July 17 is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 167 days remaining until the end of the year. [edit] Events - 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
- 1203 – The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault. The Byzantine emperor Alexius III Angelus flees from his capital into exile.
- 1402 – Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming Dynasty of China.
- 1453 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Castillon: The French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle in Gascony.
- 1586 – A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between several Protestant powers in order to discuss the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae', against the Catholic League.
- 1717 – King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Frideric Handel's Water Music is premiered.
- 1762 – Catherine II becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia.
- 1771 – Bloody Falls Massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, travelling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.
- 1791 – Members of the French National Guard under the command of General Lafayette open fire on a crowd of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars, Paris, during the French Revolution, killing as many as 50 people.
- 1794 – The sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne are executed 10 days prior to the end of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.
- 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: In France, Napoleon surrenders at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime to British forces.
- 1856 – The Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania kills over 60 people.
- 1867 – Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston. It was the first dental school in the U.S.
- 1899 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
- 1917 – King George V of the United Kingdom issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British royal family will bear the surname Windsor.
- 1918 – On the orders of the Bolshevik Party carried out by Cheka, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are murdered at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
- 1918 – The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; 5 lives are lost.
- 1933 – After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica crashes in Europe under mysterious circumstances.
- 1936 – Spanish Civil War: An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the civil war.
- 1938 – Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad commences in modern-day Volgograd.
- 1944 – Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California, killing 320.
- 1944 – World War II: Napalm incendiary bombs are dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.
- 1945 – World War II: Potsdam Conference – at Potsdam, U.S. President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the three main Allied leaders, begin their final summit of the war. The meeting would end on August 2.
- 1948 – The South Korean constitution is proclaimed.
- 1955 – Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
- 1962 – Nuclear weapons testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site.
- 1968 – A revolution occurs in Iraq when Abdul Rahman Arif is overthrown and the Ba'ath Party is installed as the governing power in Iraq with Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as the new Iraqi President.
- 1973 – King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.
- 1975 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with each other in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations.
- 1976 – History of East Timor: East Timor is annexed, and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.
- 1976 – The opening of the Summer Olympics in Montreal is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team.
- 1979 – Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida.
- 1981 – The opening of the Humber Bridge by HM The Queen in England.
- 1981 – A structural failure leads to the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.
- 1989 – First flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.
- 1996 – TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
- 1997 – The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
- 1998 – Papua New Guinea earthquake: A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.
- 1998 – A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing a permanent international court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
- 1999 – The popular kid's animated television show Spongebob Squarepants makes its official series premiere on Nickelodeon.
- 2007 – TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashes upon landing during rain in São Paulo. This is Brazil's deadliest aviation accident to date with an estimated 199 deaths.
- 2009 – Jakarta double bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels killed 9 people including 4 foreigners.
[edit] Births - 1487 – Ismail I, Shah of Persia (d. 1524)
- 1674 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter (d. 1748)
- 1698 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician (d. 1759)
- 1744 – Elbridge Gerry, 5th Vice President of the United States (d. 1814)
- 1745 – Petr Alekseevich Pahlen, Russian general (d. 1826)
- 1763 – John Jacob Astor, American businessman (d. 1848)
- 1797 – Hippolyte Delaroche, French painter (d. 1856)
- 1831 – Xianfeng, Emperor of China (d. 1861)
- 1839 – Ephraim Shay, American inventor (d. 1916)
- 1853 – Alexius Meinong, Austrian philosopher (d. 1920)
- 1870 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, British military piper (d. 1939)
- 1888 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
- 1889 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (Perry Mason) (d. 1970)
- 1898 – George Robert Vincent, American sound recording pioneer (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian cinematographer (d. 1999)
- 1898 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (d. 1991)
