Tamil was designated a classical language of India in 2004, which means it meets three criteria: it has ancient origins, an independent tradition, and a significant body of ancient literature. More than 66 million people spoke Tamil in the early twenty-first century.

The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention representing 12 states, who endorsed the four-month-long convention's creation.

Ravichandran Ashwin is a cricketer from India. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off-break for Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Taisto Armas Mäki was a Finnish long-distance runner who was known as one of the "Flying Finns."  Mäki, like his coach and close friend Paavo Nurmi, set world records for two miles, 5000 metres, and 10,000 metres, all of which he held simultaneously between 1939 and 1942.  On September 17, 1939, Mäki became the first man to run 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, breaking his own world record in a time of 29:52.6. 

Hyderabad has been a part of India for seventy years. The state of Hyderabad, ruled by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, surrendered to Indian forces on this day in 1948, thirteen months after India gained independence. However, in the run-up to D-Day, India and Hyderabad engaged in a game of wits, with both expecting the other to blink first.

NASA's space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities in 1976, greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the television series 'Star Trek.' Dr. James D. Fletcher, NASA Administrator; DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Roddenberry; an unnamed NASA official; and Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov). (Image courtesy of NASA)

Vanessa Lynn Williams is a singer, actress, and fashion designer from the United States. When she was crowned Miss America 1984 in 1983, she made history as the first African-American woman to receive the title. However, a scandal erupted the following year when she learned, just weeks before the end of her reign, that Penthouse magazine would publish nude photographs of her in an upcoming issue. Under pressure from the Miss America Organization, she resigned as Miss America in July 1984, and was replaced by the first runner-up, Miss New Jersey 1983, Suzette Charles. Miss America CEO Sam Haskell publicly apologised to Williams for the incident 32 years later during the Miss America 2016 pageant.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam, near the town of Kevadiya in Gujarat, India. The dam was built to supply water and power to four Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the project's foundation stone on April 5, 1961.

Maqbool Fida Husain was an Indian artist known for his use of bright colours and bold narrative paintings in a modified Cubist style. He was a celebrated and internationally recognised Indian artist of the twentieth century. He was a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group. M.F.