17th of November

Today is the 321st day of the year and there are only 44 days remaining.

284 - Diocletian is proclaimed Emperor by his troops, and would rule Rome for over 20 years.

1603 - English explorer and writer Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.

1777 - The Articles of Confederation are submitted to the states for ratification.

1800 - The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.

1820 - Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctia, a nearby Peninsula will later be named after him.

1856 - On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired by the Gadsdan Purchase.

1863 - Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place the city of Knoxville, Tennessee under siege.

1869 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal is inaugurated, and now links the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

1871 - The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.

1911 - The Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the first African-American fraternity at an historically black ocollege or university, is founded at Howard University.

1947 - The U.S. Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.

1962 - President Kennedy dedicates the Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C. region.

1970 - Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.

1970 - Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.

1973 - In Orlando, Florida, President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors, "I am not a crook."

1982 - Duk Koo Kim, dies unexpectedly from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, Nevada, prompting reforms for the sport of boxing.

2004 - Kmart Corporation, announces that it is buying Sears, Roebuck, and Company for an estimated $11 billion and naming the newly merged company Sears Holding Corporation.

2007 - Brian May, guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Queen, is appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.  He is also an avid astrophysicist.