July 17

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 180 &ndash; 12 inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians.
* 1203 &ndash; The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault.
* 1402 &ndash; Yongle becomes Emperor of China.
* 1429 &ndash; Hundred Years' War: Charles VIII of France is crowned King.
* 1453 &ndash; Battle of Castillon: France defeats England in the last battle of the Hundred Years' War.
* 1717 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Florida goes into US control.
* 1863 &ndash; The New Zealand Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by Duncan Cameron begin their invasion at Waikato.
* 1897 &ndash; The Klondike Gold Rush begins in North–western Canada.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1917 &ndash; The British Royal Family changes its name to Windsor.
* 1918 &ndash; Nicholas II, the Czar of Russia, his wife, and their 5 children are executed by the Bolsheviks, under orders from Vladimir Lenin.
* 1936 &ndash; The Spanish Civil War begins.
* 1944 &ndash; Port Chicago disaster: At Port Chicago near San Francisco Bay, two ships carrying ammunition for the war explode, killing 320 people.
* 1944 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The South Korean Constitution is proclaimed.
* 1955 &ndash; Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
* 1962 &ndash; Nuclear weapons testing: The Small Boy test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation of the Nevada National Security Site.
* 1968 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Afghanistan: Mohammed Daoud Khan removes his cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah from power.
* 1976 &ndash; 25 African countries boycott the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
* 1976 &ndash; Indonesia takes control of East Timor.
* 1979 &ndash; The Sandinistas start to govern Nicaragua, after Anastasio Somoza Debayle flees to Miami, Florida.
* 1981 &ndash; The Humber Bridge in England is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
* 1981 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Poland restores diplomatic relations with Vatican City.
* 1994 &ndash; 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 &ndash; A Boeing 747 airplane explodes near Long Island, New York, killing 230 people.
* 1998 &ndash; At a conference in Rome 120 countries vote to create the International Criminal Court.
* 1998 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Concorde is brought back into service  nearly a year a crash near Paris.
* 2006 &ndash; A tsunami south of Java kills around 300 people.
* 2007 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Japan wins the FIFA Women's World Cup, defeating the United States in a penalty shoot–out.
* 2014 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Israel–Gaza Strip Conflict: Israel launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
* 2015 &ndash; Over 120 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq.
* 2015 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The European Union–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is signed.
* 2019 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Adrian Fortescue, English Roman Catholic martyr (d. 1539)
* 1487 &ndash; Ismail I of Persia (d. 1524)
* 1674 &ndash; Isaac Watts, English theologian and composer (d. 1748)
* 1698 &ndash; Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1759)
* 1714 &ndash; Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762)
* 1744 &ndash; Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States (d. 1814)
* 1745 &ndash; Timothy Pickering, 3rd United States Secretary of State (d. 1829)
* 1752 &ndash; Barnaba Oriani, Italian priest, astronomer and scientist (d. 1832)
* 1763 &ndash; John Jacob Astor, American businessman (d. 1848)
* 1797 &ndash; Paul Delaroche, French painter (d. 1856)
* 1831 &ndash; Xianfeng, Emperor of China (d. 1861)
* 1837 &ndash; Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, 6th Premier of Quebec (d. 1886)
* 1839 &ndash; Ephraim Shay, American engineer (d. 1916)
* 1843 &ndash; Julio Argentino Roca, President of Argentina (d. 1914)
* 1846 &ndash; Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, Russian scientist, anthropologist and explorer of New Guinea (d. 1888)
