 14th Dalai Lama (pictured) assumed full temporal power as ruler of Tibet at the age of 15.

    Source
  8. 1943

    World War II: Australian forces launched an assault on Sattelberg, New Guinea, against Japanese forces, initiating the Battle of Sattelberg.

    Source
  9. 1941

    World War II: Hjalmar Siilasvuo ordered Finnish forces to halt their assault against Soviet forces near Salla, concluding Operation Arctic Fox.

    Source
  10. 1921

    Rioting broke out in Bombay, India, during the visit of Edward, Prince of Wales, leading to at least 58 deaths.

    Source
  11. 1796

    French Revolutionary Wars: French forces won the Battle of Arcole in a manoeuvre to cut the Austrians' line of retreat.

    Source
  12. 1592

    Sigismund III Vasa, who was already King of Poland, succeeded his father John III as King of Sweden.

    Source
  13. 1558

    Elizabeth I became Queen of England and of Ireland, marking the beginning of the Elizabethan era.

    Source
  14. 1292

    John Balliol was chosen to be King of Scots over Robert de Brus.

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.