July 17

July 17 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

July 17 is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 167 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 180 – Twelve 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.
• 1048 – Damasus II is elected pope.
• 1203 – The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault. The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.
• 1402 – Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming dynasty of China.
• 1429 – Hundred Years' War: Charles VII of France is crowned the King of France in the Reims Cathedral after a successful campaign by Joan of Arc
• 1453 – Battle of Castillon: The last battle of Hundred Years' War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle in Gascony.
• 1665 – Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.
• 1717 – King 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.
• 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 scores of people.
• 1794 – The 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne are executed ten days prior to the end of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.
• 1867 – Harvard 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.
• 1896 – Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, the Indian sage, at age 16, spontaneously initiates a process of self-enquiry that culminates within a few minutes in his own permanent awakening.
• 1899 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
• 1902 – Willis Carrier creates the first air conditioner in Buffalo, New York.
• 1917 – King George V issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor.
• 1918 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are executed by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
• 1918 – The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; five lives are lost.
• 1932 – Altona Bloody Sunday: A riot between the Nazi Party paramilitary forces, the SS and SA, and the German Communist Party ensues.
• 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 from Brooklyn 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 are dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near Saint-Lô, France.
• 1945 – World War II: The main three leaders of the Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, meet in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.
• 1948 – The South Korean constitution is proclaimed.
• 1953 – The largest number of United States midshipman casualties in a single event results from an aircraft crash in Florida, killing 44.
• 1955 – Disneyland is dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim, California.
• 1962 – Nuclear weapons testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada National Security 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, while having surgery in Italy, is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan.
• 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 – East Timor is annexed, and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.
• 1976 – The 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.
• 1979 – Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida, United States.
• 1981 – A 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.
• 1984 – The national drinking age in the United States was changed from 18 to 21.
• 1985 – Founding of the EUREKA Network by former head of states François Mitterrand (France) and Helmut Kohl (Germany).
• 1989 – First flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.
• 1989 – Holy See–Poland relations are restored.
• 1996 – TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
• 1998 – The 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.
• 1998 – A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing a permanent international court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
• 2001 – Concorde is brought back in to service nearly a year after the July 2000 crash.
• 2006 – The 7.7 Mw Pangandaran tsunami earthquake severely affects the Indonesian island of Java, killing 668 people, and leaving more than 9,000 injured.
• 2007 – TAM 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.
• 2014 – Malaysia 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.
• 2014 – A 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.
• 2015 – At least 120 people are killed and 130 injured by a suicide bombing in Diyala Province, Iraq.

Births

• 1487 – Ismail I of Iran (d. 1524)
• 1674 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter and theologian (d. 1748)
• 1695 – Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim (d. 1766)
• 1698 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1759)
• 1708 – Frederick Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (d. 1769)
• 1714 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (d. 1762)
• 1744 – Elbridge Gerry, American merchant and politician, 5th Vice President of the United States (d. 1814)
• 1763 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1848)
• 1774 – John Wilbur, American minister and theologian (d. 1856)
• 1797 – Paul Delaroche, French painter and academic (d. 1856)
• 1823 – Leander Clark, American businessman, judge, and politician (d. 1910)
• 1831 – Xianfeng Emperor of China (d. 1861)
• 1837 – Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 7th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1886)
• 1839 – Ephraim Shay, American engineer, invented the Shay locomotive (d. 1916)
• 1853 – Alexius Meinong, Ukrainian-Austrian philosopher and academic (d. 1920)
• 1868 – Henri Nathansen, Danish director and playwright (d. 1944)
• 1870 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, Scottish soldier and bagpipe player (d. 1939)
• 1871 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
• 1879 – Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1960)
• 1882 – James Somerville, English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (d. 1949)
