^B{^#!16!17 August^N! National Day of Indonesia. Feast day of St Joan Delanoue, St Mamas, St Liberatus of Capua, St Rock or Roch, St Clare of Montefalco, St Hyacinth, and St Eusebius, pope.
^B{1833^B} The Canadian ^I{Royal William^I}, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic entirely under power, set off from Nova Scotia. ^B{1836^B} Under the Registration Act, the registration of births, deaths, and marriages was introduced in Britain. ^B{1876^B} The first performance of Wagner's opera ^I{G÷tterdΣmmerung^I} was given in Bayreuth, Germany. ^B{1896^B} Gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek in Canada's Yukon Territory, leading to the great gold rush of 1898. ^B{1976^B} Earthquakes and tidal waves in the Philippines resulted in the deaths of over 6,000 people. ^B{1989^B} Electronic tagging was used for the first time in Britain, on Richard Hart, accused of theft.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Davy Crockett, US frontiersman, ^B{1786^B}; Mae West, US film actress, ^B{1892^B}; George Melly, English jazz singer, ^B{1926^B}; V S Naipaul, English novelist, ^B{1932^B}; Robert De Niro, US film actor, ^B{1943^B}; Alan Minter, middleweight boxer, ^B{1951^B}; Robin Cousins, ice skater, ^B{1957^B}.^B}
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, ^B{1786^B}; HonorΘ de Balzac, French novelist, ^B{1850^B}; Fernand LΘger, French painter, ^B{1955^B}; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, US architect, ^B{1973^B}; Ira Gershwin, US lyricist, ^B{1983^B}; Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, Pakistani general, ^B{1988^B}.
