Title: July 17 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 == === Up to 1900 === * 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 === * 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 author * 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 === * 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, author and entertainer * 1971 - Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player and coach * 1971 - Matthew Crompton, English actor * 1971 - Cory Doctorow, Canadian author 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 === * 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 author * 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 == === Up to 1900 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 author (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 == * 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 Category:Days of the year