What Happened on August 17th in History
30 historical events on this date
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, activist, and revolutionary who served as the first president of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967.
The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.
Animal Farm is a satirical allegorical dystopian novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It follows the mistreated anthropomorphic farm...
The Radcliffe Line, the border between the Dominions of India and Pakistan, is revealed.
The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated by the two boundary commissions for the provinces of Punjab and Bengal during the Partition of India. It is named after Cyril Radcliffe, who, as the...
The 6.7 Ms⯠Karlıova earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 320â450 dead.
The 1949 Karlıova earthquake occurred at 18:44 UTC on 17 August with an epicenter near Karlıova in Bingöl Province, Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.7, a maximum...
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.
The Matsukawa derailment occurred at 03:09 AM on August 17, 1949 when a TĆhoku Main Line passenger train derailed and overturned between Kanayagawa and Matsukawa stations in Fukushima Prefecture of...
Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war were massacred by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.
The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea...
First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous takes place, in Southern California.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step...
Hurricane Diane made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, and it went on to cause major floods and kill more than 184 people.
Hurricane Diane was the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than an estimated $1 billion in damage, including direct costs and the loss of business and personal revenue. It formed on August 7...
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.
Pioneer 0 was a failed United States space probe that was designed to go into orbit around the Moon, carrying a television camera, a micrometeorite detector and a magnetometer. It was part of the...
Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.2 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
Quake Lake is a lake in the western United States, on the Madison River in southwestern Montana. It was created after an earthquake struck on August 17, 1959, with 28 fatalities. Northwest of West...
Aeroflot Flight 036 crashes in Soviet Ukraine, killing 34.
Aeroflot Flight 036 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Cairo International Airport to Bykovo Airport. On 17 August 1960, the Ilyushin Il-18 operating this flight...
Peter Fechter is shot and bleeds to death while trying to cross the new Berlin Wall.
Peter Fechter was an East German bricklayer who became the twenty-seventh known person to die at the Berlin Wall. Fechter was 18 years old when he was shot and killed by East German border guards...
Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42Â billion in damage.
The SaffirâSimpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanesâwhich in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of...
Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
The Venera program was a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planet Venus. A total of eighteen probes were sent, including two...
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.
The 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami occurred on August 17, 1976, at 00:11 local time near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, in the Philippines. It measured 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale...
The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
Arktika is a retired nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Soviet Arktika class. In service from 1975 to 2008, she was the first surface ship to reach the North Pole, a feat achieved on August 17, 1977,...
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.
Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed on 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours and 6...
The 1985â86 Hormel strike begins in Austin, Minnesota.
The 1985â1986 Hormel strike was a labor strike that involved approximately 1,500 workers of the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota in the United States. The strike, beginning August 17,...
President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was a Pakistani army officer and politician who ruled as Pakistan's president and dictator after his coup in 1977 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He was also the...
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.
The Strathfield massacre was a shooting rampage at Strathfield Plaza in Strathfield, Sydney, Australia, on 17 August 1991. The shooter was Wade Frankum, who killed himself as police arrived at the...
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.
A sex scandal involving Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, erupted in 1998. Their sexual relationship began in 1995âwhen Clinton was 49...
The 7.6 Mw⯠İzmit earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 17,118â17,127 dead and 43,953â50,000 injured.
An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6 struck Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 17 August 1999. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the...
The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: BoĆŸe pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
The National Assembly, Parliament, or SkupĆĄtina, formally the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are...
The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israeli disengagement from Gaza, starts.
Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost...
Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh.
On 17 August 2005, around 500 bomb explosions occurred at 300 locations in 63 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh. The bombs exploded within a half-hour period, starting at 11:00Â am. A terrorist...
American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He won more Olympic medals than any other athlete, a total of 28 medals across four Olympic Games. Phelps also holds the all-time...
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.
On 17 August 2009, a turbine in the hydroelectric power station of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam near Sayanogorsk in Russia failed catastrophically, killing 75 people and severely damaging the plant....
A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others.
On 17 August 2015, a bombing took place inside the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan district, Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people and injuring 125. Thai police were...
Barcelona attacks: A van is driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.
On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla street in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, killing 13 people and injuring at least 130...
A bomb explodes at a wedding in Kabul killing 63 people and leaving 182 injured.
On 17 August 2019, a suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq...