This Day in History
July 17

What happened in history on this day: July 17? On July 17 in ... 561 - John III begins his reign as Catholic Pope. 855 - Saint Leo IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope. 1048 - The third German pope, Damasus II, is enthroned in Rome. Originally named Poppo, he was born in Bavaria. He was the Bishop of Brixen in Tyrol when Heinrich III nominated him as pope. 1429 - Charles VII is crowned king of France. 1487 - Birth of Esma'il I shah who converted Iran from Sunni to Shi'ah. 1505 - Birth of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten in Berlin, Germany; philosopher, coined the term "aesthetics" and established it as a distinct field of philosophy. 1549 - Jews are expelled from Ghent Belgium. 1674 - Birth of Isaac Watts England, writer/preacher/hymnist (Horae Lyrican). 1695 - The Bank of Scotland is founded, and is granted a 21-year banking monopoly with note-issuing privileges. 1744 - Birth of Elbridge Thomas Gerry in Marblehead, Massachusetts; American statesman and diplomat, Governor of Massachusetts (1810-11), Vice President (1813-14). 1763 - Birth of John Jacob Astor in Germany; richest man in US, banker/fur trader (dies 1848). 1775 - First military hospital approved. 1794 - African Church of Saint Thomas in Philadelphia is dedicated. 1794 - Richard Allen organizes Philadelphia's Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. 1841 - British humor magazine Punch is first published. 1850 - Harvard Observatory takes first photograph of a star (Vega). 1856 - Sunday school excursion train collides, killing 46 children (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). 1859 - Birth of Luis Muñoz Rivera in Puerto Rico; journalist (founded Federalist Party). 1861 - US Congress authorizes first US government-issued paper money, $50 million worth, known as "demand notes" and "Greenbacks". 1862 - US Congress passes Postage Currency Act allowing all forms of government postage stamps to be exchanged by assistant treasurers for greenbacks for payments of less than $5, and outlaws all privately issued notes with value under $1. 1862 - US army is authorized to accept blacks as laborers. 1864 - CSA President Jefferson Davis replaces General Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood. 1867 - First permanent university dental school in US opens at Harvard. 1876 - Birth of Rosa Jackson in Lumpkin, Georgia, USA; lived to be 115 (died in 1991). 1879 - First railroad opens in Hawaii. 1888 - Birth of Shmuel Agnon in Israel; novelist (Day Before Yesterday - Nobel Prize 1966). 1889 - Birth of Erle Stanley Gardner; author (created Perry Mason). 1898 - Birth of Berenice Abbott in Springfield, Ohio, USA; photographer (World of Atget). 1899 - NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. 1902 - Birth of Christina Stead in Australia; novelist (Man Who Loved Children). 1905 - Birth of William Gargan in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Dynamite, Ellery Queen). 1909 - Birth of Hardy Amies in London, England; royal dressmaker (Queen Elizabeth II). 1912 - Birth of Art Linkletter in Saskatchwan, Canada; TV host (People are Funny). 1912 - Birth of Pal Kovács in Hungary; sabres (Olympic-gold-1952). 1914 - Birth of Lucille Benson in Scottsboro, Alabama, USA; actress (Lilly - Bosom Buddies). 1915 - Birth of Dorothy Poynton-Hill; US platform diver (Olympic-gold-1932). 1916 - Birth of Eleanor Steber in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA; soprano (Metropolitan Opera-1940). 1917 - Birth of Lou Bourdeau; baseball player/manager (1948 Associated Press Athlete of Year). 1917 - Birth of Phyllis Diller in Lima, Ohio, USA; comedien (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number). 1917 - King George V proclaims the name of the Royal House is changed from House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to House of Windsor. 1918 - Longest errorless Major League baseball game, Chicago Cubs beat Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 in 21 innings. 1919 - New York Yankees get 21 hits, Saint Louis Browns get 17 hits; Browns win 7-6 in 17 innings, on squeeze play. 1920 - Birth of Juan Antonio Samaranch in Barcelona, Spain; ambassador to the Soviet Union, International Olympic Committee president (1980-2001). 1920 - Birth of Bill Monroe in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; newscaster (NBC-TV, Congressional Report). 1920 - Birth of Rudolf Karpati in Hungary; sabres (Olympic-gold-1956, 1960). 1921 - Birth of George Barnes in Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA; guitarist (Skip Farrell Show). 1923 - Carl Mays gives up 13 runs and 20 hits in 13-0 lose to Cleveland Indians. 1924 - Saint Louis Cardinals' pitcher Jesse Haines no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0. 1928 - General Alvaro Obregón, president of Mexico, is assassinated. 1934 - Birth of Donald Sutherland in Canada; actor (M*A*S*H, Invasion of the Body Snatchers). 1934 - Birth of Pat McCormick; comedian (Don Rickles Show, New Bill Cosby Show). 1935 - Birth of Diahann Carroll in the Bronx, New York, USA; actress (Julia, Claudine, Dominique - Dynasty). 1935 - Birth of P.D.Q. Bach [Peter Schickele] in Iowa, USA; composer ("5th of Beethoven"). 1935 - Variety's famous headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix". 1938 - Douglas Corrigan takes off from New York for California, accidentally flies the "wrong way" to Ireland, becoming known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan. 1939 - Birth of Spencer Davis in Wales; vocalist ("Gimme Some Lovin"). 1940 - Birth of Phyllis Davis in Port Arthur, Texas, USA; actress (Love American Style, Vega$). 1941 - Birth of Daryle Lamonica; Oakland Raiders' quarterback (AFL leading passer 1967). 1941 - Joe DiMaggio's 56-game baseball hitting streak ends. 1942 - 3 feet of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15. 1942 - Birth of Connie Hawkins; Harlem Globetrotter/NBA (Phoenix Suns, ABA Most Valuable Player 1968). 1942 - Estimated 87.5 cm (34.5 inches) of rainfall, Smethport, Pennsylvania (state record). 1943 - United Artists releases Disney's animated and live-action feature film Victory Through Air Power to theaters. 1944 - Two ammunition ships explode at Port Chicago, California, killing 322. 1945 - American President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet at Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam near Berlin, Germany, beginning a 17-day conference. Partway through the conference, Chruchill is replaced by the newly elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Peace terms are drafted, and discussions are held on Germany, Poland, and Japan. Stalin tells Truman that he believes Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide, but probably escaped. 1946 - Mikhailovich, resistance leader, executed by Tito regime. 1947 - Raoul Wallenberg dies in Lubianka prison in Russia. 1948 - Birth of Brian Glascock; drummer (Motels - "Only the Lonely"). 1948 - Birth of Cathy Ferguson; 100m backstroke swimmer (Olympic-gold-1964). 1948 - C A Wirtanen discovers asteroid #1685 Toro. 1948 - Proclamation of the constitution of the Republic of (South) Korea. 1949 - Birth of Terry "Geezer" Butler; bassist (Black Sabbath). 1951 - Birth of Lucie Arnaz in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Kim - Here's Lucy, Jazz Singer). 1952 - Birth of David Hasselhoff in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; actor (Revenge of the Cheerleaders, Knight Rider). 1952 - Birth of Phoebe Snow; singer (theme from It's a Different World). 1954 - Construction begins on Disneyland in Anaheim, California. 1955 - At 2:00 PM, Disneyland park opens, in Anaheim, California. Eighteen attractions are ready for use. Five themed areas are Main Street, U.S.A., Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland. Based on an initial US$10,000 for planning, the final construction cost was US$17 million. 15,000 guests were invited, but attendance for the day is 28,000-33,000. 1955 - At 4:30 PM, the ABC Television network airs the 90-minute Dateline Disneyland show, broadcasting the opening of Disneyland park. An estimated 90 million people watch the show, the largest live TV broadcast to date, with over twenty cameras and a staff of hundreds. Hosts of the show are Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan. The official dedication is made by Walt Disney and California Governor Goodwin Knight. 1955 - Arco, Idaho becomes first US city lit by nuclear power. 1956 - Birth of Bryan Trottier in Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Canada; NHL Center (New York Islanders). 1957 - ABC airs the last Make Room For Daddy TV show. 1959 - Death of Billie Holliday AKA Ellinore Harris at age 44 of liver failure in New York hospital; jazz singer ("Strange Fruit", "God Bless the Child", "Yesterdays"). 1959 - Dr Leakey discovers oldest human skull (600,000 years old). 1959 - Tibet abolishes serfdom. 1960 - Birth of Scott Norwood; NFL kicker (Buffalo Bills-Superbowl XXV goat). 1961 - Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers' hall of fame baseball player, dies at age 75. 1962 - US Senate rejects medicare for the aged. 1962 - The first Cobra production car (chassis CSX2001) is built at AC Cars in England. 1962 - Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site. 1963 - Birth of Denise Miller in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Billie - Archie Bunker's Place). 1964 - Birth of Heather Langenkamp; actress (Marie - Just the 10 of Us). 1964 - British speed pioneer Sir Donald Campbell sets a new land speed world record of 690.91 km/h (429 mph) in his turbine vehicle, Bluebird. 1966 - Jim Ryun sets mile record (3:51.3). 1966 - Pioneer 7 launched. 1967 - The Monkees music group performs at Forest Hills, New York; Jimi Hendrix is opening act. 1967 - Race riots in Cairo, Illinois, USA. 1968 - The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine premieres in London, England. 1968 - Revolt in Iraq. 1970 - 30,000 attend Randall's Island Rock Festival, New York City. 1970 - Birth of Mandy Smith in England; rocker (I Just Can't Wait) wife of Bill Wyman. 1970 - Ralph Baer demonstrates his television video game system to Magnavox. Despite a lack of interest from most Magnavox engineers, Bill Enders negotiates an exclusive license to manufacture and distribute the system, and sublicense Sanders Associates' patents on the technology. 1971 - Death of Cliff Edwards AKA Ukulele Ike at age 76; singer (54th Street Revue), the voice of Disney's Jiminy Cricket, national radio show from 1932, and thrice-weekly TV show from 1949. 1971 - NBC airs the last The Andy Williams Show TV show. 1974 - First quadrophonic studio in United Kingdom is opened by the Moody Blues. 1974 - Bob Gibson becomes second pitcher to strike-out 3,000. 