July 17Birthdays & History

On this day: July 17 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 180Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.Africa
2. 561Consecration of Pope John III following the death of Pope Pelagius I earlier that year.Europe
3. 1048Damasus II is elected pope, and dies 23 days later.North America
4. 1048Four year-old Henry IV is crowned as king of Germany in Aachen.Europe
5. 1203The Fourth Crusade assaults Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.Middle EastEurope
6. 1402Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming dynasty of China.Asia
7. 1429Hundred Years' War: Charles VII of France is crowned the King of France in the Reims Cathedral after a successful campaign by Joan of Arc.Europe
8. 1453Battle of Castillon: The last battle of the Hundred Years' War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle in Gascony.Europe
9. 1489Sikandar Lodi succeeds Bahlul Khan Lodi as Sultan of Delhi.Asia
10. 1717King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Frideric Handel's Water Music is premiered.Europe
11. 1762Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered.Europe
12. 1771Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.Asia
13. 1791Members 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 scores of people.Europe
14. 1794The 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne are executed ten days prior to the end of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.Europe
15. 1821The Kingdom of Spain cedes the territory of Florida to the United States.EuropeNorth America
16. 1850Vega becomes the first star (other than the Sun) to be photographed.Europe
17. 1867Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the first dental school in the U.S. that is affiliated with a university.North America
18. 1899NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.Asia
19. 1918Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are executed by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.Europe
20. 1918The RMS Carpathia is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; five lives are lost.Europe
21. 1919The form of government in the Republic of Finland is officially confirmed with the enactment of the Constitution of Finland. For this reason, July 17 is known as the Day of Democracy (Kansanvallan päivä) in Finland.Europe
22. 1932Altona Bloody Sunday: A riot between the Nazi Party paramilitary forces, the SS and SA, and the German Communist Party ensues.Europe
23. 1936Spanish Civil War: An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the civil war.Europe
24. 1938Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.North AmericaEurope
25. 1944Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California, killing 320.North America
26. 1945World War II: The main three leaders of the Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, hold the Potsdam Conference in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.Europe
27. 1953The largest number of United States midshipman casualties in a single event results from an aircraft crash in Florida, killing 44.North America
28. 1954First Indochina War: Viet Minh troops successfully ambush the armoured French column 'G.M. 42' in the Battle of Chu Dreh Pass in the Central Highlands. It is the last battle of the war.Europe
29. 1962Nuclear weapons testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada National Security Site.North America
30. 1968Abdul 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.Middle East
31. 1973King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, while having surgery in Italy, is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan.AsiaEurope
32. 1975Apollo–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.North AmericaEurope
33. 1976East Timor is annexed and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.Asia
34. 1976The opening of the Summer Olympics in Montreal is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the games because of New Zealand's participation. Contrary to rulings by other international sports organizations, the IOC had declined to exclude New Zealand because of their participation in South African sporting events during apartheid.North AmericaAfricaOceania
35. 1981A structural failure leads to the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.North America
36. 1994Brazil win their fourth World Cup title, defeating Italy 3–2 on penalties.Latin AmericaEurope
37. 1996TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.North AmericaEurope
38. 1997After takeoff from Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Sempati Air Flight 304 crashes into a residential neighborhood in Bandung, killing 28 people.Europe
39. 1998A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing the permanent international court in The Hague, to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.Europe
40. 1998The 7.0 Mw Papua New Guinea earthquake triggers a tsunami that destroys ten villages in Papua New Guinea, killing up to 2,700 people, and leaving several thousand injured.Oceania
41. 2000During approach to Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Alliance Air Flight 7412 suddenly crashes into a residential neighborhood in Patna, India, killing 60 people.Asia
42. 2006The 7.7 Mw Pangandaran tsunami earthquake severely affects the Indonesian island of Java, killing 668 people, and leaving more than 9,000 injured.Asia
43. 2007TAM Airlines Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, crashes into a warehouse after landing too fast and missing the end of the São Paulo–Congonhas Airport runway, killing 199 people.Latin America
44. 2014Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashes near the border of Ukraine and Russia after being shot down. All 298 people on board are killed.AsiaEurope
45. 2014Eric Garner is killed by police officer Daniel Pantaleo in New York City, after the latter put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him.North America
46. 2014A French regional train on the Pau-Bayonne line crashes into a high-speed train near the town of Denguin, resulting in at least 25 injuries.Europe
47. 2015At least 120 people are killed and 130 injured by a suicide bombing in Diyala Governorate, Iraq.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "July 17" / CC BY-SA 4.0