What Happened On
What the Meaning of "IS" Is
August 17, 1998
U.S. President Bill Clinton admits that he had had an "inappropriate" relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He also made his famous "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" defense of his previous statement, "there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship" because "is" means currently and he was not, at the time he made that statement, still in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. Clinton claimed that because certain acts were performed on him, not by him, and he was passive during the acts, he did not "engage in sexual relations." He also denied that oral sex constituted a sexual relation.
This statement was issued after the FBI announced that Clinton was the source of the semen on Lewinsky's blue dress.
Lindy and Azaria shortly before her death
Lindy and Azaria shortly before her death
A Dingo Took My Baby!
August 17, 1980
Nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain disappears while she and her parents were tent camping in Australia. Her parents claimed their baby had been taken from their tent by a dingo. Her body was never found. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was tried and convicted for murder and sentenced to life in prison. Azaria's father, Michael Chamberlain, was convicted as an accessory after the fact and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Lindy was released after a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo lair in 1986. She had spent more than three years in prison.
In 1988, all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were overturned. Lindy Chamberlain was paid $1.3 million for false imprisonment; however, this was less than one third of their legal expenses.
In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.
Ringo Joins The Beatles
August 17, 1962
Ringo Starr joins the Beatles, replacing Pete Best on drums. Best had been fired from the group the previous day.
After the group auditioned for producer George Martin, he was dissatisfied with Best. He said they could use Best onstage, but he was going to bring in a session drummer for the recordings. The other Beatles, along with manager Brian Epstein, decided to replace Best entirely. Best was popular with the fans, with many protesting his firing. Best had taken the place of drummer Tommy Moore, who had quit the group (then known as the Silver Beetles) because their bookings interfered with his job as a forklift driver.
Animal Farm
August 17, 1945
After being rejected by several publishers, George Orwell's classic is first published in England. It was an instant best seller and is considered one of the greatest works of Western literature.
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.
Orwell claimed the book was a reflection of events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the following Stalinist era.
It was originally titled Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, but U.S. publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published there in 1946.
Frank's lynching. Judge Morris (far right in a straw hat), organized the crowd after the lynching.
Frank's lynching. Judge Morris (far right in a straw hat), organized the crowd after the lynching.
Leo Frank Lynching
August 17, 1915
Leo Frank had been convicted of murdering 14-year-old Mary Phagan. Although sentenced to death, after reviewing the evidence the governor commuted his sentence to life in prison. Angered by the change in sentencing, a mob kidnapped Frank from prison and lynched him. The lynch mob was said to include prominent citizens, including former Georgia Governor Joseph Mackey Brown. Nobody was ever charged in the lynching.
His conviction was based largely on the testimony of Jim Conley, but was overturned in 1986 after evidence surfaced implicating Conley.
First Fully-Animated Film
August 17, 1908
Fantasmagorie, by Émile Cohl, is shown at the Théâtre de Gymnase in Paris.
Rogaine
August 17, 1988
Rogaine becomes the first hair growth drug approved for marketing by the FDA.
Dan Quayle
August 17, 1988
The future U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle states, "Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we're going forward to tomorrow or whether we're going to go past to the back! …That's a Hoosierism. You've got to get used to that!"
First Manned Transatlantic Unpowered Balloon Crossing
August 17, 1978
Three Americans arrive in France after having departed from Maine six days earlier.
Hurricane Camille
August 17, 1969
Hurricane Camille strikes Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana killing more than 259 people and leaving 70,000 homeless. It is the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States. It produced a storm surge of 24 feet (7.3 m) and flattened nearly everything along the coast of Mississippi and caused $1.42 billion in damages (equivalent to $9.9 billion in 2019).
Henry Armstrong Wins World Lightweight Boxing Championship
August 17, 1938
Henry Armstrong wins the world lightweight boxing championship. He was also the current world featherweight and welterweight champion.
Birthdays
Gail A. Cobb in uniform and funeral
Gail A. Cobb in uniform and funeral
Gail A. Cobb
Born August 17, 1950 d. 1974
American police officer. She was the first U.S. female police officer shot and killed while patrolling in the line of duty (1974, Washington D.C.) and the first female African-American law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in the U.S. She was killed while trying to apprehend a bank robbery suspect. She was new to the force and was still on probationary duty just six months out of the academy.
In 1974, two men were approaching a bank with the intention of robbing it. Each was carrying a loaded sawed-off shotgun and handgun. Two plainclothes police officers were alerted of the robbery in advance and saw the two men nearing the bank. When the officers stopped them and asked for identification, the two men ran off in separate directions. Cobb was still on probationary duty six months out of the academy and was assigned to foot patrol a block away from the bank. Cobb, who was writing a traffic ticket at the time, was told by a citizen that they saw an armed man run into a garage. Cobb followed the suspect and confronted him inside the garage as he was in the process of changing out of his disguise. Cobb ordered the man to place his hands on the wall. As she called for assistance over her radio, the suspect spun around and fired a single gunshot at Cobb. The bullet went through Cobb's wrist and her police radio, where it then penetrated her heart. Cobb died at the scene and responding officers arrested the suspect at the scene. Her killer was sentenced to 15 years to life imprisonment for second-degree murder. He was released on parole in 1992.
Her funeral was attended by hundreds of police officers from all over the country.
Come Up and See Me Sometime
Mae West (Mary Jane West)
Born August 17, 1893 d. 1980
American actress, sex symbol. "Come up and see me sometime." In 1927, her play "Sex," which she wrote, produced, and directed, was raided on morals charges. She ended up spending eight days in jail, which she used as a publicity stunt. Her seduction of Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy on the radio prompted an FCC investigation.