• 1888 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1889 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (d. 1970)
• 1894 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (d. 1966)
• 1896 – Rupert Atkinson, English RAF officer (d. 1919)
• 1898 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (d. 1991)
• 1898 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian soldier and cinematographer (d. 1999)
• 1899 – James Cagney, American actor and dancer (d. 1986)
• 1900 – Marcel Dalio, French actor (d. 1983)
• 1901 – Luigi Chinetti, Italian-American race car driver (d. 1994)
• 1901 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet and author (d. 1938)
• 1901 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 1982)
• 1902 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (d. 1983)
• 1910 – James Coyne, Canadian lawyer and banker, 2nd Governor of the Bank of Canada (d. 2012)
• 1910 – Frank Olson, American chemist and microbiologist (d. 1953)
• 1911 – Lionel Ferbos, American trumpet player (d. 2014)
• 1911 – Heinz Lehmann, German-Canadian psychiatrist and academic (d. 1999)
• 1912 – Erwin Bauer, German race car driver (d. 1958)
• 1912 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Bertrand Goldberg, American architect, designed the Marina City Building (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Eleanor Steber, American soprano and educator (d. 1990)
• 1915 – Arthur Rothstein, American photographer and educator (b. 1985)
• 1917 – Bijon Bhattacharya, Indian actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1917 – Lou Boudreau, American baseball player and manager (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Phyllis Diller, American actress, comedian, and voice artist (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (d. 2015)
• 1917 – Christiane Rochefort, French author (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, Guatemalan soldier and politician, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Red Sovine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1980)
• 1920 – Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, 7th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 2010)
• 1921 – George Barnes, American guitarist, producer, and songwriter (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Louis Lachenal, French mountaineer (d. 1955)
• 1921 – Mary Osborne, American guitarist (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Toni Stone, American baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1921 – František Zvarík, Slovakian actor (d. 2008)
• 1923 – John Cooper, English car designer, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Garde Gardom, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Jimmy Scott, American singer and actor (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Édouard Carpentier, French-Canadian wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Willis Carto, American activist and theorist (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Vince Guaraldi, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1976)
• 1929 – Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician and academic
• 1932 – Quino, Spanish-Argentinian cartoonist
• 1932 – Niccolò Castiglioni, Italian composer (d. 1996)
• 1932 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Wojciech Kilar, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Karla Kuskin, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Hal Riney, American businessman, founded Publicis & Hal Riney (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Maltese politician, 9th Prime Minister of Malta
• 1933 – Tony Pithey, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2006)
• 1935 – Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer
• 1935 – Peter Schickele, American composer and educator
• 1935 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor and producer
• 1938 – Hermann Huppen, Belgian author and illustrator
• 1939 – Andrée Champagne, Canadian actress and politician
• 1939 – Spencer Davis, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 – Ali Khamenei, Iranian cleric and politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of Iran
• 1940 – Tim Brooke-Taylor, English actor and screenwriter
• 1941 – Daryle Lamonica, American football player
• 1941 – Bob Taylor, English cricketer
• 1941 – Achim Warmbold, German race car driver and manager
• 1942 – Don Kessinger, American baseball player and manager
• 1942 – Connie Hawkins, American basketball player
• 1942 – Zoot Money, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1943 – LaVyrle Spencer, American author and educator
• 1944 – Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricketer and footballer
• 1944 – Catherine Schell, Hungarian-English actress
• 1944 – Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
• 1945 – Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
• 1945 – John Patten, Baron Patten, English politician, Secretary of State for Education
• 1947 – Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St John's, English educator and politician
• 1947 – Robert Begerau, German footballer and manager
• 1947 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
• 1948 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1948 – Luc Bondy, Swiss director and producer (d. 2015)
• 1949 – Geezer Butler, English bass player and songwriter
• 1949 – Charley Steiner, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1950 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
• 1951 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress and singer
• 1951 – Mark Bowden, American journalist and author
• 1951 – Andrew Robathan, English soldier and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
• 1952 – David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1952 – Nicolette Larson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
• 1952 – Thé Lau, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Robert R. McCammon, American author
