On this day in History - Jul 17

180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa, executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
1070 - Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders dies (b. 1030)
1203 - Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault; the Byzantine emperor Alexius III Angelus flees from his capital into exile.

1381 - Batalha Naval de Saltes entre frota portuguesa e castelhana
1453 - Hundred Years' War: The French under Jean Bureau utterly defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the Battle of Castillon at Gascony
1674 - Isaac Watts, was born (d. 1748). English hymnwriter
1698 - Pierre Louis Maupertuis, was born (d. 1759). French mathematician.
1704 - Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, dies. French fur trader and explorer.
1709 - Robert Bolling, dies (b. 1646). English settler in Virginia.

1744 - Elbridge Gerry was born (d. 23 Nov. 1814). Politician: 5th vice president of the U.S. [1813-1814]; governor of Massachusetts: wrote a redistricting bill, hence the origin of the word ‘gerrymandering’;

1762 - Catherine II becomes tzar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia. /Catarina II sucede ao czar Pedro III da Rússia, assassinado.
1771 - Massacre at Bloody Falls: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his arctic overland journey, massacre a group of unsuspecting Inuit.

1780 - Nascimento de Anatacio Bustamante. Presidente do México (1830-1832, 1837-1839 e 1839-1841).
1787 - Friedrich Krupp was born (d. 1826). German industrialist.

