August 17th

August 17 is the 230th day of the year.  There are 136 days remaining until the end of the year.

1807 Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont begins 1st trip up Hudson River

1859 1st airmail (in a balloon) takes off from Lafayette, Indiana, but doesn’t get there any faster

1891 1st public bathhouse with showers opens in New York City (People's Bath)

1903 Joseph Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia U and begins Pulitzer Prizes although Daddy Joe is a prize in himself <yum>

1945 Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published

1957 Richie Ashburn’s foul balls hit fan Alice Roth twice in same at bat. 1st one breaks her nose, second one while she is on the stretcher

1958 World's 1st moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec. Premature . . .

1961 Building of Berlin Wall begins.  Kinda sloppy workmanship for Germans. . .

1978 Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine, with an important letter, no doubt!

1979 Monty Python's "Life of Brian" premieres

1982 The first compact discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.  Now this is the German craftsmanship we have come to know and expect.

1997 Macy's Tap-o-mania crumbles the pavement on 34th Street.  Not a miracle.

1888 Edgar Montillion “Monty” Woolley, gay US actor 

1933 Glenn Corbett [Glenn Rothenburg], US actor 

1943 Robert DeNiro, US actor/director 

1953 Kevin Rowland, English cross-dressing singer of Dexy's Midnight Runners 

1960 Sean Penn, US actor/director  

1963 Matt Scoggin, US Olympic diver/coach 

1968 Jackie Warner, gay US gym and spa owner/Work Out

1968 Anthony E Zuiker, maybe gay US tv producer/writer/creator all of the CSIs 

1969 Donnie Wahlberg, US singer/actor/New Kids On the Block/Mark's big bro 

1972 Jason Schnuit, actor 

1972 Jason Nikas, gay US pornographic actor

1973 David Bromstad, gay US interior designer/HG Design Star  

1975 Guy Arieli, Israeli singer/boybander/actor/model 

1975 Ilhan Mansiz, Turkish soccer player.  We'll just have to take his word that it's mansize.

1977 Edu del Prado, maybe gay Spanish actor/musician 

1977 Thierry Henry, French soccer player 

1978 Mehdi Baala, French middle distance runner and ferret smuggler

1979 Marcus Patric [Patrick Henry Gosling], English actor 

1986 Tobias Schönenberg, German model/actor, also a ferret smuggler

1989 Frederick Lau, German actor 

1980 Dani Guiza, Spanish soccer player 

1979 Vivian Vance, US actress (Ethel Mertz-I Love Lucy), needs some vitameatavegemin in a hurry

1992 Tommy Nutter, English fashion designer (bell bottom pants), succumbs to AIDS at 49

1992 Al Parker [Andrew "Drew" Okun], American adult film actor/producer/director Inches), succumbs to AIDS at 40. May light perpetual shine on him. Love you forever, Al.♥