http://www.history.com/this-day-in-historyl
Jun 17, 1885: Statue of Liberty arrives
On this day in 1885, the dismantled State of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrives in New York Harbor after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than 200 cases. The copper and iron statue, which was reassembled and dedicated the following year in a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Grover Cleveland, became known around the world as an enduring symbol of freedom and democracy.
Intended to commemorate the American Revolution and a century of friendship between the U.S. and France, the statue was designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (who modeled it after his own mother), with assistance from engineer Gustave Eiffel, who later developed the iconic tower in Paris bearing his name. The statue was initially scheduled to be finished by 1876, the 100th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence; however, fundraising efforts, which included auctions, a lottery and boxing matches, took longer than anticipated, both in Europe and the U.S., where the statue’s pedestal was to be financed and constructed. The statue alone cost the French an estimated $250,000 (more than $5.5 million in today’s money).
Finally completed in Paris in the summer of 1884, the statue, a robed female figure with an uplifted arm holding a torch, reached its new home on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor (between New York City and Hudson County, New Jersey) on June 17, 1885. After being reassembled, the 450,000-pound statue was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886, by President Cleveland, who said, “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.” Standing more than 305 feet from the foundation of its pedestal to the top of its torch, the statue, dubbed “Liberty Enlightening the World” by Bartholdi, was taller than any structure in New York City at the time. The statue was originally copper-colored, but over the years it underwent a natural color-change process called patination that produced its current greenish-blue hue.
In 1892, Ellis Island, located near Bedloe's Island (which in 1956 was renamed Liberty Island), opened as America’s chief immigration station, and for the next 62 years Lady Liberty, as the statue is nicknamed, stood watch over the more than 12 million immigrants who sailed into New York Harbor. In 1903, a plaque inscribed with a sonnet titled “The New Colossus” by American poet Emma Lazarus, written 20 years earlier for a pedestal fundraiser, was placed on an interior wall of the pedestal. Lazarus’ now-famous words, which include “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” became symbolic of America’s vision of itself as a land of opportunity for immigrants.
Some 60 years after President Calvin Coolidge designated the statue a national monument in 1924, it underwent a multi-million-dollar restoration (which included a new torch and gold leaf-covered flame) and was rededicated by President Ronald Reagan on July 4, 1986, in a lavish celebration. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the statue was closed; its base, pedestal and observation deck re-opened in 2004, while its crown re-opened to the public on July 4, 2009. (For safety reasons, the torch has been closed to visitors since 1916, after an incident called the Black Tom explosions in which munitions-laden barges and railroad cars on the Jersey City, New Jersey, waterfront were blown up by German agents, causing damage to the nearby statue.).
Today, the Statue of Liberty is one of America’s most famous landmarks. Over the years, it has been the site of political rallies and protests (from suffragettes to anti-war activists), has been featured in numerous movies and countless photographs, and has received millions of visitors from around the globe.
Jun 17, 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill begins
British General William Howe lands his troops on the Charlestown Peninsula overlooking Boston, Massachusetts, and leads them against Breed's Hill, a fortified American position just below Bunker Hill, on this day in 1775.
As the British advanced in columns against the Americans, American General William Prescott reportedly told his men, "Don't one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" When the Redcoats were within 40 yards, the Americans let loose with a lethal barrage of musket fire, throwing the British into retreat. After reforming his lines, Howe attacked again, with much the same result. Prescott's men were now low on ammunition, though, and when Howe led his men up the hill for a third time, they reached the redoubts and engaged the Americans in hand-to-hand combat. The outnumbered Americans were forced to retreat. However, by the end of the engagement, the Patriots' gunfire had cut down nearly 1,000 enemy troops, including 92 officers. Of the 370 Patriots who fell, most were struck while in retreat.
The British had won the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill, and Breed's Hill and the Charlestown Peninsula fell firmly under British control. Despite losing their strategic positions, the battle was a morale-builder for the Americans, convincing them that patriotic dedication could overcome superior British military might.
