What Happened On
Cheney's Got A Gun
February 17, 2006
Six days after U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington while on a quail hunting trip in Texas, Whittington apologizes to Cheney stating, "My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with." Cheney has yet to apologize to his victim, stating he didn't need to apologize.
First Weather Satellite
February 17, 1959
The U.S. launches Vanguard 2, the first weather satellite. It was 20 inches (50.8 cm) in diameter and was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution during the daylight portion of its orbit for 19 days (the life of its batteries). After that it would be optically tracked from Earth for studies of atmospheric drag and the gravity field for the life of its orbit (about 200-300 years). It is still in orbit.
House on Haunted Hill
February 17, 1959
The low-budget horror film House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price, is released. It was produced and directed by William Castle, who was known for his use of gimmicks to promote his horror films. This film featured an effect he called "Emergo", in which a plastic skeleton would fly over the theater audience during the corresponding scene in the movie. House on Haunted Hill was made on a budget of about $200,000 and earned over $2.5 million at the box office. Its huge success inspired Alfred Hitchcock to make his own low-budget horror movie Psycho.
B.C.
February 17, 1958
The comic strip B.C. premieres. It was created by American cartoonist Johnny Hart and follows cavemen and anthropomorphic animals of prehistoric times. It ran until 2007 and was written and drawn by Hart until his death at his drawing board.
Hart also created The Wizard of Id in 1964.
First Color Merry Melodies Cartoon
February 17, 1934
Honeymoon Hotel premieres. It used Cinecolor since Walt Disney had exclusive rights to the Technicolor process.
The story follows an insect couple who check into a hotel which catches on fire.
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Prohibition
February 17, 1933
The Blaine Act is passed by the U.S. Senate, leading to the end of the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S.
Federal prohibition had been in effect as per the 18th Amendment since 1920 and while it did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, it did ban the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.
First Recurring Comic Strip Character
February 17, 1895
The Yellow Kid, by Richard Felton Outcault, makes his newspaper debut. The Yellow Kid was the first recurring comic strip character. The character had been featured in Truth magazine starting in 1894. The Yellow Kid represented the kids of the New York slums of the late 1800s. His head was shaved, as was common in children that had been treated for lice, and wore a nightshirt that was a hand-me-down from an older sister. Initially, the Yellow Kid's speech was written on his shirt, but this later changed to word balloons (1896). Outcault's comics popularized the use of word balloons and multi-paneled comic strips.
Ferdinand Marcos Wins Fraudulent Election
February 17, 1986
Ferdinand Marcos is declared the winner of the Philippine presidential election. Later reports of widespread fraud caused him to flee the country ending his 20-year rule.
Flynn (left) and Dempsey
Flynn (left) and Dempsey
Jack Dempsey KO'd
February 17, 1917
Fireman Jim Flynn knocks Jack Dempsey out in the first round; the only time Dempsey was ever knocked out.
Dempsey would avenge this fight by knocking out Flynn a rematch a year later.
PTA
February 17, 1897
The National Congress of Mothers is founded. In 1908, the organization changed its name to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA).
Canned Sardines
February 17, 1876
The first canning of Sardines, in Eastport, Maine.
Civil War - Sherman Takes Columbia
February 17, 1865
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman (Union) takes Columbia, S.C., claiming that the fires, which destroyed two-thirds of the city, were set by retreating Confederate soldiers.
First U.S. Street Lit by Gaslight
February 17, 1817
Baltimore, MD.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
U.S. Presidents
February 17, 1801
Thomas Jefferson is elected President by the House of Representatives after an electoral tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
First U.S. Government Loan
February 17, 1790
The U.S. government takes out its first loan, for the amount of $191,608.81. It was paid off in June.
Birthdays
Photo Credit: Science and Society Picture Library
Photo Credit: Science and Society Picture Library
Inventor of the Stethoscope
René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec
Born February 17, 1781 d. 1826
French physician. He invented the stethoscope (1816). His was a hollow tube made of wood and brass. Laennec was inspired by schoolchildren holding their ears up to long hollow sticks while scratching the opposite end with a pin; the stick transmitted and amplified the scratch. The modern stethoscope, with rubber tubing going to both ears, was not developed until the 1850s.
Paris Hilton
Born February 17, 1981
American celebrity, Hilton hotel fortune heir.
Michael Jordan
Born February 17, 1963
American basketball player and two-time Olympic gold-medal winner.
