Why was February 17 chosen by those who started calling for ‘Day of Rage’ protests in Libya in late Jan 2011?
Anti-regime demos started on Feb 15.
The subsequent uprising has since been known as ‘the Feb 17 Revolution’.
Feb 17 was already a significant date for 2 reasons...

The date had particular resonance in Benghazi, Libya’s second city & the place where the first anti-regime demos started in 2011.

On Feb 17 1987, six men accused of involvement in the killing of regime official Ahmed Musbah al-Werfalli were publicly hanged in a Benghazi stadium

On February 17 2006, eleven people were reported killed by security forces when a protest outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi - linked to controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed - turned violent. The killings shocked many, particularly youths http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/17/libya.cartoons/

When I arrived in Benghazi in February 2011, people there still talked about the killings of February 17, 2006. They continued to rankle with many. Several people told me they saw those killings as a sign that the Gaddafi regime - despite promises of reform - had not changed.