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Today in History, February 17th

On February 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine Hunley sank the USS Housatonic. Plus Jefferson's 1801 election and Michael Jordan's birth.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published February 17, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

February 17 is best known for the night in 1864 when the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston, the first time a submarine sank an enemy warship. The date also saw the U.S. House finally pick Thomas Jefferson as president in 1801 and the birth of Michael Jordan in 1963.

The big story: The Hunley Sinks the Housatonic (1864)

By 1864 the Union Navy had Charleston, South Carolina, bottled up, and the Confederacy was willing to try almost anything to break the blockade. Its answer was the H.L. Hunley, an iron tube less than 40 feet long, built in Mobile, Alabama, and named for its main financial backer. There was no engine. Most of the crew sat in a row turning a hand crank that drove the propeller, while the commander steered and handled the depth. The boat had a grim record before it ever saw combat: it sank three times in trials and failed attacks, and one of the men lost was Horace Hunley himself. On the night of February 17, 1864, it rammed a torpedo on a long spar into the Union sloop Housatonic, which went down. It was the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship. The Hunley never came home, and all eight men aboard died. The wreck was found in 1995 and raised intact in 2000.

More events on February 17

Year	What happened
1801	After Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in the Electoral College, the U.S. House broke the deadlock on its 36th ballot and chose Jefferson as president.
1904	Puccini’s Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala in Milan and was hissed off the stage. A revised version triumphed in Brescia a few months later.
1913	The Armory Show opened in New York City. Its roughly 1,600 works gave many Americans their first look at Cubism and other European modern art.
1947	The Voice of America aired its first Russian-language broadcast into the Soviet Union.
1972	Volkswagen built its 15,007,034th Beetle, passing the Ford Model T’s long-standing production record.
1979	China invaded Vietnam, a month after Vietnam had overthrown Pol Pot’s government in Cambodia.
1996	Garry Kasparov won the sixth and final game of his match against IBM’s Deep Blue in Philadelphia, taking the match 4–2.
1998	The U.S. beat Canada 3–1 in Nagano, Japan, to win the first Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey.
2008	Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Serbia, backed by Russia, called the move illegal.

Born on February 17

1653: Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer whose concerti grossi shaped Baroque music.
1942: Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party.
1963: Michael Jordan, basketball star who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles.