Today in History June 17
HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE
656 - Caliph Uthman, third caliph to rule after the death of the Prophet Mohammed, is assassinated at his home in Medina by besieging Muslim rebels from Mesopotamia.
1397 - Erik of Pomerania is crowned king of Norway, Denmark and Sweden in Kalmar, Sweden, marking the beginning of the Kalmar Union that unites the three countries until 1523.
1579 - Sir Francis Drake proclaims England's sovereignty over New Albion (California).
1775 - In the American War of Independence, British forces defeat the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill near Boston. The British lose 800 out of their force of 2,000.
1826 - Frederick Fisher disappears from his farm at Campbelltown, NSW and his ghost is later reported by another farmer, giving birth to a local legend.
1843 - Maoris revolt against British in New Zealand.
1867 - Joseph Lister performs the first surgical operation under antiseptic conditions on his sister Isabella, at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary.
1885 - Statue of Liberty arrives in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1925 - Twenty-nine countries sign the Geneva Protocol which prohibits the use of poisonous gases in war.
1928 - Amelia Earhart embarks on the first transatlantic flight by a woman, from Newfoundland to Wales.
1939 - The last person to be publicly guillotined in France, murderer Eugen Weidmann, is executed before going to Myanmar a large crowd at Versailles.
1944 - Iceland becomes an independent republic following a referendum on disengaging from Denmark's rule.
1947 - Burmese constituent assembly resolves for independent Republic of Burma.
1950 - The first kidney transplant is performed by Dr Richard Lawler of the Little Company of Mary Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois.
1974 - A bomb planted by Irish republican guerillas explodes at Westminster Hall in the British Houses of Parliament, injuring 11.
1991 - South Africa's parliament abolishes the last major apartheid law.
1994 - American footballer-actor OJ Simpson, accused of killing his ex-wife and a male friend, is arrested after a dramatic motorway chase and a 90-minute standoff in the driveway of his estate.
1999 - Nelson Mandela bids farewell to the country he led into democracy and hands over power of South Africa to its second freely elected president, Thabo Mbeki.
2000 - Gunmen storm a village in India's Bihar state while its residents sleep, executing 34 women, children and old men after the latest caste-related battle there.
2002 - A team of physicists at the Australian National University announces it has disembodied a laser beam in one location and rebuilt it in a different spot, conjuring up visions of science-fiction-style teleportation.
2006 - Russian special operations police kill top Chechen rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev after receiving a tip about a terror attack in Chechnya planned to coincide with the upcoming Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg.
2010 - The UN says an estimated 400,000 people - nearly one-12th the population - have fled their homes to escape Kyrgyzstan's ethnic violence.
2011 - The United Nations endorses the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the US and decried by some African and Muslim countries.
2013 - Russian President Vladimir Putin tells US President Barack Obama their positions on Syria do not "coincide" during the G-8 summit.
2014 - US special forces seize a "key leader" in the deadly Benghazi, Libya, attack and take him Things to know before going to Myanmar the US for trial for the assault that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.
2015 - White supremacist Dylann Roof opens fire in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine.
2016 - Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rules out changes to penalty rates in the next term of parliament if re-elected.
2017 - President of Vanuatu, Womtelo Reverend Baldwin Lonsdale dies suddenly aged 67.
Today's Birthdays
Charles XII, soldier-king of Sweden (1682-1718); John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (1703-1791); Jon Sigurdsson, Icelandic statesman (1811-1879); Charles Gounod, French composer (1818-1893); Henry Lawson, Australian poet (1867-1922); Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (1882-1971); MC Escher, Dutch artist (1898-1972); John Hersey, US author (1914-1993); Beryl Reid, British actress (1920-1996); Brian Statham, English cricketer (1930-2000); Ken Loach, British film director (1936-); Ken Livingstone, English politician (1945-); Barry Manilow, US singer-pianist (1946-); Jon Gries, US actor (1957-); Greg Kinnear, US actor (1963-); Jason Patric, US actor (1966-); James Corden, British actor and comedian (1978-); Venus Williams, US tennis player (1980-); Shane Watson, Australian cricketer (1981-); Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player (1985-); Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player (1988-); Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer (1988-).
Thought For Today:
You may prove anything by figures - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer (1795-1881).
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