On This Day ... August 17

… in 1807, the first commercial steamboat service, North River, is inaugurated when it leaves New York on the Hudson River

… in 1862, The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota when Lakota warriors attack white settlements

… in 1862, Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War

… in 1908, the first animated cartoon, “Fantasmagorie,” is shown in Paris

… in 1915, Leo Frank, a Jewish American, is lynched for allegedly murdering a 13-year-old girl in Marietta, GA

… in 1943, the Allied conquest of Sicily ends when the U.S. Seventh Army, under General George S. Patton, arrives in Messina, Italy, followed by the British 8th Army

… in 1950, during the Korean War, American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army, known as the Hill 303 massacre

… “Kind of Blue” by jazz legend Miles Davis is released in 1959

… in 1982, the first CDs are released to the public in Germany

… in 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and admitted that he misled people about the relationship

… Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals in one Olympic Games in 2008, the first person to do so

… Davy Crockett was born in 1786 … actress Mae West was born in 1893 … “Deepthroat” aka W. Mark Felt was born in 1913 … actress Maureen O’Hara was born in 1920 … baseball player Boog Powell was born in 1941 … actor Robert De Niro was born in 1943 … singer Belinda Carlisle was born in 1958 … author Jonathan Franzen was born in 1959 … cult leader David Koresh was born in 1959 … actor Sean Penn was born in 1960 … actor and singer Donnie Wahlberg was born in 1969 … E! News host Giuliana DePandi Rancic was born in 1975 … pro wrestler Cheerleader Melissa was born in 1982 … actor Mark Salling (“Glee”) was born in 1982 …

… actor Bela Lugosi died in 1956 … baseball player and Black Sox Scandal conspirator Happy Felsch died in 1964 … actress Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz) died in 1979 … singer Pearl Bailey died in 1990 …