August 17 facts for kids

August 17th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from ancient times to today. People around the world have celebrated important moments, seen new inventions, and witnessed big changes on this date. Let's explore some of the key happenings that have shaped our world on August 17th!

August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 136 days remain until the end of the year.

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 310 – Pope Eusebius passes away. He was banished to Sicily by Emperor Maxentius.
• 682 – Pope Leo II begins his time as Pope.
• 986 – In the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars, the Bulgarians led by Samuel defeat the Byzantine army at the Gate of Trajan. The Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaped.
• 1186 – The Georgenberg Pact is signed. In this agreement, Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria gives his duchy (a type of territory) to Leopold V, Duke of Austria and his son Frederick. The agreement stated that Austria and Styria would always stay together.
• 1386 – Karl Topia, who ruled the Princedom of Albania, forms an alliance with the Republic of Venice. He promised to help Venice in its wars, and in return, Venice would protect Albania's coast from the Ottomans.
• 1424 – During the Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Verneuil takes place. An English army led by John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army.
• 1488 – Konrad Bitz, the Bishop of Turku, finishes the introduction to Missale Aboense. This is the oldest known book from Finland.
• 1498 – Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person to ever step down from being a cardinal. Later that day, King Louis XII of France names him the Duke of Valentinois.
• 1549 – The Prayer Book Rebellion in England ends after the Battle of Sampford Courtenay.
• 1560 – The Catholic Church is no longer the main church in Scotland. Instead, Protestantism becomes the national religion.
• 1585 – During the Eighty Years' War, the city of Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces. Many Protestants living there had to leave, and over half of the 100,000 people moved to the northern provinces.
• 1585 – A group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh arrives in the New World. They plan to create the Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, which is near what we now call North Carolina.
• 1597 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh begin an expedition to the Azores during the Islands Voyage.

Modern History (1601-1900)

• 1668 – A very strong earthquake (magnitude 8.0) in northern Anatolia, Ottoman Empire, causes about 8,000 deaths.
• 1717 – The Siege of Belgrade ends. Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capture the city from the Ottoman Empire.
• 1723 – Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes the Bishop of Făgăraș and is officially installed in his role.
• 1740 – Pope Benedict XIV becomes the 247th Pope, taking over from Clement XII.
• 1784 – The famous composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay raise from his employer.
• 1798 – Vietnamese Catholics report seeing a Marian apparition (an appearance of the Virgin Mary) in Quảng Trị. This event is known as Our Lady of La Vang.
• 1807 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat begins its journey from New York City to Albany, New York, on the Hudson River. This marks the start of the world's first commercial steamboat service.
• 1808 – The Finnish War continues with the Battle of Alavus.
• 1827 – Dutch King William I and Pope Leo XII sign an agreement.
• 1836 – The British parliament passes a law that allows for the official recording of births, marriages, and deaths.
• 1862 – The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota. Dakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
• 1862 – During the American Civil War, Major General J. E. B. Stuart is put in charge of all the cavalry (soldiers on horseback) for the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
• 1863 – American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union forces bombard Fort Sumter, which is held by the Confederates.
• 1864 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Gainesville, Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
• 1866 – The Grand Duchy of Baden leaves the German Confederation and signs a peace and alliance treaty with Prussia.
• 1876 – Richard Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung, which is the last part of his Ring cycle, is performed for the first time at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
• 1883 – The Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional, is performed publicly for the first time.
• 1896 – Bridget Driscoll becomes the first person recorded to be killed by a motor car in the United Kingdom.

Recent History (1901-Present)

• 1914 – World War I: In the Battle of Stallupönen, the German army defeats the Russian forces.
• 1915 – A very strong Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas, with strong winds.
• 1916 – World War I: Romania signs a secret treaty with the Entente Powers. Romania agrees to join the war on the Allied side.
• 1918 – Moisei Uritsky, a leader of the Bolshevik revolution, is assassinated.
• 1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin.
• 1943 – World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force loses 60 bombers during the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.
• 1943 – World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army and the British 8th Army arrive in Messina, Italy, completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
• 1943 – World War II: The First Québec Conference begins with Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King.
• 1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force starts Operation Hydra, the first air raid in a campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
• 1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia's independence. This starts the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
• 1945 – The famous book Animal Farm by George Orwell is published for the first time.
• 1945 – Puyi, the Emperor of Manchukuo, officially gives up his throne and dissolves the state.
• 1947 – The Radcliffe Line, which is the border between India and Pakistan, is announced.
• 1949 – A strong earthquake in eastern Turkey causes 320–450 deaths and leaves many injured.
• 1955 – Hurricane Diane hits near Wilmington, North Carolina, causing major floods and killing over 184 people.
• 1958 – Pioneer 0, America's first try at sending a spacecraft to orbit the Moon, is launched but fails. It was one of the first attempts by any country to launch something beyond Earth's orbit.
• 1959 – Quake Lake is formed by a large earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
• 1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing many deaths and a lot of damage.
• 1970 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 7. This spacecraft will become the first to successfully send data from the surface of another planet, Venus.
• 1976 – A large earthquake off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, causes a destructive tsunami. Thousands of people are killed, and many more lose their homes.
• 1977 – The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
• 1978 – Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It lands in France after 137 hours.
• 1985 – The 1985–86 Hormel strike begins in Austin, Minnesota.
• 1988 – The President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
• 1998 – During the Lewinsky scandal, U.S. President Bill Clinton admits he had an "improper physical relationship" with a White House intern. He later tells the nation that he "misled people" about it.
• 1999 – A strong earthquake in northwestern Turkey causes many deaths and injuries.
• 2004 – The National Assembly of Serbia adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem, and a new coat of arms is adopted.
• 2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers begins as part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
• 2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
• 2009 – An accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia, kills 75 people and shuts down the power station, causing widespread power outages.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1900

