17 August History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1743    -    By the Treaty of Abo, Sweden cedes southeast Finland to Russia, ending Sweden's failed war with Russia.
  • 1812    -    Napoleon Bonaparte's army defeats the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk during the Russian retreat to Moscow.
  • 1833    -    The first steam ship to cross the Atlantic entirely on its own power, the Canadian ship Royal William, begins her journey from Nova Scotia to The Isle of Wight.
  • 1863    -    Union gunboats attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, for the first time.
  • 1942    -    Marine Raiders attack Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands from two submarines.
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  • 1943    -    Allied forces complete the conquest of Sicily.
  • 1944    -    The mayor of Paris, Pierre Charles Tattinger, meets with the German commander Dietrich von Choltitz to protest the explosives being deployed throughout the city.
  • 1945    -    Upon hearing confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaims Indonesia's independence.
  • 1960    -    American Francis Gary Powers pleads guilty at his Moscow trial for spying over the Soviet Union in a U-2 plane.
  • 1978    -    Three Americans complete the first crossing of the Atlantic in a balloon.
  • 1987    -    93-year-old Rudolf Hess, former Nazi leader and deputy of Hitler, is found hanged to death in Spandau Prison.
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  • 1988    -    Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq is killed in an airplane crash suspected of being an assassination.
  • 1998    -    President Bill Clinton admits to the American public that he had affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

  • 17 August Birthdays

  • 1786    -    Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and politician who died in the defense of the Alamo.
  • 1882    -    Samuel Goldwyn, American movie mogul who helped start MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer).
  • 1887    -    Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born black nationalist who advocated the departure of African-Americans back to Africa.
  • 1890    -    Harry Hopkins, who organized the Works Projects Administration under President Roosevelt.
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  • 1892    -    Mae West, American actress in burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and movies.
  • 1923    -    Larry Rovers, painter and sculptor.
  • 1932    -    John (Red) Kerr, basketball coach.
  • 1943    -    Robert DeNiro, American actor, won oscars for his roles in The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull.