THURSDAY, Aug. 17, 2023

1807 ― Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont begins first trip up Hudson River

1846 ― U.S. takes Los Angeles

1858 ― First bank in Hawaii opens

1869 ― First international boat race (Thames River) (Oxford beats Harvard)

1877 ― Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos

1938 ― Henry Armstrong wins 3rd concurrent boxing championship

1945 ― Indonesia declares independence from Netherlands (National Day)

1960 ― Gabon gains independence from France (National Day)

1961 ― Building of the Berlin Wall begins

1973 ― Lee Trevino's first hole-in-one

1978 ― First manned balloon crossing of Atlantic Ocean (Eagle II)

1988 ― NYC sees first case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (9-year-old Bronx boy)