On this Day

Friday, June 17th
The 168th day of 2005
7There are 198 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On June 17, 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman. She flew from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours. (Go to article.)

On June 17, 1882, Igor Stravinsky, the Russian composer, was born. Following his death on April 6, 1971, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. Other Birthdays)

On June 17, 1871, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Tweed Ring and the presidential election of 1872. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)


Reference: The New York Times



The following via Iraq War Today

Today in History
1579 - Sir Francis Drake lands in CA.
1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill).
1837 - Charles Goodyear is given his first rubber patent.
1863 - At the Battle of Aldie, Confederates fail to drive back Union forces.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in NYC aboard the French ship Isere.
1894 - The first US Polio epidemic breaks out in Vermont.
1895 - The US Ship Canal in the Bronx(W 225th St) is completed.
1940 - France asks Germany for terms of surrender.
1942 - The first WW II American expeditionary force lands on the Gold Coast in Africa.
1944 - The Republic of Iceland is proclaimed.
1953 - Sup Court Justice William O. Douglas stays the executions of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg scheduled for the next day, their 14th anniversary.
1954 - The televised Senate Army McCarthy hearings end.
1957 - The Tuskegee boycott begins (African-Americans boycot city stores).
1963 - The Supreme Court rules against Bible reading and prayer in public schools.
1967 - China becomes the world's fourth thermonuclear power.
1975 - Voters in Northern Mariana approve commonwealth status with the U.S.
1982 - President Reagan makes his first General Assembly address (his "evil empire" speech).
1985 - The 18th Space Shuttle Mission (Discovery 5) is launched.
1986 - Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns.

Birthdays
1239 - King Edward I of England
1742 - William Hooper, signed Declaration of Independence
1858 - Eben Sumner Draper, Governor-MA
1870 - George Cormack, created "Wheaties" cereal
1920 - Francois Jacob, biologist/bacteriologist, Nobel Prize winner

Passings:
1939 - Eugene Weldman, last person guillotined in France.
1989 - David S. Griggs, astronaut, in crash of WW II vintage plane.

Reported Missing in Action:
1966
The following lost in the explosion / crash of a C130E, cause unknown:
Adams, Oley N., USAF (MO); Killed, body not recovered
Cobbs, Ralph B., USN (IL); Killed, body not recovered
Collette, Curtis D., USN (CT); Killed, body not recovered
Cairns, Robert A., USAF (CA); Killed, body not recovered
Dempsey, Jack I., USN (MT); Killed, body not recovered
Freng, Stanley J., USN (SD);Killed, body not recovered
Gravitte, Connie M., USAF (NC)Killed, body not recovered
Hess, Gene K., USAF (DE);Killed, body not recovered
Romig, Edward L., USN (PA)Killed, body not recovered
Savoy, M.J., USN (MO); Killed, body not recovered
Siegwarth, Donald E., USNR (NJ);Killed, body not recovered
Washburn, Larry E., USAF (TX); Killed, body not recovered

Also Reported Missing in 1966:
Galanti, Paul E., USN (NJ); A4C shot down, paraded by the North Vietnamese in the "Hanoi March," released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998
(Read Lieutenant Commander Galanti's own refelction of his ordeal as a POW here).

1969
Sparks, Donald L., US Army (IA); reportedly died in captivity

1970
Cochrane, Deverton C., US Army (MA); known wounded in ambush
Laker, Carl J., US Army - Ranger (FL); believed KIA, known gravely wounded in ambush