On February 17, 2021, the Indian government informed the Supreme Court that women can enrol in military institutions and be considered for permanent commissions. The ruling comes less than a month after India's Supreme Court authorised women to take entrance exams for the National Defence Academy. The Supreme Court of India decided in favour of equal rights in the armed services, directing the government to offer women officers permanent commissions and command posts on par with males.

On February 17, 1972, the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line, shattering a global automobile production record set by the Ford Motor Company's classic Model T, which was in production between 1908 and 1927. Henry Ford is ultimately defeated. Volkswagen Beetle No. 15,007,034 is the most manufactured automobile in history, surpassing Ford's legendary Model T. The next year, overall output had surpassed 16 million. More than 21.5 million of the little automobiles would be produced in all.

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers is a former professional cricketer from South Africa. During his 15-year international career, De Villiers was named the ICC One-Day International Player of the Year three times and was selected one of the five Wisden cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019.

Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is a film director and producer from the United States. He is well known for his large-budget, high-concept action films, which include quick editing, distinctive photography and imagery, and considerable use of special effects, including repeated representations of explosions. His films, including Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), and the Transformers film trilogy (2007–present), have grossed over US$7.8 billion globally, making him one of the most commercially successful directors in history.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale CIE (May 9, 1866 – February 15, 1915) was an Indian'moderate' political leader and social reformer during India's independence struggle. Gokhale was the founder of the Servants of India Society and a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress. Gokhale pushed for Indian self-rule and social changes through the Society, as well as the Congress and other legislative organisations in which he served. He was the leader of the Congress party's moderate group, which favoured changes through collaboration with existing government institutions.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), usually known by his initials MJ, is a former professional basketball player and businessman from the United States. He is largely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was instrumental in popularising the National Basketball Association (NBA) around the world, becoming a global cultural icon in the process. Jordan played in the NBA for 15 years, earning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. He is the major owner and chairman of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets as well as NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing.

Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965) is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur better known as Dr. Dre. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, as well as the former co-founder, co-owner, and president of Death Row Records. Dr. Dre began his career in 1985 as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and eventually rose to prominence with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The trio pioneered graphic hip hop songs that detailed the brutality of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited with helping to create and popularise West Coast G-funk, a hip hop style distinguished by a synthesiser base and sluggish, heavy beats.

Edward Christopher Sheeran MBE (born 17 February 1991) is a singer-songwriter from England. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, where he began writing songs at the age of eleven. Sheeran self-released his extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, in early 2011. The next year, he signed with Asylum Records.

Shivaji Bhonsale I, popularly known as Chhatrapati Shivaji, was an Indian monarch and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha tribe. Shivaji created the Maratha Empire by carving away an enclave from the fading Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur. He was formally anointed Chhatrapati of his domain at Raigad in 1674.

On February 17, 1936, a daily newspaper strip debuted, followed by a colour Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as of 2022. According to King Features, The Phantom was published in 583 newspapers worldwide in 1966. The Phantom debuted as a daily comic with "The Singh Brotherhood," which was written by Falk and drawn by him for two weeks before being taken over by Ray Moore. The Phantom was serialised in the Australian Woman's Mirror that year.

Juan Domingo de la Calzada Manuel Mara Lascuráin Paredes was a Mexican politician who lived from 8 May 1856 until 21 July 1952. He served as Mexico's 34th President. On February 19, 1913, he was president for less than an hour. It is the world's shortest presidency in history.

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt, born February 17, 1981, is a film and television actor from the United States. He has won several honours, including Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his major roles in 500 Days of Summer (2009) and 50/50. (2011). He founded the online media platform HitRecord, and his initiatives such as HitRecord on TV (2014–15) and Create Together (2020) earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Interactive Program.

Kellogg's, full name Kellogg Company, is a major American manufacturer of ready-to-eat cereals and other food items. Kellogg's Corn Flakes were among the first and are now among the most popular morning cereals in the United States. The company's headquarters are in Battle Creek, Michigan. 

The Sanitas Food Company was formed in 1900 by the brothers W.K. Kellogg and Dr. John H. Kellogg, who had invented a way of making crispy, flavorful flakes of processed grain that proved popular among patients at Dr. Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium. W.K. Kellogg finally bought out his brother and founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906. The firm thrived because to new advertising strategies and advances in cereal quality.