On This Day in History - August 17th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Aug. 17, the 229th day of 2019 with 136 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in 1601; frontiersman Davy Crockett in 1786; movie producer Samuel Goldwyn in 1882; actor Mae West in 1893; Watergate figure W. Mark Felt, known as "Deep Throat," in 1913; actor Maureen O'Hara in 1920; U.S. spy plane aviator Francis Gary Powers in 1929; British poet laureate Ted Hughes in 1930; Nobel literature laureate V.S. Naipaul in 1932; actor Robert De Niro in 1943 (age 76); filmmaker Julian Fellowes in 1949 (age 70); pop singer Belinda Carlisle in 1958 (age 61); novelist Jonathan Franzen in 1959 (age 60); investigative journalist Eric Schlosser in 1959 (age 60); actor Sean Penn in 1960 (age 59); television commentator/former football coach Jon Gruden in 1963 (age 56); actor/singer Donnie Wahlberg in 1969 (age 50); tennis Hall of Fame member Jim Courier in 1970 (age 49); television host Giuliana Rancic in 1974 (age 45); actor Mark Salling in 1982; actor Austin Butler in 1991 (age 28); actor Taissa Farmiga in 1994 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1807, Robert Fulton began the first American steamboat trip between Albany, N.Y., and New York City.

In 1915, a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing 275 people.

In 1946, George Orwell publishes Animal Farm.

In 1969, the Woodstock music festival ended after three days on a 600-acre farm in Bethel, N.Y.

In 1978, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman completed the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by balloon, landing their helium-filled Double Eagle II near Paris.

In 1987, Rudolf Hess, Hitler's former deputy, was found strangled in Berlin's Spandau Prison. He was 93.

In 1996, the Reform Party nominated Texas businessman Ross Perot for president.

In 1998, addressing the American people, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he had a relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky that was "not appropriate."

In 1999, an earthquake in a densely populated region of northwestern Turkey killed at least 17,000 people and injured about 40,000.

In 2001, Ford Motor Co. announced it would dismiss up to 5,000 of its salaried employees -- 10 percent of its managers and engineers.

In 2008, Iran reported it had tested a new rocket capable of carrying a satellite into orbit.

In 2016, flooding in southeast Louisiana killed 13 people, and left thousands of people in shelters and seeking aid.

In 2017, a terrorist drove a van into a crowd of people in Barcelona, Spain's Las Ramblas district, killing 16.

A thought for the day: "Riches and power are but gifts of blind fate, whereas goodness is the result of one's own merits." -- French nun/scholar Héloïse