• 1954 – Angela Merkel, German chemist and politician, 8th Chancellor of Germany
• 1954 – Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (d. 2015)
• 1954 – J. Michael Straczynski, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1955 – Sylvie Léonard, Canadian actress and screenwriter
• 1955 – Paul Stamets, American mycologist and author
• 1956 – Julie Bishop, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
• 1956 – Bryan Trottier, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
• 1957 – Bruce Crump, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1957 – Wendy Freedman, Canadian-American cosmologist and astronomer
• 1958 – Wong Kar-wai, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Thérèse Rein, Australian businesswoman, founded Ingeus
• 1959 – Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin, Bangladeshi-English politician
• 1960 – Kim Barnett, English cricketer and coach
• 1960 – Mark Burnett, English-American screenwriter and producer
• 1960 – Nancy Giles, American journalist and actress
• 1960 – Dawn Upshaw, American soprano
• 1960 – Jan Wouters, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1961 – Jeremy Hardy, English comedian and actor
• 1963 – Regina Belle, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1963 – Letsie III of Lesotho
• 1963 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper and singer
• 1965 – Craig Morgan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1965 – Alex Winter, English-born American actor, film director and screenwriter
• 1966 – Lou Barlow, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1966 – Sten Tolgfors, Swedish lawyer and politician, 30th Swedish Minister of Defence
• 1969 – Scott Johnson, American cartoonist
• 1969 – Jaan Kirsipuu, Estonian cyclist
• 1971 – Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player and coach
• 1971 – Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist
• 1971 – Nico Mattan, Belgian cyclist
• 1972 – Elizabeth Cook, American singer and guitarist
• 1972 – Donny Marshall, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Jason Rullo, American drummer
• 1972 – Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1972 – Eric Williams, American basketball player
• 1973 – Eric Moulds, American football player
• 1975 – Harlette, Australian-English fashion designer
• 1975 – Andre Adams, New Zealand cricketer
• 1975 – Elena Anaya, Spanish actress
• 1976 – Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Gino D'Acampo, Italian chef and author
• 1976 – Dagmara Domińczyk, Polish-American actress
• 1976 – Anders Svensson, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
• 1977 – Andrew Downton, Australian cricketer
• 1977 – Leif Hoste, Belgian cyclist
• 1977 – Marc Savard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Ricardo Arona, Brazilian mixed martial artist
• 1978 – Trevor McNevan, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Mike Vogel, American actor
• 1980 – Javier Camuñas, Spanish footballer
• 1980 – Ryan Miller, American ice hockey player
• 1981 – Hely Ollarves, Venezuelan runner
• 1982 – Omari Banks, Anguillan cricketer
• 1982 – Natasha Hamilton, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
• 1983 – Jessi Cruickshank, Canadian television host
• 1983 – Ryan Guettler, Australian motocross racer
• 1983 – Adam Lind, American baseball player
• 1985 – Loui Eriksson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1985 – Tom Fletcher, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1985 – Neil McGregor, Scottish footballer
• 1986 – DeAngelo Smith, American football player
• 1986 – Lacey Von Erich, American wrestler
• 1987 – Darius Boyd, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Jeremih, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1987 – Darius Boyd, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Jan Charouz, Czech race car driver

Deaths

• 521 – Magnus Felix Ennodius, Latin bishop and poet (b. 474)
• 855 – Pope Leo IV (b. 790)
• 924 – Edward the Elder, English king (b. 877)
• 1070 – Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (b. 1030)
• 1453 – John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English commander and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1387)
• 1531 – Hosokawa Takakuni, Japanese commander (b. 1484)
• 1571 – Georg Fabricius, German poet and historian (b. 1516)
• 1588 – Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect and engineer, designed the Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque and Süleymaniye Mosque (b. 1489)
• 1645 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, English-Scottish politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (b. 1587)
• 1704 – Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French fur trader and explorer (b. 1657)
• 1709 – Robert Bolling, English planter and merchant (b. 1646)
• 1762 – Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)
• 1790 – Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (b. 1723)
• 1791 – Martin Dobrizhoffer, Austrian missionary and author (b. 1717)
• 1793 – Charlotte Corday, French murderer (b. 1768)
• 1794 – John Roebuck, English chemist and businessman (b. 1718)
• 1845 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1764)
• 1878 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet and politician (b. 1812)
• 1879 – Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian-Polish painter (b. 1856)
• 1881 – Jim Bridger, American scout and explorer (b. 1804)
• 1883 – Tự Đức, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1829)
• 1885 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian farmer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1811)
• 1887 – Dorothea Dix, American nurse and activist (b. 1802)
• 1893 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (b. 1833)
• 1894 – Leconte de Lisle, French poet and translator (b. 1818)
• 1894 – Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist and biologist (b. 1810)
