BILLY THE KID KILLS HIS FIRST MAN

Image: Billy the Kid 1880. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Despite being a teenager at the time, on August 17, 1877, Billy the Kid shoots and injures an Arizona blacksmith who dies the next day. He was the infamous outlaw’s first casualty.

Just how many men the Kid killed is unknown. Billy claimed he had killed 21 men— “One for every year of my life.” One historian estimates the total was nine: four on his own and five with the aid of others. Other Old West outlaws of the day were by far more deadly. John Wesley Hardin, for one, killed over 20 men and maybe as many as 40.

Having escaped from New Mexico after being jailed for a theft he likely did not commit, Billy became a ranch hand and sheepherder in Arizona. In 1877, he was hired as a teamster at the Camp Grant Army Post, where he drew the hatred of a large blacksmith named Frank “Windy” Cahill. Because Billy was well-liked by others in the camp, Cahill drew enjoyment from tormenting the young teenager.
On August 17, 1877, Cahill finally went too far when he called Billy a “pimp.” Billy replied by calling Cahill a “son of a bitch,” and the large blacksmith jumped him and threw him to the ground. Pinned to the floor by the more muscular man, Billy fought to survive. He pulled out his pistol and shot Cahill, who died the next day. One witness said, “[Billy] had no choice; he had to use his equalizer.” However, the not-so-fair laws of the West may have found Billy guilty of an unjustified murder because Cahill had not drawn his gun.

Fearing imprisonment, Billy returned to New Mexico, soon becoming involved in the violent Lincoln County War. He became a well-known cold-blooded killer in the next four years, incredibly obsessed with his public image as an unstoppable outlaw. Sheriff Pat Garrett finally ended Billy’s life by killing him on July 14, 1881.

THE FILM “THE WIZARD OF OZ” DEBUTS IN NEW YORK CITY

Image: Publicity still of the Wizard of Oz, showing the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Dorothy and Cowardly Lion. (Wikimedia Commons.)

On August 17, 1939, the musical film “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, and Margaret Hamilton, opened at Loews Capital Theatre in New York City.

The film was a critical success and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow” and Best Original Score. While the film was popular at the box office, it only made a profit for MGM in its 1949 re-release, earning only $3 million on a $2.7 million budget, making it MGM’s most expensive production at that time.

PATTON ENTERS MESSINA, THUS COMPLETING THE INVASION OF SICILY

Image: General George Patton (Wikimedia Commons.)

On August 17, 1943, American General George Patton entered Messina, completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.

On July 10, 1943, the Allies invaded Axis-controlled Europe with landings on Sicily, off mainland Italy. Meeting little resistance from demoralized Italian troops, Montgomery’s 8th Army came ashore on the southeast part of the island. At the same time, the U.S. 7th Army, under General George Patton, landed on Sicily’s south coast. Within three days, 150,000 Allied troops were ashore. On August 17, Patton arrived in Messina before Montgomery, completing the Allied conquest of Sicily and winning the so-called Race to Messina.

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