On This Day in History for August 17

Events 1 - 100 of 146

• 682 St Leo II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 1180 Yoritomo Minamoto leads uprising against Kiyomori Taira who installed his grandson, Emperor Antoku, to the throne
• 1544 Imperial/English armies occupy Saint-Dizier France
• 1563 King Charles IX of France declared an adult at 13
• 1577 Peace of Bergerac: Political rights for Huguenots

• 1585 Antwerp surrenders after 8 months siege by Duke of Parma
• 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]
• 1648 -20] Battle at Preston, Lancashire: Henry Ireton beats Scottish
• 1717 France, Russia & Prussia sign agreement
• 1743 Treaty of Åbo signed in Turku by Sweden and Russian Empire, ending the Russo-Swedish War (1741-1743)
• 1787 Jews are granted permission in Budapest Hungary to pray in groups
• 1788 Losantville, Ohio (now Cincinnati) founded
• 1795 Slave revolt at Knip plantation, Curacao
• 1796 British beat Batavian navy in Saldanha Bay, South Africa

• 1819 The Church Missionary Society establishes New Zealand's second mission station at Kerikeri
• 1827 Dutch King Willem I and Pope Leo XII sign concord

• 1835 Solymon Merrick patents wrench
• 1836 British parliament accepts registration of births, marriages and deaths
• 1836 Charles Darwin leaves South America for the last time on HMS Beagle
• 1846 Commodore Robert F Stockton, US Navy, annexes California
• 1858 1st bank in Hawaii opens
• 1859 1st air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette, Indiana
• 1862 Confederate troops under Kirby Smith enter Kentucky
• 1863 Federal batteries & ships attacked Fort Sumter in SC
• 1870 1st ascent of Mt Rainier, Washington
• 1877 Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos
• 1879 Ferdinand de Lesseps forms French Panama Canal Company
• 1891 1st public bathhouse with showers opens in NYC (People's Bath)
• 1891 Electric self-starter for automobile patented
• 1892 Russian and French generals, Obruchev and Boisdeffre signs Double Alliance
• 1894 Phils get 36 hits, Sam Thompson hits for cycle beating Louisville 29-4
• 1897 W B Purvis patents electric railway switch (aka points)
• 1901 The Royal Titles Act adds the words 'and the British Dominions beyond the Seas' to the monarch's style
• 1903 Joe Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University & begins the Pulitzer Prizes in America
• 1904 George H Reid succeeds John Watson as Prime Minister of Australia
• 1905 Dutch government of De Master begins
• 1907 Bishop forbids Christian membership of Dutch Textile Union


• 1908 Bank of Italy (now Bank of America) opens new HQ at Clay & Montgomery, San Francisco
• 1914 French troops under gen de Castelnau occupy Chateau Salins
• 1915 German troops over run Kovno, Lithuania
• 1915 Hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas (275 killed)
• 1915 Mob lynches Jewish businessman Leo Frank in Cobb County, Georgia, after death sentence for murder of 13-year-old girl commuted to life
• 1916 Bulgarian offensive in Macedonia
• 1917 Italy declares war on Turkey
• 1918 British troops attack Baku, Azerbaijan
• 1918 Samuel Riddle buys Man o'War for $5,000
• 1918 Turkish troops overthrow Caukasus
• 1918 Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated
• 1924 French-German trade agreement signed
• 1926 Greek-Serbian, Croatian and Slavs peace treaty signed
• 1933 Soviet Union test GIRD-R1 rocket ("Object 09")
• 1936 An unemployed worker, Neils B. Ruud, in Madison, Wisconsin, receives the first unemployment benefit check paid under a State law, for $15
• 1938 1st aircraft owned by US Forest Service in service (Oakland)

• 1941 German raider attacks Dutch SS Kota Nopan
• 1942 Task Force 17 leaves Pearl Harbor under Admiral George Murray on USS Hornet
• 1942 Transport #20 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
• 1942 US 8th Air Force bombers stage first independent raid on Europe, attack Rouen, France
• 1943 498 British bombers attack Peenemunde (development base for the V weapons)

• 1943 US 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17s during attack on Schweinfurt and Regensburg
• 1944 4th Canadian Armoured division occupiers Trun, Normandy
• 1944 Canadian 2nd division conquers Falaise, Normandy
• 1944 German field marshal Walter Model replaces Günther von Kluge in Normandy
• 1944 Soviet troops arrive at Austria-Prussia border
• 1944 US 12 Army Corps occupies Orleans
• 1944 US 320th regiment infantry occupies Châteaudun
• 1944 Yanks Johnny Lindell ties record with 4 consecutive doubles in a game

