| 17th 
            July, on this day  180 Twelve inhabitants 
            of Scillium 
            in North Africa executed for being Christians. This is the earliest 
            record of Christianity in that part of the world561 John III 
            begins his reign as Catholic Pope
 855 St 
            Leo IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope
 1203 Fourth 
            Crusade captures Constantinople by assault; the Byzantine emperor 
            Alexius 
            III Angelus flees from his capital into exile.
 1453 End of the One Hundred Years' War with a defeat for the French 
            by the English at the Battle 
            of Castillon.
 1549 Jews are expelled from Ghent, Belgium
 1686 A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between several Protestant 
            powers in order to discuss the formation of an 'evangelical' league 
            of defence, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae', against 
            the Catholic League.
 1761 In Britain, the official opening of the Bridgewater 
            canal
 1762 Catherine 
            II becomes tzar of Russia upon the accidental 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, massacre a group 
            of unsuspecting Inuit.
 1790 Thomas Saint patents the world's first sewing machine
 1794 The sixteen Carmelite Martyrs 
            of Compiegne are executed 10 days prior to the end of the French 
            Revolution's Reign of Terror.
 1815 In France, Napoleon surrenders at Rochefort, 
            Charente-Maritime to British forces.
 1841 British humor magazine "Punch" 
            1st published
 1850 Harvard Observatory takes 1st photograph of a star (Vega)
 1856 The 
            Great Train Wreck of 1856: Sunday school excursion train collides 
            killing 46 children
 1861 US Congress authorises paper money
 1862 US army authorized to accept blacks as laborers
 1863 Battle of Honey Springs, largest battle of war in Indian Territory
 1864 CSA 
            President Davis replaces Gen Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood
 1867 1st permanent university dental school in US, Harvard
 1897 1st ship arrives in Seattle carrying gold from the Yukon
 1898 Spanish American War-Spaniads surrender to US at Santiago, Cuba
 1899 NEC 
            Corporation is formed as the first Japanese joint venture with 
            foreign capital.
 1917 The British Royal Family adopt the name of the House 
            of Windsor in place of their German family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
 1918 By order of the Bolshevik Party and carried out by Cheka, Emperor 
            Nicholas II of Russia, his immediate family, and retainers were 
            murdered at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
 1918 RMS 
            Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS 
            Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the Unterseeboot 55 with 5 lives lost.
 1933 After successfully crossing the Atlantic ocean, the Lithuanian 
            research aircraft Lituanica crashes in Europe under mysterious 
            circumstances.
 1935 Variety's famous headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix"
 1936 Start of the Spanish 
            Civil War when the army, led by General Franco, revolts against 
            the country's Republican Government.
 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 Napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by American 
            P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France
 1945 World War II: Opening of the Potsdam 
            Conference between world leaders Harry Truman; Joseph Stalin and 
            Winston Churchill to plan for future peace once Germany has been defeated.
 1946 Resistance leader Mikhailovich 
            executed by Tito regime
 1948 Proclamation of the constitution of the Republic of (South) Korea
 1954 Construction begins on Disneyland
 1955 Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California
 1955 Arco, Idaho becomes 1st US city lit by nuclear power
 1959 American jazz singer Billie 
            Holiday is arrested on her death bed in hospital for possession 
            of narcotics.
 1959 2,000 ft long by 1,300 foot wide section of ridge falls into 
            Madis
 1959 Dr 
            Leakey discovers oldest human skull (600,000 years old)
 1959 Tibet abolishes serfdom
 1962 The "Small Boy" test shot Little 
            Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada 
            Test Site.
 1964 British speed pioneer Sir 
            Donald Campbell sets a new land speed world record of 429mph in 
            his car, Bluebird.
 1966 Pioneer 7 launched
 1967 Monkees perform at Forest Hills NY, Jimi Hendrix is opening act
 1967 Race riots in Cairo, Illinois
 1968 Beatle's animated film "Yellow Submarine" premiers 
            in London
 1968 Revolution in Iraq when Abdul 
            Rahman Arif was overthrown and the Ba'ath Party installed as the 
            governing power in Iraq with Ahmed 
            Hassan al-Bakr as the new Iraqi President
 1970 30,000 attend Randall 
            Island Rock Festival, NYC
 1972 1st 2 women begin training as FBI agents at Quantico
 1973 King 
            Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed 
            Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.
 1974 1st quadrophinic studio in UK is open by the Moody 
            Blues
 1974 John Lennon is ordered to leave the US in 60 days
 1975 An 
            historic handshake in space as Russian and American astronauts meet 
            when the US spacecraft Apollo successfully docks with the Soviet space 
            craft Soyuz.
 1976 Queen Elizabeth II opens the 
            Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada
 1976 The opening of the Summer Olympics is marred by 25 African teams 
            boycotting the New Zealand team
 1976 East Timor was annexed, and became the 27th province of Indonesia
 1979 Nicaraguan president General Anastasio 
            Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami.
 1979 Sebastian 
            Coe runs world record 3:49 mile in Oslo
 1981 
            Humber Estuary Bridge, UK, world's longest span (1.4 km), opens
 1981 Lobby Walkways at KC's 
            Hyatt Regency collapse 114 die, 200 injured
 1981 Fulton County (Atlanta) grand jury indicts Wayne 
            Williams 23 year old photographer, for murder of 2 of 28 blacks 
            killed in Atlanta
 1984 Soyuz T-12 carries 3 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 
            7
 1987 10 teens die in Guadalupe River flood (Comfort, Tx)
 1989 First flight of the B-2 
            Spirit Stealth Bomber.
