Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 17
- 1801 - The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as President and Aaron Burr as Vice President of the United States, resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 presidential election.
- 1854 - Britain recognized the independence of the Orange Free State (flag pictured) in the present-day Free State Province, South Africa.
- 1895 - The ballet Swan Lake was first performed at full length with music by Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 1959 - Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite, was launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
- 1979 - About 120,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army of China crossed into northern Vietnam, starting the Sino-Vietnamese War.
Recent days: February 16 – February 15 – February 14
More anniversaries: