August 17

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August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 136 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1717 - George Boone, the grandfather of pioneer Daniel Boone sails to America from Bradninch, England
• 1807 - Robert Fulton's first American steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
• 1862 - Indian Wars: The Lakota (Sioux) Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as desperate Lakota attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
• 1863 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville - Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
• 1883 - The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Quisqueyanos valientes.
• 1914 - World War I: Battle of Stalluponen - The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Pavel Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
• 1915 - Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl in Marietta, Georgia.
• 1918 - Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
• 1933 - New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig played his 1,308th consecutive game, breaking Everett Scott's record. He would continue the streak until 1939.
• 1942 - U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).
• 1943 - World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission.
• 1943 - World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
• 1943 - World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
• 1945 - Indonesian Declaration of Independence.
• 1953 - Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
• 1959 - Quake Lake: Quake Lake was formed by a 7.5 rated earthquake in Montana.
• 1960 - Gabon gains independence from France.
• 1962 - East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming the first victim of the wall.
• 1963 - A ferry linking remote islands off the coast of Okinawa sinks, killing 112.
• 1969 - Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage.
• 1970 - Venera Program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
• 1978 - Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
• 1979 - Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156
• 1980 - Azaria Chamberlain disappears, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history.
• 1988 - Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
• 1991 - Wade Frankum starts his killing spree in Strathfield, Australia, an event that was later dubbed the Strathfield Massacre.
• 1998 - Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about his relationship.
• 1999 - A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
• 2002 - Soham murders: The bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman are found 13 days after there disapperence at the perimeter fence of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
• 2004 - MD5 collision found by Chinese researchers.
• 2004 - The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Boze Pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
• 2005 - The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.

Births

• 1473 - Richard, Duke of York (d. 1483?)
• 1562 - Hans Leo Hassler (baptized), German composer (d. 1612)
• 1578 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660)
• 1601 - Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician (d. 1665)
• 1629 - King John III of Poland (d. 1696)
• 1768 - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, French general (d. 1800)
• 1786 - Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836)
• 1794 - Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, German priest (d. 1849)
• 1828 - Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (d. 1897)
• 1844 - Menelek II of Ethiopia (d. 1913)
• 1863 - Gene Stratton-Porter, American author and naturalist (d. 1924)
• 1866 - Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (d. 1911)
• 1866 - Julia Marlowe, English actress (d. 1950)
• 1873 - John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (d. 1946)
• 1882 - Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood producer (d. 1974)
• 1887 - Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born Black rights activist (d. 1940)
• 1887 - Charles I of Austria (d. 1922)
• 1888 - Monty Woolley, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1890 - Harry Hopkins, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1946)
• 1890 - Stefan Bastyr, Polish aviator (d. 1920)
• 1893 - Mae West, American actress (d. 1980)
• 1896 - Leslie Groves, American military engineer (d. 1970)
• 1904 - Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d. 1991)
• 1904 - Mary Cain, American newspaper editor and politician (d. 1984)
• 1909 - Larry Clinton, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
• 1911 - Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (d. 1995)
• 1913 - W. Mark Felt, American Watergate informant
• 1913 - Rudy York, American baseball player (d. 1970)
• 1913 - Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (d. 1989)
• 1914 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (d. 1988)
• 1919 - Georgia Gibbs, American singer (d. 2006)
• 1920 - Maureen O'Hara, Irish actress
• 1926 - Jiang Zemin, Chinese politician
• 1926 - George Melly, British jazz & blues singer (d. 2007)
• 1926 - Jean Poiret, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1992)
• 1929 - Francis Gary Powers, American U-2 pilot (d. 1977)
• 1930 - Glenn Corbett, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1930 - Ted Hughes, English poet (d. 1998)
• 1932 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian writer, Nobel Laureate
• 1933 - Eugene F. Kranz, American space exploration executive
• 1933 - Mark Dinning, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1935 - Oleg Tabakov, Russian actor
• 1938 - Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian Muslim cleric
• 1939 - Luther Allison, American musician
• 1941 - Jean Pierre Lefebvre, French Canadian film director
• 1941 - Boog Powell, American baseball player
• 1943 - Robert De Niro, American actor
• 1943 - Dave "Snaker" Ray, American musician (d. 2002)
• 1944 - Lawrence Joseph Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, Billionaire
• 1947 - Gary Talley, American guitarist (Box Tops)
• 1948 - Rod MacDonald, American musician
• 1949 - Sib Hashian, American drummer (Boston)
• 1951 - Alan Minter, British boxer
• 1952 - Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver
• 1952 - Guillermo Vilas, Argentinian tennis player
• 1953 - Judith Regan, American book publisher
• 1953 - Kevin Rowland, Irish musician (Dexys Midnight Runners)
• 1954 - Eric Johnson, American guitarist
• 1955 - Richard Hilton, American heir
• 1956 - Gail Berman, American film executive
• 1957 - Robin Cousins, British figure skater
• 1958 - Belinda Carlisle, American singer
• 1958 - Kirk Stevens, Canadian snooker player
• 1959 - David Koresh, American cult leader (d. 1993)
• 1959 - Jonathan Franzen, American author
• 1960 - Sean Penn, American actor and director
• 1960 - Stephan Eicher, Swiss singer
• 1962 - Gilby Clarke, American musician Guns N' Roses
• 1964 - Colin James, Canadian musician
• 1966 - Rodney Mullen, American skateboarder
• 1966 - Don Sweeney, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 - Ed McCaffrey, American football player
• 1969 - Donnie Wahlberg, American actor and singer
• 1970 - Jim Courier, American tennis player
• 1970 - Rupert Degas, English actor and voice artist
• 1970 - Oyvind Leonhardsen, Norwegian footballer
• 1971 - Jorge Posada, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1971 - Uhm Jung-hwa, South Korean singer and actress
• 1972 - Ken Ryker, American pornographic actor
• 1974 - Tony Hajjar, Lebanese drummer (At the Drive-In, Sparta)
• 1975 - Giuliana DePandi, Italian-born American television personality
• 1976 - Scott Halberstadt, American actor
• 1977 - Thierry Henry, French footballer
• 1977 - Tarja Turunen, Finnish singer
• 1977 - William Gallas, French footballer
• 1978 - Vibeke Stene, Norwegian singer (Tristania)
• 1979 - Antwaan Randle El, American football player
• 1979 - Marcus Patric, British actor
• 1980 - Lene Marlin, Norwegian singer
• 1980 - Keith Dabengwa, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1980 - Jan Kromkamp, Dutch footballer
• 1982 - Melissa Anderson, American professional wrestler
• 1983 - Dustin Pedroia, American baseball player
• 1984 - Dee Brown, American basketball player
• 1986 - Rudy Gay, American basketball player
• 1986 - Tyrus Thomas, American basketball player
• 1988 - Erika Toda, Japanese actress
• 1990 - Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress
• 1990 - Colin Bates, American actor
• 1996 - Ella Cruz, Filipina actress

