Discover what happened on March 17 in history, along with notable celebrity birthdays and fun Days of the Year to celebrate.
What Happened on March 17 in History?
Important events on this day include the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in America, construction beginning on the Empire State Building, and Nevada becoming the first U.S. state to legalize gambling.
MARCH 17 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
461 – Bishop Patrick, St. Patrick, died in Saul. Ireland celebrates this day in his honor.
1756 – At the Crown and Thistle Tavern in New York, NY, St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated for the first time.
1762 – The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in America took place.
1808 – St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Detroit, MI for the first time.
1845 – The rubber band was patented.
1847 – The Michigan state legislature met for the last session in Detroit. They then moved to Lansing.
1868 – The postage stamp cancelling machine was patented.
1884 – In Otay, CA, John Joseph Montgomery made the first crewed, controlled, heavier-than-air glider flight in the United States.
1905 – Franklin Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a distant relative.
1910 – The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded by Luther and Charlotte Gulick. It was formally presented to the public exactly 2 years later.
1917 – America’s first bowling tournament for ladies began in St. Louis, MO. Almost 100 women participated in the event.
1930 – Al Capone was released from jail.
1930 – In New York, NY, construction began on the Empire State Building. Excavation of the site began a few months earlier, on January 22.
1931 – The state of Nevada legalized gambling.
1941 – The National Gallery of Art was officially opened in Washington, DC, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1950 – Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced that they had created a new radioactive element — element 98. They called it “californium”.
1958 – The Vanguard 1 satellite was launched by the U.S.
1972 – President Richard Nixon asked Congress to halt busing in order to achieve desegregation.
1973 – The first American prisoners of war (POWs) were released from the “Hanoi Hilton” in Hanoi, North Vietnam.
1985 – President Ronald Reagan agreed to a joint study with Canada on acid rain.
1997 – The RIAA announced that the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits” album had tied Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album as the all-time best-selling record in the United States.
1999 – A panel of medical experts concluded that marijuana had medical benefits for people suffering from cancer and AIDS.
1999 – The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members in the wake of a bribery scandal.
2000 – The movie “Erin Brockovich”, starring Julia Roberts, premiered in theaters. (The real Erin Brockovich wanted Goldie Hawn to play her in the movie.)
2004 – NASA’s Messenger became the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around Mercury. The probe took more than 270,000 pictures before it crashed into the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.
2005 – Ten baseball players, including homerun kings Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, appeared before Congress to answer questions regarding the use of steroids.
2005 – A report in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that childhood obesity could reduce life expectancy by two to five years.
2007 – Mike Modano, of the Dallas Stars, scored his 502nd and 503rd career goals making him the all-time U.S. leader in goal-scoring.
2009 – The iTunes Music Store reached 800 million applications downloaded.
2013 – The largest meteorite, since NASA started observing the Moon in 2005, hit the Moon.
2017 – The live action version of the Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast”, starring Emma Watson, debuted in theaters.
2020 – The Grand Rapids, MI Festival of the Arts was cancelled for the first time in five decades due to COVID-19. It had been scheduled for the first weekend in June.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON MARCH 17:
Myrlie Evers-Williams – 93 years old (1933) – Journalist and activist
Cito Gaston – 82 years old (1944) – Baseball player and manager
Michael Hayden – 81 years old (1945) – General, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
William Gibson – 78 years old (1948) – American-Canadian author and screenwriter
Scott Gorham – 75 years old (1951) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Cynthia McKinney – 71 years old (1955) – Activist and politician
Patrick McDonnell – 70 years old (1956) – Author and illustrator
Danny Ainge – 67 years old (1959) – Baseball and basketball player
Paul Black – 67 years old (1959) – Singer-songwriter and drummer
Sam Bowie – 65 years old (1961) – Basketball player
Janet Gardner – 64 years old (1962) – Singer and guitarist
Rob Lowe – 62 years old (1964) – Actor
Barry Minkow – 59 years old (1967) – Pastor and businessman
Gene Ween – 56 years old (1970) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Bill Mueller – 55 years old (1971) – Baseball player and coach
Vance Wilson – 53 years old (1973) – Baseball player and manager
Scott Downs – 50 years old (1976) – Baseball player
Tamar Braxton – 49 years old (1977) – Singer and television personality
Zachery Kouwe – 48 years old (1978) – Journalist
Stormy Daniels – 47 years old (1979) – Adult film actress
Stephen Kramer Glickman – 47 years old (1979) – Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
Samoa Joe – 47 years old (1979) – Professional wrestler
Danny Califf – 46 years old (1980) – Soccer player
Aaron Baddeley – 45 years old (1981) – American-Australian golfer
Kyle Korver – 45 years old (1981) – Basketball player
Chris Copeland – 42 years old (1984) – Basketball player and coach
Ryan Rottman – 42 years old (1984) – Actor, producer, and screenwriter
Chris Davis – 40 years old (1986) – Baseball player
Jeremy Pargo – 40 years old (1986) – Basketball player
Rob Kardashian – 39 years old (1987) – Television personality
Bobby Ryan – 39 years old (1987) – Ice hockey player
Emmanuel Sanders – 39 years old (1987) – Football player
Cordarrelle Patterson – 35 years old (1991) – Football player
Thomas Robinson – 35 years old (1991) – American-Lebanese basketball player
Patrick Cantlay – 34 years old (1992) – Golfer
Rhys Hoskins – 33 years old (1993) – Baseball player
DeForest Buckner – 32 years old (1994) – Football player
Terry Rozier – 32 years old (1994) – Basketball player
Claressa Shields – 31 years old (1995) – Boxer and mixed martial artist
Katie Ledecky – 29 years old (1997) – Swimmer
Brandon Aiyuk – 28 years old (1998) – Football player
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR MARCH 17:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
