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August 17

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

Sir V.S. Naipaul

Trinidadian-British writer

FEATURED EVENT

1945

Indonesia's declaration of independence

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2008:At the Olympics in Beijing, American swimmer Michael Phelps helped his team win the 4 × 100-metre medley relay, becoming the first athlete to win eight medals at a single Games. [Sort fact from fiction in our swimming quiz.]

1999:A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck near İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people and leaving some 500,000 homeless. [Take our quiz about natural disasters.]

1947:The final boundary demarcating the borders between India and Pakistan, known as the Radcliffe Line, was officially published. [Explore a timeline of the Indian Independence Movement.]

1945:English author George Orwell published Animal Farm, an anti-utopian satire that became a classic. [Test your knowledge of famous novels.]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1960

Sean Penn

American actor

1943

Robert De Niro

American actor

1929

Francis Gary Powers

United States military officer

1977

Thierry Henry

French football player and manager

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