How Many Days Until June 17?

This day in history: June 17

1. 1940

   Second World War: RMS Lancastria was sunk by German aircraft near Saint-Nazaire, France, causing thousands of fatalities in Britain's worst maritime disaster.

2. 1952

   Guatemalan Revolution: The Guatemalan Congress passed Decree 900, redistributing unused land greater than 224 acres (0.91 km2) in area to local peasants.

3. 1963

   Riots broke out in Saigon one day after the signing of the Joint Communiqué, an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam.

4. 1972

   Five men were arrested for attempted burglary on the offices of the Democratic National Committee, igniting the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon more than two years later.

5. 2009

   Following a petition, the liberal progressive Czech Pirate Party was officially registered as a political party.

6. 2015

   A white supremacist committed a mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people during a prayer service.

7. 2017

   Wildfires erupted across central Portugal, eventually causing the deaths of 66 people.

Source: Wikipedia, text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.