Couple Sleeping on Car at Woodstock, 1969

Woodstock performers jam through a long final night

Born on This Day

Photograph of Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey

1887 - 1940

Jamaican political activist whose Pan-Africanism and Black Nationalist work called for racial pride and self-reliance.

Mae West Holding Cigarette

Mae West

1893 - 1980

Actress, singer and writer whose provocative persona and sex-tinged one-liners were showcased in Broadway and film roles.

"A Single Man" Cocktail Party

Robert De Niro

1943 -

Actor known for his collaboration with director Martin Scorsese and roles in "The Deer Hunter" and "The Godfather Part II."

Marcus GarveyUniversal Images Group via Getty

Mae WestCorbis via Getty Images

Robert De NiroWireImage

1977

AUG17

The day of Elvis Presley's funeral, FTD delivers more than 3,100 floral arrangements, wiping out Memphis-area florists and setting a record for the most flowers sold in the US in a single day.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 17th

President Tyler is burned in effigy outside White House

On August 17, 1842, protesters burn an effigy of President John Tyler a short distance from the White House. Their actions came in response to Tyler’s veto of a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States. The protestors were composed primarily of members of Tyler’s own political party, the Whigs, […]

1:46m read read

U.S.-Dakota War begins in Minnesota

Violence erupts in Minnesota territory as members of the Dakota tribe, starving and frustrated, attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. After six weeks of war, the U.S. military eventually overwhelm the Dakota. Subsequent trials of Dakota warriors, some of which lasted for just minutes, resulted in the largest mass execution ever in the United […]

Billy the Kid kills his first man

Though only a teenager at the time, Billy the Kid wounds an Arizona blacksmith who dies the next day. He was the famous outlaw’s first victim. Just how many men Billy killed is uncertain. Billy himself reportedly once claimed he had killed 21 men—“One for every year of my life.” A reliable contemporary authority estimated […]

1:46m read read

Billy the Kid

General George S. Patton wins race to Messina

U.S. General George S. Patton and his 7th Army arrive in Messina several hours before British Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery and his 8th Army, winning the unofficial “Race to Messina” and completing the Allied conquest of Sicily. Born in San Gabriel, California, in 1885, Patton’s family had a long history of military service. After […]

2:08m read read

General George Patton in Uniform (Original Caption) Waist-up portrait of General George S. Patton, Jr. in uniform, 1943. UPI color slide.

Foul balls batter unlucky Philadelphia Phillies fan

On August 17, 1957, Alice Roth experiences what surely is one of the worst days any spectator has had at a Major League Baseball game. After being struck by a foul ball off the bat of future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, Roth is being treated for a broken nose when the Philadelphia Phillies’ star […]

1:40m read read

East Germans kill man trying to cross Berlin Wall

East German guards gun down a young man trying to escape across the Berlin Wall into West Berlin and leave him to bleed to death. It was one of the ugliest incidents to take place at one of the ugliest symbols of the Cold War. The 1962 incident occurred almost a year to the day […]

Balloon crosses the Atlantic

The Double Eagle II completes the first transatlantic balloon flight when it lands in a barley field near Paris, 137 hours after lifting off from Presque Isle, Maine. The helium-filled balloon was piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman and flew 3,233 miles in the six-day odyssey. Human flight first became a reality […]

3:34m read read

Double Eagle Flying

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s last living henchman, dies

Rudolf Hess, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, is found strangled to death in Spandau Prison in Berlin at the age of 93, apparently the victim of suicide. Hess was the last surviving member of Hitler’s inner circle and the sole prisoner at Spandau since 1966. Hess, an early and devoted follower of Nazism, participated […]

1:46m read read

President Clinton testifies before grand jury

On August 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting president to testify before the Office of Independent Counsel as the subject of a grand-jury investigation. The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary’s alleged involvement in several scandals, including accusations of sexual harassment, potentially illegal real-estate deals and suspected “cronyism” […]

1:56m read read

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