Significant Historical Events on this Day, August 17

1808: Napoleon asks King Louis for Holland Brigade towards Spain.

1834: Charles Darwin reaches the top of Campana in Chile during his voyage on the Beagle.

1836: British parliament accepts registration of births, marriages, and deaths.

1864: During the American Civil War, Union forces under General William T. Sherman captured the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

1883: The first public performance of the Dominican Republic’s national anthem, Himno Nacional.

1896: Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.

1903: Joe Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University, marking the beginning of the Pulitzer Prizes in America.

1939:  Musical film, “The Wizard of Oz” opens at Loews Capitol Theater, NYC.

1940: Adolf Hitler orders a total blockade of Great Britain.

1945:  Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia from the Netherlands.

1945: The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.

1960: Gabon gains independence from France.

1977: Russian nuclear sub “Arktika” becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.

1988: US Republicans nominate George H. W. Bush for president.

2004: The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia.

2008: American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.

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