NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS FOR OCTOBER 17
Jupiter Hammon (1711-1806) - Slave poet who was the first Black person to publish poetry and other written works.
Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850) - U.S. Vice President to President Martin Van Buren (1837 to 1841).
Albertus van Raalte (1811-1876) - Vicar who helped establish the Dutch community and Dutch Reformed Church in Michigan.
John J. Gardner (1845-1921) - Politician known for his involvement in the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which aimed to regulate corporate behavior and promoting fair competition.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935) - Painter and illustrator known for his urban paintings.
Henry Campbell Black (1860-1927) - Founder of Black's Law Dictionary.
James Rudolph Garfield (1865-1950) - U.S. Secretary of the Interior who played a key role in the expansion of the U.S. Park system.
Spring Byington (1886-1971) - Actress known for her role as Marmee in Little Women.
Doris Humphrey (1895-1958) - One of the greatest influences in modern dance.
Jean Arthur (1900-1991) - Silent film actress with major roles in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can't Take It with You.
Nathanael West (1903-1940) - Author of Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust.
Paul Derringer (1906-1987) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher.
John Marley (1907-1984) - Golden Globe winner for his role in Love Story (1970).
Red Rolfe (1908-1969) - Third baseman for the NY Yankees and later Detroit Tigers.
Cozy Cole (1909-1981) - Drummer for Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong.
Theodore Marier (1912-2001) - Founder of the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School.
Robert Lowery (1913-1971) - Second actor to play Batman.
Jerry Siegel (1914-1996) - Co-creator of Superman and creator of Doctor Occult.
Ralph Wilson (1918-2014) - Founder of the Buffalo Bills.
Barney Kessel (1923-2004) - Most sought after jazz guitarist for bands, film scores, and studio recordings.
Robert Atkins (1930-2003) - Creators of the Atkin diet.
Evel Knievel (1938-2007) - Motorcycle rider and stuntman.
Stephen Kovacevich (1940-Still Living) - One of the world's more revered pianist ever.
Earl Thomas Conley (1941-2019) -Country singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Jim Seals (1941-2022) - Half of the musical duo Seals and Crofts.
Steve "Snapper" Jones (1942-2017) - Three time ABA All-Star and NBA player.
Gary Puckett (1942-Still Living) - Lead singer of the Gary Puckett & The Union Gap band.
Michael Hossack (1946-2012) - Drummer for the Doobie Brothers.
Bob Seagren (1946-Still Living) - Leading pole vaulter in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Michael McKean (1947-Still Living) - Actor known as Lenny in Laverne & Shirley and cast member on Saturday Night Live.
Robert Jordan (1948-2007) - Author of Wheel of Time book series.
Howard Rollins (1950-1996) - Actor who played George Haley in Roots: The Next Generations.
Carlos Buhler (1954-Still Living) - Leading high altitude mountaineers.
Fran Cosmo (1956-Still Living) - Former lead singer for the band Boston.
Mae Jemison (1956-Still Living) - First Black woman astronaut to travel to space.
Stephen Palumbi (1956-Still Living) - Academic of genomics of marine organisms and research on how to preserve marine life.
Alan Jackson (1958-Still Living) - Country singer.
Richard Roeper (1959-Still Living) - Gene Siskel's replacement for the series At the Movies with Roger Ebert.
Rob Marshall (1960-Still Living) - Director of the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago.
David Means (1961-Still Living) - Short story writer for magazines.
Mike Judge (1962-Still Living) - Creator of Beavis and Butt-Head.
Tommy Kendall (1966-Still Living) - Race car driver who won the IMSA GT Championship and SCCA Trans-Am Series.
Wood Harris (1969-Still Living) - Actor known as Julius Campbell in Remember the Titans and Jimi Hendrix the television film Hendrix.
Wyclef Jean (1969-Still Living) - Haitian-American rapper, producer, and actor.
Chris Kirkpatrick (1971-Still Living) - Founder of the band NSYNC.
Eminem (1972-Still Living) - Rapper.
Sharon Leal (1972-Still Living) - Dreamgirls actress.
Seth Etherton (1976-Still Living) - Former pitcher of the Anaheim Angels.
Alimi Ballard (1977-Still Living) - Actor who played Marcus Dumas in Queen of the South and Fusco in Fast Five.
Ryan McGinley (1977-Still Living) - Acclaimed photographer.
Holly Holm (1981-Still Living) - Mixed martial artist.
Mitch Talbot (1983-Still Living) - Former pitcher for Tampa Bay Rays.
Randall Munroe (1984-Still Living) - Creator of the comic xkcd.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS FOR OCTOBER 17
1691 - Merge between the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony.
1777 – British army surrenders to the Americans at Saratoga, NY.
1781 – British army surrenders to Americans during the Siege of Yorktown.
1787 - Blacks in Boston petition the state legislature for equal school facilities for black students.
1829 - The Chesapeake Bay Canal opens.
1850 - The Knickerbocker Engine Co No. 5 firehouse is created in San Francisco, CA.
1855 - Bessemer steelmaking process patented by Henry Bessemer for mass production of steel.
1862 - Confederates overtake the Union at two battles--the Battle of Leetown and Thoroughfare Gap, VA.
1871 - President Ulysses S. Grant suspends habeas corpus in during prosecutions against Ku Klux Klan.
1885 - Salaries for baseball players is set at $1,000-$2,000 for the season.
1888 - The patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie) is submitted by Thomas Edison.
1894 - Three lynchers are killed by Ohio National Guard while rescuing a black man during a lynching.
1904 - The Bank of America opens its doors in Jackson Square, San Francisco.
1920 - The Chicago Bears plays their fir professional football game.
1931 - Al Capone sentenced to 11 years for income tax evasion, but was released in 7 years for good behavior.
1933 - Albert Einstein arrives in US as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
1934 - The radio comedy series The Aldrich Family premieres across the airwaves.
1941 - The Navy vessel USS Kearny is torpedoed by a U-boat.
1956 - A 13 year old Bobby Fischer beats U.S. Chess Champion Donald Byrne in the "Game of the Century."
1957 - Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, premiers Memphis, TN.
1960 - The U.S. is granted access to the British nuclear submarine base in Holy Loch, Scotland.
1965 - The N.Y. World's Fair closes after two years.
1966 - At least 12 firefighters are killed during the 23rd Street Fire in New York City.
1967 - The musical Hair premieres on Broadway.
1967 - Belle of 14th Street, starring Barbra Streisand stars, premiers as special on CBS.
1972 - My Ding-a-Lng by singer Chuck Berry's reaches #1 on the Billboards.
1975 - National Space Tech Labs conducts the first Space Shuttle main engine test.
1978 - President Carter signs bill restoring the US citizenship of Jefferson Davis.
1979 - U.S. Department of Education is created.
1982 - The National Symphony becomes the first live orchestra on a US commercial network.
1983 - The Sally Jessy Raphael Show debuts.
1986 - An immigration bill prohibits hiring of illegal aliens but offers amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982.
1988 - Political activist Lyndon LaRouche pleads innocent to fraud, conspiracy indictment.
1988 - Phillip Morris offers Kraft $11 Billion to hopefully establish the company beyond tobacco.
1988 - The Traveling Wilburys (Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty) release Handle With Care.
1989 – A 6.9 earthquake shakes kills 63 people on the West Coast.
1990 - Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) drops out of school to pursue a career in music.
1991 - Blue Man Group's performs for the first time in New York City.
1992 - Japanese student Yoshihiro Hattori is killed by the homeowner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after accidentally entering the wrong house.
2005 - "The Colbert Report" airs for the first time on U.S. television.
2006 - U.S. population reaches 300 million people.
2012 - Lance Armstrong is found to be involved in doping.
2019 - Mick Mulvaney, acting Chief of Staff, said the White House withheld nearly $400 million in military aid from Ukraine.
2020 - Chicago is declared the "rattiest city" by the pest control service Orkin.