17 August It Happened Today

1786  Birth of American frontiersman Davy Crockett.

1892  Birth of American actress Mae West.

1896  The first pedestrian to be killed by a car is knocked down in Croydon, England.

1943  Birth of American actor Robert De Niro.

1983  Death of American songwriter Ira Gershwin.

1987  Death of deputy leader of the Nazi party, Rudolf Hess.