June 17th
Today in America's Present Past
1579 | Explorer Francis Drake lands on the coast of California at Drakes Bay and names it "New Albion.”
1700 | Civil Rights: Massachusetts orders priests to leave the colony.
1742 | Founder William Hooper was born.
1700 | Civil Rights: Massachusetts orders priests to leave the colony.
1742 | Founder William Hooper was born.
1775 | War of Independence: Battle of Bunker Hill.
1775 | Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren died.
1815 | Barbary Was: U.S. Navy captures Algerian frigate, killing its famous pirate captain, Hamidou.
1824 | Indian Wars: The Bureau of Indian Affairs was established.
1833 | A riot breaks out in Detroit, Michigan, in response to an enforcement action of the Fugitive Slave Act.
1837 | Entrepreneur Charles Goodyear receives his first rubber patent.
1839 | Civil Rights: King of Hawaii Kamehameha III issues Edict of Tolerance empowering Catholic services.
1852 | Entrepreneur William King died.
1856 | Civil Rights: The first national Republican Party convention convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1863 | Civil War: Battle at Middleburg, Virginia.
1863 | Holmes County, Ohio “Draft riots” start.
1866 | General Lewis Cass died.
1871 | Activist and poet James Weldon Johnson was born.
1877 | Indian Wars: The Battle of White Canyon, Idaho.
1894 | The first U.S. polio outbreak occurred.
1898 | The United States Navy Hospital Corps is formed.
1901 | The College Board introduced its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
1903 | Entrepreneur Ruth Wakefield was born.
1943 | Musician Barry Manilow was born.
1943 | Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan was born.
1943 | Congress: Speaker Newt Gingrich was born.
1947 | Publisher Maxwell Perkins died.
1950 | The first kidney transplant surgery occurs in Chicago, Illinois.
1951 | Actor Joe Piscopo was born.
1963 | SCOTUS: The Court rules against Bible readings in government schools.
1965 | Vietnam: The B-52 drops its first bombs in combat.
1967 | A Long, hot summer of riots continues in Atlanta, Georgia.
1980 | Tennis pro Venus Williams was born.
1987 | Musician Kendrick Lamar was born.
1994 | Football pro O.J. Simpson led police on a televised chase, eluding arrest on suspicion of murder.