On this day in History - Aug 17

• 1473 - Richard, Duke of York was born (d. 1483). One of the Princes in the Tower
• 1601 - Pierre de Fermat was born (d. 1665). French mathematician, often called the founder of the modern theory of numbers.
• 1629 - King John III of Poland was born (d. 1696)
• 1676 - Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen dies. German novelist
• 1673 - Regnier de Graaf dies (b. 1641). Dutch physician and anatomist.
• 1699 - Bernard de Jussieu was born († 6 Nov 1777) . French botanic
• 1710 - Manuel Bernardes dies (b. 1644). Portuguese writer.
• 1720 - Anne Lefèvre dies (b. 1654). French scholar.
• 1723 - Joseph Bingham dies (b. 1668). English scholar .
• 1740 - Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini is elected Pope Benedictus XIV.
• 1755 - Thomas Stothard was born (d. 27 Apr 1834). English Romantic painter, designer, and illustrator.
• 1761 - William Carey was born (d. 1834). English missionary.
• 1778 - John Varley was born (17 Nov 1842). English painter and draftsman.
• 1786 - Davy Crockett was born (d. 1836). Frontiersman, soldier.
• 1790 - A capital dos Estados Unidos muda de Nova Iorque para Filadélfia, no estado da Pensilvânia.
• 1798 - Thomas Hodgkin was born (d. 5 Apr 1866). English physician who early described (1832) the malignant disease of lymph tissue that bears his name. He was the most prominent British pathologist of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine.
• 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.
• 1808 - Combate da Roliça. O exército britânico desembarcado em Lavos derrota uma divisão francesa perto de Óbidos.
• 1812 - Battle of Smolensk: French forces of Napoleon agains Russians.
• 1834 - Peter Benoit was born in Harelbeke (Westflandern) ( † 8. Mar 1901 in Antwerpen). Composer.
• 1841 - Luís Nicolau Fagundes Varela was born. Brazilian poet
• 1850 - Argentine's War of Independence hero, General José de San Martín, dies in Boulogne-sur-Mer (France), at the age of 77.
• 1850 - Don José de San Martín dies (b. 25 Feb 1778). Argentine general. Together with Simón Bolívar in the north, San Martín is regarded as one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. He is a national hero of Argentina.
• 1862 - Indian Wars: Lakota (Sioux) uprising begins in Minnesota as desperate Lakota attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. They will be overwhelmed by the US military six weeks later.
• 1863 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until December 31, 1863.
• 1866 - Julia Marlowe, nee Sarah Frost, was born (d. 1950). Shakespearean actress.
• 1870 - Frederick Fuller Russell was born (d. 29 Dec 1960). American scientist who developed the first successful U.S. typhoid fever vaccine.
• 1875 - Wilhelm Bleek dies (8 Mar 1827). German linguist.
• 1877 - Arizona blacksmith F.P. Cahill is fatally wounded by Billy the Kid. Cahill will die the next day, becoming the first person killed by the Kid.
• 1878 - Primeira representação da ópera de Richard Wagner O Crepúsculo dos Deuses, última parte da Tetralogia O Anel do Nibelungo, em Bayreuth, na Baviera, reino integrado no Império Alemão.
• 1880 - Ole Bull dies (b. 5 Feb 1810). Norwegian violinist.
• 1880 - Paul Kammerer was born (d. 23 Sep 1926). Austrian biologist, he claimed to have produced experimental evidence that acquired traits could be inherited
• 1882 - Samuel Goldwyn was born (d. 1974). Hollywood producer.
• 1887 - Marcus Garvey was born (d. 1940). American black leader.
• 1887 - Emperor Karl of Austria was born (d. 1922)
• 1888 - Antonio Flores assume a presidência do Equador.
• 1893 - Mae West was born (d. 1980). Actress, playwright.
• 1893 - Walter Noddack was born (d. 7 Dec 1960). German chemist who discovered the element rhenium (Jun 1925) in collaboration with his wife Ida Tacke
• 1895- António Joaquim Tavares Ferro was born. Portuguese politician and journalist.
• 1896 - London - Bridget Driscoll becomes the first person in the world to die in an automobile accident after being struck by a car travelling about 4 MPH.
• 1896 - Ana Amélia Queiros Carneiro de Mendonça was born. Brazilian poetess.
• 1896 - Bridget Driscoll dies in a car accident. World's first automobile fatality
• 1897 - Nascimento, em Concavada, Abrantes, de António Tomás Botto, escritor português (m. 17 Mar 1959 no Rio de Janeiro, na sequência de um atropelamento automóvel). Publicou em 1921 "Canções" livro que viria a ser apreendido dado o escandalo provocado pelo erotismo exacerbado que faziam a exaltação da beleza masculina. Homossexual assumido, foi expulso do funcionalismo público em 1942, indo viver para o Brasil em 1947. Era muito admirado por Fernando Pessoa, José Régio e outros.
• 1901 - Edmond Audran dies (b. 1842). French composer.
• 1903 - O primeiro Prêmio Pulitzer é entregue, quando Joseph Pulitzer contribui com uma doação de um milhão de dólares para a Universidade de Colúmbia, providenciando os fundos para a criação dos Prêmios Pulitzer, feitos em seu nome.
• 1904 - Leopold Nowak was born. Musicologist.
• 1906 - Marcelo Caetano was born. Portuguese politician.
• 1906 - Hazel Bishop was bornHoboken, New Jersey (d. 5 Dec 1998. American chemist and cosmetic executive.
• 1911 - Mikhail Botvinnik was born (d. 1995). World chess champion.
• 1912 - Aderbal Jurema was born. Brazilian journalist and poet.
• 1913 - W. Mark Felt was born. FBI associate director and Deep Throat Watergate informant.
• 1913 - Rudy York was born (d. 1970). Major League Baseball All-Star
• 1914 - World War I: The German army of General Hermann von Francois defeats the Russian force commanded by Pavel Rennenkampf at the Battle of Stalluponen.
• 1915 - Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1920 - Maureen O'Hara was born. Actress.
• 1923 - Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg "Larry Rivers" was born in the Bronx, New York. US proto-Pop painter, printmaker, and sculptor; jazz saxophonist, writer, poet, teacher. Author of autobiography What Did I Do?
• 1925 - Ioan Slavici dies. Transylvanian writer of Romanian origin.
• 1926 - Jean Poiret was born († 14 Mar 1992). French comedian, actor.
• 1926 - George Melly was born in Liverpool. English jazz singer, critic for The Observer and he also lectures on art history.
• 1929 - Francis Gary Powers was born (d. 1977). U-2 pilot.
• 1929 - Jiang Zemin was born. President of the People's Republic of China
• 1930 - Glenn Corbett was born (d. 1993). Actor.
• 1930 - Ted Hughes was born (d. 1998). English poet.
• 1932 - Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in Trinidad. British writer, 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.
• 1937 - Vicente Median dies (b. 27 Oct 1866) . Spanish poet. (Cansera )
• 1939 - Luther Allison was born. Blues musician, guitarist
• 1939 - Devido ao perigo de uma nova guerra, a Grã-Bretanha assina um acordo de cooperação militar com Portugal, aceitando apoiar directamente o esforço de rearmamento e modernização das forças armadas portuguesas. O acordo só começará a ser cumprido a partir de Setembro de 1943.
• 1943 - World War II: The US 7th 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 - Robert De Niro was born. Actor.
• 1944 - Eugénio de Castro dies in Coimbra (b . 4 Mar 1869 in Coimbra). Portuguese poet ( A Sombra do Quadrante -1906, Oaristos 1890, Depois da Ceifa 1901 ...).
• 1945 - Indonesia proclaims itself independent from the Netherlands.
• 1946 - Gualberto Villarroel dies. Bolivian president.
• 1951 - Alan Minter was born. Boxer.
• 1951 - Elba Ramalho was born. Brazilian singer.
• 1952 - Nelson Piquet was born. Brazilian formula one driver
• 1952 - Guillermo Vilas was born. Argentinian tennis player.
• 1953 - Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California.
• 1954 - Andrés Pastrana was born. Pesident of Colombia.
• 1955 - Fernand Léger dies (b. 4 Feb 1881). French Cubist painter, draftsman, illustrator, printmaker, stage designer, film maker, and ceramicist.
• 1958 - Belinda Carlisle was born. Singer, guitarist
• 1958 - Kirk Stevens was born. Canadian snooker player
• 1959 - David Koresh was born (d. 1993). Cult leader.
• 1960 - Sean Penn was born. Actor, director
• 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. He thus became the first victim of the wall
• 1963 - A ferry linking remote islands off the coast of Okinawa sinks, killing 112.
• 1964 - Colin James was born. Blues musician
• 1966 - Rodney Mullen was born. Skateboarder
• 1966 - Morre, em Moledo do Minho, António Pedro da Costa (n. 1909 em Cabo Verde). Escritor, poeta e artista plástico português.
• 1966 - Henry Joseph Round dies (b. 2 Jun 1881). English electronics engineer whose numerous inventions contributed to the development of radio communications.
• 1968 - Ed McCaffrey was born. American football player
• 1969 - Donnie Wahlberg was born. Actor, singer
• 1969 - Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars).
• 1969 - Chega ao fim o Festival de Música e Arte Woodstock, realizado próximo a Bethel, em Nova Iorque.
• 1969 - Mies van der Rohe dies. German architect.
• 1969 - Otto Stern dies (b. 1888). German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate on 1943 for his development of the molecular beam as a tool for studying the characteristics of molecules and for his measurement of the magnetic moment of the proton
• 1970 - Venera program: Venera 7 is launched. It will later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet, Venus.
• 1970 - Jim Courier was born. Former tennis champion
• 1971 - Jorge Posada was born. Major League Baseball All-Star
• 1973 - Jean Barraqué dies. French composer
• 1973 - Paul Williams dies. American singer (The Temptations)
• 1973 - Conrad Aiken dies (b. 1889). American author.
• 1977 - Thierry Henry was born. French football star
• 1977 - Tarja Turunen was born. Leadsinger Nightwish
• 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.
• 1979 - Vivian Vance dies (b. 26 Jul 1909). American actress.
• 1980 - Azaria Chamberlain disappears, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history and the most famous wrongful conviction when her parents are found guilty of murder.
• 1983 - Ira Gershwin dies. American lyricist.
• 1987 - Rudolf Hess Hitler's former right-hand man, is found dead in Spandau Prison (b. 1894).
• 1987 - Carlos Drummond de Andrade dies in Rio de Janeiro (b. 1902). Brazilian poet and cronist /Morre Carlos Drummond de Andrade no Rio de Janeiro (n. 31 Out 1902 em Itabira do Mato Dentro (MG). Formado em Farmácia nunca exerceu: Dedicou-se ao jornalismo como cronista, ensinou português egeografia e ocupou cargos públicos. A Rosa do Povo, Claro Enigma Fazendeiro do Ar, Lição de Coisas são títulos de algumas das suas obras. Recusou vários prémios literários.
• 1988 - Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq dies (b. 1924). President of Pakistan.
• 1988 - Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and US Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
• 1990 - Pearl Bailey dies (29 Mar 1918). American singer and actress.
• 1991 - The Smells Like Teen Spirit Video by Nirvana is Filmed.
• 1996 - Alan Shearer makes debut for Newcastle United after a then record £15m move from Rivals Blackburn Rovers
• 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 northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
• 2000 - Franco Donatoni dies (b. 1927). Italian composer.
• 2000 - Robert Rowe Gilruth dies (b. 8 Oct 1913). American aerospace scientist, engineer, and a pioneer of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs.
• 2002 - Alicia Montoya dies (b. 20 Jan 1920). Mexican actress.
• 2002 - In Santa Rosa, California, the Charles M. Schulz Museum opens to the public.
• 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.
• 2004 - Gérard Souzay dies (b. 8 Dec 1918). French baritone.
• 2004 - Neal Fredericks dies (b. 1969). American cinematographer 'Blair Witch'
• 2005 - The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
• 2005 - John Bahcall dies (b. 1934). American astrophysicist
• Rastafari movement - celebration of the birth of Marcus Garvey
• Roman Empire - Portunalia in honor of Portunes
• Independence Day in Indonesia (1945)