• 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
• 1948 Alger Hiss denies ever being a Communist agent
• 1948 Tom Henrich hits his then record tying 4th grand slam of season
• 1950 Indonesia gains independence from Netherlands
• 1951 Hurricane winds drive 6 ships ashore, Kingston, Jamaica
• 1952 "Fallout" 1st used (NY Times)
• 1953 Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
• 1955 Hurricane Diane, following hurricane Connie floods Connecticut River killing 190 & doing $1.8 billion damage
• 1956 Federal Constitutional Court bans the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in West Germany
• 1956 One of the largest demonstrations in South Africa's history, 20,000 women marched to Pretoria's Union Buildings to present petition against carrying of passes by women to the Prime Minister
• 1958 World's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec
• 1959 7.1 quake strikes Yellowstone National Park
• 1959 USSR & Iraq signs contract for building Iraqi nuclear reactor
• 1960 Francis Gary Powers U-2 spy trial opens in Moscow
• 1960 Gabon gains independence from France (National Day)
• 1960 Indonesia drops diplomatic relations with Netherlands
• 1961 Kennedy administration establishes Alliance for Progress
• 1962 E German border guards shot & kill Peter Fechter, 18, attempting to cross Berlin Wall into western sector
• 1963 Oriole's Dick Hall retires his 28th consecutive player in relief
• 1966 NASA satellite Pioneer 7 launched into solar orbit
• 1968 Dick Beyers (Dr X) beats Verne Gagne, to become NWA champ
• 1969 Hurricane Camille strikes US coastline and kills 259 people (mainly in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana)
• 1970 Venera 7 (US), 1st softlanding on Venus, launched
• 1973 Lee Trevino's 1st hole-in-one

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• 1473 Richard, Duke of York (d. 1483?)
• 1578 Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660)
• 1586 Johann V Andreae, German vicar/writer (Christenburg)
• 1607 Pierre de Fermat, mathematician who needed wider margins (Fermat's Last Theorem) [or 1608]
• 1629 King John [Jan] III Sobieski of Poland. Victor over the Turks in 1683 (d. 1696)
• 1720 Charles D J Eisen, French engraver/painter (Contes de La Fontaine)
• 1753 Josef Dobrovský, Czech linguist (d. 1828)
• 1768 Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, French general (d. 1800)

• 1786 Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria (d. 1861)
• 1794 Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, German priest (d. 1849)
• 1811 Johannes H Scholten, Dutch theologist (Free Will)
• 1817 Joseph baron Kervyn de Lettenhove, Belgian Internal minister (1870-71)
• 1819 James Henry Van Alen, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kinderhook, New York (d. 1886)
• 1828 Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (d. 1897)
• 1839 Thijs [Matthijs] Maris, Dutch painter/etcher
• 1840 Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, England, writer (Irish Land League)
• 1841 Luis NF Varela, Brazilian romantic poet
• 1844 Menelik II, King of Ethiopia (1896-1913), born in Angolalla, Ethiopia (d. 1913)
• 1851 Henry Drummond, Scottish geologist and evangelist
• 1856 Violet Paget, [Vernon Lee], British author (Satan the master)
• 1863 Gene Stratton-Porter, American author and naturalist (d. 1924)
• 1866 Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (d. 1911)
• 1870 Frederick Russell, developed 1st successful typhoid fever vaccine
• 1873 John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (d. 1946)
• 1876 Eric Drummond, 1st Secretary-General of League of Nations (1919-33)
• 1876 Henri G Winkelman, Dutch general/supreme commander/navy 1940
• 1885 Clara [G Meijer-]Wichmann, German anarchists/feminist (Wife & society)
• 1885 Kurt Hiller, German writer, born in Berlin (d. 1972)
• 1887 Charles I, last emperor of Austria-Hungary (1916-18)
• 1887 Marcus Garvey, began back-to-Africa movement among US African Americans
• 1890 Harry L Hopkins, US politician (Loan & Lease law)
• 1890 Stefan Bastyr, Polish aviator (d. 1920)
• 1894 Erik A Blomberg, Swedish art historian/poet/author (Jorden)
• 1894 Johan Polet, Dutch sculptor
• 1896 Henry P de Vries, Dutch painter/poet (Laws of the Americas)
• 1896 Leslie Groves, American military engineer (d. 1970)
• 1898 Gerard Schmook, Flemish librarian/historian/custodian
• 1904 Mary Cain, American newspaper editor and politician (d. 1984)
• 1905 John Hay Whitney, publisher (NY Herald Trib 1961-67)
• 1906 Hazel Bishop, chemist/cosmetics manufacturer
• 1906 Marcello Caetano, last Portuguese prime minister of the Estado Novo regime (1968-1974), born in Graça, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1980)
• 1907 Roger Peyrefitte, French writer (Special Friendships), born in Castres, Tarn (d. 2000)
• 1910 J A Manusama, Moluccan politician
• 1911 Frederik de Merode, Belgian prince (d. 1958)
• 1911 Jan Lode Cantens, Flemish dramatist (God's Murderer)
• 1912 Edgar Fernhout, Dutch painter/son of Charley Toorop
• 1913 W. Mark Felt, American FBI official and Watergate secret informant known as "Deep Throat"
• 1914 Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr, son of FDR/(Rep-D-NY, 1949-55)
• 1916 John de Young, resistance fighter
• 1917 Safa Khulusi, Iraqi writer and historian, born in Baghdad (d. 1995)
• 1920 Georgia Gibbs, singer (Ballin the Jack, Kiss of Fire), born in Worcester, Massachusetts
• 1921 Geoffery Rudolph Elton, historiographer
• 1922 Paul Wiens, German writer, born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1982)
• 1923 Larry Rivers, [Grossberg], American painter (Wash crossing Delaware-1953), born in NYC, New York
• 1923 Chaleo Yoovidhya, Thai co-creator of Red Bull energy drink, born in Phichit, Thailand (d. 2012)
• 1924 Helen Wallis, cartographer/librarian
• 1924 John A Emmens, art historian/poet (Kunst & Vliegwerk)
• 1924 Evan Connell, American author (The Patriot), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2013)
• 1925 John Hawkes, American writer (2nd Skin)
• 1925 John Howard Purnell, Welsh chemist (Royal Society of Chemistry), born in Rhondda, South Wales (d. 1996)