* 1853 &ndash; Alexius Meinong, Austrian philosopher (d. 1920)
* 1860 &ndash; Clara Viebig, German writer (d. 1952)
* 1871 &ndash; Lyonel Feininger, German–American painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
* 1871 &ndash; J. M. Andrews, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1956)
* 1879 &ndash; Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and manager (d. 1960)
* 1882 &ndash; James Somerville, English admiral (d. 1940)
* 1888 &ndash; Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer (d. 1970)
* 1889 &ndash; Erle Stanley Gardner, American writer (Perry Mason) (d. 1970)
* 1894 &ndash; Georges Lemaitre, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (d. 1966)
* 1898 &ndash; Berenice Abbott, American photographer (d. 1991)
* 1899 &ndash; James Cagney, American actor (d. 1986)
* 1900 &ndash; Marcel Dalio, French actor (d. 1983)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1903 &ndash; Takeyama Michio, Japanese writer (d. 1984)
* 1911 &ndash; Lionel Ferbos, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2014)
* 1913 &ndash; Roger Garaudy, French philosopher and Holocaust denier (d. 2012)
* 1915 &ndash; Arthur Rothstein, American photographer (d. 1985)
* 1917 &ndash; Phyllis Diller, American actress and comedienne (d. 2012)
* 1917 &ndash; Kenan Evren, 7th President of Turkey (d. 2015)
* 1918 &ndash; Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
* 1920 &ndash; Gordon Gould, American, inventor of the laser (d. 2005)
* 1920 &ndash; Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish Olympic official (d. 2010)
* 1920 &ndash; Kenneth Wolstenholme, English sportscaster (d. 2002)
* 1921 &ndash; Louis Lachenal, French mountaineer (d. 1955)
* 1925 &ndash; Jimmy Scott, American jazz singer (d. 2014)
* 1926 &ndash; Willis Carto, American far–right politician (d. 2015)
* 1927 &ndash; Prosper Ego, Dutch activist (d. 2015)
* 1929 &ndash; Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician
* 1930 &ndash; Sigvard Ericsson, Swedish speed skater (d. 2019)
* 1930 &ndash; Ray Galton, English screenwriter (d. 2018)
* 1931 &ndash; Caroline Graham, English writer
* 1932 &ndash; Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer (d. 2013)
* 1932 &ndash; Quino, Argentine artist and illustrator
* 1933 &ndash; Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (d. 2014)
* 1933 &ndash; Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, 9th Prime Minister of Malta
* 1933 &ndash; Valentina Rastvorova, Soviet–Russian fencer (d. 2018)
* 1935 &ndash; Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
* 1935 &ndash; Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2019)
* 1939 &ndash; Milva, Italian singer and actress
* 1939 &ndash; Spencer Davis, British guitarist
* 1939 &ndash; Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
* 1940 &ndash; Tim Brooke-Taylor, English actor and screenwriter
* 1940 &ndash; Francisco Toledo, Mexican painter (d. 2019)
* 1942 &ndash; Connie Hawkins, American basketball player and coach (d. 2017)
* 1942 &ndash; Peter Sissons, English journalist (d. 2019)
* 1944 &ndash; Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016)
* 1945 &ndash; Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
* 1945 &ndash; John Patten, Baron Patten, British politician, last British Governor of Hong Kong
* 1946 &ndash; Alun Armstrong, British actor
* 1947 &ndash; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
* 1947 &ndash; Wolfgang Flür, German drummer (Kraftwerk)
* 1947 &ndash; Dorthe Kollo, Danish singer
* 1948 &ndash; Ron Asheton, American musician (d. 2009)
* 1948 &ndash; Luc Bondy, Swiss theatre and film director (d. 2015)
* 1949 &ndash; Wayne Sleep, English dancer, choreographer and actor
* 1949 &ndash; Geezer Butler, English bass player and politician
* 1950 &ndash; Derek de Lint, Dutch actor
* 1950 &ndash; Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Lucie Arnaz, American actress
* 1952 &ndash; Thé Lau, Dutch musician and writer (d. 2015)
* 1952 &ndash; David Hasselhoff, American actor
* 1954 &ndash; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
* 1954 &ndash; Edward Natapei, Prime Minister of Vanuatu (d. 2015)
* 1956 &ndash; Julie Bishop, Australian politician
* 1957 &ndash; Fern Britton, English television host
* 1958 &ndash; Thérèse Rein, Australian businesswoman, wife of Kevin Rudd
* 1960 &ndash; Jan Wouters, Dutch footballer and manager
* 1961 &ndash; Guru, American rapper (d. 2010)
* 1961 &ndash; Jeremy Hardy, English comedian (d. 2019)
* 1961 &ndash; António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal
* 1963 &ndash; Regina Belle, American singer
* 1963 &ndash; Letsie III, King of Lesotho
* 1963 &ndash; Kim Shattuck, American singer–songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
* 1963 &ndash; John Ventimiglia, American actor
* 1963 &ndash; Matti Nykanen, Finnish ski jumper (d. 2019)
* 1964 &ndash; Heather Langenkamp, American actress
* 1965 &ndash; Santiago Segura, Spanish actor, screenwriter, producer and director
* 1965 &ndash; Alex Winter, English–American actor, director and screenwriter
* 1965 &ndash; Bastian Sick, German journalist, writer and entertainer
* 1971 &ndash; Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player and coach
* 1971 &ndash; Matthew Crompton, English actor
* 1971 &ndash; Cory Doctorow, Canadian writer and activist
* 1972 &ndash; Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer
* 1972 &ndash; Andy Whitfield, Welsh actor (d. 2011)
* 1974 &ndash; Laura Macdonald, Scottish saxophonist and composer
* 1975 &ndash; Konnie Huq, English television host
* 1975 &ndash; Elena Anaya, Spanish actress

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Anders Svensson, Swedish footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Marcos Senna, Brazilian–Spanish footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1976 &ndash; Gino D'Acampo, Italian–English chef and writer
* 1977 &ndash; M.I.A., British singer
* 1978 &ndash; Line Daugaard, Danish handball player
* 1979 &ndash; Rudi Skácel, Czech footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Natasha Hamilton, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
* 1982 &ndash; Bobby Reynolds, American tennis player
* 1982 &ndash; René Herms, German athlete (d. 2009)
* 1983 &ndash; Christian Grindheim, Norwegian footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Sarah Jones, American actress
* 1984 &ndash; Asami Kimura, Japanese singer
* 1985 &ndash; Tom Fletcher, English singer (McFly)
* 1985 &ndash; Neil McGregor, Scottish footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Dana, South Korean singer, dancer and actress
* 1988 &ndash; Gao Yue, Chinese table tennis player 
* 1990 &ndash; Mattie Stepanek, American poet (d. 2004)
* 1992 &ndash; Billie Lourd, American actress
* 1992 &ndash; Taavi Rand, Estonian ice dancer
* 1993 &ndash; Ai Okawa, Japanese model and actress
* 1998 &ndash; Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón, Spanish royal
* 2000 &ndash; Maria Aragon, Canadian singer
* 2004 &ndash; Lindokuhle Modi, South African actor and podcaster

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 521 &ndash; Magnus Felix Ennodius, Latin bishop and saint (b. 474)
* 924 &ndash; Edward the Elder, King of England is killed in battle (b. c. 874)
* 1070 &ndash; Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (b. 1030)
* 1399 &ndash; Jadwiga of Poland (b. 1373)
* 1531 &ndash; Hosokawa Takakuni, Japanese commander (b. 1484)
* 1566 &ndash; Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese monk (b. 1484)
* 1571 &ndash; Georg Fabricius, German poet and historian (b. 1516)
* 1588 &ndash; Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect and engineer (b. 1489)
* 1704 &ndash; Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French–American fur trader
* 1762 &ndash; Tsar Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)
* 1790 &ndash; Adam Smith, Scottish economist (b. 1723)
* 1793 &ndash; Charlotte Corday, French aristocrat (b. 1768)
* 1845 &ndash; Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1764)
* 1859 &ndash; Stephanie of Hohenzollern, Queen Consort of Portugal (b. 1837)
* 1878 &ndash; Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812)
* 1883 &ndash; Te Duc, Emperor of Vietnam
* 1887 &ndash; Dorothea Dix, American social activist (b. 1802)
* 1893 &ndash; Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (b. 1833)
* 1894 &ndash; Leconte de Lisle, French poet (b. 1818)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1906 &ndash; Carlos Pellegrini, President of Argentina (b. 1846)
* 1912 &ndash; Henri Poincaré, French mathematician (b. 1854)
* 1918 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Lovis Corinth, German artist and sculptor (b. 1858)
* 1928 &ndash; Giovanni Giolitti, five–times Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1842)
* 1928 &ndash; Alvaro Obregon, 39th President of Mexico (b. 1880)
* 1944 &ndash; William James Sidis, American mathematician (b. 1898)
* 1950 &ndash; Evangeline Booth, 4th General of the Salvation Army (b. 1865)
* 1953 &ndash; Maude Adams, American actress (b. 1872)
* 1959 &ndash; Billie Holiday, singer (b. 1915)
* 1959 &ndash; Eugene Meyer, American businessman and newspaper publisher (*The Washington Post*) (b. 1875)
* 1961 &ndash; Ty Cobb, American Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1886)
* 1967 &ndash; John Coltrane, American jazz musician (b. 1926)
* 1974 &ndash; Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1910)
* 1975 &ndash; Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (b. 1893)
* 1980 &ndash; Boris Delaunay, Soviet/Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
* 1994 &ndash; Jean Borotra, French tennis player (b. 1898)
* 1995 &ndash; Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1911)
* 1996 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Chas Chandler, American bass player and producer (The Animals) (b. 1938)

### 2001 &ndash; 2010 
* 2001 &ndash; Katharine Graham, *Washington Post* publisher (b. 1917)
* 2002 &ndash; Joseph Luns, NATO Secretary–General (b. 1910)
* 2003 &ndash; Hans Abich, German TV producer (b. 1918)
* 2003 &ndash; Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (b. 1914)
* 2003 &ndash; Dr. David Kelly, UN weapons inspector (b. 1944)
* 2003 &ndash; Walter Zapp, German inventor (b. 1905)
* 2004 &ndash; Pat Roach, American wrestler and actor (b. 1937)
* 2005 &ndash; Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
* 2005 &ndash; Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish–American actress (b. 1913)
* 2006 &ndash; Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918)
* 2008 &ndash; Larry Haines, American actor (b. 1918)
* 2009 &ndash; Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist (b. 1916)
* 2009 &ndash; Leszek Kolakowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1927)
* 2009 &ndash; Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician (b. 1921)
* 2010 &ndash; Bernard Giraudeau, French actor and director (b. 1947)

### From 2011 
* 2011 &ndash; Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (b. 1928)
* 2011 &ndash; Takaji Mori, Japanese footballer (b. 1943)
* 2013 &ndash; Vincenzo Cerami, Italian screenwriter and producer (b. 1940)
* 2014 &ndash; John Walton, Australian actor (b. 1952)
* 2014 &ndash; Ross Burden, New Zealand chef (b. 1968)
* 2014 &ndash; Andries P Putter, South African naval officer (b. 1935)
* 2014 &ndash; Elaine Stritch, American actress (b. 1925)
* 2014 &ndash; Otto Piene, German artist (b. 1928)
* 2014 &ndash; Henry Hartsfield, American astronaut (b. 1933)
* 2014 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, writer and theologian (b. 1916)
* 2015 &ndash; John H. Gibbons, American scientist (b. 1929)
* 2015 &ndash; Van Miller, American football announcer (b. 1927)
* 2015 &ndash; John Taylor, English jazz pianist (b. 1947)
* 2015 &ndash; Jules Bianchi, French racing driver (b. 1989)
* 2016 &ndash; Wendell Anderson, American politician, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1933)
* 2016 &ndash; Gary S. Paxton, American record producer and singer–songwriter (b. 1939)
* 2017 &ndash; Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor (b. 1942)
* 2017 &ndash; Raymond Sackler, American physician and philanthropist (b. 1920)
* 2018 &ndash; Gary Beach, American actor (b. 1947)
* 2018 &ndash; Rita Bhaduri, Indian actress (b. 1955)
* 2018 &ndash; Yvonne Blake, British–Spanish costume designer (b. 1940)
* 2019 &ndash; Andrea Camilleri, Italian writer (b. 1925)
* 2019 &ndash; Pumpsie Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
* 2019 &ndash; 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