July 17

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 Sao 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 Flur, 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 - The 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 - Therese 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 - Antonio 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 Skacel, Czech footballer
1982 - Natasha Hamilton, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
1982 - Bobby Reynolds, American tennis player
1982 - Rene 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 Borbon, 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 Poincare, 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 Maria 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
Days of the year