• 1927 Bernard "Bernie" Cornfeld, Romanian/US financier (Fund of Funds)
• 1928 Jean R Adams, entomologist
• 1929 Francis Gary Powers, US spy (USSR captures him in 1959 U-2 incident)
• 1930 James Gulliver, businessman

• 1933 Eugene F. Kranz, American NASA executive
• 1937 Yevgeni Aleksandrovich Illyin, Russian cosmonaut
• 1938 Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian Muslim cleric
• 1938 Theodoros Pangalos, Greek politician
• 1940 David E Price, (Rep-D-North Carolina)
• 1941 Ibrahim Babangida, Nigerian Head of State (1985–1993), born in Northern Region, British Nigeria

• 1946 Patrick Manning, Trinidad and Tobago politician, Prime Minister (1991-95, 2001-10), born in San Fernando (d. 2016)
• 1947 Francine Hughes Wilson, American domestic abuse victim "The Burning Bed" who changed pubic perceptions, born in Stockbridge, Michigan (d. 2017)
• 1949 Norm Coleman, American politician
• 1952 Kathryn C Thornton, PhD/astronaut (STS 33, 49, 61, 73), born in Montgomery, Alabama
• 1952 Thomas J Hennen, astronaut (STS 44), born in Albany, Georgia
• 1952 Dr. Mario Theissen, German F1 team principal (BMW Sauber)
• 1953 Robert Brent Thirsk, BC Canada, astronaut (STS 78)
• 1953 Judith Regan, American book publisher
• 1955 Richard Hilton, American heir
• 1959 David Koresh, American cult leader (d. 1993)
• 1959 Jonathan Franzen, American author
• 1971 Shaun Rehn, Australian Rules footballer
• 1974 Nicola Kraus, American novelist
• 1984 Garrett Wolfe, American professional footbal player

• 1498 Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander IV, 1st man to resign the cardinalate marries Charlotte d'Albret of Navarre

• 754 Karloman, abbot of Monte Cassino, dies at 39
• 1153 Eustace IV of Boulogne, son of Stephen of England (b. 1130)
• 1304 Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan (b. 1243)
• 1464 Nikolaus von Cusa, German theologist/mathematician/philosopher, dies
• 1510 Edmund Dudley, English treasurer, beheaded for teason
• 1510 Richard Empson, English treasurer, beheaded
• 1536 Pietersz, book publisher (Kersten Knight - on Index), dies
• 1553 Charles III, Duke of Savoy (1504-53), dies at 66
• 1635 Francisco de Moncada, Spanish earl of Osuna, dies at 48
• 1673 Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist, dies of possible suicide at 32
• 1676 Grimmelshausen, writer, dies
• 1681 Nikon, [Nikita Minin], patriarch of Rus-orthodox church, dies at 76
• 1720 Anne Lefèvre, French scholar (b. 1654)
• 1723 Joseph Bingham, English scholar (b. 1668)
• 1768 Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (b. 1703)
• 1785 Jonathan Trumbull, American politician and statesman, dies at 74

