June 17
1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the Revolutionary War.
1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly and undertook to frame a constitution.
1856 - The Republican Party opened its first convention, in Philadelphia.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928 - Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
1933 - The “Kansas City Massacre” took place outside Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., as a group of gunmen attacked law enforcement officers escorting federal prisoner Frank Nash; four of the officers were killed, along with Nash.
1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender during World War II.
1944 - The Republic of Iceland was established.
1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.
1967 - China successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb.
1972 - Burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C. started the Watergate political scandal.
1986 - President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was succeeded by William Rehnquist.
1994 - O.J. Simpson's slow-speed chase in his white Ford Bronco by police was watched by millions live on television, and ended in his arrest on charges related to the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
2002 - Australian scientists announced that they had "teleported" a laser beam - breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
2008 - Hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that gay marriage became legal by order of the state's highest court. (However, California voters banned gay marriage the following November.)
2009 - President Barack Obama extended some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
2009 - Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigned from the GOP leadership a day after admitting an affair with a former campaign staffer.
2011 - The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.
2012 - Rodney King, 47, whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police sparked widespread outrage and who struggled with addiction and repeated arrests, died in Rialto, California, in an apparent accidental drowning.
2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that states cannot demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so.
2015 - Nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2019 - Iran announced that it was breaking compliance with the international accord that kept it from making nuclear weapons; the announcement meant that Iran could soon start to enrich uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels. The Trump administration followed Iran’s announcement by ordering 1,000 more troops to the Middle East.
2020 - Prosecutors in Atlanta brought murder charges against white police officer Garrett Rolfe in the fatal shooting of a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, following a struggle; a second officer, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.
2020 - Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognized that the character’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”
2020 - City commissioners in Portland, Oregon, voted to cut $16 million from the police budget in response to concerns about use of force and racial injustice.
Birthdays
25 - Damani Roberts (actor)
27 - Amari Cooper (football player)
34 - Kendrick Lamar (rapper)
35 - Marie Avgeropoulos (actress)
38 - Mickey Guyton (country singer)
39 - Jodie Whitaker (actress)
39 - Arthur Darvill (actor)
41 - Venus Williams (tennis player)
50 - Paulina Rubio (singer)
51 - Will Forte (actor/comedian)
55 - Jason Patric (actor)
56 - Dan Jansen (speed skater)
56 - Kami Cotler (actress)
58 - Greg Kinnear (actor)
61 - Thomas Haden Church (actor)
64 - Jon Gries (actor)
67 - Mark Linn-Baker (actor)
70 - Joe Piscopo (actor)
78 - Barry Manilow (singer)
80 - William Lucking (actor)
89 - Peter Lupus (actor)
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Today in Sports History - June 17
1960 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit his 500th career home run.
1962 - Jack Nicklaus wins his first major by defeating Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1962 - Brazil defeats Czechoslovakia 3-1 to win the World Cup.
1971 - Don Kessinger (Chicago Cubs) went 6-for-6 at the plate against the St. Louis Cardinals.
1976 - The NBA and ABA announced their merger with the NBA accepting four ABA franchises: New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs.
1992 - The Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns.
1995 - The New Jersey Devils set an NHL playoff record with nine road wins.
1997 - The NHL announces it will add new franchises in Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999) and Minneapolis-St. Paul and Columbus, Ohio in 2000.
2008 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games for their first NBA championship since 1986 and their 17th title in franchise history.
2010 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games to win their second consecutive NBA championship and their 16th title in franchise history.
2011 - Rory McIlroy became the first player in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open to reach 13-under par.
2012 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the Michigan International Speedway. It was his first win in four years and 143 races.
2018 - Brooks Koepka becomes the first back-to-back winner of the U.S. Open since Curtis Strange in 1988 and 1989.
1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the Revolutionary War.
1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly and undertook to frame a constitution.
1856 - The Republican Party opened its first convention, in Philadelphia.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928 - Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
1933 - The “Kansas City Massacre” took place outside Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., as a group of gunmen attacked law enforcement officers escorting federal prisoner Frank Nash; four of the officers were killed, along with Nash.
1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender during World War II.
1944 - The Republic of Iceland was established.
1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.
1967 - China successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb.
1972 - Burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C. started the Watergate political scandal.
1986 - President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was succeeded by William Rehnquist.
1994 - O.J. Simpson's slow-speed chase in his white Ford Bronco by police was watched by millions live on television, and ended in his arrest on charges related to the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
2002 - Australian scientists announced that they had "teleported" a laser beam - breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
2008 - Hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that gay marriage became legal by order of the state's highest court. (However, California voters banned gay marriage the following November.)
2009 - President Barack Obama extended some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
2009 - Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigned from the GOP leadership a day after admitting an affair with a former campaign staffer.
2011 - The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.
2012 - Rodney King, 47, whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police sparked widespread outrage and who struggled with addiction and repeated arrests, died in Rialto, California, in an apparent accidental drowning.
2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that states cannot demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so.
2015 - Nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2019 - Iran announced that it was breaking compliance with the international accord that kept it from making nuclear weapons; the announcement meant that Iran could soon start to enrich uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels. The Trump administration followed Iran’s announcement by ordering 1,000 more troops to the Middle East.
2020 - Prosecutors in Atlanta brought murder charges against white police officer Garrett Rolfe in the fatal shooting of a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, following a struggle; a second officer, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.
2020 - Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognized that the character’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”
2020 - City commissioners in Portland, Oregon, voted to cut $16 million from the police budget in response to concerns about use of force and racial injustice.
Birthdays
25 - Damani Roberts (actor)
27 - Amari Cooper (football player)
34 - Kendrick Lamar (rapper)
35 - Marie Avgeropoulos (actress)
38 - Mickey Guyton (country singer)
39 - Jodie Whitaker (actress)
39 - Arthur Darvill (actor)
41 - Venus Williams (tennis player)
50 - Paulina Rubio (singer)
51 - Will Forte (actor/comedian)
55 - Jason Patric (actor)
56 - Dan Jansen (speed skater)
56 - Kami Cotler (actress)
58 - Greg Kinnear (actor)
61 - Thomas Haden Church (actor)
64 - Jon Gries (actor)
67 - Mark Linn-Baker (actor)
70 - Joe Piscopo (actor)
78 - Barry Manilow (singer)
80 - William Lucking (actor)
89 - Peter Lupus (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - June 17
1960 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit his 500th career home run.
1962 - Jack Nicklaus wins his first major by defeating Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1962 - Brazil defeats Czechoslovakia 3-1 to win the World Cup.
1971 - Don Kessinger (Chicago Cubs) went 6-for-6 at the plate against the St. Louis Cardinals.
1976 - The NBA and ABA announced their merger with the NBA accepting four ABA franchises: New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs.
1992 - The Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns.
1995 - The New Jersey Devils set an NHL playoff record with nine road wins.
1997 - The NHL announces it will add new franchises in Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999) and Minneapolis-St. Paul and Columbus, Ohio in 2000.
2008 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games for their first NBA championship since 1986 and their 17th title in franchise history.
2010 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games to win their second consecutive NBA championship and their 16th title in franchise history.
2011 - Rory McIlroy became the first player in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open to reach 13-under par.
2012 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the Michigan International Speedway. It was his first win in four years and 143 races.
2018 - Brooks Koepka becomes the first back-to-back winner of the U.S. Open since Curtis Strange in 1988 and 1989.
