Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on October 17th?

The Battle of Kosovo takes place between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition of Balkan states, with the Ottomans emerging victorious.

The British forces, led by General John Burgoyne, surrender to the American Continental Army at the Battle of Saratoga, a turning point in the American Revolutionary War.

The First Balkan War breaks out as Serbia and Greece, follow Montenegro and declare war on the Ottoman Empire. More

Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposes an embargo against the United States, in retaliation for the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military and to gain leverage in the post-war peace negotiations during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. More

The 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake, also called the San Francisco Earthquake, strikes the Bay Area in California causing 63 deaths, nearly 3000 injuries and billions of Dollars of damage. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. More