January 17
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Featured Event
© John P Kelly—Stone/Getty Images
The Chevrolet Corvette is introduced
On this day in 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette was first unveiled to the public. At the New York stop of the General Motors Motorama traveling auto show, more than 45,000 Americans ogled the new concept car—so many that police had to step in to control the crowd. GM never intended to turn this concept car into a production model, but design executive Harley J. Earl realized its potential, and the company soon began manufacturing actual working versions. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.
Born this day in 1863, David Lloyd George, Liberal prime minister of Britain from 1916 to 1922, led his country to victory in World War I after laying the foundation of the modern welfare state as chancellor of the Exchequer.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 17
Nikolay Vinokurov/Alamy
2021
Aleksey Navalny returned to Russia after recovering in Germany from an assassination attempt carried out, according to an investigation, by the Russian government. One of Vladmir Putin’s most prominent critics, Navalny was immediately arrested and imprisoned. He died in a Russian prison in 2024. [Discover the stories of dissidents in Russia from the Soviet era to today.]
© Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
2016
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s correspondent in Tehran, was released after 544 days of captivity in an Iranian prison. He had been arrested, he explains, “simply because I was a journalist.” [Read Jason Rezaian’s warnings about the threats to press freedom around the world.]
AP
2008
American-born chess player Bobby Fischer, who became the youngest grandmaster in history when he received the title in 1958, died at age 64 in Reykjavík, Iceland. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about chess.]
Dr. Roger Hutchison/NGDC
1995
A large-scale earthquake struck the Ōsaka-Kōbe (Hanshin) metropolitan area, killing an estimated 6,400 people and causing major damage. [Test your knowledge of disasters of historic proportions.]
Jørgen Gomnæs, the Royal Court via Getty Images
1991
Harald V became king of Norway following the death of his father, Olav V. [How much do you know about kings and emperors?]
The Granger Collection, New York
1961
In his Farewell Address, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned that the United States must “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military-industrial complex”; he felt that if left unchecked, it could undermine American democracy. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about U.S. presidents.]
AP
1931
American actor James Earl Jones, whose deep resonant voice lent an air of gravitas to many roles, was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi. [Take our quiz about famous actors.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1929
The cartoon character Popeye, a sailor known for his love of spinach, made his debut, appearing in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre. [Watch Popeye and Bluto in the cartoon Taxi-Turvey (1954).]
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
1922
American actress Betty White, who was best known for her comedic work on numerous television shows, was born.
MPI/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1899
Gangster Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York. [Test your knowledge of mobster names.]
© James Crawford/Dreamstime.com
1893
Acting for Hawaiian sugar interests and their American allies, a committee led by Sanford Ballard Dole deposed Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani and installed a provisional government with Dole as president.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1820
English poet and novelist Anne Brontë, sister of Charlotte and Emily Brontë, was born. [How much do you know about English authors?]
Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie (National Museum in Warsaw), Old Masters Collection, (M.Ob.1312 MNW), cyfrowe.mnw.art.pl.
1734
Augustus III was crowned king of Poland. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European history.]
© Gwengoat—iStock/Getty Images
1706
Author, inventor, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin—who, as one of the foremost Founding Fathers, helped draft the Declaration of Independence—was born. [Test your knowledge of early America.]