8-17-12: Today in History

[Rockntractor]

Lead Story
Woodstock Music Festival concludes, 1969
American Revolution
Connecticut Patriot Jonathan Trumbull dies, 1785
Automotive
Charles Kettering receives patent for electric self-starter, 1915
Civil War
Dakota uprising begins in Minnesota, 1862
Cold War
East Germans kill man trying to cross Berlin Wall, 1962
Crime
A serial rapist strikes in England, 1984
Disaster
Earthquake exposes weak infrastructure, 1999
General Interest
Patton wins race to Messina, 1943
Balloon crosses the Atlantic, 1978
Hitler's last living henchman dies, 1987
Deadly earthquake strikes Turkey, 1999
Hollywood
Robert De Niro born, 1943
Literary
Random House gives Colin Powell largest autobiography advance to date, 1993
Music
"The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace tops the U.S. pop charts, 1974
Old West
Billy the Kid kills his first man, 1877
Presidential
Clinton testifies before grand jury, 1998
Sports
Lou Gehrig goes the distance, 1933
Vietnam War
117,000 combat missions flown over North Vietnam in three years, 1968
U.S. troops to withdraw from Thailand, 1973
World War I
Russian troops invade East Prussia, 1914
World War II
Carlson's Raiders land on Makin Island, 1942

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

[Retread]

1786 - Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee. Crockett died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

1899 - Thomas Edward (Black Jack) Ketchum attempted to single handedly to rob a train. He was wounded by the conductor and was picked up the next day. He was hung in New Mexico on April 26, 1901. He was a known career criminal in Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas.

1973 - The Manned Spacecraft Center near Houston was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.