Calendar date · January

What happened on January 17

On January 17, -38: Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.

Events

60

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Capricorn

Featured moment · -38

Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.

Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The principate, a style of government where the emperor showed nominal deference to the Senate, was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century.

People

Born on January 17

Peio Canales 2005– Spanish footballer (born 2005)
Robin Roefs 2003– Dutch footballer (born 2003)
Samuel 2002– American singer (born 2002)
Enzo Fernández 2001– Argentine footballer (born 2001)
Kang Chan-hee 2000– South Korean singer and actor (born 2000)
Devlin DeFrancesco 2000– Canadian racing driver
Ayo Dosunmu 2000– American basketball player (born 2000)
Isa Briones 1999– American actor (born 1999)
Sophie Molineux 1998– Australian cricketer (born 1998)
Show 9 more — notable births on January 17
Jeff Reine-Adélaïde 1998– French footballer (born 1998)
Jake Paul 1997– American influencer and professional boxer (born 1997)
Kyle Tucker 1997– American baseball player (born 1997)
Allonzo Trier 1996– American basketball player (born 1996)
Indya Moore 1995– American actor and model (born 1995)
Lucy Boynton 1994– British actress (born 1994)
Mark Steketee 1994– Australian cricketer
Stanislav Galiev 1992– Russian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Trevor Bauer 1991– American baseball player (born 1991)

People

Died on January 17

Didier Guillaume French politician (1959–2025)
Jules Feiffer American cartoonist and author (1929–2025)
Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat 1st President of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997
Denis Law Scottish footballer (1940–2025)
Lucile Randon French supercentenarian (1904–2023)
Birju Maharaj Indian dancer, singer, and composer (1938–2022)
Rasheed Naz Pakistani film and television actor (1948–2022)
Derek Fowlds English actor (1937–2020)
S. Balakrishnan Film composer and music director (died 2019)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on January 17
Tirrel Burton American football player, coach, and broadcaster (1929–2017)
Colo Western lowland gorilla
Blowfly American musician (1939–2016)
Melvin Day New Zealand artist (1923–2016)
V. Rama Rao Indian politician
Sudhindra Thirtha Indian guru
Ken Furphy English footballer and manager
Faten Hamama Egyptian actress and producer (1931–2015)
Don Harron Canadian actor and comedian

Timeline

Every January 17 on record

  1. -38 Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.

    Roman emperor from 27 BC to AD 14

    Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The principate, a style of government where the emperor showed nominal deference to the Senate, was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century.

  2. 1362 Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.

    Storm surge in the North Sea, in 1362

    Saint Marcellus's flood or Grote Mandrenke was an intense extratropical cyclone, coinciding with a new moon, which swept across the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark around 16 January 1362, causing at least 25,000 deaths. The storm tide is also called the "Second St. Marcellus flood" because it peaked on 16 January, the feast day of St.

  3. 1377 Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1370 to 1378

    Pope Gregory XI was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, Gregory XI returned the papal court to Rome, ending nearly 70 years of papal residency in Avignon, in modern-day France.

  4. 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.

    Florentine explorer of North America for France (1485–1528)

    Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer from the Republic of Florence, best known for his expedition to North America. He led most of his later missions, including the one to America, in the service of King Francis I of France.

  5. 1562 France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain.

    Historical religious group of French Protestants

    The Huguenots are a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Besançon Hugues, was in common use by around 1550. Huguenot was frequently used in reference to those of the Reformed Church of France from the time of the Protestant Reformation.

  6. 1595 During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
  7. 1608 Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.
  8. 1648 England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
  9. 1649 The Second Ormonde Peace creates an alliance between the Irish Royalists and Confederates during the War of the Three Kingdoms. The coalition was then decisively defeated during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
  10. 1773 Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.
  11. 1781 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
  12. 1799 Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
  13. 1811 Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.
  14. 1852 The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.
  15. 1873 A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.
Show 15 earlier entries from January 17
  1. 1885 A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
  2. 1893 Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
  3. 1899 The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
  4. 1903 El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
  5. 1904 Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
  6. 1912 British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
  7. 1915 Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
  8. 1917 The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
  9. 1918 Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
  10. 1920 Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect.
  11. 1941 Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.
  12. 1943 World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.
  13. 1944 World War II: Allied forces launch the first of 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.
  14. 1945 World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw.
  15. 1945 The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as the Red Army closes in.

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