# On this day: July 17

July 17 is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years), with 167 days left until the end of the year.

## July 17 in one line

Headline entries for July 17, from Wikipedia: in 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board; born 1954: Angela Merkel, German chemist and politician, Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.; died 1790: Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (born 1723). In 2026 it is a Friday, in 2027 a Saturday.

## Events on July 17

- 561 Consecration of Pope John III following the death of Pope Pelagius I earlier that year. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pelagius_I)
- 1048 Damasus II is elected pope, and dies 23 days later. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Damasus_II)
- 1203 The Fourth Crusade assaults Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_III_Angelos)
- 1453 The Battle of Castillon, the last engagement of the Hundred Years' War, ended with the English losing all holdings in France except the Pale of Calais. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Castillon)
- 1762 Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia)
- 1771 Dene men who were acting as guides to Samuel Hearne on his exploration of the Coppermine River in present-day Nunavut, Canada, massacred a group of about twenty Copper Inuit. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Falls_massacre)
- 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. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_de_Mars_massacre)
- 1850 William Cranch Bond and John Adams Whipple took a daguerreotype of Vega, the first astrophotograph of a star other than the Sun. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega)
- 1862 The garrotting and robbery of James Pilkington, a British member of Parliament, led to a moral panic in London. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_garrotting_panics)
- 1863 The New Zealand Wars resumed as British forces led by General Duncan Cameron began the invasion of the Waikato. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Waikato)
- 1899 NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEC)
- 1918 RMS Carpathia, which had rescued survivors of the 1912 Titanic sinking, was sunk by a German U-boat with the loss of five crew. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia)
- 1918 Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered by Bolsheviks at Yekaterinburg. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_the_Romanov_family)
- 1936 Nationalist military officers launch a coup d'état against the Spanish Republic, beginning the Spanish Civil War [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_coup_of_July_1936)
- 1944 Laden with munitions for World War II, two ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, killing 320 people and injuring more than 400 others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster)
- 1945 World War II: The main three leaders of the Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, hold the Potsdam Conference in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference)
- 1948 In Olympia, Greece, the Summer Olympics torch relay, nicknamed the "relay of peace", began. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Summer_Olympics_torch_relay)
- 1968 Led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party overthrew Iraqi president Abdul Rahman Arif in a bloodless coup. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_July_Revolution)
- 1973 King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, while having surgery in Italy, is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zahir_Shah)
- 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. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa)
- 1992 The Manchester Metrolink, the first modern street-running light-rail system in the United Kingdom, was officially opened. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink)
- 1994 Brazil won the FIFA World Cup final against Italy 3–2 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_FIFA_World_Cup_final)
- 1996 TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800)
- 1998 A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing the permanent international court in The Hague, to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute)
- 2007 TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overran the runway at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, killing 199 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAM_Airlines_Flight_3054)
- 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17)

## Born on July 17

- 1487 Ismail I of Iran (died 1524) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_I)
- 1698 Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (died 1759) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Louis_Maupertuis)
- 1714 Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (died 1762) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gottlieb_Baumgarten)
- 1744 Elbridge Gerry, American merchant and politician, 5th Vice President of the United States (died 1814) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Gerry)
- 1831 Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar Iran (died 1896) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naser_al-Din_Shah_Qajar)
- 1888 Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_Yosef_Agnon)
- 1894 Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (died 1966) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre)
- 1899 James Cagney, American actor and dancer (died 1986) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cagney)
- 1917 Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (died 2015) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenan_Evren)
- 1917 Phyllis Diller, American actress, comedian, and voice artist (died 2012) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Diller)
- 1920 Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, 7th President of the International Olympic Committee (died 2010) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Antonio_Samaranch)
- 1935 Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor and producer (died 2024) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sutherland)
- 1944 Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2016) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alberto_Torres)
- 1947 Queen Camilla, Queen Consort of King Charles III of the United Kingdom [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Camilla)
- 1952 David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hasselhoff)
- 1954 Angela Merkel, German chemist and politician, Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel)
- 1958 Wong Kar-wai, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kar-wai)
- 1961 António Costa, Portuguese politician, 119th Prime Minister of Portugal [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Costa)
- 1963 Letsie III of Lesotho [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letsie_III)
- 1963 Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper and singer (died 2019) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matti_Nyk%C3%A4nen)
- 1971 Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow)
- 1975 Terence Tao, Australian-American mathematician [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao)

## Died on July 17

- 855 Leo IV, pope of the Catholic Church (born 790) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_IV)
- 1588 Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect and engineer, designed the Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque and Süleymaniye Mosque (born 1489) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimar_Sinan)
- 1762 Peter III of Russia (born 1728) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia)
- 1790 Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (born 1723) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith)
- 1912 Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist, and engineer (born 1854) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9)
- 1918 Victims of the Shooting of the Romanov family: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II)
- 1918 Victims of the Shooting of the Romanov family: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Feodorovna_(Alix_of_Hesse))
- 1918 Victims of the Shooting of the Romanov family: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_of_Russia)
- 1959 Billie Holiday, American singer (born 1915) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday)
- 1967 John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (born 1926) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coltrane)
- 1995 Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (born 1911) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio)
- 2005 Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1916) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Heath)
- 2009 Walter Cronkite, American journalist and actor (born 1916) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite)
- 2025 Felix Baumgartner, Austrian daredevil (born 1969) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Baumgartner)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Alexius of Rome (Western Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexius_of_Rome)
- Christian feast day: Andrew Zorard [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Zorard)
- Christian feast day: Cynehelm [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Kenelm)
- Christian feast day: Cynllo [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynllo)
- Christian feast day: Inácio de Azevedo [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%A1cio_de_Azevedo)
- Christian feast day: Jadwiga of Poland [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga_of_Poland)
- Christian feast day: Magnus Felix Ennodius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Felix_Ennodius)
- Christian feast day: Marcellina [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Marcellina)
- Christian feast day: Martyrs of Compiègne [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Compi%C3%A8gne)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Pavel Peter Gojdič (Greek Catholic Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Peter_Gojdi%C4%8D)
- Christian feast day: Pope Leo IV [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_IV)
- Christian feast day: Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonization_of_the_Romanovs)
- Christian feast day: Speratus and companions [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scillitan_Martyrs)
- Christian feast day: William White (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_White_(bishop_of_Pennsylvania))
- Christian feast day: July 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Constitution Day (South Korea) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Day_(South_Korea))
- Gion Matsuri (Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion_Matsuri)
- Independence Day (Slovakia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_days_in_Slovakia)
- International Firgun Day (International) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firgun)
- King's Birthday (Lesotho) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Lesotho)
- U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirot_Sing)
- World Day for International Justice (International) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Day_for_International_Justice)
- World Emoji Day (International) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Emoji_Day)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “July 17”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 17”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/July_17) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“July 17”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 17 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## July 17 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Friday | 2026-W29 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2027 | Saturday | 2027-W28 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2028 | Monday | 2028-W29 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2029 | Tuesday | 2029-W29 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2030 | Wednesday | 2030-W29 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on July 17

- [🇰🇷 South Korea](https://whathappen.today/holidays/south-korea/): Constitution Day (2026 and 2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← July 16](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-16/) · [July 18 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-18/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/july-17/