February 17 belongs to Claudia Peña
Historical events & facts — February 17
What happened on February 17?
On February 17, 1600, Italian philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno was burned alive at the stake in Rome's Campo de' Fiori by the Inquisition, after seven years of trial. Bruno defended the infinity of the universe, the plurality of worlds and heliocentrism. He refused to recant and died with a gag in his mouth. He is considered a martyr of science and freedom of thought.
On February 17, 2008, the Kosovo Assembly unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, becoming Europe's youngest state. Kosovo, with its Albanian majority, had been under UN administration since 1999 following the war between Serbian forces and the KLA. Independence was recognised by more than 100 countries, though Serbia, Russia and China still do not recognise it.
On February 17, 1933, Newsweek magazine was published for the first time in New York, becoming one of the most influential weekly news magazines of the twentieth century. The publication would compete for decades with Time for leadership of the English-language news magazine market. In 2012 it abandoned print format to publish exclusively in digital form.
Notable birthdays — February 17
Famous people born on February 17
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period.
Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega
Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega, professionally known as Cagancho, was a Spanish bullfighter much of whose career was spent in Mexico, although he did sometimes perform in his native Spain, and one of his performances there, in Almagro, Ciudad Real in 1927 even gave rise to a now well known expression in the Spanish language.
Kathleen Freeman
Kathleen Freeman was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost invariably to comic effect. In film, she is perhaps best remembered for appearing in 12 Jerry Lewis comedies in the 1950s and 1960s and The Blues Brothers (1980).
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. was an American actor. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show, titled Mark Twain Tonight!, that he developed while studying at Denison University. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain.
Patricia Routledge
Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge was an English actress and singer. She was best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC One comedy series Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995), for which she was twice nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance.
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