Larrry the Cable Guy promo for NASA TV
Larrry the Cable Guy promo for NASA TV
Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney)
Born February 17, 1963
American comedian. Known for his catch phrases, "GIT-R-DONE", "Lord, I apologize, and be with the starvin' Pygmies in New Guinea. Amen", and "I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there". He was part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and Blue Collar TV, which also included Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Ron White.
Zina Bethune
Born February 17, 1945 d. 2012
American dancer, actress. TV: Love of Life (Barbara Sterling Latimer). She founded Dance Outreach (1982), which enrolls about 1,000 disabled children in dance-related activities.
Huey Newton
Born February 17, 1942 d. 1989
American political leader, co-founded the Black Panthers (1966) with Bobby Seale. His 1967 conviction for killing a police officer was overturned after a nationwide "Free Huey" campaign.
Mary Ann Mobley
Born February 17, 1937 d. 2014
American actress, Miss America (1959). TV: Diff'rent Strokes (the second Maggie McKinney).
Sir Alan Arthur Bates
Born February 17, 1934 d. 2003
British actor. Film: The Fixer (1968).
Hal Holbrook (Harold Rowe HolBrook Jr.)
Born February 17, 1925 d. 2021
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. Famous for his on-stage portrayal of Mark Twain. In 2008 at age 82, he became to oldest male actor nominated for an Oscar. Film: All the President's Men (1976, Deep Throat). TV: Designing Women (1988-90. Reese Watson) and Evening Shade (1990-94, Evan Evans).
Thomas J. Watson (Thomas John Watson Sr.)
Born February 17, 1874 d. 1956
American businessman. He took control of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. (1914) and turned it into the international-giant IBM.
Samuel Sidney McClure
Born February 17, 1857 d. 1949
American publisher. Founder of McClure syndicate (1884) and McClure's Magazine (1893, which he ran from 1893-1911).
Creator of Mail Order
Aaron Montgomery Ward
Born February 17, 1843 d. 1913
American businessman. Creator of mail-order (1872). His first mail order offering consisted of a single 8 × 12 in (20 × 30 cm) sheet listing 163 items for sale and included a money-back guarantee. By 1883, his catalog had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items.
Deaths
Geronimo
Died February 17, 1909 b. 1829
Apache Indian chief. Opposed to the policy of placing Indians on reservations, he raided Arizona settlements until his capture in 1886.
Sholes' typewriter - 1873
Sholes' typewriter - 1873
Inventor of QWERTY
Christopher Latham Sholes
Died February 17, 1890 b. 1819
American inventor. He and Samuel W. Soule invented the first commercially-successful typewriter (1868). It was only able to type capital letters and the numbers 2 through 9 and was manufactured by E. Remington & Sons. He also coined the word "type-writer" and created the QWERTY keyboard layout (1873). The QWERTY keyboard was designed to split up commonly-used letter combinations in order to reduce key jamming.
Photo Credit: Nicolas Shayko
Photo Credit: Nicolas Shayko
Rush Limbaugh (Rush Hudson Limbaugh III)
Died February 17, 2021 b. 1951
American conservative political commentator. His talk radio program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, was the most listened-to talk-radio program in the U.S. Writings: The Way Things Ought to Be, (1992, New York Times Best Seller), and See, I Told You So (1993, New York Times Best Seller).
Kathryn Grayson (Zelma Hedrick)
Died February 17, 2010 b. 1922
American actress. Star of many MGM musicals of the 1940s and '50s. Film: Show Boat (1951) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).
Vernon "Lefty" Gomez
Died February 17, 1989 b. 1908
American Baseball Hall of Famer. He won 189 games with the N.Y. Yankees, and was the winning pitcher for the first All-Star game (1933).
Lee Strasberg
Died February 17, 1982 b. 1901
acting teacher, the father of method acting in America. His disciples include Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino.
William Gargan
Died February 17, 1979 b. 1905
American actor. TV: Martin Kane, Private Eye (title role). After losing his voice to cancer in 1960, he became an anti-smoking advocate.
Alfred P. Sloan (Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr.)
Died February 17, 1966 b. 1875
American industrialist. As president (1923-37) and chairman (1937-56) of General Motors, he made it one of the greatest industrial enterprises in history.
Robert Moore Brinkerhoff
Died February 17, 1958 b. 1880
American cartoonist. Creator of Little Mary Mixup (1917).
Albert I
Died February 17, 1934 b. 1875
King of Belgium (1909-34). He was killed while mountain climbing.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Died February 17, 1919 b. 1841
Canadian statesman, premier of Canada (1896-1911).
Heinrich Heine
Died February 17, 1856 b. 1797
German author, poet, lyricist. Among his writings are some of Germany's best-known lyrics.