Today is Thursday, February 17, the 48th day of 2011. There are 317 days left in the year.
1568 ― Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay annual tribute to Sultan for peace
1598 ― Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia
1776 ― First volume of Gibbon's ``Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" published
1836 ― HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Tasmania
1867 ― First ship passes through Suez Canal
1876 ― Sardines first canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport, Maine)
1904 ― Giacomo Puccini's opera ``Madam Butterfly" premieres in Milan
1913 ― First minimum wage law in U.S. takes effect (Oregon)
1933 ― First issue of ``Newsweek" magazine published
1972 ― President Nixon leaves Washington, D.C. for China