17 MARCH

1899 - A member of a prominent Manila family visits Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, for the purpose of convincing President Emilio Aguinaldo that further resistance against imperialist American forces was useless; upon hearing of his arguments, Aguinaldo [would order] his immediate execution, although the latter would himself swear allegiance to the American flag within only a few days of his capture by the enemy soldiers.

1921 - The Soviet Union adopts the New Economic Policy (NEP), sponsored by Vladimir Lenin, and which aims to prevent the economy from collapsing; the new policy, which allows limited small, private businesses while the states continues to control large industries, banks, and foreign trade, abolishes the food levy and in its place, a limited grain tax is adopted, thus leaving the peasants at least part of the surplus.

1978 - Palestinian civilians flee Southern Lebanon on the third day of Israeli attacks during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict; code-named Operation Litani, the Israeli invasion covering in Lebanon up the Litani River would prove to be a military success in its goal of pushing Palestinian Liberation Organization forces northwards, although objections from the Lebanese government would later lead to the creation of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force and a partial Israeli withdrawal.

2005 - The last statue of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco is taken down; Franco, who died in 1975, rose to power from a career army officer, to army chief of staff to head of government and ruled Spain as a regent for life when he abolished the republic and instead installed representative monarchy  in 1947.