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Weather
Hazards and Tropical Weather
Almanac
Macon Calendar
Local and StateNews
Russo-UKrainian War Updates
National News Roundup
COVID-19 News and Updates
Science and Technology
On This Day
Support Macon Media
GENERAL OUTLOOK
Dry high pressure will maintain milder temperatures and lower humidity to the end of the week. A weak cold front will cross the area tonight and Friday with little fanfare, after which the hot upper ridge over the southern Great Plains will expand across the Southeast. Temperatures will slowly climb through the second half of the weekend and into the first half of next week.
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Local Weather
General Forecast Through Friday Night
Franklin Area
Today
Franklin Area
Today
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy through midmorning, then gradual clearing, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows around 60. WInds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm before midmorning.
Friday
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Light winds out of the north early in the morning increasing and shifting to come out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 57. North northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm before midmorning.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 60.
`Highlands Plateau
Today
Sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the southeast around 5 mph early in the morning shifting to come out of the west by midmorning.
Tonight
Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with lows around 60. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Friday
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday Night
Clear, with lows in the mid 50s. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Windws out of the northeast 5 to 10 mph becoming south southeast in the afternoon.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 60.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy through midmorning, then clearing, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night
Clear, with lows in the upper 50s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph early in the morning becoming calm before midmorning.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 80s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 60s.
Nantahala Area
Today
Sunny, with highs in the upper 70s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with lows around 60. Winds out of the southwest 3 to 7 mph.
Friday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 60s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the mid-to-upper 50s. Winds out of the northwest around 5 mph early in the morning becoming calm before midmorning.
Saturday
Sunny, with highs near 80. Light and variable winds.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 60.
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Hazards and Tropical Weather
Hazardous weather is not expected today.
Latest US Drought Monitor Map for North Carolina.
Space Weather
Aurora Highlights from the G3 Solar Storm and A Fast Wind Watch | Solar Storm Forecast 13 August 2023
Back to Top • The Atlantic hurricane season has begun: What we know and what we don’t [ARS TECHNICA]
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
• The official hurricane season for the Atlantic basin is from June 1 to November 30, but tropical cyclone activity sometimes occurs before and after these dates, respectively. The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is September 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.
Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
200 AM EDT Thu Aug 17 2023
For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:
1. Central Tropical Atlantic (AL99):
Disorganized showers and thunderstorms continue in association with an elongated trough of low pressure centered about 875 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression could form during the next several days while it moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the central tropical Atlantic.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...40 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days...medium...60 percent.
2. Eastern Tropical Atlantic (AL98):
A broad area of low pressure, partially associated with a tropical wave, is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms near and to the southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Further development of this low is possible while it moves toward the west-northwest or northwest at around 10 mph across the eastern tropical Atlantic, and a tropical depression could form over the weekend before environmental conditions become unfavorable for development early next week.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...30 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days...medium...60 percent.
3. Western Gulf of Mexico:
A broad area of low pressure could form in the central or western Gulf of Mexico by the beginning of next week. Some slow development of this system is possible thereafter as it moves westward and approaches the western Gulf of Mexico coastline by the middle of next week.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days...low...20 percent.
TROPICAL TIDBITS
Tropical Tidbits is a website run by Macon Media's favorite no-nonsense tropical forecaster, Levi Cowan. He does not post material just to get clicks or to sensationalize the storms he covers to "make them more exciting." He is reliable and sober, unlike The Weather Channel crowd of Drama Queen Meteorologists.
Levi typically posts videos late in the afternoon or early before midnight on Youtube. [Youtube Channel]
[Thursday] Bret on Final Approach to Lesser Antilles; TD4 Forms (06-22-2023)
Tropics Becoming More Active (August 16th, 2023) | hurricanetrack
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Almanac
PM2.5 AQI is 45 (GOOD/CODE GREEN) for most of the county, and the ridges and other higher elevations PM2.5 AQI is 45 (GOOD/CODE GREEN)
Fire and Smoke Map
Pollen levels are expected to be in the medium-high range (8.2 out of 12) today with Ragweed, Chenopods, and Grasses being the main culprits. Tomorrow is expected to be in the medium-high range (9.1 out of 12).
