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August 17 in History
Historical Events on August 17
309/310
Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, perhaps from a hunger strike.
986
Byzantine-Bulgarian wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan: The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
1186
Georgenberg Pact: Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria and Leopold V, Duke of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
1386
Karl Topia, the ruler of Princedom of Albania forges an alliance with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the Ottomans in return.
1424
Hundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil: An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under Jean II, Duke of Alençon, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas.
1498
Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person in history to resign the cardinalate; later that same day, King Louis XII of France names him Duke of Valentinois.
1549
Battle of Sampford Courtenay: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England.
1560
The Roman Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.
1585
Eighty Years' War: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city and as a result over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces.
1585
A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
1597
Islands Voyage: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores.
1668
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake causes 8,000 deaths in Anatolia, Ottoman Empire.
1712
Action of 17 August 1712 New Deep naval battle between Denmark and Sweden.
1717
Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18: The month-long Siege of Belgrade ends with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire.
1723
Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes Bishop of Făgăraș and is festively installed in his position at the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Făgăraș, after being formally confirmed earlier by Pope Clement XI.
1740
Pope Benedict XIV, previously known as Prospero Lambertini, succeeds Clement XII as the 247th Pope.
1784
Classical composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay rise of 12000 reals from his employer, the Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón.
1798
The Vietnamese Roman Catholics report a Marian apparition in Quảng Trị, an event which is called Our Lady of La Vang.
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.
1827
Dutch King Willem I and Pope Leo XII sign concord
1862
American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
1862
American Civil War: Major General J. E. B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
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.
1866
The Grand Duchy of Baden announces her withdrawal from the German Confederation and signs a treaty of peace and alliance with Prussia.
1883
The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional.
1907
Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, opened.
1908
Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris, France.
1914
World War I: Battle of Stallupönen: The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
1915
Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched in Marietta, Georgia after a 13-year-old girl is murdered.
1915
A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
1918
Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
1942
World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin.
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 arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard 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.
1943
World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
1945
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
1945
The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.
1947
The Radcliffe Line, the border between the Dominions of India and Pakistan, is revealed.
1953
Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous takes place, in Southern California.
1958
Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959
Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
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.
1970
Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
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.
1988
President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1991
Strathfield massacre: In Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots seven people and injures six others before turning the gun on himself.
1998
Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
1999
The 7.6 Mw İzmit earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 17,118-17,127 dead and 43,953-50,000 injured.
2004
The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože 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 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, starts.
2005
Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh
2008
American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
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.
2015
A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others.
2017
2017 Barcelona attacks: A van is driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.
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