- 1899 – James Cagney, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Marcel Dalio, French actor (d. 1983)
- 1901 – Luigi Chinetti, Italian-American race car driver and NART team owner (d. 1994)
- 1901 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (d. 1938)
- 1902 – Christina Stead, Australian novelist (d. 1983)
- 1911 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Art Linkletter, Canadian television host
- 1912 – Erwin Bauer, German racing driver (d. 1958)
- 1913 – Bertrand Goldberg, American architect (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Fred Ball, American movie studio executive, actor, and the brother of comedienne Lucille Ball (d. 2007)
- 1917 – Phyllis Diller, American comedian
- 1917 – Red Sovine, American country music singer (d. 1980)
- 1917 – Lou Boudreau, Major League baseball player and manager (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish chairman of the International Olympic Committee
- 1920 – Kenneth Wolstenholme, English sports commentator (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Gordon Gould, inventor of the laser (d. 2005)
- 1921 – František Zvarík, Slovakian actor
- 1923 – John Cooper, English race car designer (d. 2000)
- 1925 – Jimmy Scott, American jazz singer
- 1926 – Édouard Carpentier, French-born professional wrestler
- 1926 – Charles Champlin, American film critic and writer
- 1928 – Vince Guaraldi, American musician and composer (d. 1976)
- 1929 – Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician
- 1932 – Johnny "Red" Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and longtime Chicago Bulls color commentator (d. 2009)
- 1932 – Hal Riney, American advertising executive (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Tony Pithey, Former South African Cricketer (d. 2006)
- 1935 – Diahann Carroll, American actor
- 1935 – Peter Schickele, American author, composer and radio host
- 1935 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
- 1939 – Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
- 1939 – Andrée Champagne, French Canadian actress and politician
- 1939 – Spencer Davis, British singer and guitarist (Spencer Davis Group)
- 1940 – Tim Brooke-Taylor, English comedian
- 1941 – Daryle Lamonica, American football player
- 1941 – Achim Warmbold, German rally driver
- 1941 – Bob Taylor, Former English Cricketer
- 1942 – Gale Garnett, Canadian singer
- 1942 – Connie Hawkins, American basketball player
- 1942 – Don Kessinger, American baseball player
- 1942 – Peter Sissons, British newsreader
- 1944 – Carlos Alberto, Brazilian football player
- 1944 – Catherine Schell, Hungarian born British actress
- 1944 – Mark Burgess, Former New Zealand Cricketer
- 1945 – Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
- 1946 – Alun Armstrong, English actor
- 1947 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
- 1947 – Wolfgang Flür, German musician (Kraftwerk)
- 1948 – Ron Asheton, American musician and composer (Iggy Pop & The Stooges) (d. 2009)
- 1948 – Luc Bondy, Swiss theatre and opera director
- 1948 – Jan Gangelhoff, American whistleblower (d. 2005)
- 1949 – Terence "Geezer" Butler, British musician and lyricist (Black Sabbath)
- 1949 – Charlie Steiner, American sports broadcaster
- 1950 – Derek de Lint, Dutch actor
- 1950 – P.J. Soles, German-born American actress
- 1951 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress
- 1952 – David Hasselhoff, American actor and musician
- 1952 – Phoebe Laub, American singer and songwriter
- 1952 – Nicolette Larson, American singer (d. 1997)
- 1954 – Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
- 1954 – J. Michael Straczynski, American author
- 1955 – Paul Stamets, American mycologist and environmentalist
- 1955 – Christopher Chappell, Former Canadian Cricketer
- 1956 – Robert Romanus, American actor
- 1956 – Bryan Trottier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Fern Britton, British television presenter
- 1958 – Wong Kar-wai, Chinese film director
- 1960 – Mark Burnett, English-born television producer
- 1960 – Nancy Giles, American actress
- 1960 – Robin Shou, Hong Kong actor
- 1960 – Jan Wouters, Dutch football player and manager
- 1960 – Dawn Upshaw, American soprano
- 1960 – Kim Barnett, former English cricketer
- 1961 – Jonathan Potts, Canadian actor
- 1961 – Roy Pienaar, former South African cricketer
- 1962 – Bill Sage, American actor
- 1963 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper
- 1963 – Letsie III, King of Lesotho
- 1963 – Regina Belle, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter
- 1963 – John Ventimiglia, American actor
- 1965 – Craig Morgan, American singer
- 1965 – Alex Winter, English film director
- 1965 – Santiago Segura, Spanish film director and actor
- 1966 – Sten Tolgfors, Swedish politician
- 1966 – Lou Barlow, American alternative rock singer and musician (Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh)
- 1966 – Guru, American rapper
- 1967 – Susan Ashton, Christian singer
- 1968 – Beth Littleford, American comedian
- 1968 – Bitty Schram, American actress
- 1968 – Andre Royo, American actor
- 1969 – Scott Johnson (cartoonist), American Cartoonist
- 1970 – Mandy Smith, English model and singer
- 1971 – Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player
- 1971 – Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist
- 1971 – Nico Mattan, Belgian cyclist
- 1972 – Donny Marshall, American basketball player
- 1972 – Jason Rullo, American drummer (Symphony X, Redemption)
- 1972 – Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer
- 1972 – Eric Williams, American basketball player
- 1973 – Eric Moulds, American football player
- 1973 – Tony Dovolani, Albanian ballroom dancer
- 1973 – Liam Kyle Sullivan, American comedian and actor
- 1974 – Laura Macdonald, Scottish jazz musician
- 1975 – Elena Anaya, Spanish actress
- 1975 – Cécile de France, Belgian actress
- 1975 – Paul Hinojos, American guitarist (At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta)
- 1975 – Konnie Huq, English television presenter
- 1975 – Terence Tao, Australian-Chinese mathematician
- 1975 – Gino D'Acampo, Italian celebrity chef
- 1975 – Andre Adams, Former New Zealand Cricketer