• 1473 – Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, an English prince.
• 1578 – Francesco Albani, a well-known Italian painter.
• 1629 – John III Sobieski, a famous Polish–Lithuanian king.
• 1786 – Davy Crockett, an American soldier and politician, known as a folk hero.
• 1801 – Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish writer and early feminist.
• 1863 – Gene Stratton-Porter, an American author and photographer.
• 1887 – Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria.
• 1887 – Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican journalist and activist who founded the Black Star Line.
• 1893 – Mae West, a famous American stage and film actress.
• 1896 – Leslie Groves, an American general and engineer who worked on the atomic bomb project.

Born After 1900

• 1911 – Mikhail Botvinnik, a Russian chess player and engineer.
• 1920 – Maureen O'Hara, a beloved Irish-American actress and singer.
• 1926 – Jiang Zemin, a former President of China.
• 1930 – Ted Hughes, a famous English poet and playwright.
• 1932 – V. S. Naipaul, a Trinidadian-English novelist and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1936 – Margaret Heafield Hamilton, an American computer scientist and systems engineer. She helped write the flight software for the Apollo space missions!
• 1943 – Robert De Niro, a very famous American actor, director, and producer.
• 1944 – Larry Ellison, an American businessman who co-founded the Oracle Corporation.
• 1952 – Nelson Piquet, a Brazilian race car driver.
• 1953 – Herta Müller, a Romanian-German poet and author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1958 – Belinda Carlisle, a popular American singer-songwriter.
• 1960 – Sean Penn, a well-known American actor, director, and activist.
• 1966 – Rodney Mullen, an American skateboarder and stuntman, known for inventing many tricks.
• 1968 – Helen McCrory, an English actress.
• 1969 – Donnie Wahlberg, an American singer, actor, and producer.
• 1977 – Thierry Henry, a famous French footballer.
• 1988 – Erika Toda, a Japanese actress.
• 1991 – Austin Butler, an American actor.
• 1993 – Sarah Sjöström, a Swedish swimmer who has won many Olympic medals.
• 1994 – Phoebe Bridgers, an American singer-songwriter.
• 2000 – Lil Pump, an American rapper and songwriter.
• 2003 – The Kid Laroi, an Australian rapper and songwriter.

Notable Deaths

Passed Away Before 1900

• 754 – Carloman, a powerful leader in the Frankish kingdom.
• 1304 – Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan.
• 1338 – Nitta Yoshisada, a Japanese samurai.
• 1786 – Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, known for his military skills.
• 1809 – Matthew Boulton, an English businessman and engineer who worked with James Watt on steam engines.
• 1850 – José de San Martín, an Argentinian general and politician who helped South American countries gain independence.

Passed Away After 1900

• 1918 – Moisei Uritsky, a Russian activist and politician.
• 1920 – Ray Chapman, an American baseball player.
• 1935 – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an American sociologist and author.
• 1966 – Ken Miles, an English race car driver and engineer.
• 1969 – Otto Stern, a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• 1983 – Ira Gershwin, a famous American songwriter.
• 1988 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the President of Pakistan.
• 1990 – Pearl Bailey, a beloved American actress and singer.
• 2008 – Franco Sensi, an Italian businessman and politician.
• 2010 – Francesco Cossiga, a former President of Italy.
• 2015 – Yvonne Craig, an American ballet dancer and actress, famous for playing Batgirl.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Christian feast day:
  • Saint Beatrice of Silva
  • Saint Clare of Montefalco
  • Saint Hyacinth of Poland
  • Saint Jeanne Delanoue
  • Saint Mammes of Caesarea
  • Samuel Johnson, Timothy Cutler, and Thomas Bradbury Chandler (Episcopal Church)
  • August 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Engineer's Day (Colombia)
• Flag Day (Bolivia)
• Independence Day, celebrating Indonesia's independence from Japan in 1945.
• Independence Day, celebrating Gabon's independence from France in 1960.
• Marcus Garvey Day (Jamaica)
• Prekmurje Union Day (Slovenia)
• San Martin Day (Argentina)
• Black Cat Appreciation Day (United States)

See also

In Spanish: 17 de agosto para niños