History for August 17

History for August 17 - On-This-Day.com
Davy Crockett 1786 - Frontiersman, soldier and politician. He died at the Battle of the Alamo, Samuel Goldwyn (Samuel Goldfish) 1882 - Film producer, Mae West 1893 - Actress, singer, playwrite, screenwriter


Gary Powers (Francis Gary Powers) 1929 - American pilot shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace (1960 U-2 incident), Robert De Niro 1943 - Actor ("Bang Drum Slowly," "Goodfellas," "Cape Fear"), Sean Penn 1960 - Actor, screenwriter, director


1790 - The capital city of the U.S. moved to Philadelphia from New York City.


1807 - Robert Fulton's "North River Steam Boat" (known as the "Clermont") began heading up New York's Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany.


1863 - Federal batteries and ships bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC, harbor during the Civil War.


1896 - The Klondike gold rush was set off by George Carmack discovering gold on Rabbit Creek in Alaska.


1915 - Charles F. Kettering received a patent for the first electric ignition device.


1978 - Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman became the first to land after a successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight. The voyage began in Presque Isle, ME and ended in Miserey, France.


1982 - The U.S. Senate approved an immigration bill that granted permanent resident status to illegal aliens who had arrived in the United States before 1977.


1998 - U.S. President Clinton admitted to having an improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.