At A Glance

17 August 1966 at a glance

Day of the week
17 August 1966 was a Wednesday.
Australian No. 1 (Kent retrospective)
“Mama” by B. J. Thomas was No. 1 on David Kent's retrospective Australian chart. This chart was compiled later by David Kent from radio station charts.
Top Film of 1966
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1966 was The Bible: In the Beginning.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 August 1966 fell in the Year of the Horse.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 August 1966 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 17 August

  • 1958 Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
  • 1959 Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.2 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
  • 1970 Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
  • 1977 The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
  • 1978 Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

Famous people born on 17 August

  • Robert De Niro, American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer (born 1943)
  • Phoebe Bridgers, American singer/songwriter (born 1994)
  • Sean Penn, American actor, director, and political activist (born 1960)
  • Larry Ellison, American businessman, co-founded the Oracle Corporation (born 1944)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1966 in Australia

A selection from Wikipedia's '1966 in Australia'. Not a complete list.

  • 14 January – Ballet dancer and choreographer Robert Helpmann is named as 1965's Australian of the Year.
  • 14 February – Decimalisation of the Australian currency; the Australian dollar replaces the Australian pound at the rate of ten shillings to the dollar.
  • 10 March – On advice from Immigration Minister Hubert Opperman, federal cabinet reverses a decision of September 1964, agreeing that non-Europeans could be selected on an individual basis to enter as immigrants with permanent resident status and naturalisation on an equal basis with European applicants.

Life in Australia in 1966

Prime Minister

Harold Holt

Monarch

Queen Elizabeth II

Petrol (per litre)

$0.06

Loaf of Bread

$0.15

Average House

$8,000

Weekly Wage

$35.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1960s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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