1975 - American Apollo 18 and Soviet Soyuz 19 spacecraft dock with each other in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations. 1975 - Modoc the elephant dies at age 78 (oldest known nonhuman mammal). 1976 - (to August 1) The Games of the XXI Olympiad are held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 1976 - ABA merges into the NBA. 1979 - National League beats American League 7-6 in 50th All Star Game (Kingdome, Seattle, Washington). 1979 - Sebastian Coe runs world record 3:49 mile in Oslo, Norway. 1979 - Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida. 1980 - Death of Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (born 1890). 1980 - Donald Barry, actor (Mr Gallo - Mr Novak), dies at age 68. 1980 - Ronald Reagan formally accepts Republican nomination for president of US. 1981 - Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, USA collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114, injuring 200. 1981 - Warner Bros. releases the film Arthur to theaters. 1981 - Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-storey apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel. 1984 - J Delos Jewkes, singer/actor, dies of a heart attack at age 89. 1984 - Soyuz T-12 carries three cosmonauts to space station Salyut 7. 1985 - Birth of Tom Fletcher; British musician (McFly). 1987 - Ten teens die in Guadalupe River flood (Comfort, Texas). 1987 - New York Yankees' first baseman Don Mattingly becomes the first American League player to hit a home run in seven consecutive games. 1987 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04. 1987 - Death of Kristjan Palusalu, Estonian wrestler (born 1908). 1987 - Death of Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (born 1934). 1988 - Florence Griffith Joyner of USA sets the 100m woman's record (10.49s). 1988 - Highest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco, California: 103 degrees F (39 degrees C). 1989 - The Splash Mountain attraction opens in Critter Country at Disneyland, after five years of planning. The ride features 103 Audio-Animatronic characters, some from the former America Sings attraction. This is the longest flume chute ride in the world. 1989 - The B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber first flies. 1990 - Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Day speech claims Kuwait stole oil from Iraq. 1990 - New York Yankees' player Deion Sanders hits an inside the park homer. 1990 - The Minnesota Twins become the first team in baseball history to turn two triple plays in the same game, against the Boston Red Sox. 1992 - The Splash Mountain attraction opens in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. 1994 - Brazil wins the 1994 FIFA World Cup, defeating Italy 3-2 in penalties (Full time score 0-0). 1995 - The Nasdaq Composite stock market index closes above the 1,000 mark for the first time. 1995 - Death of Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine race car driver (born 1911). 1996 - Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 (Boeing 747) explodes off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board. 1997 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business. 1997 - Daniel Komen breaks the two-mile world record, in a time of 7:58.61. 1998 - At a conference in Rome, 120 countries vote to create a permanent International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. 1998 - In Saint 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 - In Papua New Guinea, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs, generating a tsunami up to 10 metres in height. At least 2,183 people killed, thousands injured, about 9,500 homeless. Several villages were completely destroyed and others extensively damaged. 1998 - Biologists report in the journal Science how they sequenced the genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum. 1998 - Birth of Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y de Borbón, grandson of Juan Carlos I of Spain. 2001 - Inauguration of the Altamira caves' replica created by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel. 2005 - Death of Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1916). 2006 - Space Shuttle Discovery returns to Earth from the International Space Station, thirteen days after its launch. 2007 - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three other men are arrested on charges related to their alleged operation of a dogfighting ring based at one of Vick's properties in southeastern Virginia. 2007 - TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 (Airbus 320 jet) overruns the runway of Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport and crashes into a warehouse, killing all 186 on board and others on the ground. 2008 - American investment bank Merrill Lynch & Company posts a US$4.89 billion quarterly loss after writing down bad debts, and unveils plans to sell billions of dollars of assets. 2009 - Death of Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician (born 1921). 2009 - Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," dies in New York at age 92. 2011 - Death of Juan Maria Bordaberry, 36th President of Uruguay (born 1928).         You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of World History Today in Sports History Today in USA History Today in Disney History Today in Personal Computer and Video Game History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers