Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.2 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana. Date: August 17, 1959 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1959 📅 On This Day (Today)

Aeroflot Flight 036 crashes in Soviet Ukraine, killing 34. Date: August 17, 1960 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1960 📅 On This Day (Today)

Peter Fechter is shot and bleeds to death while trying to cross the new Berlin Wall. Date: August 17, 1962 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1962 📅 On This Day (Today)

Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus). Date: August 17, 1970 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1970 📅 On This Day (Today)

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless. Date: August 17, 1976 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1976 📅 On This Day (Today)

The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. Date: August 17, 1977 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1977 📅 On This Day (Today)

Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. Date: August 17, 1978 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1978 📅 On This Day (Today)

President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash. Date: August 17, 1988 Read more on Wikipedia → 📅 Other events on August 17 📅 Events on this day in 1988 📅 On This Day (Today)