Template:On this day - February 17

Geronimo

• 1580 – Bernal Díaz del Castillo finishes his Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España.
• 1756 – Birth of Juan Pablo Forner, Spanish Enlightenment writer (d. 1797).
• 1799 – Agustín de Betancourt y Molina obtains from Charles IV of Spain a Royal Order approving the project to install optical telegraphy in Spain.
• 1821 – Birth of Lola Montez, Irish-born dancer and actress who became famous by passing herself off as a Spanish dancer (d. 1861).
• 1836 – Birth of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish Romantic poet and short-story writer (d. 1870).
• 1876 – Birth of Eduardo Zamacois, Cuban writer (d. 1971).
• 1902 – In Barcelona (Spain), a state of suspension of guarantees is declared, following a general strike held since 14 February.
• 1909 – Death of Gerónimo, prominent Apache chief who fought against the Mexican and American armies throughout the territories of northern Mexico and the southern United States known as Apachería (b. 1829).
• 1917 – Birth of Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican scientist, researcher, engineer and inventor (d. 1965).
• 1936 – In Asunción (Paraguay), a Revolution forces the resignation of President Eusebio Ayala. The revolutionaries name Rafael Franco president of the country.
• 1958 – In Spain, the draftsman Carlos Sáenz de Tejada receives the Order of Alfonso X the Wise.
• 1977 – In the Soviet Union, Dolores Ibárruri, la Pasionaria (exiled leader of the Communist Party of Spain) applies for a Spanish passport to return to her native country.
• 1981 – In Hamburg (Germany), the Spanish philologist Antonio Tovar receives the Goethe Prize.
• 1981 – In the Philippines, Pope John Paul II arrives in Manila.
• 1981 – The organization Amnesty International denounces the government of Guatemala as responsible for the genocide of more than 30,000 people in the previous 10 months.
• 1986 – At Queronque (Quillota Province, Chile), two trains collide head-on; 58 people die and 510 are injured.
• 1998 – The plenary session of the Spanish Congress unanimously approves the abolition of prison sentences for insumisos (conscientious objectors to both military and substitute service).
• 1998 – The Spanish biochemist Mariano Barbacid, resident in the United States, agrees to return to Spain after 24 years of exile to continue his research at the new National Cancer Center.
• 1999 – In Quito, the national deputy for the socialist left MPD, Jaime Hurtado, is murdered by 2 alleged hired killers a few meters from the Honorable National Congress of Ecuador.
• 2004 – Death of José López Portillo, Mexican politician and lawyer, President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982 (b. 1920).
• 2013 – In Ecuador, Rafael Correa wins the presidential elections again, for the third consecutive time. He wins in a single round and with a lead of about 30 points over his nearest rival.
• 2021 – Death of Omar Moreno Palacios, Argentine folk singer-songwriter, guitarist and gaucho (b. 1938).
• 2021 – Death of Francisco Luzón, Spanish economist and banker (b. 1948).