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What happened in history on this day: June 17?
On June 17 in ...
- 1775 - British forces attack American militiamen at Breed's Hill; they initially retreat, British Major John Pitcairn is killed by a musket ball, but the British clear the hill.
- 1850 - Paddle-wheeler G P Griffith burns off Mentor, Ohio (206 die).
- 1856 - Republican Party opens its first national convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1863 - Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford chartered (first accident insurer).
- 1863 - Battle of Aldie; Confederates fail to drive back the USA in Virginia.
- 1882 - Tornado kills 130 in Iowa, USA.
- 1885 - Statue of Liberty arrives in New York City aboard French ship Isere.
- 1894 - First US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, in Rutland, Vermont.
- 1901 - The American College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
- 1930 - US President Herbert Hoover signs the Hawley-Smoot Tariff bill into law, increasing some 900 American import duties.
- 1942 - First World War II American expeditionary force lands in Africa (Gold Coast).
- 1946 - SouthWest Bell innaugurates mobile telephone commercial service, Saint Louis, Missouri. USA.
- 1947 - First round-the-world civil air service leaves New York City.
- 1950 - First kidney transplant (Chicago, Illinois, USA).
- 1950 - Julius Rosenberg is arrested in the US on suspicion of espionage, accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
- 1957 - Tuskegee boycott begins (blacks boycott city stores).
- 1960 - Fire consumes the El Rancho Vegas casino resort, on the Las Vegas Strip.
- 1963 - US Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools.
- 1965 - 28.14 cm (11.08 inches) of rainfall, Holly, Colorado (state 24-hour record).
- 1971 - At 11:13 AM, Disneyland welcomes its 100-millionth guest, Valerie Suldo of New Jersey.
- 1971 - The USA formally ends its military occupation of the Ryukyu Islands, returning the archipelago to Japan.
- 1972 - The Main Street Electrical Parade premieres at Disneyland. The vehicles feature 500,000 sparkling lights, and 500 miles of wiring.
- 1972 - Five arrested for burglarizing US Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate.
- 1975 - Voters in Northern Mariana Island approve commonwealth status with US.
- 1985 - The Discovery Channel begins airing on cable TV in the U.S. First program is Iceberg Alley.
- 1986 - US Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns; Antonin Scalia nominated.
- 1988 - Microsoft releases MS DOS 4.0.
- 1991 - U.S. President Zachary Taylor is exhumed to discover whether or not his death was caused by arsenic poisoning, instead of acute gastrointestinal illness; no trace of arsenic is found.
- 1992 - A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this is later codified in START II).
- 2005 - A 6.7 aftershock, which followed a 5.3 earthquake the previous day, hits California, making it the fourth earthquake since June 12 in California.
- 2005 - Because of "quadruple-witching" options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record. 704 million shares are traded between 9:30-10:30 A.M. (1.92 billion shares for the day).
- 2008 - The Boston Celtics win a record 17th NBA championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in Game Six.
- 2009 - Former American HealthSouth chief executive Richard Scrushy is ordered to pay US$2.9 billion after a judge found him responsible for an accounting fraud that nearly bankrupted the hospital chain.
Births on June 17
- 1904 - Birth of Ralph Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Man Against Crime TV show, host - Frontier Justice, Franklin Roosevelt - The Winds of War and War and Remembrance TV mini-series, Wheels, The Moneychangers, Once an Eagle, Testimony of Two Men, Air Mail, Dive Bomber, Trading Places).
- 1910 - Birth of Red Foley AKA Clyde Julian Foley in Blue Lick, Kentucky, USA; country singer/songwriter ("Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy", "Old Shep", "Sugarfoot Rag", "Tennessee Saturday Night", "Peace in the Valley"), TV host (Ozark Jubilee), actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
- 1912 - Birth of Don Gillis in Cameron, Missouri, USA; composer (Symphony 5 1/2).
- 1915 - Birth of Stringbean AKA David Akeman in Jackson County, Kentucky, USA; country comedian/banjo player (Grand Ole Opry radio show, Ozark Jubilee TV show, Hee Haw TV show).
- 1922 - Birth of Jerry Fielding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; orchestra leader (Lively Ones).
- 1925 - Birth of Keith Larsen in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; actor (The Hunter, Brave Eagle).
- 1946 - Birth of Barry Manilow in New York City, New York, USA; singer ("Mandy").
- 1948 - Birth of Phylicia Allen Ayers Rashad in Houston, Texas, USA; actress (Cosby).
- 1951 - Birth of Joe Piscopo in Passaic, New Jersey, USA; comedian (Saturday Night Live, Miller Lite commercials, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd).
- 1954 - Birth of Mark Linn-Baker in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; actor (Larry Appleton - Perfect Strangers, Twins, Hanging With Mr. Cooper).
- 1958 - Birth of Dan McVicar in Independence, Missouri, USA; actor (Clarke - The Bold and the Beautiful).
- 1965 - Birth of Kami Cotler in Long Beach, California, USA; actress (Elizabeth - The Waltons).
- 1975 - Birth of Frederick Koehler in Queens, New York; actor (Chip - Kate and Allie).
- 1977 - Birth of Jason Miller in Silver Springs, Maryland; actor (New Mickey Mouse Club).
Deaths on June 17
- 1944 - Death of Samuel W. Brown at age 64 in North Tonawanda, New York; original source of five US 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coins.
- 1984 - Swale, Kentucky Derby winner, collapses and dies.
- 1986 - Death of Kate Smith of diabetes at age 79 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; singer (Irving Berlin's "God Bless America"), radio host in 1930s-40s.
- 1987 - Dick Howser, New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals manager, dies at age 51 of brain cancer.
- 1988 - Death of Jack Leonard at age 73 of cancer in Los Angeles, California, USA; vocalist (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - "Marie", "All the Things You Are").
- 2001 - Death of Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919).
- 2008 - Death of American actress and dancer Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea), at age 86 of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California.
- 2020 - Death of William Dement at age 91 in his sleep; American pioneer in science of sleep and dreams, author, professor (Stanford).
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