Deaths

• 1153 - Eustace IV of Boulogne, son of Stephen of England (b. 1130)
• 1304 - Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan (b. 1243)
• 1510 - Edmund Dudley, English statesman (b. 1462)
• 1657 - Robert Blake, British admiral (b. 1599)
• 1673 - Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1641)
• 1676 - Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen, German novelist (b. 1621)
• 1720 - Anne Lefèvre, French scholar (b. 1654)
• 1723 - Joseph Bingham, English scholar (b. 1668)
• 1768 (N. S.) - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (b. 1703)
• 1785 - Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of the Colony and the state of Connecticut (b. 1710)
• 1786 - King Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1712)
• 1834 - Husein Gradaščević, Bosnian rebel leader (b. 1802)
• 1850 - Don José de San Martín, Argentine general (b. 1778)
• 1875 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (b. 1827)
• 1880 - Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (b. 1810)
• 1896 - Bridget Driscoll, world's first automobile fatality
• 1901 - Edmond Audran, French composer (b. 1842)
• 1918 - Moisei Uritsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1873)
• 1920 - Ray Chapman, American baseball player (b. 1891)
• 1925 - Ioan Slavici, Transylvanian writer of Romanian origin (b. 1848)
• 1940 - Billy Fiske, American aviator and Olympic athlete (b. 1911)
• 1954 - Billy Murray, American recording artist (b. 1877)
• 1962 - Peter Fechter trying to cross the Berlin Wall (b. 1944)
• 1969 - Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
• 1971 - Wilhelm List, German field marshal (b. 1880)
• 1973 - Jean Barraqué, French composer (b. 1928)
• 1973 - Paul Williams, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1939)
• 1973 - Conrad Aiken, American author (b. 1889)
• 1979 - Vivian Vance, American actress (b. 1909)
• 1983 - Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (b. 1896)
• 1987 - Rudolf Hess, Nazi deputy (b. 1894)
• 1988 - Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 6th President of Pakistan (b. 1924)
• 1988 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1914)
• 1988 - Victoria Shaw, Australian-born american actress (b. 1935)
• 1990 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (b. 1918)
• 1992 - Al Parker, American adult film actor (b. 1952)
• 1994 - Jack Sharkey, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1902)
• 1995 - Howard Koch, American screenwriter (b. 1902)
• 1995 - Ted Whitten, Australian rules footballer (b. 1933)
• 2004 - Thea Astley, Australian writer (b. 1925)
• 2004 - Gérard Souzay, French baritone (b. 1918)
• 2005 - John Bahcall, astrophysicist (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day – observance in Indonesia.
• Rastafari movement - celebration of the birth of Marcus Garvey, considered a prophet.
• Día del Libertador - observed in Argentina, on the day when José de San Martín died.
• Slovenia: Slovenians in Prekmurje Incorporated into the Mother Nation Day

Liturgical feasts

• Saint Elias of Calabria
• Saint Hyacinth of Poland
• Saint Hiero (Jeron), martyr [Utrecht]
• Octave of saint Lawrence [common]
• Saint Liberatus, abbot, and companions, martyrs
• Saint Mamas, martyr [Metz, France]
• Victory of French king Philip IV the Fair at Mons-en-Pévèle [Paris]
• Saint Clare of the Cross
• National Rock and Roll Day, Pre-press, Whirlwind

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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Eugen E.'s Birthday