Historical timeline for November 17

The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes.

Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia.

At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure as the governor of California begins.

A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.

Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.

In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre.

In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.

United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts.

Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).

The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.

The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.

Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."

Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.

Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.

Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.