The British entered the Battle of Bunker Hill overconfident. Had they merely guarded Charlestown Neck, they could have isolated the Patriots with little loss of life. Instead, Howe had chosen to try to wipe out the Yankees by marching 2,400 men into a frontal assault on the Patriots' well-defended position on top of the hill. The British would never make the same mistake again.
Jun 17, 1940: British and Allied troops continue the evacuation of France, as Churchill reassures his countrymen
On this day in 1940, British troops evacuate France in Operation Ariel, an exodus almost on the order of Dunkirk. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offers words of encouragement in a broadcast to the nation: "Whatever has happened in France... [w]e shall defend our island home, and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of Hitler is lifted."
With two-thirds of France now occupied by German troops, those British and Allied troops that had not participated in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk, were shipped home. From Cherbourg and St. Malo, from Brest and Nantes, Brits, Poles, and Canadian troops were rescued from occupied territory by boats sent from Britain. While these men were not under the immediate threat of assault, as at Dunkirk, they were by no means safe, as 5,000 soldiers and French civilians learned once on board the ocean liner Lancastria, which had picked them up at St. Nazaire. Germans bombers sunk the liner; 3,000 passengers drowned.
Churchill ordered that news of the Lancastria not be broadcast in Britain, fearing the effect it would have on public morale, since everyone was already on heightened alert, fearing an imminent invasion from the Germans now that only a channel separated them. The British public would eventually find out—but not for another six weeks—when the news finally broke in the United States. They would also enjoy a breather of another kind: Hitler had no immediate plans for an invasion of the British isle, "being well aware of the difficulties involved in such an operation," reported the German High Command.
Jun 17, 1940: France to surrender
With Paris fallen and the German conquest of France reaching its conclusion, Marshal Henri Petain replaces Paul Reynaud as prime minister and announces his intention to sign an armistice with the Nazis. The next day, French General Charles de Gaulle, not very well known even to the French, made a broadcast to France from England, urging his countrymen to continue the fight against Germany.
A military hero during World War I, Petain was appointed vice premier of France in May 1940 to boost morale in a country crumbling under the force of the Nazi invasion. Instead, Petain arranged an armistice with the Nazis. The armistice, signed by the French on June 22, went into effect on June 25, and more than half of France was occupied by the Germans. In July, Petain took office as "chief of state" at Vichy, a city in unoccupied France. The Vichy government under Petain collaborated with the Nazis, and French citizens suffered on both sides of the divided nation. In 1942, Pierre Laval, an opportunistic French fascist and dutiful Nazi collaborator, won the trust of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and the elderly Petain became merely a figurehead in the Vichy regime.
After the Normandy invasion in 1944, Petain and Laval were forced to flee to German protection in the east. Both were eventually captured, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to die. Laval was executed in 1945, but provincial French leader Charles de Gaulle commuted Petain's sentence to life imprisonment. Petain died on the Ile d'Yeu off France in 1951.
Jun 16, 1940: Marshal Petain becomes premier of occupied France
On this day in 1940, Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, World War I hero, becomes prime minister of the Vichy government of France.
As Germany began to overrun more French territory, the French Cabinet became desperate for a solution to this crisis. Premier Paul Reynaud continued to hold out hope, refusing to ask for an armistice, especially now that France had received assurance from Britain that the two would fight as one, and that Britain would continue to fight the Germans even if France were completely overtaken. But others in the government were despondent and wanted to sue for peace. Reynaud resigned in protest. His vice premier, Henri Petain, formed a new government and asked the Germans for an armistice, in effect, surrendering.
This was an ironic position for Petain, to say the least. The man who had become a legendary war hero for successfully repelling a German attack on the French city of Verdun during the First World War was now surrendering to Hitler.
In the city of Vichy, the French Senate and Chamber of Deputies conferred on the 84-year-old general the title of "Chief of State," making him a virtual dictator–although one controlled by Berlin. Petain believed that he could negotiate a better deal for his country–for example, obtaining the release of prisoners of war–by cooperating with, or as some would say, appeasing, the Germans.
