What are the important events that happened on August 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 17 is the 229th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 136 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 4, 2025 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 29,256,480 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaicosaenneagon’ day.
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Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 184 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,622 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 17 Historical Events
- 1908 –Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris.
- 1918 –Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
- 1960 –Decolonization: Gabon gains independence from France.
- 1970 –Venera Program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
- 1978 –Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
- 1979 –Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156.
- 1982 –The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.
- 2004 –The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Boze Pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
- 2005 –The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
- 2009 –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.
Who were born on August 17?
- 1786 –Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836)
- 1866 –Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 6th Nizam of Hyderabad (d. 1911)
- 1887 –Charles I of Austria (d. 1922)
- 1904 –Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d. 1991)
- 1911 –Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (d. 1995)
- 1914 –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (d. 1988)
- 1932 –V. S. Naipaul, West Indian writer, Nobel Laureate
- 1952 –Guillermo Vilas, Argentinian tennis player
- 1985 –Yū Aoi, Japanese actress
- 1989 –Elena Hight, American snowboarder
Who died on August 17?
- 1676 –Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen, German novelist (b. 1621)
- 1896 –Bridget Driscoll, British automobile fatality
- 1949 –Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist and politician (b. 1891)
- 1970 –Rattana Pestonji, Thai filmmaker (b. 1908)
- 1976 –William Redfield, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1979 –John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (b. 1907)
- 1979 –Vivian Vance, American actress (b. 1909)
- 1983 –Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (b. 1896)
- 1987 –Rudolf Hess, Nazi deputy (b. 1894)
- 1998 –Tadeusz Slusarski, Polish track and field athlete (b. 1950)
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