June 17

June 17 is the 168th day of the year (169th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 197 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
• 1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge – forces under King Henry VII 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.
• 1596 – The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
• 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
• 1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
• 1773 – Cúcuta, Colombia, is discovered by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
• 1789 – In France, the Third Estate declares itself the 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 are established as a result.
• 1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
• 1861 – Battle of Vienna, Virginia in the American Civil War.
• 1863 – Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
• 1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud – 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
• 1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon – the Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
• 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
• 1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
• 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: Allied Western and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
• 1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
• 1910 – Aurel Vlaicu pilots an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
• 1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law.
• 1932 – 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 are 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 Saint-Pierre prison
• 1940 – World War II: sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France.
• 1940 – World War II: the British Army's 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.
• 1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
• 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
• 1948 – A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
• 1953 – East Germany Workers Uprising: in East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
• 1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing many of the ironworkers and injuring others.
• 1958 – The wooden roller coaster at Playland, which is in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada opens. It is still open today.
• 1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km²) of land undervalued at 4 cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
• 1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools.
• 1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem announced the Joint Communique to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.
• 1967 – The People's Republic of China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
• 1971 – President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.
• 1972 – Watergate scandal: five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
• 1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
• 1991 – Apartheid: the South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
• 1992 – A "joint understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
• 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O.J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Births

• 1239 – Edward I of England (d. 1307)
• 1268 – Lord Borchard de Herle, English diplomat (d. 1305)
• 1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663)
• 1658 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese diplomat and statesman (d. 1736)
• 1682 – Charles XII of Sweden (d. 1718)
• 1691 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
• 1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (d. 1775)
• 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, English field marshal (d. 1796)
• 1742 – William Hooper, American lawyer and politician, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1790)
• 1808 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet, playwright, and linguist (d. 1845)
• 1810 – Ferdinand Freiligrath, German writer (d. 1876)
• 1811 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter (d. 1879)
• 1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer (d. 1893)
• 1818 – Sophie of Württemberg (d. 1877)
• 1832 – William Crookes, British chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
• 1839 – Arthur Tooth, English clergyman (d. 1931)
• 1858 – Ebenezer Sumner Draper, American politician, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
• 1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
• 1861 – Omar Bundy, American general (d. 1940)
• 1863 – Charles Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1934)
• 1867 – Flora Finch, English-American actress (d. 1940)
• 1867 – John Robert Gregg, American educator, publisher, and humanitarian, invented the Gregg shorthand (d. 1948)
• 1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet (d. 1922)
• 1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, politician, diplomat, journalist, and activist (d. 1938)
• 1876 – William Carr, American rower (d. 1942)
• 1880 – Carl Van Vechten, American writer and photographer (d. 1964)
• 1881 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (d. 1955)
• 1882 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1918)
• 1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Heinz Guderian, German general (d. 1954)
• 1898 – M. C. Escher, Dutch illustrator (d. 1972)
• 1898 – Carl Hermann, German physicist (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Harry Patch, British super-centenarian (d. 2009)
• 1900 – Martin Bormann, German Nazi official (d. 1945)
• 1902 – Sammy Fain, American composer (d. 1989)
• 1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
• 1903 – Ruth Graves Wakefield, American cook and businesswoman, invented the Chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
• 1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian politician (d. 1989)
• 1907 – Maurice Cloche, French director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect (d. 1978)
• 1909 – Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
• 1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian film editor (d. 2004)
• 1910 – Red Foley, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 1968)
• 1910 – George Hees, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
• 1914 – John Hersey, American journalist (d. 1993)
• 1915 – David "Stringbean" Akeman, American actor and banjo player (d. 1973)
• 1915 – Marcel Cadieux, Canadian civil servant and diplomat (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer (The Easy Riders) (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian politician, Premier of Manitoba (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai Buddhist meditation master (d. 1992)