But Petain proved to be too clever by half. While he fought against a close Franco-German military collaboration, and fired his vice premier, Pierre Laval, for advocating it, and secretly urged Spain's dictator Francisco Franco to refuse passage of the German army to North Africa, his attempts to undermine the Axis while maintaining an official posture of neutrality did not go unnoticed by Hitler, who ordered that Laval be reinstated as vice premier. Petain acquiesced, but refused to resign in protest because of fear that France would come under direct German rule if he were not there to act as a buffer. But he soon became little more than a figurehead, despite efforts to manipulate events behind the scenes that would advance the Free French cause (then publicly denying, even denouncing, those events when they came to light).
When Paris was finally liberated by General Charles de Gaulle in 1944, Petain fled to Germany. He was brought back after the war to stand trial for his duplicity. He was sentenced to death, which was then commuted to life in solitary confinement. He died at 95 in prison. The man responsible for saving his life was de Gaulle. He and Petain had fought in the same unit in World War I and had not forgotten Petain's bravery during that world war.
Jun 16, 1970: Communists isolate Phnom Penh
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong attacks almost completely isolate Phnom Penh. The principal fighting raged in and around Kompong Thom, about 90 miles north of the capital. On June 17, Cambodia's last working railway line, which ran to the border of Thailand, was severed when communist troops seized a freight train with 200 tons of rice and other food supplies at a station at Krang Lovea, about 40 miles northwest of Phnom Penh.
Jun 17, 1953: Soviets crush antigovernment riots in East Berlin
The Soviet Union orders an entire armored division of its troops into East Berlin to crush a rebellion by East German workers and antigovernment protesters. The Soviet assault set a precedent for later interventions into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
The riots in East Berlin began among construction workers, who took to the streets on June 16, 1953, to protest an increase in work schedules by the communist government of East Germany. By the next day, the crowd of disgruntled workers and other antigovernment dissidents had grown to between 30,000 and 50,000. Leaders of the protest issued a call for a general strike, the resignation of the communist East German government, and free elections. Soviet forces struck quickly and without warning. Troops, supported by tanks and other armored vehicles, crashed through the crowd of protesters. Some protesters tried to fight back, but most fled before the onslaught. Red Cross officials in West Berlin (where many of the wounded protesters fled) estimated the death toll at between 15 and 20, and the number of wounded at more than 100. The Soviet military commanders declared martial law, and by the evening of June 17, the protests had been shattered and relative calm was restored.
In Washington, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared that the brutal Soviet action contradicted Russian propaganda that the people of East Germany were happy with their communist government. He noted that the smashing of the protests was "a good lesson on the meaning of communism." America's propaganda outlet in Europe, the Voice of America radio station, claimed, "The workers of East Berlin have already written a glorious page in postwar history. They have once and for all times exposed the fraudulent nature of communist regimes." These criticisms had little effect on the Soviet control of East Germany, which remained a communist stronghold until the government fell in 1989.
Jun 17, 1972: Nixon's re-election employees are arrested for burglary
Five burglars are arrested in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office and apartment complex in Washington, D.C. James McCord, Frank Sturgis, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, and Eugenio Martinez were apprehended in the early morning after a security guard at the Watergate noticed that several doors leading from the stairwell to various hallways had been taped to prevent them from locking. The intruders were wearing surgical gloves and carrying walkie-talkies, cameras, and almost $2,300 in sequential $100 bills. A subsequent search of their rooms at the Watergate turned up an additional $4,200, burglary tools, and electronic bugging equipment.
Although there was no immediate explanation as to the objective of the break-in, an extensive investigation ensued, eventually unveiling a comprehensive scheme of political sabotage and espionage designed to discredit Democratic candidates. McCord, who was one of the burglars, was also Richard Nixon's security chief for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP). Nixon campaign funds were ultimately linked back to the Watergate break-in. In addition, equipment used during the burglary had been borrowed from the CIA. In the fall of 1972, Nixon was re-elected into office, but the probe continued.
