The San Francisco Ballet performs "Don Quixote" under the direction of Helgi Tomasson, in Paris on July 19, 2005. On January 17, 1605, "Don Quixote," by Cervantes, was published. File Photo by William Alix/UPI | License Photo

Chile's new President Sebastian Pinera waves to the people after his inauguration in Valparaiso, Chile, on March 11, 2010. On January 17, 2010, Sebastian Pinera, a 60-year-old billionaire, won Chile's presidential election. File Photo by Sebastian Padilla/UPI | License Photo

Lance Armstrong delivers remarks at a press conference held to urge Congress to oppose cuts to cancer research and prevention programs in Washington on March 24, 2011. On January 17, 2013, Armstrong, in an interview broadcast on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), said he used banned substances and blood transfusions in all of his Tour de France wins. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

President Bill Clinton makes a point as he participates June 2, 1998, in a roundtable discussion in Houston on the importance of the upcoming Census 2000. On January 17, 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied in a sworn deposition that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. File Photo by George Wong/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1605, Don Quixote was published.


In 1806, the first baby, James Madison Randolph, was born in the White House. He was the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1871, Andrew Hallikie received a patent for a cable car system that went into service in San Francisco in 1873.

In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii was deposed in a bloodless revolution and a provisional government was established, with annexation by the United States as its aim.

In 1912, one month late to the party, Captain Robert Falcon Scott arrives at the South Pole. Ronald Amundsen got there first.

In 1917, the United States bought 50 of the Virgin Islands in the West Indies from Denmark for $25 million.

In 1920, Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, having been deported from the United States, announced that they intend to organize a great society in Soviet Russia, its prime objective would be the promotion of "social revolution in the United States."

In 1929, Popeye, his spinach, and his "guns" debut in the comic strip, Thimble Theatre.

In 1946, the U.N. Security Council met for the first time.

In 1950, an 11-member gang staged a $1.5 million robbery of a Brink's armored car in Boston.

In 1966, a U.S. B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with its refueling plane over Palomares, Spain, scattering radioactive plutonium over the area.

In 1977, convicted killer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad in Utah. It was the first execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the previous year.

In 1991, Harald V became king of Norway after the death of his father, King Olav V.

In 1994, a pre-dawn earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, claiming 61 lives and causing widespread damage.

In 1995, a powerful earthquake rocked Kobe, Japan, and the surrounding area, killing about 5,500 people.

In 1996, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was sentenced to life in prison and 16 others were also sentenced for plotting to bomb the United Nations.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied in a sworn deposition that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon's assisted-suicide law by a 6-3 vote. It allowed doctors to help mentally competent terminally ill patients end their lives.

In 2010, Sebastian Pinera, a 60-year-old billionaire, won Chile's presidential election.

In 2013, U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, in an interview broadcast on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), said he used banned substances and blood transfusions in all of his Tour de France wins.

In 2014, a Taliban suicide attack on a restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed 21 people, including four U.N. personnel and an International Monetary Fund envoy.

In 2017, President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence whistleblower who leaked classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010.