• 1919 – John Moffat, British pilot
• 1919 – Beryl Reid, British actress (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (d. 1981)
• 1920 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress
• 1920 – François Jacob, French biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian professor and historian (d. 1999)
• 1927 – Martin Böttcher, German conductor
• 1927 – Wally Wood, American comic book writer, artist and publisher (d. 1981)
• 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
• 1930 – Brian Statham, British cricketer (d. 2000)
• 1931 – John Baldessari, American painter
• 1932 – Peter Lupus, American actor
• 1932 – John Murtha, American politician (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Harry Browne, American politician (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
• 1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian tribal leader and activist
• 1936 – Ken Loach, British director
• 1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist and philosopher
• 1940 – George Akerlof, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Nicholas C. Handy, British theoretical chemist (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian IAEA director, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 – Roger Steffens, American actor, author, photographer, and producer
• 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American politician and author
• 1943 – Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1943 – Burt Rutan, American engineer
• 1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
• 1944 – Bill Rafferty, American comedian and game show host (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Chris Spedding, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nucleus)
• 1945 – Frank Ashmore, American actor
• 1945 – Art Bell, American broadcaster and author
• 1945 – Tommy Franks, American general
• 1945 – Ken Livingstone, British politician
• 1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist
• 1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian writer
• 1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1947 – Linda Chavez, American author
• 1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer, songwriter, and musician
• 1947 – Gregg Rolie, American keyboardist, organist and singer (Santana)
• 1947 – Paul Young, English singer and musician (Sad Café and Mike + The Mechanics) (d. 2000)
• 1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player (d. 1992)
• 1949 – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and musician (The Residents and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) (d. 1987)
• 1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand director
• 1951 – John Garrett, Canadian ice hockey goaltender and television sports commentator
• 1951 – Paul McGuinness, U2 manager
• 1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
• 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor
• 1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach, and executive
• 1954 – Len Davies, English wrestling promoter, founded Real Quality Wrestling
• 1955 – Gail Jones, Australian author
• 1955 – Bob Sauvé, Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender
• 1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby player
• 1956 – Chi-chi Nwanoku, English double bass player
• 1957 – Phil Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer (The Pogues and The Radiators From Space)
• 1957 – Martin Dillon, American tenor and educator (d. 2005)
• 1957 – Jon Gries, American actor
• 1957 – Jack Wouterse, Dutch actor
• 1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer, musician, and activist (Dead Kennedys, The No WTO Combo, and Lard)
• 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American director
• 1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian politician
• 1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American politician
• 1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
• 1958 – Derek Lee Ragin, American tenor
• 1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player
• 1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish race car driver
• 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
• 1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese actor
• 1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer-songwriter and musician (Hanoi Rocks and Demolition 23)
• 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor
• 1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian race car driver
• 1964 – Michael Groß, German swimmer
• 1964 – Erin Murphy, American actress
• 1965 – Kami Cotler, American actress and educator
• 1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player
• 1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater
• 1965 – Dara O'Kearney, Irish runner and poker player
• 1966 – Christy Canyon, American porn actress
• 1966 – Ken Clark, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1966 – Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi writer and journalist
• 1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
• 1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboardist, songwriter, and animator (No Doubt)
• 1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German soprano
• 1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner
• 1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Will Forte, American actor and writer
• 1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
• 1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player
• 1970 – Michael Showalter, American actor, writer, and director
• 1970 – Sasha Sokol, Mexican singer, composer, and actress
• 1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
• 1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican singer and actress
• 1973 – Krayzie Bone, American rapper and producer (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1973 – Christian Claudio, Puerto Rican businessman and author
• 1973 – Louis Leterrier, French director
• 1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
• 1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
• 1975 – Jennifer Irwin, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Chloe Jones, American porn actress (d. 2005)
• 1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor
• 1976 – Scott Adkins, British actor
• 1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclist
• 1976 – Keisuke Ogihara, Japanese rapper
• 1977 – Tjaša Jezernik, Slovenian tennis player
• 1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player
• 1977 – Branko Tomovic, Serbian actor
• 1978 – Kumiko Aso, Japanese actress
• 1978 – James Corden, British actor and comedian
• 1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
