July 17
date
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.
Events
changeUp to 1900
change- 180 - 12 inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians.
- 1203 - The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault.
- 1402 – Yongle becomes Emperor of China.
- 1429 - Hundred Years' War: Charles VIII of France is crowned King.
- 1453 - Battle of Castillon: France defeats England in the last battle of the Hundred Years' War.
- 1717 - George Frideric Handel's Water Music is premiered, as King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians.
- 1771 - Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chef Matonabbee, travelling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland expedition, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.
- 1791 - Members of France's National Guard under control of Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette open fire on a crowd of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars, Paris, killing 50 people.
- 1821 – Florida goes into US control.
- 1863 - The New Zealand Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by Duncan Cameron begin their invasion at Waikato.
- 1897 – The Klondike Gold Rush begins in North-western Canada.
1901 – 2000
change- 1917 – The British Royal Family changes its name to Windsor.
- 1918 – Nicholas II, the Czar of Russia, his wife, and their 5 children are executed by the Bolsheviks, under orders from Vladimir Lenin.
- 1936 – The Spanish Civil War begins.
- 1944 - Port Chicago disaster: At Port Chicago near San Francisco Bay, two ships carrying ammunition for the war explode, killing 320 people.
- 1944 - World War II: Napalm incendiary bombs are dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, France.
- 1945 - World War II: Allied leaders Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin meet in Potsdam to discuss the future of a defeated Germany.
- 1948 – The South Korean Constitution is proclaimed.
- 1955 – Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
- 1962 - Nuclear weapons testing: The Small Boy test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation of the Nevada National Security Site.
- 1968 - A revolution in Iraq when Abdul Rahman Arif is overthrown and the Ba'ath Party is installed in power with Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as new President.
- 1973 – Afghanistan: Mohammed Daoud Khan removes his cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah from power.
- 1976 – 25 African countries boycott the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
- 1976 – Indonesia takes control of East Timor.
- 1979 – The Sandinistas start to govern Nicaragua, after Anastasio Somoza Debayle flees to Miami, Florida.
- 1981 - The Humber Bridge in England is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1981 - A structural failure leads to the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, collapses, killing 114 people and injuring over 200.
- 1989 - Poland restores diplomatic relations with Vatican City.
- 1994 – Brazil wins the FIFA World Cup for a fourth time, after a penalty shootout win over Italy, which is remembered for Roberto Baggio's missed penalty kick.
- 1996 – A Boeing 747 airplane explodes near Long Island, New York, killing 230 people.
- 1998 - At a conference in Rome 120 countries vote to create the International Criminal Court.
- 1998 – An earthquake causes a tsunami, which destroys ten villages in Papua New Guinea, killing 3,183 people, and leaving more than 2,000 unaccounted for.
- 1998 - 80 years after being executed, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried at the St. Catherine Chapel in St. Petersburg.
From 2001
change- 2001 - Concorde is brought back into service nearly a year a crash near Paris.
- 2006 – A tsunami south of Java kills around 300 people.
- 2007 – A plane crashes and bursts into flames at São Paulo International Airport in Brazil, killing all 187 people on board, and 12 on the ground.
- 2011 – Japan wins the FIFA Women's World Cup, defeating the United States in a penalty shoot-out.
- 2014 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashes in Eastern Ukraine near the border with Russia, having been reportedly shot down by a missile, killing all 298 people on board.
- 2014 - Israel-Gaza Strip Conflict: Israel launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
- 2015 - Over 120 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq.
- 2015 - Formula One racing driver Jules Bianchi dies of injuries sustained in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix over nine months earlier, at the age of 25.
- 2018 - The European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is signed.
- 2019 - The Kivu Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
Births
changeUp to 1900
change- 1476 - Adrian Fortescue, English Roman Catholic martyr (d. 1539)
- 1487 - Ismail I of Persia (d. 1524)
- 1674 - Isaac Watts, English theologian and composer (d. 1748)
- 1698 - Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1759)
- 1714 - Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762)
- 1744 – Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States (d. 1814)
- 1745 - Timothy Pickering, 3rd United States Secretary of State (d. 1829)
- 1752 - Barnaba Oriani, Italian priest, astronomer and scientist (d. 1832)
- 1763 – John Jacob Astor, American businessman (d. 1848)
- 1797 - Paul Delaroche, French painter (d. 1856)
- 1831 – Xianfeng, Emperor of China (d. 1861)
- 1837 - Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, 6th Premier of Quebec (d. 1886)
- 1839 - Ephraim Shay, American engineer (d. 1916)
- 1843 - Julio Argentino Roca, President of Argentina (d. 1914)
- 1846 – Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, Russian scientist, anthropologist and explorer of New Guinea (d. 1888)
- 1853 - Alexius Meinong, Austrian philosopher (d. 1920)
- 1860 – Clara Viebig, German writer (d. 1952)
- 1871 - Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
- 1871 - J. M. Andrews, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1956)
- 1879 - Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and manager (d. 1960)
- 1882 - James Somerville, English admiral (d. 1940)
- 1888 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (d. 1970)
- 1889 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American writer (Perry Mason) (d. 1970)
- 1894 – Georges Lemaitre, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (d. 1966)
- 1898 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (d. 1991)
- 1899 – James Cagney, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1900 - Marcel Dalio, French actor (d. 1983)
1901 – 1950
change- 1903 – Takeyama Michio, Japanese writer (d. 1984)
- 1911 - Lionel Ferbos, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2014)
- 1913 - Roger Garaudy, French philosopher and Holocaust denier (d. 2012)
- 1915 - Arthur Rothstein, American photographer (d. 1985)
- 1917 – Phyllis Diller, American actress and comedienne (d. 2012)
- 1917 - Kenan Evren, 7th President of Turkey (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Gordon Gould, American, inventor of the laser (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish Olympic official (d. 2010)
- 1920 - Kenneth Wolstenholme, English sportscaster (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Louis Lachenal, French mountaineer (d. 1955)
- 1925 - Jimmy Scott, American jazz singer (d. 2014)
- 1926 - Willis Carto, American far-right politician (d. 2015)
- 1927 - Prosper Ego, Dutch activist (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician
- 1930 - Sigvard Ericsson, Swedish speed skater (d. 2019)
- 1930 - Ray Galton, English screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1931 - Caroline Graham, English writer
- 1932 - Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer (d. 2013)
- 1932 - Quino, Argentine artist and illustrator
- 1933 - Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (d. 2014)
- 1933 - Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, 9th Prime Minister of Malta
- 1933 - Valentina Rastvorova, Soviet-Russian fencer (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
- 1935 - Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2019)
- 1939 - Milva, Italian singer and actress
- 1939 - Spencer Davis, British guitarist
- 1939 – Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
- 1940 - Tim Brooke-Taylor, English actor and screenwriter
- 1940 - Francisco Toledo, Mexican painter (d. 2019)
- 1942 - Connie Hawkins, American basketball player and coach (d. 2017)
- 1942 - Peter Sissons, English journalist (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016)
- 1945 - Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
- 1945 - John Patten, Baron Patten, British politician, last British Governor of Hong Kong
- 1946 – Alun Armstrong, British actor
- 1947 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
- 1947 - Wolfgang Flür, German drummer (Kraftwerk)
- 1947 - Dorthe Kollo, Danish singer
- 1948 – Ron Asheton, American musician (d. 2009)
- 1948 - Luc Bondy, Swiss theatre and film director (d. 2015)
- 1949 - Wayne Sleep, English dancer, choreographer and actor
- 1949 - Geezer Butler, English bass player and politician
- 1950 - Derek de Lint, Dutch actor
- 1950 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1951 – 1975
change- 1951 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress
- 1952 - Thé Lau, Dutch musician and writer (d. 2015)
- 1952 – David Hasselhoff, American actor
- 1954 – Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
- 1954 – Edward Natapei, Prime Minister of Vanuatu (d. 2015)
- 1956 - Julie Bishop, Australian politician
- 1957 - Fern Britton, English television host
- 1958 - Thérèse Rein, Australian businesswoman, wife of Kevin Rudd
- 1960 - Jan Wouters, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1961 – Guru, American rapper (d. 2010)
- 1961 - Jeremy Hardy, English comedian (d. 2019)
- 1961 - António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1963 - Regina Belle, American singer
- 1963 – Letsie III, King of Lesotho
- 1963 - Kim Shattuck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
- 1963 - John Ventimiglia, American actor
- 1963 - Matti Nykanen, Finnish ski jumper (d. 2019)
- 1964 - Heather Langenkamp, American actress
- 1965 - Santiago Segura, Spanish actor, screenwriter, producer and director
- 1965 - Alex Winter, English-American actor, director and screenwriter
- 1965 - Bastian Sick, German journalist, writer and entertainer
- 1971 - Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player and coach
- 1971 - Matthew Crompton, English actor
- 1971 - Cory Doctorow, Canadian writer and activist
- 1972 – Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer
- 1972 - Andy Whitfield, Welsh actor (d. 2011)
- 1974 - Laura Macdonald, Scottish saxophonist and composer
- 1975 - Konnie Huq, English television host
- 1975 - Elena Anaya, Spanish actress
From 1976
change- 1976 – Anders Svensson, Swedish footballer
- 1976 - Marcos Senna, Brazilian-Spanish footballer
- 1976 - Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 - Gino D'Acampo, Italian-English chef and writer
- 1977 – M.I.A., British singer
- 1978 - Line Daugaard, Danish handball player
- 1979 - Rudi Skácel, Czech footballer
- 1982 – Natasha Hamilton, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
- 1982 - Bobby Reynolds, American tennis player
- 1982 - René Herms, German athlete (d. 2009)
- 1983 - Christian Grindheim, Norwegian footballer
- 1983 - Sarah Jones, American actress
- 1984 – Asami Kimura, Japanese singer
- 1985 – Tom Fletcher, English singer (McFly)
- 1985 - Neil McGregor, Scottish footballer
- 1986 - Dana, South Korean singer, dancer and actress
- 1988 - Gao Yue, Chinese table tennis player
- 1990 – Mattie Stepanek, American poet (d. 2004)
- 1992 - Billie Lourd, American actress
- 1992 - Taavi Rand, Estonian ice dancer
- 1993 - Ai Okawa, Japanese model and actress
- 1998 - Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón, Spanish royal
- 2000 - Maria Aragon, Canadian singer
- 2004 - Lindokuhle Modi, South African actor and podcaster
Deaths
changeUp to 1900
change- 521 - Magnus Felix Ennodius, Latin bishop and saint (b. 474)
- 924 – Edward the Elder, King of England is killed in battle (b. c. 874)
- 1070 – Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (b. 1030)
- 1399 - Jadwiga of Poland (b. 1373)
- 1531 - Hosokawa Takakuni, Japanese commander (b. 1484)
- 1566 - Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese monk (b. 1484)
- 1571 – Georg Fabricius, German poet and historian (b. 1516)
- 1588 - Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect and engineer (b. 1489)
- 1704 - Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French-American fur trader
- 1762 – Tsar Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)
- 1790 – Adam Smith, Scottish economist (b. 1723)
- 1793 – Charlotte Corday, French aristocrat (b. 1768)
- 1845 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1764)
- 1859 – Stephanie of Hohenzollern, Queen Consort of Portugal (b. 1837)
- 1878 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812)
- 1883 - Te Duc, Emperor of Vietnam
- 1887 – Dorothea Dix, American social activist (b. 1802)
- 1893 - Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (b. 1833)
- 1894 - Leconte de Lisle, French poet (b. 1818)
1901 – 2000
change- 1906 - Carlos Pellegrini, President of Argentina (b. 1846)
- 1912 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician (b. 1854)
- 1918 - Russian Tsarist Family executed by the Bolsheviks:
- Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (Gregorian calendar date) (b. 1868)
- Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1895)
- Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1897)
- Tsarevich Alexei of Russia (b. 1904)
- Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1899)
- Alexandra Fyodorovna, Tsarina of Russia (b. 1872)
- Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1901)
- 1925 - Lovis Corinth, German artist and sculptor (b. 1858)
- 1928 – Giovanni Giolitti, five-times Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1842)
- 1928 - Alvaro Obregon, 39th President of Mexico (b. 1880)
- 1944 - William James Sidis, American mathematician (b. 1898)
- 1950 - Evangeline Booth, 4th General of the Salvation Army (b. 1865)
- 1953 - Maude Adams, American actress (b. 1872)
- 1959 – Billie Holiday, singer (b. 1915)
- 1959 – Eugene Meyer, American businessman and newspaper publisher (The Washington Post) (b. 1875)
- 1961 – Ty Cobb, American Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1886)
- 1967 – John Coltrane, American jazz musician (b. 1926)
- 1974 - Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1910)
- 1975 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (b. 1893)
- 1980 – Boris Delaunay, Soviet/Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
- 1994 - Jean Borotra, French tennis player (b. 1898)
- 1995 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1911)
- 1996 - Victims of TWA Flight 800:
- Michael Breistorff, French ice hockey player (b. 1971)
- Marcel Dadi, Tunisian-French guitarist (b. 1951)
- David Hogan, American composer (b. 1949)
- Jed Johnson, American interior designer and director (b. 1948)
- Pam Lynchner, American real estate agent and activist (b. 1959)
- 1996 - Chas Chandler, American bass player and producer (The Animals) (b. 1938)
2001 – 2010
change- 2001 – Katharine Graham, Washington Post publisher (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Joseph Luns, NATO Secretary-General (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Hans Abich, German TV producer (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Dr. David Kelly, UN weapons inspector (b. 1944)
- 2003 - Walter Zapp, German inventor (b. 1905)
- 2004 – Pat Roach, American wrestler and actor (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 2005 - Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-American actress (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918)
- 2008 - Larry Haines, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist (b. 1916)
- 2009 – Leszek Kolakowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1927)
- 2009 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician (b. 1921)
- 2010 – Bernard Giraudeau, French actor and director (b. 1947)
From 2011
change- 2011 – Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (b. 1928)
- 2011 - Takaji Mori, Japanese footballer (b. 1943)
- 2013 - Vincenzo Cerami, Italian screenwriter and producer (b. 1940)
- 2014 - John Walton, Australian actor (b. 1952)
- 2014 - Ross Burden, New Zealand chef (b. 1968)
- 2014 - Andries P Putter, South African naval officer (b. 1935)
- 2014 - Elaine Stritch, American actress (b. 1925)
- 2014 - Otto Piene, German artist (b. 1928)
- 2014 - Henry Hartsfield, American astronaut (b. 1933)
- 2014 - On board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17:
- Liam Davison, Australian writer (b. 1957)
- Shuba Jay, Malaysian actress (b. 1976)
- Pim de Kuijer, Dutch columnist and lobbyist (b. 1981)
- Joep Lange, Dutch physician (b. 1954)
- Willem Witteveen, Dutch legal scholar and politician (b. 1952)
- 2015 - Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, writer and theologian (b. 1916)
- 2015 - John H. Gibbons, American scientist (b. 1929)
- 2015 - Van Miller, American football announcer (b. 1927)
- 2015 - John Taylor, English jazz pianist (b. 1947)
- 2015 - Jules Bianchi, French racing driver (b. 1989)
- 2016 - Wendell Anderson, American politician, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1933)
- 2016 - Gary S. Paxton, American record producer and singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
- 2017 - Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor (b. 1942)
- 2017 - Raymond Sackler, American physician and philanthropist (b. 1920)
- 2018 - Gary Beach, American actor (b. 1947)
- 2018 - Rita Bhaduri, Indian actress (b. 1955)
- 2018 - Yvonne Blake, British-Spanish costume designer (b. 1940)
- 2019 - Andrea Camilleri, Italian writer (b. 1925)
- 2019 - Pumpsie Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
- 2019 - Wesley Pruden, American journalist (b. 1935)
Observances
change- Constitution Day (South Korea)
- Independence Day (Slovakia)
- King's birthday (Lesotho)
- World Day for International Justice (After the day when the Rome Statute to International Criminal Court is adopted)
- World Emoji Day