1819 – The Church Missionary Society establishes New Zealand’s second mission station at Kerikeri
1835 – Solymon Merrick of Springfield, Massachusetts, patents the first wrench
1908 – Projection in Paris of the first animated cartoon, “Fantasmagorie,” created by Émile Cohl
1984 – Pete Rose returns to the Cincinnati Reds as a player-manager and gets two hits in the game
1987 – Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 2,700 for the first time (2,700.57)
2008 – Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia wins the 3,000 m steeplechase gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with a world record time of 8:58.81
2022 – Possible second smaller impact crater that wiped out the dinosaurs, the “Nadir Crater,” 8.5 km across, is identified off the coast of Guinea, West Africa
2023 – First WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit begins in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Author: gil7
Today in History for 17th August 2025
Historical Events
1870 – First ascent of Mount Rainier, Washington, by Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands
1977 – USSR performs a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1988 – First case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in NYC (9-year-old Bronx boy)
1991 – Royals’ Warren Cromartie’s first major league home run since 1983
Famous Birthdays
1863 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author “A Girl of the Limberlost,” and naturalist, born in Lagro, Indiana (d. 1924)
1890 – Stefan Bastyr, Polish pioneering aviator, first flight in independent Poland, born in Ulanów, Poland (d. 1920)
1942 – Tommy West [Picardo], American record producer (Jim Croce; Anne Murray), and singer-songwriter, born in Jersey City, New Jersey (d. 2021)
1953 – Robert Thirsk, Canadian astronaut (STS 78), born in New Westminster, British Columbia
1970 – Øyvind Leonhardsen, Norwegian footballer, born in Kristiansund, Norway
Famous Deaths
1916 – Umberto Boccioni, Italian painter and sculptor (Unique Forms of Continuity in Space), dies in a military training mishap at 33
1955 – Fernand Léger, French painter, sculptor and filmmaker, dies at 74
1969 – Philip Blaiberg, South African dentist, third person to receive an artificial heart, dies after 19 days at 59
1987 – Charles Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (Claro Enigma), dies at 84
2021 – Sheila Bromberg, British orchestral and session harpist (The Beatles – “She’s Leaving Home”; Heatwave -“Boogie Nights”), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 16th August 2025
1661 – Thomas Fuller, British scholar, preacher and historian (History of the Worthies of Britain), dies of typhus fever at 53
1956 – Bela Lugosi [Blaskó], Austrian actor (Dracula, Plan 9 From Outer Space), dies of a heart attack at 73
1960 – Errol Holmes, English cricket batsman (5 Tests, 1 x 50, HS 85no; Oxford University CC, Surrey CCC), dies of a heart attack at 54
1968 – (Robert) “Cutty” Cutshall, American jazz trombonist (Benny Goodman Orchestra; Eddie Condon), dies at 66
1977 – Elvis Presley, American King of Rock and Roll (“Hound Dog”; “Love Me Tender”; “Heartbreak Hotel”; “Suspicious Minds”), and actor (Jailhouse Rock; King Creole), dies at Graceland at 42, with the official cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia
1993 – Joseph Towers, US pilot, dies
2004 – Ivan Hlinka, Czech ice hockey coach (b. 1950)
2010 – Bobby Thomson, Scottish-American baseball player, dies at 86
2016 – João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist and FIFA President 1974-98, dies at 100
2025 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricket batsman, captain and coach (62 Tests, 10 x 100s, HS 311, 71 wickets; Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1965; NSWCA), dies at 89
Historical Events for 16th August 2025
1920 – Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head by NY Yankees pitcher Carl Mays and dies the next day in the only MLB game-related fatality
1942 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill travels back to Cairo from Moscow
1992 – Moses Kiptanui of Kenya runs a world 3,000 m record of 7:28.96 in Cologne, Germany
2008 – Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the 100 m gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
2015 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Whistling Straits GC: Australian Jason Day wins, setting major championship record of 20-under-par; beats Jordan Spieth by 3 shots
2018 – World’s first floating dairy farm opens in Merwehaven Harbour, Rotterdam, Netherlands, with 40 cows milked by robots
2018 – International Tennis Federation votes to change the format of the Davis Cup to a high prize money, season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site; a 24-team qualifying tournament starts in February 2019
2020 – At least 17 people are killed in an attack on a beach resort in Mogadishu, Somalia, by the al-Shabab group
Today in History for 16th August 2025
Historical Events
1691 – Yorktown, Virginia founded
1959 – LPGA Western Open Women’s Golf, Rainier GandCC: Betsy Rawls wins her second WO by 6 strokes over JoAnne Gunderson and Patty Berg
1969 – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young perform their first public show at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago with singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell as their opening act
1990 – South African President F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela hold emergency talks in Pretoria about increasing violence in Soweto
2021 – First official water shortage declared at Lake Mead, a major reservoir on the Colorado River supplying 40 million people, with cuts mandated mainly for Arizona
Famous Birthdays
1916 – Iggy Katona, American race car driver, born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 2003)
1945 – Suzanne Farrell, American ballerina (Don Quioxote), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1952 – Reginald Veljohnson, actor (Carl Winslow-Family Matters, Die Hard), born in New York City