• 1907 – Hector Malot, French author and critic (b. 1830)
• 1912 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1854)
• 1918 – People of the Shooting of the Romanov family
  • Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1901)
  • Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1899)
  • Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1895)
  • Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1897)
  • Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia (b. 1872)
  • Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia (b. 1904)
  • Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868)
• 1925 – Lovis Corinth, German painter (b. 1858)
• 1928 – Giovanni Giolitti, Italian politician, 13th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1842)
• 1928 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (b. 1880)
• 1932 – Rasmus Rasmussen, Norwegian actor, singer, and director (b. 1862)
• 1935 – George William Russell, Irish poet and painter (b. 1867)
• 1944 – William James Sidis, American mathematician and anthropologist (b. 1898)
• 1945 – Ernst Busch, German field marshal (b. 1885)
• 1946 – Draža Mihailović, Serbian general (b. 1893)
• 1950 – Evangeline Booth, English 4th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1865)
• 1950 – Antonie Nedošinská, Czech actress (b. 1885)
• 1959 – Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
• 1959 – Eugene Meyer, American businessman and publisher (b. 1875)
• 1961 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1886)
• 1961 – Emin Halid Onat, Turkish architect and academic (b. 1908)
• 1967 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1926)
• 1974 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1910)
• 1975 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (b. 1893)
• 1980 – Don "Red" Barry, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1890)
• 1988 – Bruiser Brody, American football player and wrestler (b. 1946)
• 1989 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (b. 1922)
• 1991 – John Patrick Spiegel, American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1911)
• 1994 – Jean Borotra, French tennis player (b. 1898)
• 1995 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1911)
• 1996 – Victims of TWA Flight 800
  • Michel Breistroff, 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)
• 1996 – Chas Chandler, American bass player and producer (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1911)
• 2003 – David Kelly, Welsh weapons inspector (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichord player (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Walter Zapp, Latvian-Swiss inventor, invented the Minox (b. 1905)
• 2005 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-American actress (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
• 2005 – Joe Vialls, Australian journalist and theorist (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
• 2006 – Mickey Spillane, American crime novelist (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Grant Forsberg, American actor and businessman (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Júlio Redecker, Brazilian politician (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Paulo Rogério Amoretty Souza, Brazilian lawyer and businessman (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Walter Cronkite, American journalist and actor (b. 1916)
• 2009 – Leszek Kołakowski, Polish historian and philosopher (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Larry Keith, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2011 – David Ngoombujarra, Australian actor (b. 1967)
• 2012 – Richard Evatt, English boxer (b. 1973)
• 2012 – Forrest S. McCartney, American general (b. 1931)
• 2012 – İlhan Mimaroğlu, Turkish-American composer and producer (b. 1926)
• 2012 – William Raspberry, American journalist and academic (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Marsha Singh, Indian-English politician (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Henri Alleg, English-French journalist and author (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Peter Appleyard, English-Canadian vibraphone player and composer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Vincenzo Cerami, Italian screenwriter and producer (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Don Flye, American tennis player (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Ian Gourlay, English general (b. 1920)
• 2013 – David White, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
  • Liam Davison, Australian author and critic (b. 1957)
  • Shuba Jay, Malaysian actress (b. 1976)
  • Joep Lange, Dutch physician and academic (b. 1954)
  • Willem Witteveen, Dutch scholar and politician (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Henry Hartsfield, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Bill Arnsparger, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Jules Bianchi, French race car driver (b. 1989)
• 2015 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (b. 1916)
• 2015 – Van Miller, American sportscaster (b. 1927)
• 2015 – John Taylor, English pianist and educator (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexius of Rome (Western Church)
  • Cynehelm
  • Cynllo
  • Martyrs of Compiègne
  • Magnus Felix Ennodius
  • Pavel Peter Gojdič (Greek Catholic Church)
  • Marcellina
  • Piatus of Tournai
  • Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)
  • Speratus and companions
  • William White (Episcopal Church))
  • July 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (South Korea)
• Gion Matsuri (Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto)
• Independence Day (Slovakia)
• King's Birthday (Lesotho)
• World Day for International Justice (International)
• International Firgun Day (international)
• U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)
• World Emoji Day (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada