On this day, June 17

1775 The Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill resulted in a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses.

1936 The Steel Workers’ Organizing Committee held its first meeting in the Commonwealth Building and named Philip Murray, international vice president of United Mine Workers, as chairman of a planned organizing campaign.

1958 It was revealed that Mellon family foundations had paid $3 million for 3,650 acres in six strategic locations in Allegheny County. The land was to be sold to the county at cost for a regional park system for Pittsburgh’s suburbs.

1972 President Richard Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside the Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s, Watergate complex.

1996 William Strickland, ceramic artist and director of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center, was honored with a grant of $295,000 by the MacArthur Foundation for his work with the city’s youth and unemployed.

2015 Nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, S.C.; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

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: Actor Peter Lupus, 90. Movie director Ken Loach, 86. Singer-musician Barry Manilow, 79. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 79. Comedian Joe Piscopo, 71. Actor Mark Linn-Baker, 68. Actor Jon Gries, 65. Rock singer Jello Biafra, 64. Movie producer-director-writer Bobby Farrelly, 64. Actor Thomas Haden Church, 62. Actor Greg Kinnear, 59. Actor Kami Cotler, 57. Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen, 57. Actor Jason Patric, 56. Actor-comedian Will Forte, 52. Latin pop singer Paulina Rubio, 51. Tennis player Venus Williams, 42. Actor Arthur Darvill, 40. Actor Jodie Whittaker, 40. Actor Manish Dayal, 39. Country singer Mickey Guyton, 39. Actor Marie Avgeropoulos, 36. Rapper Kendrick Lamar, 35. NHL forward Nikita Kucherov, 29. Actor KJ Apa, 25.

Thought for today: “One has two duties — to be worried and not to be worried.”

— E.M. Forster, British author (1879-1970)