February 17
Events
- 1864 – The HL Hunley was the first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship. It attacked the USS Housatonic. It played a small part in the American Civil War, but it is historical in navel history. It sank soon after the attack for unknown reasons.
- 1867 – The Suez Canal opens to shipping, it was opened by Khedive Ismail of Egypt and Sudan on the Imperial yacht Aigle. The liner that followed was the British P&O ship Delta.
- 1959 – The first weather satellite was launched, it was called the Vanguard 2. The satellite was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution and was part of the US Navy’s Vanguard projects.
Birthdays
- 1929 – Yasser Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt. He became the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, he was a laureate of the Nobel peace prize.
- 1934 – Barry Humphries was born in Victoria, Australia. He became a much loved comedian with his famed character of Dame Edna Everage.
- 1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips was born in the Subic Navel Station in the Philippines. He became an actor and starred in La Bamba and won a Golden Globe award for Stand & Deliver.