FBI agents soon established that hundreds of thousands of dollars in Nixon campaign contributions had been set aside to pay for a massive undercover anti-Democratic operation. According to federal investigators, CREEP had forged letters and distributed them under Democratic candidate's letterhead, leaked false and manufactured information to the press, seized confidential Democratic campaign files, and followed Democratic candidates' families in order to gather damaging information.
During an interview with the Senate select Watergate committee on July 16, 1973, former White House aide Alexander Butterfield revealed that Nixon had been taping all of his conversations and telephone calls in the White House since 1971. After losing a battle in the Supreme Court to keep these tapes private, Nixon was heard approving the cover-up of the Watergate burglary less than a week after it happened. During a June 20, 1972, discussion of the Watergate scandal between the President and former White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, an 18 1/4-minute gap had been inexplicably erased, causing frustration and speculation from investigators.
On August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned-the first U.S. president to do so. However, newly elected President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon a month later, saving him from facing criminal charges.
Jun 17, 1876: Indians hammer U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Rosebud
Sioux and Cheyenne Indians score a tactical victory over General Crook's forces at the Battle of the Rosebud, foreshadowing the disaster of the Battle of Little Big Horn eight days later.
General George Crook was in command of one of three columns of soldiers converging on the Big Horn country of southern Montana that June. A large band of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under the direction of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and several other chiefs had congregated in the area in defiance of U.S. demands that the Indians confine themselves to reservations. The army viewed the Indians' refusal as an opportunity to dispatch a massive three-pronged attack and win a decisive victory over the "hostile" Indians.
Crook's column, marching north from Fort Fetterman in Wyoming Territory, was to join with two others: General Gibbon's column coming east from Fort Ellis in Montana Territory, and General Terry's force coming west from Fort Abraham Lincoln in Dakota Territory. Terry's force included the soon-to-be-famous 7th Cavalry under the command of George Custer. The vast distances and lack of reliable communications made it difficult to coordinate, but the three armies planned to converge on the valley of the Big Horn River and stage an assault on an enemy whose location and size was only vaguely known.
The plan quickly ran into trouble. As Crook approached the Big Horn, his Indian scouts informed him they had found signs of a major Sioux force that must still be nearby. Crook was convinced that the Sioux were encamped in a large village somewhere along the Rosebud Creek just east of the Big Horn. Like most of his fellow officers, Crook believed that Indians were more likely to flee than stand and fight, and he was determined to find the village and attack before the Sioux could escape into the wilderness. Crook's Indian allies—262 Crow and Shoshone warriors—were less certain. They suspected the Sioux force was under the command of Crazy Horse, thee brilliant war chief. Crazy Horse, they warned, was too shrewd to give Crook an opportunity to attack a stationary village.
Crook soon learned that his allies were right. Around 8 a.m. on this day in 1876, Crook halted his force of about 1,300 men in the bowl of a small valley along the Rosebud Creek in order to allow the rear of the column to catch up. Crook's soldiers unsaddled and let their horses graze while they relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the cool morning air. The American soldiers were out in the open, divided, and unprepared. Suddenly, several Indian scouts rode into the camp at a full gallop. "Sioux! Sioux!" they shouted. "Many Sioux!" Within minutes, a mass of Sioux warriors began to converge on the army.
A force of at least 1,500 mounted Sioux warriors caught Crook's soldiers by surprise. Crazy Horse had kept an additional 2,500 warriors in reserve to finish the attack. Fortunately for Crook, one segment of his army was not caught unprepared. His 262 Crow and Shoshone allies had taken up advanced positions about 500 yards from the main body of soldiers. With astonishing courage, the Indian warriors boldly countercharged the much larger invading force. They managed to blunt the initial attack long enough for Crook to regroup his men and send soldiers forward to support his Indian allies. The fighting continued until noon, when the Sioux-perhaps hoping to draw Crook's army into an ambush—retreated from the field.
The combined force of 4,000 Sioux warriors had outnumbered Crook's divided and unprepared army by more than three to one. Had it not been for the wisdom and courage of Crook's Indian allies, Americans today might well remember the Battle of the Rosebud as they do the subsequent Battle of the Little Big Horn. As it was, Crook's team was badly bloodied—28 men were killed and 56 were seriously wounded.
