What are the important events that happened on June 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

June 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

June 17 is the 168^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 197 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is June 4, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,168,640 minutes 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 ‘hectahexacontaoctagon’ day.

Gemini is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Pearl is the modern birthstone for this month. Moonstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 245 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 4,561 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

June 17 Historical Events

• 1579 –
  Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
• 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.
• 1789 –
  In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
• 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.
• 1910 –
  Aurel Vlaicu pilots a A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
• 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
• 1948 –
  A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
• 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.

Who were born on June 17?

• 1902 –
  Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (d. 1989)
• 1910 –
  Red Foley, American musician (d. 1968)
• 1933 –
  Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
• 1947 –
  Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1967 –
  Dorothea Röschmann, German operatic soprano
• 1972 –
  Sebastian White, English drummer (Oasis)
• 1978 –
  Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
• 1978 –
  James Corden, English actor and comedian
• 1983 –
  Lee Ryan, British singer (Blue)
• 1986 –
  Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer

Who died on June 17?

• 1797 –
  Shah Agha Muhammad Khan of Persia (b. 1742)
• 1813 –
  Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician (b. 1726)
• 1939 –
  Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1940 –
  Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1865)
• 1974 –
  Pamela Britton, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1983 –
  Peter Mennin, American composer and teacher (b. 1923)
• 1984 –
  John Murray, American playwright (b. 1906)
• 2004 –
  Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
• 2008 –
  Cyd Charisse, American dancer and actress (b. 1922)
• 2009 –
  Darrell Powers, American World War II figure (b. 1923)