Learn Russian: Вчера было семнадцатое ноября? - Was yesterday the seventeenth of November?

In Russian, when we say the date, we use an ordinal number (like 'first', 'second', 'seventeenth'). It takes the neuter ending -ое because it is describing the hidden word число (date or number), which is a neuter noun. Even though число is usually left out of the sentence, the grammar remains neuter!

Why is the verb было used instead of был or была?

Было is the past tense form of 'to be' for neuter subjects. Because the subject of the sentence is the neuter date семнадцатое (число), the verb must agree with it. If you were asking about today, you would just drop the verb completely: Сегодня семнадцатое ноября?

Why is the month written as ноября instead of ноябрь?

Ноября is in the genitive case. In English, we might say 'the seventeenth of November'. The genitive case in Russian does the job of the word 'of'. Whenever you state a specific date like this, the month will always be in the genitive case.

Is the word order different because it is a question?

No, the word order here is exactly the same as a plain statement (Вчера было семнадцатое ноября. = Yesterday was the seventeenth of November.). To make it a yes/no question in Russian, you don't need to change the word order; you simply raise the pitch of your voice on the most important word.