June 17th. TODAY IN HISTORY

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.


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.

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 founded 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.

1861 – Battle of Vienna, Virginia in the American Civil War.

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's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

1877 – 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 a 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 Colombia, 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.

1961 – The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded by the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress.

1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing 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.

1971 – President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.

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.

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 – King Edward I of England (Edward Longshanks) (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 – 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)
• 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 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, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1877)
• 1832 – Sir William Crookes, English physicist and chemist (d. 1919)
• 1839 – Arthur Tooth, English Anglican clergyman (d. 1931)
• 1858 – Ebenezer Sumner Draper, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
• 1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
• 1861 – Omar Bundy, American Army general (d. 1940)
• 1863 – Duke Charles Michael of Mecklenburg, Russian-born head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1934)
• 1867 – Flora Finch, British-American silent-film comedienne (d. 1940)
• 1867 – John Robert Gregg, American inventor (d. 1948)
• 1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet (d. 1922)
• 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 (d. 1918)
• 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)
• 1898 – Harry Patch, British supercentenarian (d. 2009)
• 1900 – Martin Bormann, German Nazi official (d. 1945)
• 1902 – Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (d. 1989)
• 1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
• 1903 – Ruth Wakefield, American cook and hotelier (d. 1977)
• 1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1907 – Maurice Cloche, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect (d. 1978)
• 1909 – Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
• 1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian film editor (d. 2004)
• 1910 – Red Foley, American musician (d. 1968)
• 1910 – George Hees, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
• 1914 – John Hersey, American writer and journalist (d. 1993)
• 1915 – David "Stringbean" Akeman, American actor and country music banjo player (d. 1973)
• 1915 – Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer, lyricist and composer (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai meditation master (d. 1992)
• 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 laureate
• 1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Martin Böttcher, German conductor
• 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
• 1930 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
• 1931 – John Baldessari, American conceptual artist
• 1932 – Peter Lupus, American actor
• 1932 – John Murtha, American politician (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Harry Browne, American writer and investment analyst (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
• 1933 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
• 1936 – Ken Loach, British film director
• 1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian First Nations Cree Elder and veteran of the Korean War
• 1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist, philosopher, and pioneer of information technology
• 1940 – George Akerlof, American economist, Nobel laureate
• 1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian IAEA director, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American politician
• 1943 – Barry Manilow, American musician
• 1943 – Burt Rutan, American aerospace engineer
• 1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
• 1944 – Bill Rafferty, American comedian and impressionist
• 1944 – Chris Spedding, British guitarist
• 1945 – Frank Ashmore, American actor
• 1945 – Art Bell, American radio broadcaster and author
• 1945 – Tommy Franks, American General
• 1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician
• 1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist
• 1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian writer
• 1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer and musician
• 1947 – Paul Young, English singer and percussionist (Sad Café, Mike + The Mechanics) (d. 2000)
• 1947 – Linda Chavez, American author
• 1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player (d. 1992)
• 1949 – Snakefinger, British-born guitarist, violinist, singer and songwriter (The Residents) (d. 1987)
• 1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director
• 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor
• 1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
• 1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach and executive
• 1954 – Len Davies, British pro wrestling promoter
• 1955 – Gail Jones, Australian author
• 1956 – Chi-chi Nwanoku, English double bassist
• 1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby union footballer
• 1957 – Phil Chevron, Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter (The Pogues, The Radiators From Space)
• 1957 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer (d. 2005)
• 1957 – Jon Gries, American actor
• 1957 – Jack Wouterse, Dutch actor
• 1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer (Dead Kennedys) and activist
• 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American film director
• 1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-born Canadian politician
• 1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American government official
• 1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
• 1958 – Derek Lee Ragin, American countertenor
• 1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player
• 1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish racing driver
• 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
• 1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese seiyū, actor and tarento
• 1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer (Hanoi Rocks)
• 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor
• 1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian racing driver
• 1964 – Michael Groß, German swimmer
• 1964 – Erin Murphy, American actress
• 1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player
• 1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater
• 1965 – Dara O'Kearney, Irish ultra runner and professional poker player
• 1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
• 1966 – Christy Canyon, American pornographic actress
• 1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboardist, songwriter (No Doubt) and cartoon animator
• 1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German operatic soprano
• 1968 – Julie Miller, Hawaiian triathlete
• 1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan long distance runner
• 1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Will Forte, American writer, actor and comedian
• 1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
• 1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player
• 1970 – Michael Showalter, American comedian
• 1970 – Sasha Sokol, Mexican singer and actress
• 1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
• 1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican singer
• 1973 – Krayzie Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1973 – Louis Leterrier, French film director
• 1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
• 1973 – Christian Claudio, Puerto Rican business consultant
• 1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
• 1975 – Jennifer Irwin, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Chloe Jones, American pornographic actress (d. 2005)
• 1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor
• 1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclo-cross rider
• 1976 – Scott Adkins, English actor
• 1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player
• 1977 – Branko Tomovic, Serbian actor
• 1978 – Kumiko Aso, Japanese actress
• 1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
• 1978 – James Corden, English actor and comedian
• 1979 – Nick Rimando, American footballer
• 1979 – Young Maylay, American Rapper
• 1980 – Kimeru, Japanese singer
• 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
• 1980 – Jeph Jacques, American webcomic writer
• 1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
• 1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
• 1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
• 1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
• 1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Connie Fisher, English stage actress
• 1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Kazunari Ninomiya, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
• 1983 – Lee Ryan, British singer (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, Rapper
• 1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
• 1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
• 1989 – Giorgos Tofas, Cypriot footballer
• 1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
• 1990 – Laura Wright, English singer
• 1991 – Jang Min Chul, South Korean electronic sports player

