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 - Anatacio Bustamante was born. President of 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 - Julio A. Roca was born. President of Argentina (1880-1886)
• 1852 - O tratado que estabelece os limites de fronteira e de navegação entre a Argentina e o Paraguai é assinado.
• 1859 - Princess Estefania dies (b. 15 Jul 1837). Queen of Portugal, wife of Pedro V.
• 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 - Carlos Pellegrini dies. President of Argentina (1890-1892)
• 1909 - Revolução no Irã dos "bajtiares": abdica o Xá.
• 1911 - Rufino José Cuervo dies. Colombian pholologist and humanist.
• 1912 - Henri Poincaré dies (b. 1854). French mathematicien and philosopher.
• 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 - João José Cochofel was born. Portuguese poet and essayst / Nasce em Coimbra João José Cochofel , ensaísta e poeta português do núcleo neo-realista coimbrão (d. in Lisboa, 14 Mar 1982).
• 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 - Shlomo Ben Ami was born. Israeli politician.
• 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 - Angela Merkel was born. Chancellor of Germany
• 1954 - J. Michael Straczynski was born. American science fiction author
• 1955 - Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
• 1955 - Stirling Moss wins the British Grand Prix at the Aintree track near Liverpool - the first time an Englishman has triumphed in the race.
• 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
• 1976 - The opening ceremony of the 21st Olympic games in Montreal is marred by the withdrawal of 25 African countries.
• 1979 - Sandinista rebels take Nicaraguan capital The left-wing Sandinistas take control of the Nicaragua after 46 years of dictatorial rule by the Somoza family. 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 - Jorge Guillén dies. Poet.
• 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 - Robert Motherwell dies. American painter.
• 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 económica 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. British Wrestler and actor
• 2005 - Laurel Aitken was born. Jamaican singer.
• 2005 - Sir Edward Heath dies (b. 1916). Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 2005 - Joe Vialls dies. Australian writer
• Iraq - Ba'ath Revolution Day
• Puerto Rico - Luis Muñoz Rivera's Birthday
• South Korea - Constitution Day