ON 17 JANUARY IN ASIAN HISTORY
To see another date, on Internet (Google…), type “On (day + month) in Asian history”
Updated on January 17, 2019
1524: Beginning of Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s voyage to find a passage to China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_da_Verrazzano
1588: Death of Qi Jiguang, Chinese general of the Ming Dynasty, at 59, born on November 12, 1528
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_Jiguang
http://www.plumpub.com/info/Bios/bio_qijiguang.htm
1661: Andres Malong, Philippines rebel leader is executed, born in 1643
http://pinoyfolktales.blogspot.fr/2013/01/filipino-martyr-andres-malong.html
https://prezi.com/vvjwlat0u_8u/revolt-of-malong/
1878: Birth of Chen Qimei, Chinese revolutionary, assassinated on May 18, 1916
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Qimei
1888: Birth of Babu Gulabrai, Indian author who died on April 13 1963
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babu_Gulabrai
1904: Birth of Hem Vejakorn, Thai painter and illustrator who died on April 16, 1969
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hem_Vejakorn
1907: Birth of Henk H Badings Bandung Indonesia, Dutch opera composer (Orestes), who died on June 26, 1987
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Henk_Badings.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iF_kChwk-g
1917: Birth of M. G. Ramachandran, Indian Tamil Nadu actor and Chief Minister who died on December 24, 1987
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_Ramachandran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keUf2F_a3tg
1920: Death of Yang Changji (杨昌济), Chinese educator, philosopher, and writer, born on April 21, 1871
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Changji
https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8807?mode=full&submit_simple=Show+full+item+record
http://history.04007.cn/en.php/HisMain/896.html
1929: Inayatullah Khan, king of the Emirate of Afghanistan abdicates the throne after only three days into his reign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inayatullah_Khan
1929: Birth of Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean politician, Attorney-General of Singapore from 1969 to 1992, who died on March 10, 2012
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1880_2012-04-27.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Boon_Teik
1933: Birth of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Coommissioner for Refugees who died in May 2003
http://www.amaana.org/agakhan/sadruddin3.htm
1940: Birth of Anson Chan, Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration (1997-2002)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Chan
1941: Chiang Kai-shek orders the New Fouth Army (South China communists forces integrated in national army to fight the Japanese) to be disbanded
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Fourth_Army_Incident
1941: During the French-Thai war (1940-1941), naval Battle of Koh Chang
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080107063255AAKs0zI
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Koh_Chang_17_january_1941_(English_version).svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Koh_Chang
.svg){kind=link}
1945: Birth of Javed Akhtar, Indian lyricist, poet and scriptwriter
http://www.javedakhtar.com/homepage/index.html
http://www.poemhunter.com/javed-akhtar/biography/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEBJqnE5QBo
1948: Agreement of Renville regarding the future or the Indonesia United states modifying the November 1946 agreement in favor of Netherlands
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Renville+Agreement
http://www.houseofdavid.ca/renville.htm
1951: China refuses cease-fire in Korea
1951: Death of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director, born on June 17, 1903
http://www.poetrysoup.com/jyoti_prasad_agarwala/biography
1951: After suffering repeated human wave and suicide attacks, napalm drops help the French to defeat Vo Nguyen Giap’s troops and to hold the area around Vinh-Yen
1952: Birth of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese musician
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuichi_Sakamoto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btyhpyJTyXg
1959: Birth of Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese pop singer and actress
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/momoe-yamaguchi-mn0000637056
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4bsggAC1u4
1960: Birth of Chatchai Plengpanich, Thai actor
http://www.sharerice.com/index.php/Chatchai_Plengpanich_(Nok)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QsW7w2pByU
1964: Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia agree for a cease-fire and a Foreign ministers conference in Bangkok
1964: Soviet Union asks for a conference on the neutrality of Cambodia
1967: Birth of Song Kang-ho, Korean actor
http://www.koreanfilm.org/actors.html#songkh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0SenTXrPzQ
1967: In Indonesia, the Foreign Affairs minister Adam Malik demands the resignation of president Sukarno
1971: Birth of Youki Kudoh, Japanese actress
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0473802/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youki_Kudoh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Mo13-KOlE
1972: President Richard Nixon warns South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that his refusal to sign any negotiated peace agreement would render it impossible to continue assistance to South Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-threatens-president-thieu
1972: Birth of Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
http://www.jpopasia.com/celebrity/kenhirai/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXkgKA5wXc
1973: By a fraudulent referendum, Ferdinand Marcos becomes « President for life » of the Philippines
http://joseangelito-angeles.tripod.com/marcos.htm
