June 17
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June 17 is the 168th day of the year (169th day in a leap year) in the Gregorian calendar. This is followed by 197 days until the end of the year.
Events
General
1911 - The University of Iceland is founded.
1994 - After a live televised car chase, O.J. Simpson arrested as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife and a friend of hers.
Media
1845 - The first issue of the daily newspaper De Tijd is published in 's-Hertogenbosch, which was published three times a week at the time.
Politics
1579 - Sir Francis Drake claims California for England.
1944 - Iceland becomes a Scandinavian-style parliamentary republic, independent of the other Scandinavian countries.
1953 - Workers' uprising in the GDR.
1959 - Éamon de Valera is elected President of Ireland.
Religion
1839 - King Kamehameha III of Hawaii grants religious freedom to Roman Catholics under French pressure.
War
1580 - The Battle of the Hardenbergerheide between the Spanish army and the Staatse mercenaries takes place.
1638 - Field Marshal Willem van Nassau-Siegen suffers a considerable loss of 2000 men in the Battle of Kallo, including his son Maurits Frederik.
1940 - The RMS Lancastria was torpedoed, killing at least 4,000 refugees and RAF soldiers evacuated after the Battle of Dunkirk.
Sport
1962 - Brazil wins the World Cup in Chile by beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final of the FIFA World Cup.
1994 - In the opening game of the FIFA World Cup, defending champions Germany beat Bolivia 1-0 with a goal from striker Jürgen Klinsmann.
2007 - Dutch Paralympic athlete Annette Roozen receives a Bronze Nelli Cooman at the Nelli Cooman Games for her performance (WR 100m and 200m (first race in the 200m)).
Science and technology
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
1970 - Edwin Land patent application on the Polaroid camera.
1976 - China tests its first hydrogen bomb.
1985 - Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery for mission STS-51G that included Sultan bin Salman al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. He is the first Arab, Muslim and member of a royal family to reach space.
2022 - Launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 for the Starlink group 4-19 mission with 53 Starlink satellites.
Born
801 - Drogo of Metz, Frankish Archbishop (died 855)
1239 - Edward I, King of England (died 1307)
1682 - Charles XII, King of Sweden (died 1718)
1703 - John Wesley, British theologian, founder of the Methodists (died 1791)
1738 - Andreas Bonn, Dutch physician, anatomist and surgeon (died 1817)
1791 – Roberto Cofresi, Puerto Rican pirate (died 1825)
1800 - William Parsons, Irish astronomer (died 1867)
1818 - Charles Gounod, French composer (died 1893)
1818 - Sophie of Württemberg, Queen of the Netherlands (died 1877)
1832 - William Crookes, British physicist and chemist (died 1919)
1838 - Jeronimo de Vries, Dutch pastor-poet (died 1915)
1839 - Henry Holiday, English painter, glazier and illustrator (died 1927)
1849 - Andrea Aiuti, Italian Curia cardinal (died 1905)
1875 - Philip Kohnstamm, Dutch educator (died 1951)
1882 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (died 1971)
1883 - Johann Wartner, German politician (died 1963)
1884 - Willem Bernadotte, Prince of Sweden (died 1965)
1885 - Paul Oppenheim, German scientist (died 1977)
1888 - Heinz Guderian, German general (died 1954)
1890 - Henk Janssen, Dutch rope puller (died 1969)
1893 - Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater (died 1938)
1898 - Maurits Cornelis Escher, Dutch graphic artist (died 1972)
1898 - Harry Patch, British war veteran (died 2009)
1897 - Brecht Willemse, Dutch communist and resistance fighter (died 1984)
1904 - Ralph Bellamy, A
