August 17
1771 – Edinburgh botanist James Robertson makes the first recorded ascent of
Ben Nevis in Scotland.
1807 –
Robert Fulton's
North River Steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1862 – American Indian Wars: The
Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
1896 –
Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of
The Crystal Palace, London, the UK's first pedestrian motoring fatality.
1907 –
Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, opens.
1915 – Jewish American
Leo Frank is lynched for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl in Marietta, Georgia, United States.
1953 –
Narcotics Anonymous meets for the first time, in Southern California.
1959 –
Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude
7.5 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
Kind of Blue by
Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
1962 –
Peter Fechter is shot and bleeds to death while
trying to cross the new Berlin Wall.
1969 – Category 5
Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.
The final day of the 3 day
Woodstock Festival took place at
Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York.
1977 – The Soviet icebreaker
Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
1978 –
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
1980 –
Azaria Chamberlain disappears, at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history.
1982 – The first
compact discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.
1998 –
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 the relationship.
1999 – A
7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than
17,000 and injuring 44,000.
2005 – Over
500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh.
2009 – An
accident at the Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia, kills 75 and shuts down the hydroelectric power station, leading to widespread power failure in the local area.
Births
1786 – Davy Daaaaaavy Crockett (king of the wild frontier); 1888 – Monty Woolley; 1893 – Mae West; 1896 – Leslie Groves***; 1907 – Gustav Schwarzenegger (Arnold's papa); 1913 – Mark Felt (Asst Director FBI, Woodward & Bernstein's 'Deep Throat'); 1920 – Maureen O'Hara; 1929 – Francis Gary Powers (U2 pilot); 1933 – Glenn Corbett ('Pat Garrett' in
Chisum); 1936 – Floyd Red Crow Westerman ('Chief Ten Bears' in
Dances with Wolves); 1943 – Robert De Niro; 1944 – Larry Ellison (co-founded Oracle Corp); 1952 – Nelson Piquet

; 1954 – Eric Johnson♪ ♫

; 1957 – Robin Cousins; 1958 – Belinda Carlisle♪ ♫(The Go-Gos); 1959 – David Koresh (leader Branch Davidians cult); 1960 – Sean Penn; 1961 – Larry B. Scott (
Revenge of the Nerds); 1962 – Gilby Clarke

(Guns N' Roses); 1967 – David Conrad(
Ghost Whisperer); 1968 – Andrew Koenig ('Boner' on
Growing Pains); 1969 – Donnie Wahlberg; 1970 – Jim Courier; 1974 – Giuliana Rancic
Deaths
1785 – Jonathan Trumbull; 1880 – Ole Bull

; 1973 – Paul Williams♪ ♫(The Temptations); 1976 – William Redfield (
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest); 1979 – Vivian Vance ('Ethel Mertz' on
I Love Lucy); 1983 – Ira Gershwin♪ ♫; 1987 – Rudolf Hess; 1990 – Pearl Bailey♪ ♫