1962 – Steve Carell, American actor and comedian (The Office), born in Concord, Massachusetts
1978 – Eddie Gill, American basketball player, born in Aurora, Colorado
Famous Deaths
1945 – Takijiro Ohnishi, led Japanese kamikaze pilots (harakiri), dies
1993 – Irene Sharaff, US costume designer (Cleopatra, Can-can), dies at 83
1996 – Robert Lynn, Scottish anarchist, dies at 72
2006 – Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (Dissection), dies at 31
2021 – Sean Lock, British comedian (British Comedy Award, 2000), and television personality, dies of cancer at 58
Famous Deaths for 15th August 2025
1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England, dies at about 56 [year of birth disputed]
1972 – Alf Hurum, Norwegian composer (Lilja), and painter, dies at 89
1988 – Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, Pakistani general and politician (President of Pakistan 1978-88), killed in plane crash at 64
1992 – Giorgio Perlasca, Italian anti-fascist (who saved 5,200 Jews from deportation in Hungary), dies at 82
2007 – Dave Hassinger, American recording engineer and record producer, dies at 80
2008 – Leroy Sievers, American journalist (CBS News, Nightline), dies of cancer at 53
2008 – James Orthwein, American businessman (owner of the New England Patriots), dies at 84
2011 – Eric Dempster, New Zealand cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, TS 47, 2 wickets; Wellington CA), dies at 86
2017 – Vernon “Vern” Ehlers, American politician (Michigan House of Representatives), dies of complications from Alzheimers disease at 83
2018 – Ajit Wadekar, Indian cricket batsman and captain (37 Tests; top score 143; Bombay), dies at 77
Historical Events for 15th August 2025
1483 – Sistine Chapel to Our Lady of the Assumption in Vatican City is consecrated with a Mass by Pope Sixtus IV [some sources cite August 9]
1931 – Roy Wilkins joins the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as Assistant Secretary
1949 – WOTV TV channel 8 in Grand Rapids, MI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman professional football player (Orlando)
1992 – Colombo ’92 closes in Genoa, Italy
1997 – Dan Wilson hits Seattle Mariners’ 3,000th home run
2013 – 20 people are killed and 200 are injured in an explosion in Beirut
2023 – Young activists win a landmark case, Held v Montana, with a judge ruling that the state of Montana must consider climate change when deciding to approve or renew fossil fuel projects
Today in History for 15th August 2025
Historical Events
1461 – Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmed II, the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to fall; Emperor David is exiled and later executed
1653 – Dutch ship “Sperwer” strands on Jeju, Korea
1905 – Philadelphia A’s future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell no-hits the St. Louis Browns, 2-0, in 5 innings
1950 – Indians make their first triple play at Cleveland Stadium
1990 – Phillies’ Terry Mulholland no-hits Giants 6-0 (8th no-hitter of 1990)
Famous Birthdays
1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English writer (Confessions of English Opium Eater), born in Manchester (d. 1859)
1949 – Kate Taylor, American singer and songwriter (“It’s In His Kiss”), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American jazz and pop singer (“What You Won’t Do for Love”), and songwriter (“The Next Time I Fall”), born in New York City (d. 2023)
1951 – Ann Biderman, American television writer and producer (Ray Donovan, Southland), born in Miami, Florida
1985 – Nipsey Hussle [Ermias Asghedom], American rapper and activist, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2019)
Famous Deaths
1974 – Edmund Cobb, American silent and sound screen actor, specializing in western film (A Final Reckoning; Motorcycle Gang; Comanche Territory), dies of a heart attack at 82
2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori Queen for 40 years, dies at 75
2012 – Bob Birch, American session and touring bassist (Elton John), commits suicide at 56
2015 – Julian Bond, American civil rights leader and politician (D-Ga), dies at 75
2016 – Bobby Hutcherson, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (“Little B’s Poem”; SFJAZZ Collective), dies of emphysema at 75
Famous Deaths for 14th August 2025
1852 – Margaret Taylor, wife of Zachary Taylor and 1st lady of the United States (1849-50), dies at 63
1856 – William Buckland, dean (Westminster)/geologist, dies
1891 – Johnny Mullagh, Australian cricket all-rounder (Aboriginal tour of England 1868), dies at 50
1969 – Leonard Woolf, English author and husband of Virginia Woolf, dies at 88
1980 – Dorothy Stratten [Hoogstraten], Canadian playmate (August, 1979), model and actress (Galixina), murdered by estranged husband and manager Paul Snider at 20
1984 – J. B. Priestly, English novelist and scriptwriter (The Good Companions, An Inspector Calls), dies at 89
1985 – (Edith) “Gale” Sondergaard, American Academy Award-winning stage and screen actress (Anthony Adverse; The Letter), dies of cerebral thrombosis at 86
1996 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor (Berlin Philharmonic, 1945-57; Munich Philharmonic, 1979-96), and educator, dies at 84
2000 – John Milford, American actor (Command and Conquer: Red Alert, Homefront), dies at 72
2002 – Dave Williams, American rock singer (Drowning Pool), dies of heart failure due to undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at 30
Historical Events for 14th August 2025
554 – Ravenna becomes the seat of the Byzantine military governor in Italy
1782 – Suriname forbids selling enslaved mothers without their babies
1900 – First electric tram in Netherlands (Leidseplein-Brouwersgracht)
1964 – LA Angels pitcher Bo Belinsky is suspended after a hotel room fight with elderly Los Angeles Times sportswriter Braven Dyer
1965 – Continental Football League plays first games
1967 – Pirate radio station, Wonderful Radio London, closes down
1988 – Detroit beats Sox 18-6 at Fenway, ending Boston’s winning streak at 24
2007 – Coordinated bombings in Yazidi communities in Iraq kill at least 500 people, the second-deadliest terror attack of all time