This Day That Year

January 17

in History

Octavian Marries Livia — Love and politics collide in ancient Rome
Rome, Roman RepublicAncient
38

Octavian Marries Livia

Love and politics collide in ancient Rome

In a move that was equal parts romantic and ruthlessly political, Octavian divorced his wife Scribonia and married Livia Drusilla, a woman already pregnant with her former husband's child. The marriage shattered the fragile peace between the members of the Second Triumvirate and the renegade commander Sextus Pompey. Livia would become the most powerful woman in Rome, wielding influence behind the throne for more than half a century.

38 BC
El Yunque Becomes National Forest — A tropical rainforest enters federal protection
Puerto Rico, United StatesEarly 20th Century
1903

El Yunque Becomes National Forest

A tropical rainforest enters federal protection

The lush, mist-shrouded slopes of Puerto Rico's Sierra de Luquillo were designated as the Luquillo Forest Reserve, joining the United States National Forest System. This tropical rainforest, later renamed El Yunque, became the only tropical rainforest in the entire system. Its towering trees, cascading waterfalls, and extraordinary biodiversity found shelter under federal protection, preserving a natural treasure for generations yet unborn.

1903 AD
First Congolese Republic — Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered together with former Minister of Youth and Sports of the.
1960–1971 state in Central AfricaLate 20th Century
1961

First Congolese Republic

Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered together with former Minister of Youth and Sports of the.

Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered together with former Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of the Congo Maurice Mpolo and former Senator from Kasai Province Joseph Okito in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.

1961 AD