On this day: August 17
Davy Crockett is born, George Orwell publishes his classic novel, the Berlin Wall claims its first victim, Bill Clinton admits to an "improper physical relationship" and Michael Phelps sets a new Olympic mark, all on this day.
1786: Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier, is born in Greene County, Tenn., (then the state of Franklin).
1786: Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier, is born in Greene County, Tenn., (then the state of Franklin).
1807: Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, N.Y., on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1893: Actress and sex symbol Mae West is born in Bushwick, N.Y.
1907: The Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, opens.
1908: "Fantasmagorie," the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris.
1943: Actor Robert De Niro ("The Godfather Part II," "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull") is born in New York City.
1945: "Animal Farm" by George Orwell is first published.
1953: The first committee meeting of Narcotics Anonymous takes place in Southern California.
1958: Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. The probe is destroyed by an explosion of the first stage of the Thor booster, 73.6 seconds after lift-off at nearly 10 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. The mission is notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959: "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
1960: Actor and film director Sean Penn ("Mystic River," "Milk," "Dead Man Walking") is born in Los Angeles County, Calif.
1962: East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming one of the first victims of the wall.
1969: Actor and singer Donnie Wahlberg, best known as a member of the New Kids On The Block, is born in Dorchester, Mass.
1970: The Soviet Union launches Venera 7, which will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1978: Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours and six minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. The gondola (pictured) is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
1979: Monty Python's "Life of Brian" premieres.
1980: Two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain is killed by a dingo during a family camping trip in Australia's Northern Territory, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, is tried for murder and would spend more than three years in prison before being released when a piece of Azaria's clothing was found in a dingo lair.
1982: The first Compact Discs are produced in a factory near Hanover, Germany. The CDs contain Richard Strauss' "Alpine Symphony."
1992: Woody Allen admits to being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Allen's longtime companion.
1996: Ross Perot is announced to be the Reform Party's presidential candidate. It was the party's first-ever candidate.
1998: President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
1999: A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Izmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
2008: American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games when he and his teammates win the 4×100-meter medley relay in Beijing. He breaks Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals, which had stood since 1972.
