What Happened on August 17
Significant Events
- 1590 Governor of Roanoke Island colony, John White, returns from England to find no trace of the colonists he had left there 3 years earlier [or Aug 18, 1591]
- 1903 Joe Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University & begins the Pulitzer Prizes in America
- 1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands
- 1945 Korea is divided into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel
- 1947 The Radcliffe Line, the border between Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan is revealed
- 1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an "improper physical relationship" with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he "misled people" about the relationship
Did You Know?
Projection in Paris of the very first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie realized by Émile Cohl
On August 17, 1908
Famous Birthdays
Davy Crockett
(1786 - 1836)
Mae West
(1893 - 1980)
Jiang Zemin
91 Years Old
Robert De Niro
74 Years Old
Guillermo Vilas
65 Years Old
Sean Penn
57 Years Old
Would You Believe?
Baseball player Richie Ashburn fouls and hits fan Alice Roth twice in the same game at bat playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1st hit breaks her nose, 2nd one hits her while she is on the stretcher
On August 17, 1957
Famous Weddings
- 1498 Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander IV, 1st man to resign the cardinalate marries Charlotte d'Albret of Navarre
- 1950 Short story writer Dorothy Parker (57) weds screenwriter Alan Campbell (46)
- 1962 Actor Jack Lemmon (37) weds actress/model Felicia Farr (29) in Paris, France
- 1964 Bruce Lee (23), Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor, weds Linda Emery (19), teacher
- 1989 Director Kathryn Bigelow (38) weds fellow director James Cameron (35)
Famous Divorces
- 2008 Genesis drummer and vocalist Phil Collins (57) divorces Swiss-born Orianne Cevey (35) after six years of marriage
Frederick the Great
José de San Martín
Rudolf HessAugust in History
Ship Of Gold Sails Into Oblivion
A frigate with more than 150 souls on board, as well as nearly three tons of gold, sailed out of Melbourne on this day – never to be seen again.
August 12, 1853
First Faltering Steps of Jane Eyre
With hope, pride – and some subterfuge – Charlotte Brontë sent her hefty manuscript of Jane Eyre to publishers in London on this day, then crossed her fingers.
August 15, 1847
A Kiss For Adolf Hitler
A woman spectator leaned over and kissed Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympic Games on this day. Hitler pretended to be amused, but his guards were to suffer.
August 15, 1936
The 17 Year-Old Witness to the Eruption of Vesuvius
17 year-old Pliny the Younger's account of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii made the event famous long after Pompeii was buried and forgotten.
August 24, 79 AD