Crook had no choice but to withdraw and regroup. Crazy Horse had lost only 13 men and his warriors were emboldened by their successful attack on the American soldiers. Eight days later, they would join with their tribesmen in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, which would wipe out George Custer and his 7th Cavalry.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
653 - St Martin I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
656 - Ali ibn Abu Talib chosen kalief of Islam
676 - Deusdedit III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1091 - Floris II de Vette becomes earl of Holland
1119 - Charles the Good becomes earl of Flanders
1291 - Acre reconquered after 200 years of crusader control
by Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil
1397 - Union of Kalmar established between Denmark, Sweden
& Norway
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 soundly defeat Cornish rebels led by Michael An Gof.
1535 - English Catholic Cardinal John Fischer state rights
1565 - Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga
shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
1579 - Anti-English uprising in Ireland
1579 - Sir Francis Drake lands on coast of California at
Drakes Bay, names it "New Albion"
1580 - Battle at Hardenberg: Spanish troops beat rebels
1583 - Brabant: Duke of Parma beats French mercenaries
1609 - Netherlands, England & France sign 12 year
Covenant
1631 - Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband,
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb,
the Taj Mahal.
1665 - Battle at Viciosa: English & Portuguese army beat
Spain
1700 - Massachussetts orders priest to leave the colony
1734 - French troops occupy Philipsburg at Rhine
1745 - American colonials capture Louisburg, Cape Breton
Island from French
1773 - Cúcuta, Colombia is founded by Juana Rangel de
Cuéllar
1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it was Breed's Hill)
1789 - 3rd Estate in France declared itself a national
assembly
1815 - Stephen Decatur conquerors Algerian frigate Mashouda
1824 - Bureau of Indian Affairs established
Inventor Charles GoodyearInventor Charles Goodyear 1837 -
Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent
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 is later established as a result
1850 - Paddle-wheeler "G P Griffith" burns off
Mentor Ohio (206 die)
1855 - Heavy French/British bombing of Sebastopol, Crimea:
2,000+ killed
1856 - Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in
Philadelphia
1861 - Battle of Boonville, MI-Brigadier General Lyon
defeats Confederate forces
1863 - Battle at Middleburg, Virginia
1863 - Battle of Aldie, Confederates fail to drive back
Union in Virginia
1863 - Naval Engagement at Warsaw Sound GA-USS Weehawken vs
CSS Atlanta
1863 - Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st
accident insurer)
1864 - -18] Confederate troops pull back out Solves/lost Mt,
Georgia
1864 - 640m long ponton bridge over James River Virginia
finished
1864 - General John B Hood replaces General Johnston
1864 - Skirmish at Mud Creek/Noyes's (Nose) Creek, Georgia
1876 - 1st to hit 2 HRs; & score 5 runs in 9 inn NL game
(George Hall, A's)
1876 - Battle of Rosebud/Battle Where Girl Saved Her Brother
1877 - Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon - the Nez
Perce defeat the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
1880 - John Ward, Providence, pitches perfect game vs
Buffalo
1882 - Tornado kills 130 in Iowa
1885 - Statue of Liberty arrived in NYC aboard French ship
`Isere'
1894 - 1st US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, Rutland,
Vermont
1895 - US Ship Canal (W 225th St) in the Bronx completed;
cutting Marble Hill off from Manhattan
1897 - William Frank Powell, NJ educator, named minister to
Haiti
1898 - US Senate agrees to annex Hawaii
1898 - The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
1901 - The College Board introduces its first standardized
test, the forerunner to the SAT.
