Historical timeline for October 17

An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war.

The 17 October Revolution starts in Lebanon.

Drug dealers in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico force the government to back down on an arrest.

The recreational use of cannabis is legalized in Canada.

A mass shooting and bombing at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea kills 21 people including the attacker and injures 70 others.

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last foothold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Raqqa, marking the end of the Battle of Raqqa.

A fire that lasted over 15 hours destroyed almost one third of the East Tower of the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.

Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi is assassinated by Hamdi Quran, a member of the PFLP, thus becoming the highest-ranking Israeli to be killed by a Palestinian.

The Hatfield rail crash leads to the collapse of Railtrack.

Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.

Having gone to the wrong house, Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Rudrapur bombings by Sikh separatists, who explode two bombs, during a Ramlila Hindu celebration in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, killing 41 people.

The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63.

The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.

Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashes at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, in Rome, Italy, killing 33 people.

As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican.

The Department of Education Organization Act creates the U.S. Department of Education.

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.

OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.