George Washington
Washington appeared before Congress in uniform
Washington appeared before Congress in uniform and gave an acceptance speech on June 16, declining a salary—though he was later reimbursed expenses.
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- Mozart
His first son and the tragedy
Constanze gave birth to a baby boy named Raimund Leopold, but the Mozarts took a trip to Salzburg to see Leopold, leaving Raimund Leopold in Vienna as a young infant. Their son died when they were away, so the Mozarts left for Vienna.
- Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's House Divided Speech
Accepting the nomination, Lincoln delivered his House Divided Speech, with the biblical reference Mark 3:25, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other". The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. The stage was then set for the election of the Illinois legislature which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln] is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won."
- Igor Stravinsky
Born
Stravinsky was born on 17 June 1882 in Oranienbaum, a suburb of Saint Petersburg, the Russian imperial capital, and was brought up in Saint Petersburg.
- Statue of Liberty
Crates arriving at New York
On June 17, 1885, the French steamer Isère arrived in New York with the crates holding the disassembled statue on board. New Yorkers displayed their new-found enthusiasm for the statue. Two hundred thousand people lined the docks and hundreds of boats put to sea to welcome the ship.
- Martin Bormann
Born
Born in Wegeleben (now in Saxony-Anhalt) in the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Empire, Bormann was the son of Theodor Bormann (1862–1903), a post office employee, and his second wife, Antonie Bernhardine Mennong.
- Irish War of Independence
Revenge
On 17 June, in revenge for the killing of two Catholics by the B-Specials, Frank Aiken's IRA unit shot ten Protestant civilians, killing six in and around Altnaveigh, south Armagh. Three Special Constables were also killed in the shootings.
- Great Depression
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed, placing more stress on the weakening global economy, primarily through the collapse in trade of agricultural products, which strained banks that had lent heavily to farmers. Further decreases in trade of manufactured products led to layoffs and reduced corporate profits, weakening the economy. General consensus among economists is that the Smoot-Hawley Act did not cause the Depression, but did worsen it and stunted recovery efforts after 1933. Exports declined from $5.2 billion in 1929 to just $1.7 billion in 1933.
- Heinrich Himmler
Chief of German Police and a State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior
On 17 June 1936 Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in the Reich and named Himmler Chief of German Police and a State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior.
- Charles de Gaulle
De Gaulle escaped to London
At around 09:00 on the morning of 17 June, he flew to London on a British aircraft with Edward Spears. The escape was hair-raising.
- Winston Churchill
Churchill had returned to Washington
Churchill had returned to Washington on 17 June. He and Roosevelt agreed on the implementation of Operation Torch as the necessary precursor to an invasion of Europe. Roosevelt had appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower as commanding officer of the European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA). Having received the news from North Africa, Churchill obtained shipment from America to the Eighth Army of 300 Sherman tanks and 100 howitzers.
- Josip Broz Tito
The Treaty of Vis
On 17 June 1944, on the Dalmatian island of Vis, the Treaty of Vis was signed in an attempt to merge Tito's government (the AVNOJ) with the government in exile of King Peter II.
- First Indochina War
Pierre Mendès France had been invested as Prime Minister
Negotiations between France and the Việt Minh started in Geneva in April 1954 at the Geneva Conference, during which time the French Union and the Việt Minh were fighting a battle at Điện Biên Phủ. In France, Pierre Mendès France, opponent of the war since 1950, had been invested as Prime Minister on June 17, 1954, on a promise to put an end to the war, reaching a ceasefire in four months.
- Pelé
1962 World Cup
When the 1962 World Cup started, Pelé was the best rated player in the world. In the first match of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He injured himself in the next game while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia. This would keep him out of the rest of the tournament.
- Richard Nixon
Five Men Were Caught breaking Into The Democratic party Headquarters
The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. Those activities included "dirty tricks," such as bugging the offices of political opponents, and the harassment of activist groups and political figures. The activities were brought to light after five men were caught breaking into the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972.
- The palace of Westminster England
Bomb planted by the Provisional IRA
On 17 June 1974, a 9-kilogram (20 lb) bomb planted by the Provisional IRA exploded in Westminster Hall. The explosion and the resulting fire, which was fed by a ruptured gas main, injured 11 people and caused extensive damage.
- Joe Biden
Biden and Jill Tracy Jacobs were married
Biden and Jill Tracy Jacobs were married at the United Nations Chapel in New York on June 17, 1977.
- International Monetary Fund
Jacques de Larosière
Jacques was the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 17 June 1978 to 15 January 1987.
- Iran–Iraq War
Operation Forty Stars
On 18 June, Iraq launched Operation Forty Stars in conjunction to the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) around Mehran. With 530 aircraft sorties and heavy use of nerve gas, they crushed the Iranian forces in the area, killing 3,500 and nearly destroying a Revolutionary Guard division. Mehran was captured once again and occupied by the MEK. Iraq also launched air raids on Iranian population centers and economic targets, setting 10 oil installations on fire.
- Sony Corporation
SDDS Format
In 1993, Sony challenged the industry-standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at the time.
- Francesco Totti
ESM European Golden Shoe award
On 17 June, he also received the ESM European Golden Shoe award as the top European goalscorer of the season.
- Shaquille O'Neal
O'Neal challenged kickboxer and mixed martial artist Choi Hong-man
O'Neal challenged kickboxer and mixed martial artist Choi Hong-man to a mixed martial arts rules bout in a YouTube video posted on June 17, 2009.
- Kobe Bryant
The most satisfying of all championships
The Lakers went on to win the series in six games capturing the Western Conference Championship and advancing to the NBA Finals for a third straight season. In a rematch against the 2008 Champion Boston Celtics, Bryant, despite shooting 6 for 24 from the field, led the Lakers back from a thirteen-point third-quarter deficit in Game 7 to win the championship; he scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 15 rebounds. Bryant won his fifth championship and earned his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award. This marked the first time the Lakers won a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Bryant said that this was the most satisfying of all of his five championships.
- Jimmy Hoffa
Investigation of the Zerilli Information
On June 17, 2013, investigation of the Zerilli information led the FBI to a property in Oakland Township in northern Oakland County owned by Detroit mob boss Jack Tocco. After three days, the FBI called off the dig. No human remains were found, and the case remains open.
- Popeyes
Re-acquired full control
On June 17, 2014, Popeyes announced it had re-acquired full control of its seasonings, recipes, and other proprietary food preparation techniques from Diversified Foods & Seasonings, which remained under the control of Al Copeland and his estate after the creditor sale of Popeyes to AFC.
- Disasters with highest death tolls
2017 Portugal Wildfires
A series of four initial deadly wildfires erupted across central Portugal in the afternoon of 17 June 2017 within minutes of each other, resulting in at least 66 deaths and 204 injured people.
- Covid-19 Pandemic: 2020 Coronavirus outbreak
Surpassing The 8 Millions Infections
On 17 June, the WHO confirmed that the cases of infections have reached 8,061,550 and the death tally reached 440,290.
- Frederick Douglass
Second Marriage
Douglass married again, to Helen Pitts, a white suffragist and abolitionist from Honeoye, New York. Pitts was the daughter of Gideon Pitts Jr., an abolitionist colleague and friend of Douglass.
James FitzJames's death
The Duke of Berwick, James FitzJames, a French general strategist, died in battle.
Occupation of Scotland (1734)
Scotland is occupied by French troops at Rhine.
Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars's death
The marshal of France, Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars, passed away at the age of 81.