August 17

1386 – Karl Topia, the ruler of the Principality of Albania allies with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the moslem Ottomans in return.

1585 – Sent by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Ralph Lane, a group of English colonists found Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, North Carolina

1717 – The 2 month siege to retake Belgrade from the Ottoman empire ends when Austrian troops succeed in capturing the city

1786 – Davy Crockett is born in what is now Greene County, Tennessee

1807 – Robert Fulton’s steamboat North River leaves New York City for Albany, starting the first commercial steamboat service.

1862 – Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

1864 – Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.

1915 – A category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour

1942 – U.S. Marines of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, under command of Colonel Evans Carlson and Captain James Roosevelt, raid the Japanese held Makin atoll

1943 – The U.S. 7th Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Sicily several hours ahead of the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery

1945 – Animal Farm by George Orwell is published.

1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 people and causing $1.4 billion in damage.

1978 – Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean, landing in Miserey, France

1998 – President Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he “misled people” about the relationship.

2008 – American Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win 8 gold medals at one Olympic Games.

2017 –  A moslem terrorist drives a van into pedestrians in Barcelona, Spain, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.