Record Weather Events for August 16th
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 94°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 2007
Lowest Temperature 48°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1979
Greatest One-Day Rain 2.25 inches in Highlands in 1982
Greatest One-Day Snowfall (no snowfall has been recorded on this date since record-keeping began in 1871)
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of August Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 99°F in Franklin on 08-09-1980
Lowest Temperature 40°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station on 08-29-1968
Greatest Rainfall 9.68 inches in Highlands on 08-13-1940
Greatest Snowfall snowfall has not been recorded during August in Macon County)
Record Weather Events for August 16th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 105°F in Jackson Springs, Montgomery County in 1954
Lowest Temperature 36°F in Laurel Springs, Ashe County in 1979
Greatest One-Day Rain 8.59 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County in 1994
Greatest One-Day Snowfall (no snowfall has been recorded on this date since 1872)
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of August Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 110°F in Fayetteville, Cumberland County on 08-21-1983
Lowest Temperature 31°F in Banner Elk, Avery County on 08-23-1930
Greatest Rainfall 12.43 inches in Morehead City, Carteret County on 08-12-1955
Greatest Snowfall (no snowfall has been recorded during August in the state)
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Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
Saturdays in August from 11am to 1pm
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
8/19/23—Charley Simmons—Award-winning finger-style guitarist of Utah & 2 other states. You’ll be amazed at the sounds this guy gets out of a guitar! The late Chet Atkins has given this guy his blessings. 8/26/23—Zip Robertson—A Singer/Songwriter who’s journeyed from Ky to FL & up to Western NC bringing us lucky listeners acoustic music to touch our hearts. Welcome Zip!
Frog Quarters is open 9a to 2p, Wednesdays thru Saturdays—beside the River Bridge. We are the Non-Profit supporting the Greenway with monies from sales from our Coffee & Gift Shop, Memberships and Donations. As always, thank you for your support!
Mountain Findings
432 Spruce Street (physical)
Highlands, North Carolina 28741
Web: MountainFindings.org
Mountain Findings (a thrift store) is open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm until October 2023.
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Local and State News
NC House overrides Gov. Cooper, advances several bills targeting transgender youth | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
• Representative Karl E. Gillespie Elected as House Majority Whip in North Carolina House of Representatives [Macon Media]
• Jackson County Commissioners table Fontana Regional Library agreement vote [BPR]
• Mission Health counted among 5 NC hospitals for high number of lawsuits against patients, report shows [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• Energy policy, election law, predatory real estate deals and a power grab: NC lawmakers get back to work in Raleigh [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC) ]
• NC Republicans pass stricter mail-in voting rules, expand scope of partisan poll observers [Raleigh News and Observer]
---Recent News Recap---
August 16, 2023
NC lawmakers back this week for overrides, but not budget | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
• Silers gather in Macon for 172nd ‘family meeting’ [Smoky Mountain News]
• 'Devastating for our rural communities': Gov. Cooper highlights hospital closures as legislature delays on state budget [WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)]
• NC House Democrats and school board members sound an alarm over lack of state budget [Raleigh News and Observer]
• FOP president links anti-police sentiment to recent acts of vandalism, arson in Asheville [WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC)]
• Asheville Regional Airport breaks ground on $400 million expansion project [BPR]
• Macon County Board of Commissioners (August 2023) [Macon Media]
• Friends of the Greenway Update County Commissioners on the Use of County Property [Macon Media]
---NORTH CAROLINA BUDGET PROCESS---
• HB259 NC House Bill Budget Substitute [PDF Download (640 pages)]
Proposed State Budget for 2023-2025 [Download PDF]
• Macon County Board of Commissioners March 2023 Regular Meeting [Macon Media]
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National and World News Roundup
The Maui Fires - What REALLY Happened? | Two Bit da Vinci
• First came the deadly fires on Maui, then the looters and speculators [NBC News]
• Santos Aide Who Impersonated McCarthy Staff Member Faces Federal Charges [New York Times]
• Evacuations ordered after winds whip Northern California wildfire near site of 2022 deadly blaze [AP News]
• Bomb threat causes mass evacuation at DEF CON hacking convention [The Register]
• Feds won’t honor gun charge agreement with Hunter Biden, US attorney says [Courthouse News Service]
• Federal judge asks if Elon Musk was trying to ‘cozy up’ to Trump during criminal probe [CNBC]
International News Headlines
Gangs have seized control of 80% of Port-Au-Prince | World At War | WION
• ‘Real threat to city’: Yellowknife in Canada evacuates as wildfire nears [The Guardian]
• Mobs burn Christian churches, homes in Pakistan after blasphemy allegations [Al Jazeera]
• Russia’s War-Torn Economy Hits Its Speed Limit [The Register]
• N. Korea preparing ICBM launch or other provocations for S. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit: spy agency [Yonhap News Agency]
• 🔴 Liveblog: ECOWAS military chiefs to meet in Ghana over Niger coup [France 24]
On The Media: News About Journalism, Media Literacy, and Ethics in Journalism Marion County Chief of Police refuses to discuss raid on newspaper | KSHB-TV (Kansas City, MO)
• Items seized in a police raid at the Marion County Record newspaper in Kansas returned and headed for forensic analysis, publisher says [CNN]
• Joann Meyer, Longtime Editor of a Besieged Newspaper, Dies at 98 [New York Times]
• When the First Amendment dies: Raid on Kansas weekly newspaper raises troubling concerns [Washington Times]
• Associated Press cements the AI era with newsroom guidance [Poynter]
• The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 08/16/2023 [Media Bias/Fact Check]
Washington Today (8-16-23): POTUS calls Inflation Reduction Act 'transformative' on its anniversary | C-SPAN
Global National: Aug. 16, 2023 | NWT declares states of emergency as fire crisis deepens
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - August 16
PBS NewsHour full episode, (August 16, 2023)
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COVID-19 News and Updates
Here is a section on COVID-19. It includes local, regional, state, national, and global items.