 1990 Sadam 
            Hussein's Revolutionary Day speech claims Kuwait stole oil from 
            Iraq
 1998 Papua 
            New Guinea earthquake: A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake 
            destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, 
            leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.
 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.
 2007 
            TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashed upon landing 
            during rain in São Paulo. This is Brazil's deadliest aviation 
            accident to date with an estimated 199 deaths.
 
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        | Birthdates which 
            occurred on 17th July : 1487 Esma'il I 
            shah who converted Iran from Sunni to Shi'ah 1674 Isaac Watts England, writer/preacher/hymnist (Horae Lyrican)
 1744 Elbridge Gerry (DR) 5th VP (Mass-Gov), invented gerrymandering
 1763 John Jacob Astor Germany, richest man in US, banker/fur trader
 1859 Luis Mu¤oz Rivera Puerto Rico, journalist (founded Federalist 
            Party)
 1875 Sir Donald Francis Tovey Eton England, musicologist
 1876 Rosa Jackson Lumpkin Georgia, lived to be 115 (died in 1991)
 1888 Shmuel Agnon Israel, novelist (Day Before Yesterday-Nobel 1966)
 1889 Erle Stanley Gardner author (created Perry Mason)
 1898 Berenice Abbott Springfield Oh, photographer (World of Atget)
 19-- Alexandra Wilson actress (Josie Watts-Another World)
 19-- Rob Steele rocker (Law & Order-Whiskey Song)
 19-- Thomas Carter Naples Italy, actor (Szysznyk, White Shadow)
 19-- Tonya Lee Williams actress (Dr Olivia Barber-Young & Restless)
 1900 James Cagney actor, A yankee doodle dandy, hold that grapefruit
 1902 Christina Stead Australia, novelist (Man Who Loved Children)
 1905 William Gargan Bkln NY, actor (Dynamite, Ellery Queen)
 1909 Hardy Amies London England, royal dressmaker (Queen Elizabeth 
            II)
 1912 Art Linkletter Saskatchwan Canada, TV host (People are Funny)
 1912 Pal Kov cs Hungary, sabres (Olympic-gold-1952)
 1914 Lucille Benson Scottsboro Ala, actress (Lilly-Bosom Buddies)
 1915 Dorothy Poynton-Hill US, platform diver (Olympic-gold-1932)
 1916 Eleanor Steber Wheeling WV, soprano (Metropolitan Opera-1940)
 1917 Lou Bourdeau baseball player/manager (1948 AP Athlete of Year)
 1917 Phyllis Diller Lima Ohio, comedienne (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong 
            Number)
 1920 Bill Monroe New Orleans La, newscaster (NBC-TV, Congressional 
            Report)
 1920 Rudolf Karpati Hungary, sabres (Olympic-gold-1956, 60)
 1921 George Barnes Chicago Hgts, guitarist (Skip Farrell Show)
 1934 Donald Sutherland Canada, actor (M*A*S*H, Body Snatchers)
 1934 Pat McCormick comedian (Don Rickles Show, New Bill Cosby Show)
 1935 Diahann Carroll Bronx, actress (Julia, Claudine, Dominique-Dynasty)
 1935 P.D.Q. Bach [Peter Schickele], Iowa, composer (5th of Beethoven)
 1939 Spencer Davis Wales, vocalist (Gimme Some Lovin)
 1940 Phyllis Davis Port Arthur Tx, actress (Love American Style, Vega$)
 1941 Daryle Lamonica Oakland Raider QB (AFL leading passer 1967)
 1942 Connie Hawkins Harlem Globetrotter/NBA (Phoenix Suns, ABA MVP 
            1968)
 1948 Brian Glascock drummer (Motels-Only the Lonely)
 1948 Cathy Ferguson 100m backstroke swimmer (Olympic-gold-1964)
 1949 Terry "Geezer" Butler bassist (Black Sabbath)
 1951 Lucie Arnaz LA Calif, actress (Kim-Here's Lucy, Jazz Singer)
 1952 David Hasselhoff Balt Md, (Revenge of the Cheerleaders, Night 
            Rider)
 1952 Phoebe Snow singer (Theme from "It's a Different World")
 1956 Bryan Trottier Val Marie Sask, NHL Center (NY Islanders)
 1960 Karen Price Pasadena Calif, playmate (January, 1981)
 1960 Scott Norwood NFL kicker (Buffalo Bills-Superbowl XXV goat)
 1963 Denise Miller Bkln NY, actress (Billie-Archie Bunker's Place)
 1964 Heather Langenkamp actress (Marie-Just the 10 of Us)
 1970 Mandy Smith England, rocker (I Just Can't Wait) wife of Bill 
            Wyman
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths which occurred 
            on July 17th:
 1928 General Alvaro Obreg¢n pres of Mexico, assassinated
 1946 Mikhailovich resistance leader, executed by Tito regime
 1959 Billie Holiday blues singer, dies of liver failure at 44 in NYC
 1961 Ty Cobb Detroit Tiger hall of fame baseball player, dies at 75
 1971 Cliff Edwards "Ukulele Ike", singer (54th Street Revue), 
            dies at 76
 1975 Modoc the elephant, dies at age 78 (oldest known nonhuman mammal)
 1980 Donald Barry actor (Mr Gallo-Mr Novak), dies at 68
 1984 J Delos Jewkes singer/actor, dies of a heart attack at 89
 1985 Margo actress, dies at 68 of a brain tumor
 
 
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