August 17
Subject to Britannica's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
1896: The Klondike Gold Rush starts
On this day in 1896, “Lying George” Washington Carmack and Skookum Jim Mason staked claims for a spot near the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers, along a tributary called Rabbit Creek. The two believed that there was gold was sandwiched between slabs of bedrock near the river confluence, and their claim paid off. The original finders prospered, and word of their discovery spread. Over the next year, 30,000 prospectors descended on the Klondike, chasing the same fortune. It would become one of the largest and best-publicized—gold rushes in history.
READ MORE
NPS, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Candy Waugaman Collection, KLGO Library DP-116-10570; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Fred Mayer/Magnum Photos
Indonesia’s declaration of independence
On this day in 1945, Sukarno declared Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands, and, after the Dutch transferred sovereignty four years later, he served as the country’s first president (1949–67).[Learn more about the students who called for Indonesian independence in the 1920s.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Parkes Photographic Archive/Alamy
Trinidadian writer Sir V.S. Naipaul, who was born this day in 1932, became known for his pessimistic novels set in Third World countries—such as A Bend in the River (1979)—and won the 2001 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Famous Birthdays
More on August 17
Jeffrey Mayer—WireImage/Getty Images
2008
At the Olympics in Beijing, American swimmer Michael Phelps helped his team win the 4 × 100-metre medley relay, becoming the first athlete to win eight medals at a single Games. [Sort fact from fiction in our swimming quiz.]
U.S. Geological Survey
1999
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck near İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people and leaving some 500,000 homeless. [Take our quiz about natural disasters.]
Jim Larsen
1978
Ben L. Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman completed the first transatlantic balloon flight, in Double Eagle II. [Test your knowledge of aviation.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1960
Gabon achieved independence from France while maintaining close relations with its former colonial ruler and continuing to use the French language and embrace French culture. [Learn more about colonization and decolonization in Africa.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Refugio Mariscal
1947
The final boundary demarcating the borders between India and Pakistan, known as the Radcliffe Line, was officially published. [Explore a timeline of the Indian Independence Movement.]
Advertising Archive/Courtesy Everett Collection
1945
English author George Orwell published Animal Farm, an anti-utopian satire that became a classic. [Test your knowledge of famous novels.]
© 1976 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.
1943
Robert De Niro, an American actor known for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters, was born. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about A-list actors.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62 106490
1933
American feminist, lecturer, writer, and publisher Charlotte Perkins Gilman died in Pasadena, California. Gilman was a leading theorist of the American women’s rights movement and the author of many poems and stories, including “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” a starkly realistic first-person portrayal of the mental breakdown of a physically pampered but emotionally starved young wife.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1906
American chemist and businesswoman Hazel Bishop, who founded a makeup company and created the first kiss-proof lipstick, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. [Why did we start wearing makeup?]
UPI/Bettmann Archive
1887
Marcus Garvey—a charismatic Black leader who helped found the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which sought, among other things, to build in Africa a Black-governed nation—was born in Jamaica.
© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com
1807
The first serviceable steamboat—the Clermont, designed by American engineer Robert Fulton—embarked on its maiden voyage. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about submarines, ships, and other watercraft.]
© North Wind Picture Archives
1590
John White returned from England to Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina, and a search the following day found no trace of the colony (now called the Lost Colony) that he had left there three years earlier. [Test your knowledge of early America.]