June 17

is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining.

Events

1462 - Vlad III Dracula attempts to assassinate Mehmed II in the Night Attack, and the latter is forced to retreat from Wallachia.
1497 - Battle of Deptford Bridge - Forces under King Henry VII soundly defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
1565 - Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
1579 - Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
1631 - Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spent more than 20 years to build her tomb, the Taj Mahal.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Bunker Hill - The battle actually takes place on Breed's hill by mistake. British forces take Breed's Hill outside of Boston with heavy casualties.
1789 - In France, the Third Estate declares itself as a national assembly.
1839 - In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of Toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is later established as a result.
1863 - Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
1876 - Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud - 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
1898 - The US Navy Hospital Corps is established.
1930 - U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff into law.
1930 - Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
1933 - Union Station Massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash were gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
1939 - Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison Saint-Pierre.
1940 - World War II: Operation Ariel begins - Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
1940 - World War II: Sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France.
1940 - The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
1944 - Iceland becomes independent from Denmark and forms a republic.
1948 - A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
1953 - Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
1960 - Ted Williams becomes the fourth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
1961 - The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress.
1963 - The United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools.
1971 - Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, setting out a plan where the U.S. would return control of Okinawa.
1972 - Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
1982 - The body of "God's Banker", Roberto Calvi is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London.
1987 - With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
1991 - Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required all racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
1992 - A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
1994 - Following a televised highway chase and a failed attempt at suicide, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Births

1239 - King Edward I of England (d. 1307)
1603 - Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663)
1682 - King Charles XII of Sweden (d. 1718)
1691 - Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
1693 - Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (d. 1775)
1703 - John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (d. 1791)
1704 - John Kay, English inventor (d. 1780)
1714 - Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762)
1714 - César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (d. 1784)
1718 - George Howard, British field marshal (d. 1796)
1742 - William Hooper, American signer of the Declaration of Independence
1808 - Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian author (d. 1845)
1810 - Ferdinand Freiligrath, German writer (d. 1876)
1811 - Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter (d. 1879)
1818 - Charles Gounod, French composer (d. 1893)
1832 - Sir William Crookes, English physicist and chemist (d. 1919)
1839 - Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted for ritualist activities (d. 1931)
1867 - John Robert Gregg, inventor of shorthand system (d. 1948)
1881 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (d. 1955)
1882 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (d. 1971)
1888 - Heinz Guderian, German General (d. 1954)
1898 - M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (d. 1972)
1898 - Carl Hermann, German physicist (d. 1961)
1900 - Martin Bormann, Nazi official (d. 1945)
1902 - Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (d. 1989)
1904 - Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
1907 - Charles Eames, American designer and architect (d. 1978)
1909 - Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
1910 - Red Foley, American musician (d. 1968)
1910 - George Hees, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
1914 - John Hersey, American author (d. 1993)
1915 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (d. 1996)
1915 - David "Stringbean" Akeman, American banjo player and actor (d. 1973)
1917 - Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician
1920 - François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1923 - Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
1927 - Martin Böttcher, German conductor
1929 - Tigran Petrosian, Georgian chess player (d. 1984)
1930 - Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
1933 - Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
1933 - Harry Browne, American free-market libertarian writer, politician, and investment analyst (d. 2006)
1936 - Ken Loach, British director
1940 - George Akerlof, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1942 - Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian International Atomic Energy Agency director, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1943 - Newt Gingrich, American politician
1945 - Tommy Franks, American General
1945 - Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
1945 - Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist
1945 - Anupam Kher, Indian actor
1945 - Frank Ashmore, American actor
1946 - Peter Rosei, Austrian writer
1946 - Barry Manilow, American musician
1957 - Jon Gries, American actor
1958 - Jello Biafra, American musician and activist
1960 - Michael Monroe, Finnish singer (Hanoi Rocks)
1963 - Greg Kinnear, American actor
1964 - Michael Gross, German swimmer
1964 - Rinaldo Capello, Italian racing driver
1965 - Dermontti Dawson, American football, center
1966 - Jason Patric, American actor
1969 - Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete
1970 - Jason Hanson, American football player
1970 - Sasha Sokol, Mexican singer and actress
1970 - Will Forte, American writer, actor and comedian
1971 - Bif Naked, Canadian punk rock musician
1971 - Paulina Rubio, Mexican singer
1975 - Joshua Leonard, American actor, famous for his role in the Blair Witch Project
1975 - Chloe Jones, American actor (d. 2005)
1977 - Mark Tauscher, National Football League player
1977 - Branko Tomovic, Serbian actor
1978 - Kumiko Aso, Japanese actress
1979 - Nick Rimando, American soccer player
1980 - Kimeru, Japanese singer
1980 - Venus Williams, American tennis player
1982 - Will Allen, American football player
1983 - Lee Ryan, singer - formally of British boyband Blue
1983 - Kazunari Ninomiya, Japanese singer in a group called Arashi.
1985 - Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot professional tennis player.
1987 - Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer (W (Double You), Morning Musume, and MiniMoni)
1987 - Anžej Dežan, Slovene singer

Deaths

1025 - Bolesław I the Brave, first king of Poland
1091 - Dirk V, Count of Holland (b. 1052)
1463 - Princess Catherine of Portugal, writer (b. 1436)
1565 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (b. 1536)
1694 - Philip Cardinal Howard, English Catholic Cardinal (b. 1629)
1696 - John III Sobieski, King of Poland (b. 1629)
1719 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (b. 1672)
1734 - Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars, Marshal of France (b. 1653)
1740 - William Wyndham, English politician (b. 1687)
1762 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)
1775 - Major John Pitcairn, British marine (killed in battle) (b. 1722)
1797 - Agha Muhammad Khan, Shah of Persia (b. 1742)
1813 - Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician (b. 1726)
1898 - Edward Burne-Jones, English artist (b. 1833)
1904 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, Russian politician, Governor-General of Finland (assassinated) (b. 1839)
1940 - Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1942 - Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician (b. 1853)
1952 - Jack Parsons, American rocket-fuel pioneer and renegade occultist (b. 1914)
1956 - Paul Rostock, German doctor (b. 1892)
1956 - Bob Sweikert, American racing driver (b. 1926)
1957 - Dorothy Richardson, English writer (b. 1873)
1961 - Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
1979 - Duffy Lewis, baseball player (b. 1888)
1981 - Richard O'Connor, British general (b. 1889)
1982 - Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
1986 - Kate Smith, American singer (God Bless America) (b. 1907)
1987 - Dick Howser, baseball player and manager (b. 1936)
1996 - Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (b. 1922)
2001 - Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
2002 - Willie Davenport, American athlete (b. 1943)
2002 - Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
2004 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (b. 1926)
2005 - Karl Mueller, American bassist (Soul Asylum) (b. 1962)
2006 - Cláudio Besserman Vianna, aka "Bussunda", Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

Iceland's national day, celebrating independence from Denmark in 1944.
National holiday of West Germany until 1990, see Workers' Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.

Liturgical feasts

External links

June 16 - June 18 - May 17 - July 17 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: June 17

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links