Today in History: Atatürk Entered First Serious Coma

October 17 is the 290th (291th in leap years) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 75.

Railways

• 17 October 1874 In the Ottoman army, Major Ahmed Reşid explained the strategic importance of the railway to be extended from Damascus to Mecca and from there to Jeddah.

Events 

• 1448 – II. the Kosovo War; Under the command of János Hunyadi and mostly Hungarians, the army, II. He faced the Ottoman army under the command of Murat.
• 1514 – Siege of Bayburt: The Ottoman Empire captured the castle.
• 1777 - American forces defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga.
• 1918 – Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is established. (later renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
• 1919 – The town of Xanthi in Western Thrace is occupied by the Greeks.
• 1922 – Liberation of Gökçeada
• 1929 - Nadir Khan becomes King of Afghanistan.
• 1933 - Albert Einstein fled Germany to America.
• 1938 – Atatürk fell into his first severe coma.
• 1945 - Juan Peron becomes President of Argentina.
• 1950 – With Turkey's participation in the Korean War, the first Turkish military unit of 500 people reached Korea and landed in Pusan.
• 1951 – The protocol on Turkey's accession to NATO was signed in London.
• 1956 – Turkey realized its first sugar export.
• 1957 - French writer Albert Camus receives the Nobel Prize in literature.
• 1961 – About 200 (some say 400) Algerian demonstrators killed by Paris police.
• 1962 – President Cemal Gürsel signed the Political Amnesty Law; The release of 258 Yassıada convicts has begun.
• 1966 – Unity Party was founded. Hasan Tahsin Berkman was appointed as the Chairman of the Party. The emblem of the party was determined as a lion symbolizing Ali and 12 stars representing 12 imams around it.
• 1967 – The musical “Hair” begins to be staged in New York.
• 1970 - Quebec Minister of Labor Pierre Laporte is assassinated by militants of the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ). Laporte was abducted on October 10, 1970.
• 1972 – Bülent Ersoy appeared on the stage as a headliner.
• 1972 – The case of the Workers' Party of Turkey was concluded. 21 defendants were sentenced to heavy prison terms. Chairman Behice Boran was sentenced to 15 years.
• 1973 – OPEC begins to impose an oil embargo on some Western countries for helping Israel in its war with Syria.
• 1976 – Production of Murat 131 cars of Tofaş was allowed.
• 1979 - Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1984 – 60-6 years in prison were requested for Füsun Erbulak for her book "Something for 10 Days".
• 1987 – Former President Fahri Korutürk was buried in the State Cemetery after the State Ceremony.
• 1989 – Prime Minister Turgut Özal announced his candidacy for the Presidency.
• 1989 – 7,1 magnitude earthquake in San Francisco.
• 1996 – Artist Şanar Yurdatapan was arrested for alleged “separatism”.
• 2001 – Rehavam Ze'evi, Chairman of the National Unity Party, who opposed the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements, died as a result of an armed attack. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack.
• 2003 – The 101-storey skyscraper in Taipei became the tallest building in the world, surpassing that of Kuala Lumpur by 50 m.
• 2008 – Turkey, 2009 – 2010 United Nations Security Council temporary membership was accepted with 151 votes.
• 2010 – Necmettin Erbakan was elected as the Chairman of the Felicity Party.

Births 

• 1488 – Baccio Bandinelli, Italian Mannerist sculptor and painter (d. 1560)
• 1577 – Christofano Allori, Italian Baroque painter (d. 1621)
• 1760 – Henri de Saint Simon, French philosopher and economist (d. 1825)
• 1780 – Richard Mentor Johnson, vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 (d. 1850)
• 1813 – Georg Büchner, German dramatist (d. 1837)
• 1817 – Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Indian Muslim pragmatist, Islamic reformist, thinker, and writer (d. 1898)
• 1859 – Childe Hassam was an American Impressionist painter (d. 1935)
• 1867 – Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Catalan architect, art historian, and politician (d. 1956)
• 1871 - Dénes Berinkey, Hungarian politician, lawyer. (d. 1944)
• 1883 – Alexander Sutherland Neill, Scottish-born Scottish educator, author, and psychologist (d. 1973)
• 1886 Spring Byington, American actress (d. 1971)
• 1892 – Theodor Eicke, Nazi officer (d. 1943)
• 1895 – Mikhail Bakhtin, Russian philosopher and literary theorist (d. 1975)
• 1898 – Simon Vestdijk, Dutch writer and poet (d. 1971)
• 1900 – Jean Arthur was an American Broadway and film actor (d. 1991)
• 1902 – Irene Ryan, American actress and comedian (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Nathanael West, American author (d. 1940)
• 1912 – John Paul I, Pope (one of the 33 shortest Popes with 10 days) (d. 1978)
• 1913 – Faik Türun, Turkish soldier and politician (one of the 12 March period commanders) (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Jerry Siegel, American comics artist and author (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Arthur Miller, American playwright (Death of the Seller famed for his work) (d. 2005)
• 1917 – Marsha Hunt, American former stage, film, and television actress
• 1918 – Rita Hayworth, American actress (d. 1987)
• 1919 – Zao Ziyang, Chinese statesman and former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (d. 1966)
• 1920 – Zully Moreno, Argentinean actress (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Mariya Gorohovskaya, Soviet gymnast (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Rolando Panerai, Italian opera singer (d. 2019)
• 1926 – Julie Adams, American actress (d. 2019)
• 1926 – Beverly Garland, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1930 – İsmail Akbay, Turkish engineer (d. 2003)
• 1933 - William Anders, NASA astronaut
• 1934 – Johnny Haynes, English former international football player (d. 2005)
• 1938 – António Calvário, Portuguese singer-songwriter
• 1938 – Les Murray, Australian poet, historian, novelist, educator and critic (d. 2019)
• 1940 – Jim Smith, English football player (d. 2019)
• 1941 – Earl Thomas Conley, American country musician and singer (d. 2019)
• 1945 – Roberto Delmastro, Chilean politician and engineer (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Robert Jordan, American author (d. 2007)
• 1948 – Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress (d. 2018)
• 1949 – Owen Arthur, Barbadian politician and economist (d. 2020)
• 1950 – Sandra Reemer, Dutch singer (d. 2017)
• 1950 – Howard Rollins, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1951 – Roger Pontare, Swedish singer
• 1953 – Muhittin Korkmaz, Turkish theater and film actor
• 1953 – Özkan Uğur, Turkish musician, film and TV series actor (member of MFÖ group)
• 1955 – George Alogoskufis, Greek professor of economics
• 1956 – Frans Hoek, Dutch goalkeeper
• 1957 – Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Greek folk singer
• 1957 Lawrence Bender, American filmmaker
• 1957 – Pino Palladino, Welsh bass player
• 1958 - Alan Jackson is an American country music artist.
• 1959 – Richard Roeper, American columnist and film critic
• 1960 – Burhan Çaçan, Turkish folk music artist
• 1960 – Rob Marshall, American theater and film director, choreographer
• 1960 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer and actress (d. 2013)
• 1961 – David Means, American short story and novelist
• 1963 – Sergio Goycochea is a retired Argentine goalkeeper.
• 1964 – Gregg Wallace, English media personality, presenter, author and former greengrocer
• 1966 – Mark Gatiss, English actor, comedian, writer and screenwriter
• 1967 – René Dif, Danish singer, actor and musician
• 1967 - Nathalie Tauziat, French professional tennis player
• 1968 – Graeme Le Saux is an English former international footballer.
• 1969 – Ernie Els, South African golfer
• 1969 – Jesús Ángel García, Spanish hiker
• 1969 – Wyclef Jean is an American musician and songwriter.
• 1971 – Martin Heinrich is an American politician and businessman.
• 1971 – Deniz Uğur, Turkish cinema, theater, TV series actor and screenwriter
• 1971 – Andy Whitfield, Australian actor (d. 2011)
• 1972 – Eminem, American rapper
• 1972 – Tarkan Tevetoğlu, Turkish singer, songwriter, composer, producer and arranger
• 1974 – Matthew Macfadyen, English actor
• 1976 – Sebastián Abreu, Uruguayan national football player
• 1976 – Nil Karaibrahimgil, Turkish singer
• 1977 – Dudu Aouate, Israeli national football player
• 1977 – André Villas-Boas, Portuguese coach
• 1978 – Pablo Iglesias Turrión, Spanish politician
• 1979 – Kostas Tsartsaris, Greek basketball player
• 1979 - Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish Formula 1 driver
• 1980 – Ekaterina Gamova, Russian volleyball player
• 1982 – Ahmed Daher, Djiboutian football player
• 1983 - Felicity Jones, English actress
• 1984 – Giovanni Marchese, Italian football player
• 1984 – Gottfrid Svartholm is a Swedish computer scientist.
• 1985 – Max Irons, English actor and model
• 1985 – Collins John is a Dutch football player.
• 1986 – Constant Djakpa, Ivory Coast football player
• 1987 – Hideto Takahashi, Japanese national football player
• 1989 – Serhiy Hladır is a Ukrainian national professional basketball player.
• 1990 – Saki Kumagai, Japanese international football player
• 1991 – Brenda Asnicar, Argentine actress and model
• 1993 – Kenneth Omeruo, Nigeria national football player

