On this day, August 17

1848 Anesthesia in the form of chloroform was used for the first time in Pittsburgh by Dr. William H. Wright in a tooth extraction. 1915 A mob in Cobb County, Ga., lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment. (Frank, who’d maintained his innocence, was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1986.)

1945 Pittsburgh district industries laid off 7,000 workers as the first cancellation of a war contract became effective.

1982 The first commercially produced compact discs, a recording of ABBA’s “The Visitors,” were pressed at a Philips factory near Hanover, West Germany.

2005 Gateway Center was flooded when a 36-inch water main broke Downtown.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, 94. Former MLB All-Star John “Boog” Powell, 79. Actor Robert DeNiro, 77. Movie director Martha Coolidge, 74. Actor-screenwriter-producer Julian Fellowes, 71. Actor Robert Joy, 69. International Tennis Hall of Famer Guillermo Vilas, 68. Olympic gold medal figure skater Robin Cousins, 63. Singer Belinda Carlisle, 62. Author Jonathan Franzen, 61. Actor Sean Penn, 60. Actor David Conrad, 53. Actor Helen McCrory, 52. Singer/actor Donnie Wahlberg, 51. College Basketball Hall of Famer and retired NBA All-Star Christian Laettner, 51. International Tennis Hall of Famer Jim Courier, 50. Retired MLB All-Star Jorge Posada, 49. TV personality Giuliana Rancic, 46. Actor Bryton James, 34. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Gracie Gold, 25.

Thought for today: “It is not love that is blind, but jealousy.”

— Lawrence Durrell, British-born author (1912-1990)