What happened on June 17 ?

1025 - Boles?aw I the Brave, first king of Poland

1091 - Dirk V, Count of Holland (b. 1052)

1463 - Princess Catherine of Portugal, writer (b. 1436)

1565 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (b. 1536)

1694 - Philip Cardinal Howard, English Catholic Cardinal (b. 1629)

1696 - John III Sobieski, King of Poland (b. 1629)

1719 - Joseph Addison, English politician and writer (b. 1672)

1734 - Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars, Marshal of France (b. 1653)

1740 - William Wyndham, English politician (b. 1687)

1762 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)

1775 - Major John Pitcairn, British marine (killed in battle) (b. 1722)

1797 - Agha Muhammad Khan, Shah of Persia (b. 1742)

1813 - Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician (b. 1726)

1898 - Edward Burne-Jones, English artist (b. 1833)

1904 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, Russian politician, Governor-General of Finland (assassinated) (b. 1839)

1940 - Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)

1942 - Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician (b. 1853)

1952 - Jack Parsons, American rocket-fuel pioneer and renegade occultist (b. 1914)

1956 - Paul Rostock, German doctor (b. 1892)

1956 - Bob Sweikert, American racing driver (b. 1926)

1957 - Dorothy Richardson, English writer (b. 1873)

1961 - Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)

1979 - Duffy Lewis, baseball player (b. 1888)

1981 - Richard O'Connor, British general (b. 1889)

1982 - Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)

1986 - Kate Smith, American singer (God Bless America) (b. 1907)

1987 - Dick Howser, baseball player and manager (b. 1936)

1996 - Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (b. 1922)

2001 - Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)

2002 - Willie Davenport, American athlete (b. 1943)

2002 - Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)

2004 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (b. 1926)

2005 - Karl Mueller, American bassist (Soul Asylum) (b. 1962)

2006 - Cláudio Besserman Vianna, aka "Bussunda", Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)