1975: Birth of Coco Lee, Hong Kong singer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoCo_Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axS8s2NIRIY
1981: The Philippines president, after eight years, Ferdinand Marcos lifts the martial law and frees 341 prisoners
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/886/today-in-philippine-history-january-17-1981-president-ferdinand-e-marcos-lifted-martial-law
http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1981/01/17/speech-of-president-marcos-during-the-termination-of-martial-law/
1982: Birth of Fany Hwang, Korean actor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwanhee
1983: Resumption of the United Nations good offices mission, lead by Diego Cordovez, for an honoured political solution of Afghan conflit
1985: Birth of Riyu Kosaka, Japanese pop singer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riyu_Kosaka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FaSi6sT16U
1985: Birth of Kang-In, South Korean singer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang-In
1987: Chinese intellectuals Fang Lizhi, Wang Ruowang and Liu Binyan are expelled from the Communist party
http://history.04007.cn/en.php/HisMain/610.html
1992: During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery (Comfort women) during World War II
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-01-17/news/9201050661_1_japanese-soldiers-prime-minister-kiichi-miyazawa-japanese-court
1994: Death of Chung Il Kwon, PM of South Korea (1964-70), born on November 21, 1917
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E6DB1730F93AA25752C0A962958260
1995: 7.2 earthquake in Kobe, Japan. About 5000 people died and more than 21,000 people were injured. More than 30,000 buildings were damaged by the quake and resulting fires
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_3375000/3375733.stm
http://history.04007.cn/en.php/HisMain/567.html
2004: The first Japanese soldiers leave for Iraq. Since 1945, it is the first time that Japanese troop are send in a country on war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Iraq_Reconstruction_and_Support_Group
2005: Death of Zhao Ziyang, Chinese prime minister (1980-1987), then general secretary of the Chinese communist Party (1987-1989)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2989335.stm
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/18/guardianobituaries.china
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/international/asia/18zhao.html
2008: Malaysian Islamic party still wants amputations and stonings
2009: The North Korean military declared an “all-out confrontational posture” against South Korea as an American scholar said he was told by officials in North Korea that it had “weaponized” 30.8 kilograms of plutonium
2010: Death of J Basu, Indian communist leader, born on July 8, 1914
http://www.jyotibasu.net/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CPM-leader-Jyoti-Basu-dies-at-95/articleshow/5455074.cms
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/asia/18basu.html?ref=asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8151230.stm
2012: The urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time in more than 5,000 years in China according to 2011 statistics
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120117-322446.html
2012: A senior judge in the criminal court in the Maldives, Judge Abdulla Mohamed, has been arrested
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16589429
2012: Vietnam’s navy has taken delivery of its first locally-made warship, equipped with artillery and missile systems, local media report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16590100
2013: Death of Tissa Balasuriya, Sri Lankan priest and theologian, born on August 29, 1924
http://ncronline.org/news/people/fr-tissa-balasuriya-loving-and-gentle-rebel
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/06/father-tissa-balasuriya
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1301/S00154/asia-a-radical-and-innovative-asian-theologian-passes-away.htm
2014: Suchitra Sen, iconic Indian Bengali actress dies
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-25648140
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/movies/suchitra-sen-actress-famed-in-bengali-cinema-dies-at-82.html?_r=0
2014: Death of Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq, born in 1912
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/syedna-mohammed-burhanuddin-a-symbol-of-piety-peace-for-dawoodi-bohras/article5586815.ece
http://tribune.com.pk/story/660017/leader-of-bohra-community-dr-syedna-mohammed-burhanuddin-dead-at-102/
2014: A senior IMF official and four UN employees were among 21 people killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack on a restaurant in Kabul
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25791002
2014: ASEAN foreign ministers have concluded the first-ever high-level meeting hosted by Burma, also known as Myanmar, since the once-isolated country joined the grouping in 1997
http://www.voanews.com/content/asean-ministers-conclude-first-high-level-meeting-in-burma/1832420.html
2014: An accountability court in Islamabad indicts former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and six others in the rental power case
http://www.dawn.com/news/1080908/former-pm-ashraf-indicted-in-rental-power-case
2015: New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) is elected chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with 99.61 percent of all ballots cast, the highest in terms of percentage of votes obtained since the party first chose its leader by popular vote among party members in 2000
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/01/18/2003609503
2018: Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong jailed over 2014 pro-democracy protest
http://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-activist-joshua-wong-jailed-over-2014-pro-democracy-protest/a-42174045
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1375617-20180117.htm
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/01/joshua-wong-jailed-hong-kong/#9J47cfUEcv16iwZ5.97