Deaths

• 900 – Fulk the Venerable, Archbishop of Rheims (birth year unknown)
• 1025 – King Bolesław I the Brave of Poland (b. 967)
• 1091 – Dirk V, Count of Holland (b. 1052)
• 1463 – Princess Catherine of Portugal (b. 1436)
• 1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (b. 1536)
• 1694 – Philip Howard, English Catholic Cardinal (b. 1629)
• 1696 – King John III Sobieski 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 – Sir William Wyndham, English politician (b. 1687)
• 1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)
• 1771 – Daskalogiannis, Cretan rebel (birth year unknown)
• 1775 – John Pitcairn, British military officier (b. 1722)
• 1797 – Shah Agha Muhammad Khan of Persia (b. 1742)
• 1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician (b. 1726)
• 1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentine military leader (b. 1785)
• 1839 – Lord William Bentinck, British soldier, Governor-General of India (b. 1774)
• 1858 – Queen Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi (b. 1828)
• 1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English artist (b. 1833)
• 1904 – Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, Russian politician (b. 1839)
• 1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1940 – Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1865)
• 1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1862)
• 1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician (b. 1853)
• 1952 – Jack Parsons, American rocket propulsion researcher (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)
• 1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician and nationalist (b. 1882)
• 1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1901)
• 1969 – Rita Abatzi, Greek rebetiko singer (b. 1914)
• 1974 – Pamela Britton, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player (b. 1888)
• 1981 – Richard O'Connor, British 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 – John Murray, American playwright (b. 1906)
• 1984 – Milbourne Christopher, American illusionist (b. 1914)
• 1985 – John Boulting, English filmmaker (b. 1913)
• 1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
• 1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player and manager (b. 1936)
• 1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (b. 1922)
• 1999 – Basil Hume, English Roman Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop of Westminster (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African jurist (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Thomas Joseph Winning, Scottish Roman Catholic 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 – Karl Mueller, American bassist (Soul Asylum) (b. 1962)
• 2005 – Sam Loeb, American comic book writer (b. 1988)
• 2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)
• 2006 – Arthur Franz, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Gianfranco Ferrè, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
• 2007 – Serena Wilson, American belly dancer (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Tsutomu Miyazaki, Japanese serial killer (b. 1962)
• 2008 – Cyd Charisse, American dancer and actress (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Darrell Powers, American World War II figure (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-born sociologist and politician (b. 1929)