Important Events on June 17th
June 17th has always been my favorite day of the year – because it is my birthday. So on this celebratory 21st birthday post, I decided to check and see what other important events have taken place on June 17th.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.
- 1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law.
- 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
- 1971 – President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.
- 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of theRepublican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
- 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
- 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O.J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.