• 1804 Barbara Hec, organized 1st methodist church in US, dies
• 1834 Husein Gradaščević, Bosniak general, dies at 31

• 1861 Alcée Louis la Branche, American Politician (b. 1806)
• 1865 Mosby Munroe Parsons, United States officer in the Mexican–American War and brigadier general of the Confederate States Army, dies in battle at 42
• 1875 Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (Father of Bantu Philology), dies at 48
• 1878 Richard Upjohn, US architect, died
• 1886 Arthur Middleton Manigault, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 61
• 1888 James Jameson, British nature investigator (Congo), dies
• 1893 Aleksei N Apuchtin, Russian poet (Stichotvorenia), dies at 52[NS=8/29]
• 1896 Bridget Driscoll, 1st person in Great Britain to die in an auto-accident
• 1914 James Grierson, British general
• 1915 Leo Frank, American convict, hanged in 1915 by a lynch mob in Georgia at 31
• 1924 Pavel S "Paul" Urysohn, Russian mathematician, drowns at 26
• 1925 Ioan Slavici, Transylvanian writer of Romanian origin (b. 1848)
• 1927 Horace Alderman, American murderer, hanged
• 1935 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American feminist, writer and lecturer for social reform, dies at 75
• 1940 Billy Fiske, US RAF-pilot/2nd lieutenant and 1st American serviceman killed in action in World War II, dies at 29
• 1945 Pater Bleijs, [Louis], resistance fighter, dies in car accident
• 1948 Nico J. Polak, Dutch economist, dies at 60
• 1949 Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist & politician (b. 1891)
• 1953 Johannes B Tielrooy, literature (French Living Lesson), dies at 66
• 1953 Bannister Fletcher, English architect and architectural historian (A History of Architecture), dies at 87
• 1962 Peter Fechter trying to cross the Berlin Wall (b. 1944)
• 1966 Michael Garrison, producer (Crowded Sky), dies after a fall at 43
• 1969 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect (November Group), dies at 83
• 1969 Philip Blaiberg, after 19 days with artificial heart, dies
• 1971 Wilhelm List, German field marshal (b. 1880)
• 1972 Raymond Brulez, Flemish author (Schoone slaapster), dies at 76
• 1972 Wampilow, writer, dies
• 1973 Conrad Aiken, US poet (Pulitzer), dies at 74
• 1974 Aldo Palazzeschi, [Giurlani], Italian writer, dies at 89
• 1982 Ruth Voorst, South African (A World Apart), killed by letter bomb
• 1984 Holly Roffey, youngest heart transplant, dies at 4 weeks
• 1987 Charles Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (Claro Enigma), dies at 84

• 1988 Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr, (Rep-D-NY, 1949-55), dies on 74th birthday
• 1988 Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq, President of Pakistan (1978-88), dies in plane crash at 64
• 1991 Leo Geerts, [Marcel van der Linden], Belgian writer/critic, dies
• 1991 Mervyn Nelson, director (Some of My Best Friends Are...), dies at 76
• 1992 Andre de Villiers, South African, murdered
• 1992 Barbara Morgan, photographer (Martha Graham), dies at 92
• 1992 Tommy Nutter, fashion designer (bell bottom pants), dies of AIDs at 49
• 1993 Max de Metz, Dutch publisher/translator, dies at 72
• 1993 Robert C Maynard, CEO (Oakland Tribune), dies at 56
• 1993 Feng Kang, Chinese mathematician (b. 1920)
• 1994 Elias Canetti, buried next to James Joyce
• 1995 Marjorie Sykes, peace campaigner, dies at 90
• 1995 Ted Whitten, Australian rules footballer, dies at 62
• 1996 Edward Digby Baltzell, Ivy League sociologist, dies at 80
• 1996 Eric Evans, English dean of St Paul's, dies at 68
• 2004 Thea Astley, Australian novelist and short-story writer, dies at 78
• 2005 John Bahcall, American astrophysicist (b. 1934)
• 2007 Bill Deedes, British journalist and politician (b. 1913)
• 2008 Franco Sensi, Italian oil tycoon and president of A.S. Roma
• 2010 Francesco Cossiga, Italian politician and 8th President of the Italian Republic (1985-92), dies at 82
• 2010 Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (At Eighty), dies at 90
• 2012 Patrick Ricard, French businessman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, dies from cardiac arrest at 67
• 2016 Arthur Hiller, Canadian director (Love Story), dies at 92

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