Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 17

Revision as of 20:17, 16 August 2005; view current revision
←Older revision | Newer revision→

August 17: Independence Day in Indonesia (1945), Gabon (1969)

1807 - Robert Fulton started the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1896 - Bridget Driscoll became the first person to be killed in a petrol-driven car accident.
1962 - East German border guards shot and killed Peter Fechter as he attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin.
1969 - Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars).
1988 - President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan was killed in a plane crash.