At A Glance

17 August 1966 at a glance

Day of the week
17 August 1966 was a Wednesday.
Irish Chart Song in 1966
The Irish chart song for 1966 was “Michelle” by The Overlanders.
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 Ireland

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

  • 13 February – The Bishop of Clonfert, Thomas Ryan, protested against the content of The Late Late Show because an audience member, Eileen Fox, told host Gay Byrne that she wore no nightie on her wedding night.
  • 8 March – Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street in Dublin was blown up, probably by former Irish Republican Army volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.
  • 10 April – Celebrations took place to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916. Nine hundred survivors of the rising heard the reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and President Éamon de Valera took the salute at a military parade.

Life in Ireland in 1966

Taoiseach

Seán Lemass

Petrol (per litre)

3s 2d/gal

Loaf of Bread

10d

Average House

£3,400

Weekly Wage

£8

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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