Major Events
- 180 6 inhabitants of Carthage, North Africa executed for being Christians. Earliest record of Christianity in this part of the world.
- 1203 Siege of Constantinople begins during the fourth Crusade; Roman Catholic Crusaders aboard a Venetian fleet attack the city
- 1762 Catherine II becomes Tsarina of Russia following the murder of Peter III
- 1918 The Romanov royal family and several of their retainers are executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of Ipatiev House, in Yekaterinburg, Siberia
- 1936 Spanish generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola lead a right-wing uprising, starting the Spanish Civil War
- 1945 Potsdam Conference: Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill hold 1st post-World War II meeting
- 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over Eastern Ukraine by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board
- More July 17 Events
Jul 17 in Film & TV
- 1959 "North by Northwest" directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint premieres in Los Angeles
Jul 17 in Music
- 1717 George Frideric Handel's "Water Music" premieres repeatedly on a barge cruising the River Thames in London
Jul 17 in Sport
- 1976 21st modern Olympic games opens in Montreal: 25 African teams (later rising to 33 nations) boycott the games due to New Zealand playing rugby in apartheid South Africa
Did You Know?
"L'Argus" accidentally discovers raft holding survivors from wrecked French frigate "Méduse." After 13 days at sea only 15 of 151 remain, the rest having been cannibalised, murdered, or committed suicide. This event was made famous by Théodore Géricault’s painting "The Raft of the Medusa"
John Jacob Astor
Erle Stanley Gardner
Gordon Gould
Camilla Parker Bowles
Angela Merkel
James Cagney
Phyllis Diller
David Hasselhoff
Mark Burnett
Luke Bryan
Toni Stone
Eduardo Romero
Matti Nykänen
Bryan Trottier
Famous Weddings
- 1328 Prince David (4), heir to the Scottish throne marries Joan (7), Princess of England at Berwick-upon-Tweed
- 1385 King Charles VI of France (17) marries Isabeau of Bavaria (16)
- 1942 American movie actress Lana Turner (21) weds 2nd husband, American actor and restaurateur Steve Crane (annulled due to uncompleted divorce from prior marriage)
Famous Divorces
- 1975 Beatle member Ringo Starr & Maureen Cox Starkey divorce, after 10 years of marriage
More July 17 Weddings
Charles Grey
Alexei Nikolaevich
Anastasia Nikolaevna
Nicholas II
Ty Cobb
Edward HeathArticles, Photos and Quiz
Stormy Birth for the House of Windsor
Britain’s King with his German connections faced resentment when World War 1 bombs fell on London. It led, on this day, to a change of name for the monarchy.
July 17, 1917
Execution of the Romanovs
The basement room in Ipatiev House where the Romanov royal family and their staff were executed. The holes in the walls are from investigators searching for bullets.
July 17, 1918
Potsdam Conference
Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Josef Stalin in the garden of Cecilienhof Palace before meeting for the Potsdam Conference
July 17, 1945
