January 17, 1706: Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston.

January 17, 1806: James Madison Randolph, the grandson of <a href="/ce6/people/A0826096.html">Thomas Jefferson</a>, became the first child born in the <a href="/node/155678">White House</a>.

January 17, 1893: <a href="/node/70011">Hawaii's</a> <a href="/ce6/people/A0829774.html">Queen Liliuokalani</a> was forced to abdicate by a group of planters and businessmen.

January 17, 1945: Swedish diplomat <a href="/ce6/people/A0851359.html">Raoul Wallenberg</a> disappeared in <a href="/node/70509">Hungary</a> while in Soviet custody.

January 17, 1977: Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. since the <a href="/node/162956">death penalty</a> was reintroduced.

January 17, 1991: <p><a href="/node/155799">Operation Desert Storm</a> was launched against <a href="/world/countries/iraq">Iraq</a>.</p>

January 17, 1998: <a href="/node/155747">President Clinton</a> became the first sitting U.S. president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit.

January 17, 2001: Gov. <a href="/node/148265">Gray Davis</a> declared a state of emergency concerning <a href="/node/70005">California's</a> electricity crisis.

More events from This Day in History: January 17