Today in History, October 17th

On October 17, 1777, British General John Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, a turning point of the American Revolution.

By Grant Oster October 17, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published October 17, 2026

October 17 is best known as the day in 1777 when British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army at Saratoga, New York, the victory that helped bring France into the American Revolution. The date also saw Albert Einstein arrive in the U.S. in 1933 and the Loma Prieta earthquake shake the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989.

The big story: Burgoyne Surrenders at Saratoga (1777)

General John Burgoyne, a British officer who also wrote plays, had a plan for summer 1777. He would march about 8,000 men south through New York and link up with Sir William Howe’s troops along the Hudson River. The plan looked better on paper. American forces held his advance at Freeman’s Farm on September 19. On October 7, at Bemis Heights, troops under Benedict Arnold drove back a British force probing the American lines. Burgoyne pulled back to the village of Saratoga with about 5,000 men left. Within days, some 20,000 Americans had him surrounded. On October 17 he surrendered to General Horatio Gates, the first time a large British army had laid down its arms in the war. The real payoff came in Paris. The news persuaded King Louis XVI to recognize American independence, and Benjamin Franklin worked out a deal for formal French aid. That help proved crucial to winning the war.

More events on October 17

Year	What happened
1346	The English defeated an invading Scottish army at the Battle of Neville’s Cross.
1835	Texas leaders approved a resolution formally creating the Texas Rangers, a mounted force to patrol the frontier.
1854	British and French troops opened the Siege of Sevastopol, during the Crimean War.
1912	Serbia and Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire, bringing the First Balkan War into full swing.
1931	Chicago gangster Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion.
1933	Albert Einstein arrived in the U.S., where he lived for the rest of his life.
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington had its world premiere.
1945	Hundreds of thousands of workers in Buenos Aires demanded the release of Juan Perón, a day Argentina later marked as Loyalty Day.
1973	Arab oil producers agreed to cut production to punish the U.S. and other supporters of Israel in the Yom Kippur War, setting up an embargo that rattled the world economy.
1979	Mother Teresa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1989	The Loma Prieta earthquake, magnitude 6.9, struck the San Francisco Bay Area and interrupted the World Series between the Giants and the Athletics.
2018	Canada legalized recreational marijuana nationwide.

Born on October 17

1915: Arthur Miller, playwright of Death of a Salesman and The Crucible.
1918: Rita Hayworth, Hollywood star born Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn.
1956: Mae Jemison, the first African American woman astronaut.
1972: Eminem (Marshall Mathers), best-selling rapper and actor.