- 1975 – Darude, Finnish trance DJ
- 1976 – Luke Bryan, American musician
- 1976 – Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish actress
- 1976 – Eric Winter, American actor
- 1976 – Matthew Holmes, Australian actor
- 1977 – Lehmber Hussainpuri, Famous Indian Singer
- 1977 – Marc Savard, Canadian hockey player
- 1977 – Tiffany Taylor, American model
- 1977 – Leif Hoste, Belgian cyclist
- 1978 – Mike Hettinga, American professional wrestler
- 1978 – Ricardo Arona, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1978 – Émilie Simon, French singer
- 1978 – Katharine Towne, American actress
- 1978 – Noah Lennox, American musician
- 1979 – Mike Vogel, American actor
- 1980 – Ryan Miller, American hockey player
- 1980 – Javier Camuñas, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Elpida Romantzi, Greek archer
- 1981 – Hely Ollarves, Venezuelan track and field athlete
- 1982 – Natasha Hamilton, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
- 1982 – Omari Banks, West Indian Cricketer
- 1983 – Ryan Guettler, professional Australian BMX rider
- 1983 – Sarah Jones, American actress
- 1983 – Brooke Kinsella, British actress
- 1983 – Adam Lind, American baseball player
- 1984 – Sotiris Leontiou, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Asami Kimura, Japanese singer (Country Musume)
- 1985 – Neil McGregor, Scottish footballer
- 1985 – Tom Fletcher, British singer (McFly)
- 1986 – Dana, Korean singer and actress (TSZX)
- 1987 – Darius Boyd, Australian rugby player
- 1987 – Jan Charouz, Czech racing driver
- 1987 – Moussa Dembélé, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Summer Bishil, American actress
- 1989 – Marko Todorović, Swiss swimmer
- 1998 – Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y de Borbón, Spanish royal
[edit] Deaths - 521 – Magnus Felix Ennodius, bishop and Latin poet (b. 474)
- 656 – Uthman ibn Affan, Third Caliph, assassinated.
- 924 – King Edward the Elder of England
- 1070 – Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (b. 1030)
- 1453 – Dmitry Shemyaka, Grand Prince of Moscow 1445, 1446-1447, poisoned in Veliky Novgorod by Vasily Tyomny's agents
- 1453 – John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English military leader
- 1531 – Hosokawa Takakuni, Japanese military commander (b. 1484)
- 1566 – Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish priest (b. 1484)
- 1571 – Georg Fabricius, German poet and historian (b. 1516)
- 1588 – Sinan, Ottoman architect (b. 1489)
- 1645 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, Scottish politician
- 1704 – Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French fur trader and explorer
- 1709 – Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (b. 1646)
- 1790 – Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (b. 1723)
- 1791 – Martin Dobrizhoffer, Austrian Jesuit missionary (b. 1717)
- 1793 – Charlotte Corday, French aristocrat and murderer (b. 1768)
- 1794 – John Roebuck, British inventor (b. 1718)
- 1845 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1764)
- 1878 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812)
- 1879 – Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian painter (b. 1856)
- 1881 – Jim Bridger, American mountain man, Indian fighter, and explorer (b. 1804)
- 1885 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian politician (b. 1811)
- 1887 – Dorothea Dix, American social activist (b. 1802)
- 1893 – Frederick A. Johnson, American politician (b. 1833)
- 1894 – Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist (b. 1810)
- 1894 – Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle, French poet (b. 1818)
- 1907 – Hector Malot, French writer (b. 1830)
- 1912 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician (b. 1854)
- 1918 – Family of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868)
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- 1928 – Giovanni Giolitti, Italian statesman (b. 1842)
- 1935 – George William Russell, Irish nationalist, poet and artist (b. 1867)
- 1944 – William James Sidis, gifted mathematician and child prodigy (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Ernst Busch, German field marshal (b. 1885)
- 1946 – General Dragoljub Mihailović, commandant of the Yugoslav Royal Army in the Fatherland (b. 1893)
- 1950 – Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1865)
- 1959 – Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
- 1959 – Eugene Meyer, American businessman and newspaper publisher (b. 1875)
- 1961 – Ty Cobb, baseball player (b. 1886)
- 1967 – John Coltrane, American musician (b. 1926)
- 1974 – Dizzy Dean, Major League baseball pitcher (b. 1910)
- 1975 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (b. 1893)
- 1980 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
- 1987 – Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (b. 1934)
- 1988 – Frank Goodish, professional wrestler (b. 1946)
- 1989 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (b. 1922)
- 1995 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Chas Chandler, bass guitarist (The Animals), record producer and manager (b. 1938)
- 2001 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (b. 1917)
- 2003 – David Kelly, Welsh UN weapons inspector (b. 1944)
- 2003 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Pat Roach, British professional wrestler and actor (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Laurel Aitken, Jamaican singer (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-born actress (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Gavin Lambert, British-born screenwriter (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Joe Vialls, Australian writer (b. 1944)
- 2006 – Sam Myers, American musician and songwriter (b. 1936)
- 2006 – Mickey Spillane, American author (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Júlio Redecker, Brazilian politician (b. 1956)
- 2008 – Larry Haines, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist (b. 1916)
- 2009 – Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1927)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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