August 17th in History
August 17th…
1579 Francis, Duke of Anjou, visits English Queen Elizabeth I in an attempt to court her.
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On 17th August 1831, 93 people lost their lives when the paddle steamer Rothesay Castle was wrecked on Traeth Lafan (Lavan Sands) on Menai Strait.
The steamer, which was used for day trips from Liverpool, along the coast of North Wales, encountered a rough sea and strong winds. When one of the passengers went to ask to return to port, he found Captain Atkinson drunk and unwilling to turn the vessel around. By the time they had reached the Great Orme, the ship had taken on two feet of water and the pumps would not work. To make matters worse, there was no bucket on board for bailing and the lifeboat, which had a hole in it, had no oars. They ran aground and the ship broke up, with the bodies of the downed victims being washed up mostly on Anglesey.
The inquest that was held at Beaumaris concluded that the Rothesay Castle was not a seaworthy vessel and was not properly manned.
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1834 Charles Darwin reaches the top of Campana in Chile during his voyage on the Beagle
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The Radcliffe Line was announced on 17th August 1947 as a boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan. It was named after its architect, a Welshman, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, from Llanychan, Denbighshire, who had been given the chairmanship of the boundary committees, charged with producing a partition map, dividing the 175,000 square miles of territory and 88 million people.
The Indian Independence Act 1947, stipulated that British Rule in India would come to an end and that the Provence of British India was to be partitioned into the independent nations of India and Pakistan.
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1978 First successful crossing of the Atlantic by balloon is completed by Americans Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman aboard Double Eagle II.
1969 Woodstock Festival closes with Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys as the final act,
1579 Francis, Duke of Anjou, visits English Queen Elizabeth I in an attempt to court her.
..
On 17th August 1831, 93 people lost their lives when the paddle steamer Rothesay Castle was wrecked on Traeth Lafan (Lavan Sands) on Menai Strait.
The steamer, which was used for day trips from Liverpool, along the coast of North Wales, encountered a rough sea and strong winds. When one of the passengers went to ask to return to port, he found Captain Atkinson drunk and unwilling to turn the vessel around. By the time they had reached the Great Orme, the ship had taken on two feet of water and the pumps would not work. To make matters worse, there was no bucket on board for bailing and the lifeboat, which had a hole in it, had no oars. They ran aground and the ship broke up, with the bodies of the downed victims being washed up mostly on Anglesey.
The inquest that was held at Beaumaris concluded that the Rothesay Castle was not a seaworthy vessel and was not properly manned.
…
1834 Charles Darwin reaches the top of Campana in Chile during his voyage on the Beagle
..
The Radcliffe Line was announced on 17th August 1947 as a boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan. It was named after its architect, a Welshman, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, from Llanychan, Denbighshire, who had been given the chairmanship of the boundary committees, charged with producing a partition map, dividing the 175,000 square miles of territory and 88 million people.
The Indian Independence Act 1947, stipulated that British Rule in India would come to an end and that the Provence of British India was to be partitioned into the independent nations of India and Pakistan.
…
1978 First successful crossing of the Atlantic by balloon is completed by Americans Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman aboard Double Eagle II.
1969 Woodstock Festival closes with Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys as the final act,
61-69, M
