November 17 commemorates the Athens Polytechnic Uprising in 1973, which was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.

Since April 21, 1967, Greece had been under the dictatorial rule of the military, a regime which abolished civil rights, dissolved political parties and exiled, imprisoned and tortured politicians and citizens based on their political beliefs

On November 14th of 1973 students began gathering at the Athens Polytechnic to demonstrate against the Junta. This demonstration which was coordinated with occupations of campuses in Patras and Thessaloniki turned into a student rebellion that gathered strength every day as more and more people joined.

On the 16th of November, the students and other demonstrators attempted to march from the Polytechnic to Syntagma square but they were halted by the police.

At 2am on November 17th, tanks were ordered to crush the student rebellion at the Polytechnic. At 2:15 a group of students came out to negotiate a surrender asking for half an hour to evacuate the campus. The officers in charge said they would only give them fifteen minutes, but didn’t even wait for ten. At 3am a tank crashed through the gate of the polytechnic and police and military stormed the campus. As the gate crashed to the ground, students rushed out to escape and are beaten with clubs and arrested. At least 34 demonstrators were killed though many reports claim that the number is much higher.