Did you know
In 1943, World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
August 17 in History
1943 — World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D
Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
August 17 spans 71 recorded events across recorded history, from 986 to 2019. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
71 events
986 – 2019
Today in history
More major events on August 17
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1970 Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus). Source
- 1958 Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country. Source
- 1945 Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire. Source
Did you know
The First Quebec Conference, codenamed Quadrant, was a highly secret military conference held during World War II by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
It took place in Quebec City on August 17–24, 1943, at both the Citadelle and the Château Frontenac. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
The chief representatives were Winston Churchill and Franklin D. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
Roosevelt, hosted by the Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
986
Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan: The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
Conflicts in the Balkans (680–1355)
1186
Georgenberg Pact: Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria and Leopold V, Duke of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
1186 treaty unifying the duchies of Austria and Styria
1386
Karl Topia, the ruler of Princedom of Albania, forges an alliance with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the Ottomans in return.
14th-century Albanian prince and warlord
1424
Hundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil: An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under Jean II, Duke of Alençon, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas.
Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453
1488
Konrad Bitz, the Bishop of Turku, marks the date of his preface to Missale Aboense, the oldest known book of Finland.
1498
Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person in history to resign the cardinalate; later that same day, King Louis XII of France names him Duke of Valentinois.
Italian cardinal deacon (1475–1507)
1549
Battle of Sampford Courtenay: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England.
Battle in the Western Rebellion of 1549
1560
The Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.
Christian church based in Rome
1585
Eighty Years' War: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city and as a result over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces.
c. 1566/1568–1648 war in Habsburg Netherlands
1585
A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
English statesman and explorer (1552–1618)
1597
Islands Voyage: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores.
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604)
1668
The magnitude 8.0 North Anatolia earthquake causes 8,000 deaths in northern Anatolia, Ottoman Empire.
Most powerful earthquake in Turkish history
1717
Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18: The month-long Siege of Belgrade ends with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire.
War between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century
1723
Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes Bishop of Făgăraș and is festively installed in his position at the St.
Nicolas Cathedral in Făgăraș, after being formally confirmed earlier by Pope Clement XI.
1740
Pope Benedict XIV, previously known as Prospero Lambertini, succeeds Clement XII as the 247th Pope.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1740 to 1758
1784
Classical composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay rise of 12,000 reals from his employer, the Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón.
Italian composer and cellist (1743–1805)
1798
The Vietnamese Catholics report a Marian apparition in Quảng Trị, an event which is called Our Lady of La Vang.
Country in Southeast Asia
1807
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)
1808
The Finnish War: The Battle of Alavus is fought.
1808–1809 war between Russia and Sweden
1827
Dutch King William I and Pope Leo XII sign concord.
King of the Netherlands from 1815 to 1840
1836
British parliament accepts registration of births, marriages and deaths.
Supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom
1862
American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Dakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
Frontier conflicts in North America, 1609–1890s
1862
American Civil War: Major General J.
E. B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1863
American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
City in South Carolina, United States
1864
American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville: Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
1864 battle of the American Civil War
1866
The Grand Duchy of Baden announces its withdrawal from the German Confederation and signs a treaty of peace and alliance with Prussia.
State in southwest Germany (1806–1918)
1876
Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the last opera in his Ring cycle, premieres at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
German composer (1813–1883)
1883
The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional.
Island country in the Caribbean
1896
Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
First pedestrian victim of an automobile collision
1907
Pike Place Market, one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the U.S.
and a popular tourist attraction, opens in Seattle, Washington.
1914
World War I: Battle of Stallupönen: The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1915
Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched in Marietta, Georgia, USA after his death sentence is commuted by Governor John Slaton.
Jewish-American lynching victim (1884–1915)
1915
A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
Category 4 Atlantic hurricane
1916
World War I: Romania signs a secret treaty with the Entente Powers.
According to the treaty, Romania agreed to join the war on the Allied side.
1918
Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
Faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
1943
World War II: The U.S.
Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.
1943
World War II: The U.S.
Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
1943
World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
Air and space warfare force of the United Kingdom
1945
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
President of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967
1945
The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.
1945 political allegorical novella by George Orwell
1945
Evacuation of Manchukuo: At Talitzou by the Sino-Korean border, Puyi, then the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo, formally renounces the imperial throne, dissolves the state, and cedes its territory to the Republic of China.
1945 Soviet invasion in Northeast China
1947
The Radcliffe Line, the border between the Dominions of India and Pakistan, is revealed.
Boundary of the Partition of India
1949
The 6.7 Ms Karlıova earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 320–450 dead.
Earthquake in Turkey
1949
Matsukawa derailment: Unknown saboteurs cause a passenger train to derail and overturn in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, killing three crew members and igniting a political firestorm between the Japanese Communist Party and the government of Occupied Japan that will eventually lead to the Japanese Red Purge.
Railway accident caused by sabotage
1950
Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war were massacred by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.
1950–1953 conflict on the Korean Peninsula
1953
First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous takes place, in Southern California.
Mutual help 12-Step organization
1955
Hurricane Diane made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, and it went on to cause major floods and kill more than 184 people.
Category 2 Atlantic hurricane in 1955
1958
Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails.
Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959
Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.2 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
Lake in southwestern Montana, United States
1960
1962
Peter Fechter is shot and bleeds to death while trying to cross the new Berlin Wall.
18 year old German bricklayer killed crossing the Berlin wall in 1962
1969
Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S.
Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.
1970
Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched.
It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1976
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless.
Earthquake in the Philippines
1977
The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
Russian Arktika-class icebreaker
1978
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
First balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean
1985
The 1985–86 Hormel strike begins in Austin, Minnesota.
Labor dispute between Hormel and the United Food and Commercial Workers
1988
President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S.
Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1991
Strathfield massacre: In Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots and kills seven people and injures six others before turning the gun on himself.
1991 mass shooting in Sydney, Australia
1998
Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
1998 American political sex scandal
1999
The 7.6 Mw İzmit earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 17,118–17,127 dead and 43,953–50,000 injured.
Earthquake in Kocaeli Province, Turkey
2004
The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
Legislature of Serbia
2005
The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israeli disengagement from Gaza, starts.
Israeli communities built on land occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War
2005
Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh.
Islamist terror attacks throughout Bangladesh
2008
American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
American swimmer (born 1985)
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.
2009 turbine failure at a hydroelectric power station in Russia
2015
A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others.
2015 terrorist attack in Thailand
2017
Barcelona attacks: A van is driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.
Terrorist attacks in Spain in August 2017
2019
A bomb explodes at a wedding in Kabul killing 63 people and leaving 182 injured.
Suicide bombing at a wedding in Kabul