• 1979 – Nick Rimando, American soccer player
• 1979 – Young Maylay, American rapper, voice actor, and producer
• 1980 – Kimeru, Japanese singer and actor
• 1980 – Jeph Jacques, American illustrator and writer
• 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
• 1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
• 1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
• 1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
• 1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
• 1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1983 – Connie Fisher, English actress
• 1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Kazunari Ninomiya, Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (Arashi)
• 1983 – Lee Ryan, English singer-songwriter and actor (Blue)
• 1984 – John Gallagher, Jr., American actor
• 1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
• 1985 – Rafael Sóbis, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer
• 1987 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper and songwriter (Black Hippy)
• 1987 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
• 1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
• 1988 – Drew Ryan Scott, American singer-songwriter and producer (Varsity Fanclub)
• 1989 – Giorgos Tofas, Cypriot footballer
• 1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
• 1990 – Laura Wright, English singer (All Angels)
• 1991 – Jang Min Chul, South Korean gamer
• 1993 – Anna Rüh, German athlete

Deaths

• 850 – Tachibana no Kachiko, Japanese empress (b. 786)
• 900 – Fulk the Venerable, French Archbishop of Rheims
• 1025 – Bolesław I Chrobry (b. 967)
• 1091 – Dirk V, Count of Holland (b. 1052)
• 1463 – Infanta Catherine of Portugal (b. 1436)
• 1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (b. 1536)
• 1694 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (b. 1629)
• 1696 – John III Sobieski of Poland (b. 1629)
• 1719 – Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (b. 1672)
• 1734 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Duke of Villars (b. 1653)
• 1740 – Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1687)
• 1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)
• 1771 – Daskalogiannis, Cretan rebel
• 1775 – John Pitcairn, English military officer (b. 1722)
• 1797 – Mohammad Khan Qajar of Persia (b. 1742)
• 1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, British naval officer and politician (b. 1726)
• 1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentine military leader (b. 1785)
• 1839 – Lord William Bentinck, British soldier and statesman (b. 1774)
• 1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, British artist (b. 1833)
• 1904 – Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, Russian politician (b. 1839)
• 1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1940 – Arthur Harden, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
• 1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1862)
• 1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician (b. 1853)
• 1952 – John Whiteside Parsons, American scientist (b. 1914)
• 1954 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (b. 1920)
• 1956 – Paul Rostock, German doctor (b. 1892)
• 1956 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (b. 1926)
• 1957 – Dorothy Richardson, British writer (b. 1873)
• 1961 – Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (b. 1882)
• 1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1901)
• 1969 – Rita Abatzi, Greek singer (b. 1914)
• 1974 – Pamela Britton, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1975 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian (b. 1893)
• 1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player (b. 1888)
• 1981 – Richard O'Connor, British army general (b. 1889)
• 1981 – Zerna Sharp, American writer and educator (b. 1889)
• 1982 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
• 1983 – Peter Mennin, American composer and teacher (b. 1923)
• 1984 – Milbourne Christopher, American illusionist (b. 1914)
• 1984 – John Murray, American playwright (b. 1906)
• 1985 – John Boulting, British director, writer, and producer (b. 1913)
• 1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
• 1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player and manager (b. 1936)
• 1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American historian and philosopher (b. 1922)
• 1996 – Curt Swan, American comics artist (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Basil Hume, English cardinal, Archbishop of Westminster (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African jurist (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal, Archbishop of Glasgow (b. 1925)
• 2002 – Willie Davenport, American athlete (b. 1943)
• 2002 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Sam Loeb, American writer and illustrator (b. 1988)
• 2005 – Karl Mueller, American bassist (Soul Asylum) (b. 1962)
• 2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian and actor (b. 1962)
• 2006 – Arthur Franz, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Gianfranco Ferré, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
• 2007 – Serena Wilson, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Cyd Charisse, American dancer and actress (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Tsutomu Miyazaki, Japanese serial killer (b. 1962)
• 2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (b. 1929)
• 2009 – Darrell Powers, American army officer (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Stéphane Brosse, French ski mountaineer (b. 1971))
• 2012 – Chen Din Hwa, Chinese businessman and philanthropist (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Nathan Divinsky, Canadian mathematician and chess player (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Raivo Järvi, Estonian artist and politician (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (b. 1965)
• 2012 – R. C. Owens, American football player (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Fauzia Wahab, Pakistani politician (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• Bunker Hill Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Albert Chmielowski
  • Botolph (England)
  • Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (Church of England)
  • Gondulphus of Berry
  • Hervé
  • Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches)
  • Rainerius
  • June 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944.
• Soviet Occupation Day (Latvia)
• West Germany, from 1954 to 1990, the Day of German Unity
• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (International)
• Zemla Intifada Day (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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