COVID-19 Numbers for Macon County:
Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Macon County Public Health will stop publishing weekly COVID updates but will continue to monitor local case levels and trends. In the event that case counts increase significantly, MCPH will notify the public and resume weekly COVID updates.
• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard [World Health Organization]
In United States of America, from 3 January 2020 to 8:14am CEST, 26 July 2023, there have been 103,436,829 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,127,152 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 2 June 2023, a total of 668,882,018 vaccine doses have been administered.
Globally, as of 8:14am CEST, 26 July 2023, there have been 768,560,727 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,952,522 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 23 July 2023, a total of 13,474,348,801 vaccine doses have been administered.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb: Nothing suggests new 'Eris' Covid variant is more pathogenic than prior variants | CNBC Television
• Utah man posing as doctor selling fake COVID-19 cure arrested after three-year manhunt [CBS News]
• Weekly COVID hospitalizations rose 14%, as numbers still lower than at other points in pandemic [ABC News ]
• What effect did lockdown have on your child’s immune system? [NewScientist]
• Covid is on the rise again—so what next? [The British Medical Journal]
• TWiV 1032: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin [Microbe TV]
• TWiV 1029: David Tuller on Long COVID and ME/CFS [Microbe TV]
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Science and Technology News Roundup
• The Sky This Week from August 11 to 18: The Perseids put on a show [Astronomy Magazine]
Science Without the Gobbledygook: Fermilab Finds Feeble Fifth Force (Maybe) | Sabine Hosweenfelder
• Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics (Press Release with video and links) [Fermilab]
• Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America [TechCrunch]
• $220 billion is helping build US cleantech infrastructure. Here are the projects. [ARS TECHNICA]
• A new look at Ötzi the Iceman’s DNA reveals new ancestry and other surprises [Science News]
• EXCLUSIVE: Naomi Wu and the Silence That Speaks Volumes [Hacking But Legal]
• YouTube and Reddit are sued for allegedly enabling the racist mass shooting in Buffalo that left 10 dead [Fortune Magazine]
• No More Cavities? Organoids Pave the Way for Enamel Regeneration [SciTechDaily]
Generative A.I. Will Change Everything. | Kyle Hill
• Z-Library returns, aims to avoid seizures by giving each user a secret URL [ARS TECHNICA]
Evergreen Links
• Red Dead Online player bids farewell to Google Stadia save by releasing horse they named after their departed daughter [Games Radar]
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History 69 - Twilight of the Æsir
Hardcore History: Addendum EP26 Dig This! | Dan Carlin
• Neal Stephenson’s Lamina1 drops white paper on building the open metaverse [Venture Beat] [PDF of White paper]
• Yes, the Great Books Make Us Better People [New York Times]
How Do We Know What We Know? Philosophy of Science | Fraser Cain
• Free, legally available series/movies on YouTube in a Netlflix-like interface [Cinetimes]
Podcasts and Long Form Videos (History, Culture, Science, Space, Technology and Current Events)
Anything covering educational, entertainment, history, current events, and technology topics
The Level1 Show August 16 2023: Google Wants Too Fix You're Grammar | Level1Techs
Ukraine Grain Strain – NSW w/ Tom Merritt DTNS 4584 | Daily Tech News Show
Android 14 Vs Stingrays - ThreatWire | Hak5
TWiG 729: Waffle Party | TWiT TV
Human Population Through Time (Updated for 2023) | American Museum of Natural History
It's Impossible To Destroy A Black Hole – We Did It Anyway | Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Black Holes from Before The Universe Existed | John Michael Godier
Did JWST Discover Dark Matter Stars? | PBS Space Time
--------------------
Civilization: Is the West History? | Episode 2: Science | BBC Select
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Special Section: The Russo-Ukrainian War
(sharing of a particular source is not an endorsement)
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 16 [Institute for the Study of War] [PDF for August 16th ]
• Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 540 [Al Jazeera]
• Russo-Ukrainian War. Day 539: Russian missile kills three at Swedish factory in western Ukraine [Euromaiden Press]
New Ukrainian video shows intense fight captured by drone | CNN
• Ukraine liveblog updates: Kyiv to ramp up drone production [DW News]
• 🔴 Liveblog: Ukraine air force says it will not be able to operate F-16s this year [France 24]
• Ukraine probes Kherson defences, advances in east and south [Al Jazeera]
• Ukraine war: Ship leaves Odesa despite Russia Black Sea attack fears [BBC News]
• Romania fears Russian attacks on Danube ports threaten its security [TVP World]
Black Sea Security | Joanna Siekiera | TVP World
Who controls the Black Sea? I DW News
Russian troops regrouping near Kupiansk to attack Ukrainian troops ‘relentlessly’ by air | France 24
Missile strikes in west Ukraine kill at least three | BBC News
Why is the Ruble (Still) Declining? | TLDR News EU
🔴 (Viewer Discretion) - Armored Assaults, CASEVAC Nightmares | Combat Footage Show
Why Do We Call the War in Ukraine Unprovoked? - Debunking Russian Claims | Kings and Generals
News from Russian or pro-Russian outlets or articles/video about those who support Russia
They Turned In The Direction Of The Russians To Get Assistance | Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor
• 'At the front, you start looking at things differently': An interview with a Russian conscript fighting Ukraine [Russia Today]
• Russia's success in Kupyanks will crush Ukrainian counteroffensive completely [Pravda]
• Explosions heard in Odessa for the third time [TASS Russian News Agency]
-->
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On This Day
August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 136 days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
309/310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, possibly from a hunger strike.
• [Wikipedia Bio: Pope Eusebius]
• [Britannica: Saint Eusebius]
• [All Popes of the Catholic Church: St Eusebius - St Innocent (31-40) (video)]
682 – Pope Leo II begins his pontificate.
986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of the Gates of Trajan: The Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron defeat the Byzantine forces at the Gate of Trajan, with Byzantine Emperor Basil II barely escaping.
• [Wikipedia: Battle of the Gates of Trajan]
• [Byzantine Military Blog]
• [Basil II - Reformer, Restorer, Bulgarslayer | Kings and Generals]
1186 – Georgenberg Pact: Ottokar IV, Duke of Styria and Leopold V, Duke of Austria sign a heritage agreement in which Ottokar gives his duchy to Leopold and to his son Frederick under the stipulation that Austria and Styria would henceforth remain undivided.
1386 – Karl Topia, the ruler of Princedom of Albania forges an alliance with the Republic of Venice, committing to participate in all wars of the Republic and receiving coastal protection against the Ottomans in return.
1424 РHundred Years' War: Battle of Verneuil: An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under Jean II, Duke of Alen̤on, John Stewart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas.
• [WikipediaT]
• [Battle of Verneuil 1424 AD - Hundred Years' War - The Second Agincourt]
• [The MfA LIVE SHOW - The Battle of Verneuil 1424]
1498 – Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, becomes the first person in history to resign the cardinalate; later that same day, King Louis XII of France names him Duke of Valentinois.
1549 – Battle of Sampford Courtenay: The Prayer Book Rebellion is quashed in England.
• [Wikipedia: Prayer Book Rebellion]
• [BBC Four HD England's Reformation Three Books That Changed a Nation (2017)]
• [Wikipedia: Battle of Sampford Courtenay]
1560 – The Catholic Church is overthrown and Protestantism is established as the national religion in Scotland.
1585 – Eighty Years' War: Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp is captured by Spanish forces under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, who orders Protestants to leave the city and as a result over half of the 100,000 inhabitants flee to the northern provinces.
1585 – A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
• [Wikipedia: Roanoke Colony]
• [1585: The Military Colony " National Park Service]
• [NCpedia: First English Colonies]
1597 – Islands Voyage: Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores.
