August 17

Events1717 - George Boone, the grandfather of pioneer and American folk hero Daniel Boone sails to America from Bradninch, England1807 - 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 vicious 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.1907 - Pike Place Market, the longest continuously-running public farmers market in the US, opened in Seattle.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 - Decolonization: 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 1561980 - Azaria Chamberlain disappears, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history.1982 - The first Compact Discs (CD's) were released to the public in Germany.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 their disappearance 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.
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