1911 - Belgium government of De Broqueville forms
1915 - League to Enforce Peace forms in Philadelphia
1916 - 1st national congress of Sarekat Islam at Bandoeng
Java
1916 - US troops under Gen Pershing march into Mexico
1917 - British king George V takes the name Windsor
1919 - "Barney Google" cartoon strip, by Billy De
Beck, premieres
1920 - Dutch 2nd Chamber accept Anti-revolution law
1928 - Amelia Earhart leaves Nfld to become 1st woman
(passenger) to fly Atlantic (as a passenger in a plane piloted by Wilmer
Stultz)
1930 - Bradman scores 131 in the 1st Test cricket at Trent
Bridge
1930 - Chuck Klein sets Phillies hitting streak at 26
straight games
1932 - Oil tanker Cymbeline explodes in Montreal, Canada
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 - Kansas City Massacre: 1 FBI agent, 4 cops & 1
gangster killed by mob
1937 - Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens
in NY
1938 - Japan declares war on China
1939 - Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a
convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison
Saint-Pierre.
1940 - France asks Germany for terms of surrender in WW II
1940 - General De Gaulle departs Bordeaux for London
1940 - Germany occupiers ration bread in Holland
1940 - USSR occupies Estonia
1940 - World War II: sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the
Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France.
1943 - Player-manager Joe Cronin of Red Sox hits two 3-run
pinch home runs
1944 - -19] French troops under Lattre de Tssigny conquer
Elba
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi
Germany Adolf Hitler 1944 - Hitler secretly meets with von Rundstedt in
Marjival Soissons
1944 - Iceland declares independence from Denmark
1944 - Republic of Iceland proclaimed at Thingvallir,
Iceland
1944 - Resistance fighter/poet Col Blake arrives in London
1945 - Day of Unity in West Germany (National Day)
1946 - SW Bell inaugurates mobile telephone commercial
service, St Louis
1947 - 1st round-the-world civil air service leaves NYC
1947 - Earnest Reuter becomes mayor of Berlin
1947 - Pan Am Airways chartered as 1st worldwide passenger
airline
1948 - Joe Cronin pinch hit HRs in both ends of a
doubleheader
1950 - 1st kidney transplant (Chicago)
1950 - Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia & Syria sign
security pact
1951 - "Flahooley" closes at Broadhurst Theater
NYC after 40 performances
1952 - 2 mine cave-ins at Charleroi, Belgium
1953 - Most runs scored in 1 inning (17 by Red Sox)
1953 - Riots in East Germany for reunification
1953 - Sup Court Justice Wm O Douglas stays executions of
spies Julius & Ethel Rosenberg scheduled for next day their 14th
anniversary
1954 - CIA exile army lands in Guatemala (JF Dulles &
United Fruit Co)
Heavyweight Boxing Champion Rocky MarcianoHeavyweight Boxing
Champion Rocky Marciano 1954 - Rocky Marciano beats Ezzard Charles in 15 for
heavyweight boxing title
1954 - Televised Senate Army McCarthy hearings ends
1956 - Golda Meir begins her term as Israel's foreign
minister
1957 - "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey Orch peaks at #2
1957 - Tuskegee boycott begins (Blacks boycotted city
stores)
1958 - Radio Moscow reports execution of Hungarian
ex-premier Imre Nagy
1958 - The Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, which is in
the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada opened, and is still open to
this day
1959 - Eamon de Valera elected pres of Ireland
1960 - Ted Williams hit his 500th HR
1961 - "Billy Barnes People" closes at Royale
Theater NYC after 8 perfs
1961 - 61st US Golf Open: Gene Littler shoots a 281 at
Oakland Hills Mich
1961 - Russian ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev defects to west
in Frankfurt
1962 - 62nd US Golf Open: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 283 at
Oakmont CC PA
1962 - Brazil Beats Czechoslovakia in soccer's 7th World Cup
at Santiago
1962 - Lou Brock is 2nd to HR into Polo Grounds right-center
field bleachers
Baseball Player Ted WilliamsBaseball Player Ted Williams
1962 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Cosmopolitan Golf Open
1963 - British House of Commons debates Profumo-Christine
Keeler affair
1963 - Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in
public schools
1965 - 11.08" (28.14 cm) of rainfall, Holly, Colorado
(state 24-hour record)
1965 - 1st bombing by B-52 (50 km north of Saigon)
1965 - Kinks arrive in NYC beginning their 1st US tour
1966 - Peter Green joins John Mayall's Bluebreakers
1967 - "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane
peaks at #5
1967 - 1st Chinese hydrogen bomb explodes
1967 - Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park
performed
1967 - China becomes world's 4th thermonuclear (H-bomb)
power
1967 - Longest doubleheader 9:15 (Tigers & Athletics)
1968 - Belgium government of Eyskens-Merlot forms
1968 - KQEC TV channel 32 in SF, CA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1968 - Ohio Express' "Yummy Yummy Yummy" goes gold
Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra
StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1969 - "Oh!