Deaths 

• 33 – Agrippina the Elder, one of the most influential women of the 1st century Roman Empire (b. 14 BC)
• 532 – II. Bonifacius, Germanic cleric who served as pope from September 17, 530 until his death on October 17, 532
• 866 – Mustain, twelfth Abbasid caliph, reigning from 862-866 (b. 836)
• 1744 – Guarnerius, Italian violin maker (b. 1698)
• 1757 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French scientist (b. 1683)
• 1780 – Bernardo Bellotto, Italian veduta painter and platemaker (b. 1720)
• 1806 – Jean-Jacques Dessalines, emperor of Haiti (b. 1758)
• 1849 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French composer (b. 1810)
• 1887 – Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (b. 1824)
• 1889 – Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Russian materialist philosopher, critic, and socialist (b. 1828)
• 1893 – Patrice de Mac-Mahon, Former French general and politician (b. 1808)
• 1910 – Carlo Michelstaedter, Italian writer (b. 1887)
• 1937 – J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman (b. 1862)
• 1938 - Karl Kautsky, German socialist leader and World War II. One of the leading theorists of the International (b. 1854)
• 1955 – Dimitrios Maximos, Greek banker and politician (b. 1873)
• 1963 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician (b. 1865)
• 1967 – Puyi, Emperor of China (b. 1906)
• 1970 – Jan Syrový, Czech soldier (b. 1888)
• 1973 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer (b. 1926)
• 1978 – Giovanni Gronchi, Italian politician (b. 1887)
• 1979 – Richard Söderberg, American power engineer and Institute Professor (b. 1895)
• 1981 – Albert Cohen, Swiss writer (b. 1895)
• 1993 – Criss Oliva, American musician and founder and guitarist of Savatage (b. 1963)
• 2001 – Rehavam Ze'evi, Israeli politician (b. 1926)
• 2002 – Soner Ağın, Turkish theater and film actor, voice actor and director (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Sylvie Kristel Dutch film actress and model (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Arif Doğan, Turkish soldier (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Masaru Emoto, Japanese national writer (b. 1943)
• 2015 – Howard Kendall, English former football player and manager (b. 1946)
• 2015 – Anne-Marie Lizin, Belgian politician (b. 1949)
• 2017 – Danielle Darrieux, French singer and actress (b. 1917)
• 2017 – Mychael Knight, American fashion designer (b. 1978)
• 2018 – Carlos Boloña Behr, Peruvian politician (b. 1950)
• 2018 – Sebastian Fischer, German actor and dubbing artist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Leone Frollo, Italian illustrator (b. 1931)
• 2018 – Cornelius Edward Gallagher, United States Democratic Party politician (b. 1921)
• 2018 – Ara Güler, Armenian-Turkish journalist, photojournalist and writer (b. 1928)
• 2019 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina (b. 1920)
• 2019 – Hildegard Bachert, German-American artistic director and museum operator (b. 1921)
• 2019 – Elijah Cummings, American politician and human rights activist (b. 1951)
• 2019 – Bill Macy, American actor and comedian (b. 1922)
• 2020 – Bonaria Manca, Italian painter (b. 1925)
• 2020 – Ryszard Ronczewski, Polish actor (b. 1930)

Holidays and special occasions 

• World Petty Officers Day
• World Poverty Eradication Day (International)
• Storm: Swallow Storm