What Happened on February 17?

February 17 is the birthday of basketball legend Michael Jordan — and the day over 2,000 parents and teachers gathered in Washington to found what became the National PTA!

• 1600 — Philosopher Giordano Bruno executed in Rome

  After eight years of trial, Dominican friar Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Rome's Campo de' Fiori for heresy — including his belief that stars were distant suns with their own worlds. Read the full story →

• 1897 — National Congress of Mothers holds first meeting — the PTA is born

  More than 2,000 people packed Washington, D.C. to launch the National Congress of Mothers, founded by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst — today's National PTA. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Michael Jordan (1963) · Ed Sheeran (1991) · Bonnie Wright (1991)

Days & observances

National Random Acts of Kindness Day · National Cabbage Day