Calcutta!" opens in NYC (almost entirely in the nude)
1970 - Edwin Land patents Polaroid camera
1970 - Led Zeppelin begins their last European tour
1972 - "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" by
Little Jimmy Osmond peaks at #38
1972 - 5 arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party HQ at
Watergate
1972 - Chile president Allende forms new government
1972 - Looking Glass releases "Brandy"
1972 - Five White House plumbers apprehended after second
burglary of Democratic Natl HQ, Watergate
1973 - 1st du Maurier Golf Classic (La Canadienne): Jocelyne
Bourassa
1973 - 73rd US Golf Open: Johnny Miller shoots a 279 at
Oakmont CC PA
1973 - Russian party leader Brezhnev visits US
1975 - Voters in Northern Mariana Is approve commonwealth
status with US
1976 - ABA (Nets, Pacers, Nuggets & Spurs) merges into
NBA
1976 - Indonesia annexes Portuguese East-Timor
1978 - "Cheeseburger In Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett
peaks at #32
Scientist and Inventor Edwin LandScientist and Inventor
Edwin Land 1978 - Ron Guidry sets Yankee record with 18 strike-outs
1979 - "Sarava" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater
NYC after 140 performances
1979 - 79th US Golf Open: Hale Irwin shoots a 284 at
Inverness Club in Toledo
1979 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Golf Tournament
1981 - Battle between Moslems & Christians in Cairo, 14
killed
1982 - US President Reagan 1st UN Gen Assembly address
("evil empire" speech)
1982 - President Galtieri resigns after leading Argentina to
defeat
1984 - Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Mayflower Golf Classic
1984 - John Turner succeeds Pierre Trudeau as premier of
Canada
1985 - 18th Space Shuttle Mission (51-G)-Discovery 5
launched
1986 - Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns Antonin
Scalia nominated
1987 - With the death of the last individual, the Dusky
Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
1988 - Givens' Family reports Mike Tyson beats his wife
Robin Givens
1988 - Microsoft releases MS DOS 4.0
1988 - Soyuz TM-5 launches
Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike TysonHeavyweight Boxing
Champion Mike Tyson 1988 - Women sentenced to 90 years in 1st product tampering
murder case
1989 - US beats Guatemala 2-1, in 3rd round of 1990 world
soccer cup
1990 - "Some Americans Abroad" closes at Vivian
Beaumont NYC after 62 perfs
1990 - "Zoya's Apartment" closes at Circle in Sq
Theater NYC after 45 perfs
1990 - 90th US Golf Open: Hale Irwin shoots a 280 at Medinah
CC in Medinah Il
1990 - Chris Johnson wins LPGA Atlantic City Golf Classic
1991 - Country entertainer Minnie Pearl suffers a stroke at
78
1991 - Pres Zachary Taylors body is exhumed to test how he
died
1991 - South Africa abolishes last of its apartheid laws
1992 - Conn Gov Lowell Weicker & WFAN DJ Don Imus change
places for 1 day
1992 - Phila 76ers trade Charles Barkley to Phoenix Suns
1992 - Slaughtering by Inkhata-followers at Boipatong, South
Africa, kills 42
1993 - Indians' Carlos Baerga hits 3 home runs against
Detroit
1994 - 1994 World Cup soccer match begin, Germany vs Bolivia
in Chicago
1994 - OJ Simpson doesn't turn himself in on murder charges,
LA cops chase his Ford Bronco for 1½ hours, eventually gives up (seen live on
TV)
NFL Running Back and Convicted Criminal OJ SimpsonNFL
Running Back and Convicted Criminal OJ Simpson 1995 - "Who's Tommy"
closes at St James Theater NYC after 899 performances
1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Syracuse NY on
WAQX 95.7 FM
1997 - NHL announces it will add Nashville in 1998, Atlanta
in 1999 & Minneapolis-St Paul & Columbus, Ohio in 2000
2008 - First day of legal same-sex marriage in California
2008 - 62nd NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Los
Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 2
2009 - 43rd CMT Music Awards: Taylor Swift & Brad
Paisley wins
2010 - 64th NBA Championship: Los Angeles Lakers beat Boston
Celtics, 4 games to 3
2012 - France's Socialist Party wins a majority in the
legislative election
2012 - Greek voters return to the polls after the failed May
6 election
2012 - American golfer, Webb Simpson, wins the US Open