Davy Crockett
Born August 17, 1786 d. 1836
American frontiersman, U.S. House of Representatives (1827-31, 1833-35, Tennessee). Known as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He died at the Fall of the Alamo.
Donnie Wahlberg (Donald Edmond Wahlberg, Jr.)
Born August 17, 1969
American pop musician, actor. Wahlberg was a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block, which formed in 1984 and achieved stardom in 1989. TV: Boomtown (2002-03, Detective Joel Stevens) and Bluebloods (2010-, Danny Reagan).
Sean Penn
Born August 17, 1960
American actor, Madonna's ex-husband. He and Madonna wed on her birthday, which was one day before his birthday. Film: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
David Koresh (Vernon Howell)
Born August 17, 1959 d. 1993
American religious leader. He was the leader of the Branch Davidians during the 1993 Waco Disaster, which was a 51-day stand off with federal agents resulting in the death of Koresh and 82 of his followers. His claimed to be Jesus Christ.
Belinda Carlisle
Born August 17, 1958
American singer. With the Go-Go's. Music: We Got the Beat (1981) and Vacation (1982).
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Robert De Niro
Born August 17, 1943
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Godfather Part II (1974, Oscar, Vito Corleone), Taxi Driver (1976, in which De Niro improvised the line "You talkin' to me?", which has become part of the pop culture lexicon), and The Deer Hunter (1978).
Apollo Creed
Born August 17, 1942 d. 1985
fictional fighter in the Rocky movies played by Carl Weathers. The character was also known as The King of Sting, The Master of Disaster, and The Count of Montefisto. Creed was killed in an exhibition match with Ivan Drago.
Francis Gary Powers
Born August 17, 1929 d. 1977
American CIA agent, U-2 pilot. In 1960 he was shot down over Russia, convicted of spying, and then exchanged in 1962 for Russian spy Rudolf Abel. Abel had been convicted of spying in the hollow nickel spy case, in which he transported microfilm inside a hollowed-out nickel.
O'Hara as Esmeralda
O'Hara as Esmeralda
Maureen O'Hara (Maureen FitzSimons)
Born August 17, 1920 d. 2015
Irish actress. Film: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939, Esmeralda).
William Mark Felt, Sr.
Born August 17, 1913 d. 2008
American agent and Associate Director of the FBI (1972-73). He was the informant known as Deep Throat in the Watergate scandal. His leaks about Watergate led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Jesse Lynch Williams
Born August 17, 1871 d. 1929
American playwright. His Why Marry? (1917) was the first play to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Deaths
Lindy and Azaria shortly before her death
Lindy and Azaria shortly before her death
A Dingo Took My Baby!
Azaria Chamberlain
Died August 17, 1980 b. 1980
Azaria Chamberlain disappeared when she was 9 weeks old while she and her parents were tent camping in Australia. Her parents claimed she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. Her body was never found. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was tried and convicted for murder and sentenced to life in prison. Azaria's father, Michael Chamberlain, was convicted as an accessory after the fact and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Lindy was released after a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo lair in 1986. She had spent more than three years in prison.
In 1988, all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were overturned. Lindy Chamberlain was paid $1.3 million for false imprisonment; however, this was less than one third of their legal expenses.
In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.
Alice Stebbins Wells
Died August 17, 1957 b. 1873
American female police officer. She was the first U.S. policewoman with the power to arrest. She was hired in 1910 by Los Angeles. Up to that time, woman in police departments only worked as matrons and with female prisoners.
First Major League Baseball Player Mortally Wounded During a Game
Ray Chapman
Died August 17, 1920 b. 1891
American baseball player. In 1920, he became the first major league baseball player mortally wounded during a game. He was hit in the head by a pitch and died early the next morning. Chapman led the American League in runs scored and walks in 1918.
Frank's lynching. Judge Morris (far right in a straw hat), organized the crowd after the lynching.
Frank's lynching. Judge Morris (far right in a straw hat), organized the crowd after the lynching.
Leo M. Frank
Died August 17, 1915 b. 1884
American factory worker. He was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Mary Phagan. Although sentenced to death, after reviewing the evidence the governor commuted his sentence to life in prison. Angered by the change in sentencing, a mob kidnapped Frank from prison and lynched him. The lynch mob was said to include prominent citizens, including former Georgia Governor Joseph Mackey Brown. Nobody was ever charged in the lynching.
His conviction was based largely on the testimony of Jim Conley, but was overturned in 1986 after evidence surfaced implicating Conley.
Pearl Bailey
Died August 17, 1990 b. 1918
Tony Award-winning actress, singer, noted for her role in the all-black version of Hello Dolly!
Rudolf Hess
Died August 17, 1987 b. 1894
German politician, Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler (1933-41). In 1941, he embarked on a solo peace mission to Scotland - without Hitler's permission. Upon finding out about Hess' secret mission, Hitler declared Hess should be shot on site. Hess was arrested when he landed in Scotland and imprisoned by the British for the remainder of the war. After the war, Hess was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and found guilty of planning and preparing a war of aggression, and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he remained until he committed suicide at the age of 93.
Ira Gershwin
Died August 17, 1983 b. 1896
American Pulitzer-winning lyricist. He collaborated with his brother George Gershwin for Funny Face (1927), Strike Up The Band (1929), Of the I Sing (1931, Pulitzer).
Vivian Vance (Vivian Roberta Jones)
Died August 17, 1979 b. 1909
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: I Love Lucy (1951-57, Ethel Mertz) and The Lucy Show (1962-68, Vivian Bagley). In 1954, Vance became the first actress to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Saint Eusebius
Died August 17, 310 b. ????
Greek-born religious leader, 31st Pope (c309-310).