Wikipedia defines history as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. It came from the Greek word ‘historia’ – which means ‘inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation’.
Did you know? There are many who claim Herodotus, a fifth century BC Greek historian, as the “father of history”.
This website utilizes pages from Wikipedia to extract historical events from 3761 BC up to the present. There are 105,062 records in the database that include events, births and deaths of popular individuals. The present day Gregorian calendar was adopted to show dates of interest.
Let us begin with today’s history. You may also enter a specific day using the form on the right sidebar.
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 229th day of the year 2017 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 136 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 4, 2017 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 417,480 hours 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 ‘dihectaicosaenneagon’ day.
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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 186 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 1,700 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 17 Historical Events
- 1862 –Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
- 1943 –World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
- 1998 –Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he “misled people” about the relationship.
- 2005 –Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh
- 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.
Who were born on August 17?
- 1844 –Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (d. 1913)
- 1941 –Boog Powell, American baseball player
- 1952 –Guillermo Vilas, Argentinian tennis player
- 1952 –Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver
- 1982 –Phil Jagielka, English footballer
Who died on August 17?
- 1861 –Alcée Louis la Branche, American Politician (b. 1806)
- 1880 –Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (b. 1810)
- 1935 –Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American feminist and writer (b. 1860)
- 1990 –Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (b. 1918)
- 1998 –Wladyslaw Komar, Polish track and field athlete (b. 1940)
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