July 17

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 – 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 into 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

1476 – Adrian Fortescue, English Roman Catholic martyr (d. 1539)

1487 – Ismail I of Iran (d. 1524)

1499 – Maria Salviati, Italian noblewoman (d. 1543)

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 – Rieko Miyoshi, Japanese singer-songwriter and pianist

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

1992 – Billie Lourd, American actress

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)

1085 – Robert Guiscard, Norman adventurer

1119 – Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders

1210 – Sverker the Younger, king of Sweden 1196–1208

1304 – Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer

1399 – Queen Jadwiga of Poland (b. 1374)

1453 – Dmitry Shemyaka, Grand Prince of Moscow

1453 – John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English commander and politician (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 – Victims 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)

Aleksei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia (b. 1904)

Nikolai II of Russia (b. 1868)

Anna Demidova (b. 1878)

Ivan Kharitonov (b. 1872)

Alexei Trupp (b. 1858)

Yevgeny Botkin (b. 1865)

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 - Florence Fuller, South African-born Australian artist (b. 1867)

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)