Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/June 17
This is a list of selected June 17 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
June 17: Icelandic National Day
- 1462 – Forces led by Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia (pictured) attacked an Ottoman camp at night in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed II.
- 1579 – English explorer Francis Drake landed in a region of present-day California, naming it New Albion and claiming it for England.
- 1789 – French Revolution: The Third Estate of France declared itself the National Assembly.
- 1982 – The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.
- 1994 – Following a police chase along Los Angeles freeways and a failed suicide attempt, actor and former American football player O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.