What are the important events that happened on August 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 17 is the 230th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 136 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 4, 2024 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,723,852,800 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatriacontagon’ day.
Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 165 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,257 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 17 Historical Events
1862 –
American Civil War: Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1864 –
American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville – Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
1907 –
Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, opened.
1914 –
World War I: Battle of Stalluponen – The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Pavel Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
1942 –
World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).
1943 –
World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
1969 –
Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage.
1978 –
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
1979 –
Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156.
1999 –
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
Who were born on August 17?
1840 –
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, English poet and writer (d. 1922)
1913 –
Óscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (d. 1989)
1926 –
Valerie Eliot, surviving widow and second wife of the Nobel prize-winning poet, T. S. Eliot.
1938 –
Theodoros Pangalos, Greek politician
1951 –
Alan Minter, British boxer
1951 –
Robert Joy, Canadian actor
1952 –
Dr. Mario Theissen, German F1 team principal of BMW Sauber
1952 –
Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver
1967 –
Spencer Rice, Canadian Actor
1982 –
Phil Jagielka, English footballer
Who died on August 17?
1304 –
Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan (b. 1243)
1657 –
Robert Blake, British admiral (b. 1599)
1786 –
King Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1712)
1949 –
Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist and politician (b. 1891)
1973 –
Conrad Aiken, American author (b. 1889)
1983 –
Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (b. 1896)
1988 –
Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (b. 1935)
1995 –
Ted Whitten, Australian rules footballer (b. 1933)
2007 –
Bill Deedes, British journalist and politician (b. 1913)
2008 –
Franco Sensi, Italian businessman and football team owner (b. 1926)
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