Today is Thursday, January 17, the 17th day of 2008. There are 349 days left in the year.
1501 _ Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna
1595 _ French King Henri IV declares war on Spain
1827 _ Duke of Wellington appointed British supreme commander
1899 _ The U.S. takes possession of Wake Island in Pacific
1904 _ Anton Chekhov's ``The Cherry Orchard" opens at the Moscow Art Theater
1915 _ Russia occupies Bukovina and Western Ukraine
1938 _ The Supreme Soviet elects Michail Kalinin as presidium chairman
1945 _ Liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops (end of Nazi occupation)
1945 _ Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation
1946 _ The U.N. Security Council holds its first meeting
1951 _ China refuses cease-fire in Korea
1969 _ Beatles release Yellow Submarine album in the U.K.
1969 _ Debut album of Led Zeppelin released in the U.S.
1973 _ New Philippine constitution names Marcos president for life
1973 _ The city of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi
1987 _ U.S. President Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran
1995 _ 7.2 earthquake destroys Kobe Japan, killing 5,372
1998 _ President Clinton faces sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones