November 17 Birthday
On November 17, 1558, Elizabeth I became queen at twenty-five. Her half-sister Mary had died, ending five years of Catholic restoration and the burning of 300 Protestants. Elizabeth would rule for forty-four years — the Elizabethan era — during which England defeated the Spanish Armada, Shakespeare wrote his plays, and the foundations of the British Empire were laid. She never married and never produced an heir, ending the Tudor dynasty. On November 17, 1973, Nixon told a gathering of Associated Press managing editors: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." The speech came as the Watergate investigation was closing in. Nixon resigned nine months later. People born on November 17 fall under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The birthstone is Topaz and the birth flower is Chrysanthemum. Historical events on November 17 include 1558: Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England after Mary I's death, 1800: Congress holds first session in Washington, D.C., 1973: Nixon tells AP editors "I am not a crook". Famous people born on November 17 include Rock Hudson (1925), Martin Scorsese (1942), Danny DeVito (1944).