On This Day: February 17th

In Sweden, February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.

The Battle of Vasai commences as the Marathas move to invade Portuguese-occupied territory.

Sixteen men of Pascual de Iriate's expedition are lost at Evangelistas Islets at the western end of the Strait of Magellan.

An earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Ambon. It triggers a 100 m (330 ft) megatsunami which drowns over 2,300 people.

Myles Standish is appointed as first military commander of the English Plymouth Colony in North America.

Nurhaci proclaims himself Khan of the Later Jin, precursor to the Qing Dynasty.

On his way to be burned at the stake for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the philosopher Giordano Bruno has a wooden vise put on his tongue to prevent him continuing to speak.

Duke Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein and King John of Denmark attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.

Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.

Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.