June 17
1775
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the American Revolution.
1885
The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928
Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
1944
The Republic of Iceland was established.
1963
U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of Lord’s Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.
1972
Burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, DC, started the Watergate political scandal.
1994
O. J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase by the police, watched by millions on TV, ended in his arrest.
2002
Australian scientists announced that they had “teleported” a laser beam—breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
Birthdays
John Wesley
1703–91, English evangelical preacher, founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire.
James Weldon Johnson
author, educator (1871)
Igor Stravinsky
composer (1882)
M. C. Escher
artist (1898)
Dan Jansen
skater (1965)
Venus Williams
tennis player (1980)