1668 – The magnitude 8.0 North Anatolia earthquake causes 8,000 deaths in northern Anatolia, Ottoman Empire.
1712 – Action of 17 August 1712 New Deep naval battle between Denmark and Sweden.
1717 – Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18: The month-long Siege of Belgrade ends with Prince Eugene of Savoy's Austrian troops capturing the city from the Ottoman Empire.
1723 – Ioan Giurgiu Patachi becomes Bishop of FăgăraÈ™ and is festively installed in his position at the St. Nicolas Cathedral in FăgăraÈ™, after being formally confirmed earlier by Pope Clement XI.
1740 – Pope Benedict XIV, previously known as Prospero Lambertini, succeeds Clement XII as the 247th Pope.
1784 – Classical composer Luigi Boccherini receives a pay rise of 12,000 reals from his employer, the Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón.
1798 – The Vietnamese Catholics report a Marian apparition in Quảng Trị, an event which is called Our Lady of La Vang.
1807 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
1808 – The Finnish War: The Battle of Alavus is fought.
1827 – Dutch King William I and Pope Leo XII sign concord.
1836 – British parliament accepts registration of births, marriages and deaths.
1862 – American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Dakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
• [WikipediaT]
• [War Within War: Lincoln and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862]
• [he U.S.-Dakota War Of 1862: Minnesota, USA]
1862 – American Civil War: Major General J. E. B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
1863 – American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville: Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
1866 – The Grand Duchy of Baden announces its withdrawal from the German Confederation and signs a treaty of peace and alliance with Prussia.
1883 – The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Himno Nacional.
1896 – Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
1914 РWorld War I: Battle of Stallup̦nen: The German army of General Hermann von Fran̤ois defeats the Russian force commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
• [Wikipedia]
• [1914-07 Battle of Stalluponen August 17th - 23rd 1914]
• [FirstWorldWar.comT]
1915 – Jewish American Leo Frank is lynched in Marietta, Georgia after a 13-year-old girl is murdered.
1915 – A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
• [Wikipedia]
• [When Weather Changed History - Galveston Hurricane]
• [Hurricanes: Science and Society]
• [Galveston and Texas History Center]
1916 – World War I: Romania signs a secret treaty with the Entente Powers. According to the treaty, Romania agreed to join the war on the Allied side.
1918 – Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin.
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.
1943 – World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrives in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
1943 РWorld War II: First Qu̩bec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program.
• [Wikipedia: Operation Hydra (1943)T]
• [Operation Hydra - The Peenemünde Raid (video)]
• [Operations Crossbow and Hydra: The Aerial Attacks Against Peenemünde]
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire.
1945 – The novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.
1947 – The Radcliffe Line, the border between the Dominions of India and Pakistan, is revealed.
1949 – The 6.7 Ms Karlıova earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 320–450 dead.
1953 – First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous takes place, in Southern California.
1955 – Hurricane Diane made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, and it went on to cause major floods and kill more than 184 people.
1958 – Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
1959 – Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
1962 – Peter Fechter is shot and bleeds to death while trying to cross the new Berlin Wall.
1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.
1970 – Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1976 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000-8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless.
1977 – The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
1978 – 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.
1985 – The 1985–86 Hormel strike begins in Austin, Minnesota.
1988 – President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
1991 – Strathfield massacre: In Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, taxi driver Wade Frankum shoots seven people and injures six others before turning the gun on himself.
• [WikipediaT]
• [Wade Frankum | The Strathfield Massacre | Crime Documentaries]
• [From the Archives, 1991: The Strathfield massacre]
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.
• [Bill Clinton admits to having inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky]
• [Wikipedia: Clinton–Lewinsky scandalT]
• [August 17, 1998 Presidential Grand Jury Testimony | C-SPAN]
1999 – The 7.6 Mw Ä°zmit earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 17,118–17,127 dead and 43,953–50,000 injured.
2004 – The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.
2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israeli disengagement from Gaza, starts.
2005 – Over 500 bombs are set off by terrorists at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh.
2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
2009 – An accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Khakassia, Russia, kills 75 and shuts down the hydroelectric power station, leading to widespread power failure in the local area.
2015 – A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others.
2017 – Barcelona attacks: A van is driven into pedestrians in La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100.
2019 – A bomb explodes at a wedding in Kabul killing 63 people and leaving 182 injured.
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Published at 5:00am on Thursday, August 17, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe following websites or books: MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War. Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center.
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