History of 17 March
- 1992 – In Buenos Aires, 10 people were killed in a suicide car-bomb attack against the Israeli embassy.
- 1992 – White South Africans approved constitutional reforms to give legal equality to blacks.
- 1995 – Gerry Adams became the first leader of Sinn Fein to be received at the White House.
- 1998 – Washington Mutual announced it had agreed to buy H.F. Ahmanson and Co. for $9.9 billion dollars. The deal created the nation’s seventh-largest banking company.
- 1999 – A panel of medical experts concluded that marijuana had medical benefits for people suffering from cancer and AIDS.
- 1999 – The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members in the wake of a bribery scandal.
- 2000 – In Norway, Jens Stoltenberg and the Labour Party took office as Prime Minister. The coalition government of Kjell Magne Bondevik resigned on March 9 as a result of an environmental dispute.
- 2000 – In Kanungu, Uganda, a fire at a church linked to the cult known as the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments killed more than 530. On March 31, officials set the number of deaths linked to the cult at more than 900 after authorities subsequently found mass graves at various sites linked to the cult.
- 2004 – NASA’s Messenger became the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around Mercury. The probe took more than 270,000 pictures before it crashed into the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.
- 2007 – Mike Modano (Dallas Stars) scored his 502nd and 503rd career goals making him the all-time U.S. leader in goal-scoring.
- 2009 – The iTunes Music Store reached 800 million applications downloaded.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
- 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
- 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
- 1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter[5]
- 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
- 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – James Heath, English golfer
- 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1985 – Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater
- 1986 – Chris Davis, American baseball player
- 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
- 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1986 – Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter
- 1987 – Federico Fazio, Argentinian international footballer, centre back[6]
- 1987 – Krisnan Inu, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
- 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
- 1988 – Grimes, Canadian artist, musician and music video director
- 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
- 1990 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and musician
- 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
- 1991 – Jack De Belin, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Patrick Cantlay, American golfer
- 1992 – John Boyega, English actor
- 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer
- 1994 – Dean Britt, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Ashley Taylor, Australian rugby league player
- 1997 – Katie Ledecky, American swimmer