0362 - Emperor Julian issued an edict banning Christians from teaching in Syria. 1579 - Sir Francis Drake claimed San Francisco Bay for England. (California) 1775 - The British took Bunker Hill outside of Boston. 1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly, and began to frame a constitution. 1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte incorporated Italy into his empire. 1837 - Charles Goodyear received his first patent. The patent was for a process that made rubber easier to work with. 1848 - Austrian General Alfred Windischgratz crushed a Czech uprising in Prague. 1854 - The Red Turban revolt broke out in Guangdong, China. 1856 - The Republican Party opened its first national convention in Philadelphia. 1861 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hydrogen balloon. 1872 - George M. Hoover began selling whiskey in Dodge City, Kansas. The town had been dry up until this point. 1876 - General George Crook’s command was attacked and defeated on the Rosebud River by 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse. 1879 - Thomas Edison received an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the trustees of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, NJ. 1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere. 1912 - The German Zeppelin SZ 111 burned in its hanger in Friedrichshafen. 1913 - U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico. 1917 - The Russian Duma met in a secret session in Petrograd and voted for an immediate Russian offensive against the German Army. (World War I) 1924 - The Fascist militia marched into Rome. 1926 - Spain threatened to quit the League of Nations if Germany was allowed to join. 1928 - Amelia Earhart began the flight that made her the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean. 1930 - The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill became law. It placed the highest tariff on imports to the U.S. 1931 - British authorities in China arrested Indochinese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh. 1932 - The U.S. Senate defeated the bonus bill as 10,000 veterans massed around the Capitol. 1940 - The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. 1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II. 1941 - WNBT-TV in New York City, NY, was granted the first construction permit to operate a commercial TV station in the U.S. 1942 - Yank, a weekly magazine for the U.S. armed services, began publication. The term "G.I. Joe" was first used in a comic strip by Dave Breger. 1942 - "Suspense" debuted on CBS Radio. 1944 - French troops landed on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. 1944 - The republic of Iceland was established. 1950 - Dr. Richard H. Lawler performed the first kidney transplant in a 45-minute operation in Chicago, IL. 1953 - Soviet tanks fought thousands of Berlin workers that were rioting against the East German government. 1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court banned the required reading of the Lord's prayer and Bible in public schools. 1965 - Twenty-seven B-52’s hit Viet Cong outposts but lost two planes in South Vietnam. 1969 - Boris Spasky became chess champion of the world after checkmating former champion Tigran Petrosian in Moscow. 1970 - North Vietnamese troops cut the last operating rail line in Cambodia. 1982 - Former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on "The CBS Morning News." 1985 - Judy Norton-Taylor was photographed for "Playboy" magazine. 1991 - The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act. The act had required that all South Africans for classified by race at birth.
1775 The Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the American Revolution. 1885 The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere. 1928 Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman. 1944 The Republic of Iceland was established. 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools. 1972 Burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, DC, started the Watergate political scandal. 1994 O. J. Simpson's slow-speed chase by the police, watched by millions on TV, ended in his arrest. 2002 Australian scientists announced that they had "teleported" a laser beam—breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jun17.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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