1790 - Adam Smith, dies. Scottish economist
1791 - Massacre at the Champ de Mars, Paris, during the French Revolution. 1200-1500 people were killed, including women and children.
1793 - Charlotte Corday, dies. French aristocrat
1801 - O químico alemão Valentín Rose consegue sintetizar pela primeira vez o bicarbonato de sódio.
1815 - Napoleonic Wars: In France, Napoleon surrenders at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime to British forces.
1816 - The French passenger ship Medusa runs aground off the coast of Senegal, with 140 lives lost in the botched rescue that takes weeks, leading to a scandal in the French government.
1839 - Ephraim Shay, was born (d. 1916). Inventor (Shay locomotive).
1843 - Nascimento de Julio A. Roca. Presidente da Argentina (1880-1886)
1852 - O tratado que estabelece os limites de fronteira e de navegação entre a Argentina e o Paraguai é assinado.
1859 - Luis Munoz-Rivera was born (d. 15 Nov 1921). Puerto Rican patriot; poet; journalist;
1877 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, was born (d. 1960). Hungarian conductor
1878 - Aleardo Aleardi, dies (b. 1812). Italian poet
1880 - Um terremoto destrói em Manila, capital das Filipinas, quase todos os edifícios existentes na área interna dos muros da cidade.
1886 - Apresentação de Sarah Bernhardt no teatro Politeama, de Buenos Aires, com a obra "Fedora", de Sardou.
1887 - Dorothea Dix, dies (b. 1802). American social activist
1888 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, was born (d. 1970). Israeli writer
1890 - Sem prévia declaração de guerra, um exército guatemalteco invade El Salvador, e é derrotado pelas tropas deste país.
1894 - As forças italianas derrotam os dervishes e tomam Kassale, no Sudão.
1897 - Klondike gold rush begins when first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle, Washington, USA.
1898 - United States General William R. Shafter take the city of Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish.
1899 - Erle Stanley Gardner, was born (d, 1970). Author.
1899 - NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
1899 - James Cagney, was born (d. 1983). Actor
1901 - Bruno Jasieński, was born (d. 1938). Polish poet.
1906 - Morte de Carlos Pellegrini. Presidente da Argentina (1890-1892)
1909 - Revolução no Irã dos "bajtiares": abdica o Xá.
1911 - Morre Rufino José Cuervo, filólogo e humanista colombiano.
1912 - Morre Henri Poincaré, matemático e filósofo francês.
1912 - Art Linkletter, was born. Television host.
1916 - O Uruguay ganha o 1º. Campeonato Sul americano de Futebol ao empatar 0 a 0 com a Argentina.
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.
1917 - Phyllis Diller, was born. Comedienne
1917 - Margarete Mitscherlich was born. Physician
1917 - Hector Malot, dies. French writer
1918 - O czar Nicolau II e a maioria da família imperial russa são fuzilados na cidade de Ekaterimburgo, por ordem das autoridades bolcheviques./
1918 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (Gregorian calendar date) dies
1918 - Grand Duchess Olga of Russia dies
1918 - Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia dies
1918 - Tsarevich Alexei of Russia dies
1918 - Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia dies
1918 - Tsarina Alexandra of Russia dies
1918 - Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia dies
1919 - Nasce João José Cochofel, ensaísta e poeta português do núcleo neo-realista coimbrão
1920 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, was born. Former chairman of the International Olympic Committee
1920 - Kenneth Wolstenholme, was born (d. 2002). Sports commentator
1928 - Vince Guaraldi, was born (d. 1976). Musician, composer.
1928 - O presidente mexicano, general Alvaro Obregón, é assassinado na Cidade do México.
1929 - A União Soviética rompe relações diplomáticas com a China devido a conflitos nas ferrovias da fronteira.
1934 - Getúlio Vargas, que havia governado o Brasil como ditador, é eleito pela Assembléia Constituinte para o cargo de presidente da República.
1934 - Donald Sutherland, was born. Actor
1935 - Diahann Carroll, was born. Singer
1936 - Spanish Civil War: An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the Spanish civil war.
1938 - Franz Alt, was born. Journalist
1939 - Maria Ilva Biolcati known as Milva, was born. Singer
1941 - Spencer Davis was born. Singer, guitarist (Spencer Davis Group)
1941 - Jürgen Flimm, was born. Theatre director and manager
1941 - O presidente cubano Fulgencio Batista anuncia a formação de um novo governo.
1942 - Tim Brooke-Taylor, was born. Comedian
1943 - Em Feltre (Itália), Hitler convence Mussolini a continuar na guerra.
1943 - Nasce Shlomo Ben Ami, político israelense, que se tornou ministro das Relações Exteriores.
1944 - Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California killing 232.
1944 - World War II: The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
1945 - World War II: Potsdam Conference - At Potsdam, the three main Allied leaders begin their final summit of the war. The meeting will end on August 2.
1947 - Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (formerly Parker Bowles),was born. Former British royal mistress and now wife of Prince Charles
1948 - Luc Bondy, was born. Film and theatre director
1949 - Charlie Steiner, was born. Sports anchor
1952 - David Hasselhoff, was born. Actor, musician
1954 - J. Michael Straczynski, was born. Science fiction author
1955 - Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
1956 - Peter D'Adamo was born. Physician, author
1959 - O Movimento Nacional do Congo se divide em duas correntes: partidários de Lumumba e partidários de Kalonji.
1959 - Billie Holiday, dies. Singer
1959 - Eugene Meyer, dies (b. 1875). American businessman and newspaper publisher (The Washington Post)
1960 - Mark Burnett, was born.Reality TV producer.
1961 - Ty Cobb, dies (b. 1886). Baseball Hall of Famer
1962 - Nuclear testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site.
1963 - Matti Nykänen, was born. Finnish ski jumper.
1964 - Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egipto) assume o cargo de presidente da União Africana
1967 - John Coltrane, dies. Jazz musician
1971 - Cory Doctorow, was born. Author, activist
1973 - Após derrubar a monarquia, o chefe do governo Daud Khan proclama a República no Afeganistão.
1973 - Eric Moulds, was born. American football player
1975 - Konnie Huq, was born. Television presenter
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.
1975 - History of East Timor: East Timor was annexed, and became the 27th province of Indonesia.
1975 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, dies. Georgian writer and public benefactor
1979 - Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami.
1980 - Boris Delaunay, dies (b. 1890). Soviet/Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
1980 - Golpe militar na Bolívia, comandado pelo general Luis García Meza, que impede um novo mandato de Siles Suazo.
1981 - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby killing 114.
1984 - Laurent Fabius becomes Prime Minister of France
1987 - A França rompe relações diplomáticas com o Irã.
1989 - Morre o poeta Jorge Guillén.
1990 - Conferência "Dois mais quatro" (Paris), com a participação dos Estados Unidos, França, URSS e Grã Bretanha, países vencedores da Segunda Guerra e da Alemanha Ocidental e Oriental, com a Polônia como convidada. A Conferência confirmou a reunificação da Alemanha.
1990 - Nikolay Todorov Todorov assume o cargo de presidente da Bulgária
1991 - Os sete países mais industrializados aprovam em Londres um reordenamento da economia para o estabelecimento de "uma nova ordem mundial".
1991 - Os presidentes Mikhail Gorbachov e George Bush anunciam um tratado para reduzir armas nucleares.
1991 - Morre Robert Motherwell, pintor norte-americano.
1991 - Criação da Fundação Violeta Parra
1992 - Duas bombas matam 18 e ferem 140 em Lima, no Peru.
1994 - A seleção brasileira de futebol conquista, em Los Angeles, o tetracampeonato mundial na Copa do Mundo dos Estados Unidos, após vitória nos pênaltis sobre a Itália (3-2), após 0-0 durante o tempo normal de jogo.
1995 - Juan Manuel Fangio, dies (b. 1911). Argentinian race car driver (Formula-1)
1995 - The Midwestern heat wave in the United States reaches its peak. Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, among other cities, set all-time high temperature records. The heat claims over 400 lives on this day alone.
1995 - The Nasdaq stock index closes above the 1,000 mark for the first time.
1996 - Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound Boeing 747 carrying TWA flight 800 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
1996 - Criação da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa
1997 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
1998 - In St. Petersburg, Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried in St. Catherine Chapel 80 years after he and his family were killed by Bolsheviks.
1998 - A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 1,500, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.
1998 - A ONU funda o Tribunal Penal Internacional.
1998 - Biologists report in the journal Science how they sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum.
1999 - Desaparece o avião pilotado por John Kennedy Jr., quando viajava para a Ilha de Martha's Vineyard (Massachusets) desde Nova York, em companhia de sua esposa Carolyn Bessette e de sua cunhada Lauren. Os três cadáveres foram achados cinco dias depois no mar, a 12 quilômetros de seu destino.
2000 - O presidente mexicano eleito, Vicente Fox, nomeia sua "equipe de transição", com 20 membros, para assegurar uma transferência de poderes sem sobressaltos.
2000 - A Alemanha assina em Berlim um acordo com vários países do Leste europeu e o Conselho Nacional judeu, pelo qual se compromete a indenizar entre sete e 12 milhões de prisioneiros do nazismo.
2001 - Os chanceleres do Mercosul, Chile e Comunidade Andina de Nações assinam a Declaração de Paz, espaço de cooperação política e de integração econômica entre os blocos.
2001 - Katharine Graham, dies (b. 1917). Washington Post publisher.
2003 - Hans Abich, dies. German tv producer
2003 - Antje walrus, long-time mascot of German tv station NDR dies
2003 - Rosalyn Tureck, dies. American pianist and harpsichordist
2003 - Dr. David Kelly,dies. UN weapons inspector
2004 - Pat Roach, dies. Wrestler and actor