July 17

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.
• 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.
• 1686 - 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.
• 1762 - Catherine II becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia.
• 1771 - Bloody Falls Massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling 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 occurs in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania killing over 60 people.
• 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, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, 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 submatine U-55; only 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 to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
• 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 were 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.
• 1951 - Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts is chartered.
• 1955 - Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
• 1962 - Nuclear 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 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 - A walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri collapses killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 caused by structural failure.
• 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.
• 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.

Births

• 1239 - Edward Longshanks, English king (d. 1307)
• 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)
• 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 team owner (NART; 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)
• 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)
• 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 - Hal Riney, American advertising executive (d. 2008)
• 1933 - Bruce Wells, British boxer & actor
• 1933 - Tony Pithey, Former South African Cricketer (d. 2006)
• 1935 - Diahann Carroll, American actor
• 1935 - Peter Schickele, American author 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 - 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)
• 1948 - Luc Bondy, Swiss theatre and opera director
• 1949 - Terence "Geezer" Butler, British musician and lyricist (Black Sabbath)
• 1949 - Charlie Steiner, American sports broadcaster
• 1951 - Lucie Arnaz, American actress
• 1950 - Derek de Lint, Dutch actor
• 1950 - P.J. Soles, German-born 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
• 1962 - Bill Sage, American actor
• 1963 - Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper
• 1963 - Letsie III, King of Lesotho
• 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
• 1968 - Beth Littleford, American comedian
• 1968 - Bitty Schram, American actress
• 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 - Jason Rullo, American drummer (Symphony X, Redemption)
• 1972 - Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer
• 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
• 1976 - Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish actress
• 1976 - Eric Winter, American actor
• 1976 - Matthew Holmes, Australian actor
• 1977 - M.I.A., British rapper
• 1977 - Lehmber Hussainpuri, Famous Indian Singer
• 1977 - Marc Savard, Canadian hockey player
• 1977 - Tiffany Taylor, American model
• 1978 - Mike Hettinga, American professional wrestler
• 1978 - Ricardo Arona, Brazilian mixed martial artist
• 1978 - Émilie Simon, French singer
• 1978 - Katharine Towne, American actress
• 1979 - Mike Vogel, American actor
• 1980 - Ryan Miller, American hockey player
• 1980 - Javier Camuñas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 - Elpida Romantzi, Greek archer
• 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 - Josie Lopez, American actress
• 1989 - Marko Todorović, Swiss swimmer
• 1998 - Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y de Borbón, Spanish royal

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 - 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, french 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 (N.S.) - Family of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868)
• Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna (b. 1872)
• Grand Duchess Olga (b. 1895)
• Grand Duchess Tatiana (b. 1897)
• Grand Duchess Maria (b. 1899)
• Grand Duchess Anastasia (b. 1901)
• Tsarevich Alexei (b. 1904)
• 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)
• 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)

Holidays and observances

• South Korea - Constitution Day.
• Kyoto, Japan - Gion Matsuri.
• World Day for International Justice
• Yellow Pigs Day at Hampshire College
• Saint Alexius, confessor
• Saint Cynllo
• Saint Ennodius, bishop of Pavia
• Saint Marcellina, virgin
• Saint Piatus, bishop of Tournai Paris
• The Russian Royal Family
• Saint Speratus and companions 'the Sicilian Martyrs'

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada