◆ On this day

January 17

3 sourced moments from January 17 in history: Cook first crossed the Antarctic Circle in January 1773; Popeye the Sailor First Appears in a Comic Strip (1929); and The Kobe earthquake strikes Japan (1995).

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3 things happened on January 17

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1995 Earth & Climate · Natural Disasters

The Kobe earthquake strikes Japan

A 20-second jolt before dawn flattened a modern Japanese city and shattered the country's faith in quake-proof engineering.

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1929 Culture & Arts · Art

Popeye the Sailor First Appears in a Comic Strip

A gruff, one-eyed deckhand wandered into a ten-year-old comic strip and accidentally became one of America's most enduring icons.

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1773 History · Modern

Cook first crossed the Antarctic Circle in January 1773

Cook's ships crossed the Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, and a year later came within about 75 miles of a continent he never saw.

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