On Aug. 17, 1786, Davy Crockett was born in eastern Tennessee.
In 1863 federal batteries and ships bombarded Ft. Sumter in Charleston (S.C.) Harbor during the Civil War.
In 1896 a prospecting party discovered gold in the Yukon in Canada, which touched off the Klondike gold rush.
In 1942 during World War II, U.S. 8th Air Force bombers attacked Rouen, France.
In 1943 the Allied conquest of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British troops entered Messina. Also in 1943 actor Robert De Niro was born in New York.
In 1969 Hurricane Camille slammed into the Gulf Coast, claiming 248 lives. In 1987 Rudolf Hess, the last surviving member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, died in Berlin; he was 93.
In 1992 actor-director Woody Allen admitted being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Allen’s longtime companion, actress Mia Farrow.
In 1998 President Bill Clinton underwent grand jury questioning in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
In 1999 more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck Turkey.
In 2006 a federal judge in Detroit ruled that President George W. Bush’s warrantless surveillance program violated the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution. (The administration said it would appeal.)
