History Trivia

On August 17 

682  Pope Leo II began his reign; he was known as an eloquent preacher who was interested in music, and was noted for his charity to the poor. 

986 A Byzantine army was destroyed in the pass of Trajan's Gate by the Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Samuel and Aron. The Byzantine emperor Basil II narrowly escaped. The Battle of the Gates of Trajan only postponed the fall of Bulgaria, which occurred in 1018.

1498 Cardinal Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, renounced his vows and office so that he might marry a French princess.

1510 Edmund Dudley was executed for treason under Henry VIII. While waiting for his execution he wrote The Tree of Commonwealth, a treatise in support of absolute monarchy; Dudley hoped to gain the favor of Henry VIII, but there is no evidence that Henry ever saw the document.