This Day in History...August 17th

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News

  • 1858 1st bank in Hawaii opens
  • 1870 1st ascent of Mt Rainier, Washington
  • 1896 Gold is discovered on Klondike River
  • 1943 Patton wins race to Messina
  • 1978 1st manned balloon crossing of Atlantic Ocean
  • 1987 Hitler's last living henchman dies
  • 1988 NYC 1st case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
  • 1999 Deadly earthquake strikes Turkey

Birthdays

  • 1786 - Davy Crockett (frontiersman, soldier, defender of the Alamo)
  • 1882 - Samuel Goldwyn (Goldfish) (movie pioneer: the "G" of MGM; Academy Award-winning producer: The Best Years of Our Lives [1946]; All Quiet on the Western Front)
  • 1888 - Monty Woolley (actor: As Young As You Feel, Since You Went Away, The Man Who Came to Dinner)
  • 1893 - Mae West (playwright, actress: Sextette, Go West, Young Man, I'm No Angel, Every Day's a Holiday, Diamond Lil, Sex; actress: She Done Him Wrong, My Little Chicadee, Myra Breckinridge; autobiography: Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It)
  • 1900 - Quincy Howe (newscaster)
  • 1901 - Ann Harding (Dorothy Gatley) (actress: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Promise to Murder, The Magnificent Yankee)
  • 1909 - Larry Clinton (bandleader: Deep Purple, My Reverie, On a Slow Boat to China; composer: The Dipsy Doodle, Satan Takes a Holiday, Tap Dancer's Nightmare, Dusk in Upper Sandusky)
  • 1921 - Maureen O'Hara (Fitzsimmons) (actress: Miracle on 34th Street, How Green was My Valley, The Quiet Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
  • 1923 - Larry Rivers (Yitzroch Grossberg) (artist)
  • 1929 - Glenn Corbett (Rothenburg) (actor: Shadow Force, The Stranger, All the Young Men, Shenandoah, The Violent Years, Route 66, The Road West, It's a Man's World, Dallas)
  • 1932 - John (Red) Kerr (basketball: Syracuse Nationals, Philadelphia Warriors, Baltimore Bullets; coach: Chicago Bulls: NBA Coach of the Year [1966]; Phoenix Suns)
  • 1932 - Duke Pearson (composer, band leader, musician: piano: How Insensitive)
  • 1933 - Jim Davenport (baseball)
  • 1937 - Diego Sequi (baseball)
  • 1939 - Chico (Ron) Maki (hockey)
  • 1941 - Boog (John) Powell (baseball: Baltimore Orioles: FB: Baseball Writer's Award [1970])
  • 1943 - Robert DeNiro (actor: Academy Award-winning actor: Raging Bull [1980], The Godfather II [1974]; Brazil, The Deer Hunter, The Untouchables, Taxi Driver, Awakenings, Cape Fear, Frankenstein, Back Draft, Search for Tomorrow; director: Bronx Tale)
  • 1948 - Bill Parsons (baseball)
  • 1949 - Isaiah Robertson (football)
  • 1952 - Guillermo Vilas (tennis champion: Australian Open [1978-79], French open [1977], U.S. Open 1977])
  • 1958 - Belinda Carlisle (musician: guitar, singer: group: The Go-Go's: We Got the Beat, Head Over Heels, Turn to You, Heaven on Earth)
  • 1960 - Sean Penn (actor: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Casualties of War, Shanghai Surprise, We're No Angels, Carlito's Way, Colors, Dead Man Walking)
  • 1970 - Jim Courier (tennis champion: Australian Open [1992, 93], French Open [1991, 92])

Weddings

  • Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron (1989)
  • Bruce Lee and Linda Lee Cadwell (1964)
  • Jack Lemmon and Felicia Farr (1962)
  • Eslanda Robeson and Paul Robeson (1921)

Chart Toppers

  • 1962 Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka; The Loco-Motion - Little Eva; You'll Lose a Good Thing - Barbara Lynn; Ahab, the Arab - Ray Stevens
  • 1970 (They Long to be) Close to You - Carpenters; In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry; War - Edwin Starr; Don't Keep Me Hangin' On - Sonny James
  • 1978 Three Times a Lady - Commodores; Grease - Frankie Valli; Copacabana (At the Copa) - Barry Manilow; You Don't Love Me Anymore - Eddie Rabbitt
  • 1986 Papa Don't Preach - Madonna; Higher Love - Steve Winwood; Take My Breath Away - Berlin; You're the Last Thing I Needed Tonight - John Schneider

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