July 17 in History

45 events 180 – 2015

July 17 spans 45 recorded events across recorded history — from 180 – 2015. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By · Wikipedia

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashes near the border of Ukraine an

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.

Did you know

The Dutch Safety Board led the investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Did you know

The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft was manufactured in 1997 and had its last maintenance check on July 11, 2014.

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Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was the second disaster to befall the airline in 2014, following the disappearance of Flight 370 in March.

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The crash occurred during the war in Donbas, a conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists.

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The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 resulted in widespread international condemnation and led to increased economic sanctions against Russia.


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.
The Scillitan Martyrs were a group of early Christians of North Africa executed by the Roman Empire in Carthage, modern Tunisia, on 17 July 180 AD. The group takes its name from the nearby town of Scillium. They are venerated as martyrs in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Their executions occurred at the end of a wave of persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in 161–180.
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180
Damasus II is elected pope, and dies 23 days later.
Head of the Catholic Church in 1048
Pope Damasus II was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 17 July 1048 to his death on 9 August that same year. He was the second of the German pontiffs nominated by Emperor Henry III. A native of Bavaria, he was the third German to become pope and had one of the shortest papal reigns.
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1048
The Fourth Crusade assaults Constantinople.
The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies, leading to a period known as the Frankokratia.
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1203
Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming dynasty of China.
Name chosen by a reigning monarch, different from their original secular name
A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede to the monarchy.
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1402
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.
Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453
The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England. The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides. The periodisation of the war typically charts it as taking place over 116 years. However, it was an intermittent conflict which was frequently interrupted by external factors, such as the Black Death, and several years of truces.
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1429
Battle of Castillon: The last battle of the Hundred Years' War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle in Gascony.
1453 battle between France and England
The Battle of Castillon was a battle between the forces of England and France which took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne. On the day of the battle, the English commander, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, mistakenly believing that the enemy was retreating, led a relatively small advance force of his army in an attack on a strongly fortified French encampment without waiting for reinforcements. Talbot then refused to withdraw even after realising the strength of the French position, allowing the French artillery to successively obliterate his piecewise reinforcements as they arrived. Castillon was the first major European battle won through the extensive use of field artillery.
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1453
Sikandar Lodi succeeds Bahlul Khan Lodi as Sultan of Delhi.
Sultan of Delhi from 1489 to 1517
Sikandar Khan Lodi, born Nizam Khan also known as Sikandar II, was Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan Lodi in July 1489. The second and most successful ruler of the Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, he was also a poet of the Persian language and prepared a diwan of 9000 verses. He made an effort to recover the lost territories which once were a part of the Delhi Sultanate and was able to expand the territory controlled by the Lodi Dynasty.
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1489
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.
King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1727
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first British monarch of the House of Hanover.
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1717
Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered.
Emperor of Russia in 1762
Peter III Fyodorovich was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when his wife, Catherine II "the Great", overthrew him in a palace coup d'état. He implemented many notable reforms during his reign, though he is criticised for undoing Russian gains in the Seven Years' War by forming an alliance with Prussia.
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1762
Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.
Alleged 1771 incident in Canada
The Bloody Falls massacre was an incident that took place during Hudson's Bay Company employee Samuel Hearne's exploration of the Coppermine River for copper deposits near modern-day Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada on 17 July 1771. Hearne's original travelogue is now lost, and the narrative that became famous was published after Hearne's death with substantial editorializing. The narrative states that Chipewyan and "Copper Indian" Dene men led by Hearne's guide and companion Matonabbee attacked a group of Copper Inuit camped by rapids approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Coppermine River.
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1771
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Born on July 17

20 people 1980 – 2005
Connor Bedard
Connor Bedard
Canadian ice hockey player
Connor Bedard is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre and alternate captain for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the top ice hockey prospects of his…
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2005
Jordan Lawlar
Jordan Lawlar
American baseball player
Jordan Jeffrey-Joseph Lawlar is an American professional baseball shortstop and outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Read More
2002
Rosana Serrano
Cuban rower
Rosana Serrano is a Cuban rower.
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1998
OG Anunoby
OG Anunoby
British basketball player
Ogugua "OG" Anunoby Jr. is a British professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers. He won an NBA championship…
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1997
Wonwoo
Wonwoo
South Korean rapper and singer
Jeon Won-woo, known mononymously as Wonwoo (원우), is a South Korean rapper and singer. Managed by Pledis Entertainment, he is a member of the South Korean boy band Seventeen, its hip hop team, and its second subunit, JxW.
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1996
Kali Uchis
Kali Uchis
American singer-songwriter
Karly Marina Loaiza, known professionally as Kali Uchis, is an American singer and songwriter. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and five nominations for a Latin…
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1994
Billie Lourd
Billie Lourd
American actress
Billie Catherine Lourd is an American actress, best known for starring as Chanel #3 in the Fox horror comedy series Scream Queens (2015–2016) and for her roles in the FX horror anthology series American Horror Story…
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1992
Tatu Sinisalo
Finnish actor
Tatu Johannes Sinisalo is a Finnish actor. He is known for his first film role as the singer Toni Wirtanen in the 2016 film Born in Heinola. He also played the young Kari Tapio in the 2019 biographical film King of…
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1992
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Swedish ice hockey player
Oliver Oscar Emanuel Ekman-Larsson is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known by his initials "OEL", Ekman-Larsson was selected…
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1991
Darius Boyd
Darius Boyd
Australian rugby league player
Darius Boyd is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a fullback for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and has played for Australia at international level and State…
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1987
Jeremih
Jeremih
American singer, songwriter, and record producer
Jeremy Phillip Felton, known professionally as Jeremih, is an American R&B singer. He embarked on a musical career after meeting record producer Mick Schultz in 2008, and signed a recording contract with Def Jam…
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1987
DeAngelo Smith
American football player
DeAngelo Lamar Smith is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions. He played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats and was…
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1986
Loui Eriksson
Loui Eriksson
Swedish ice hockey player
Loui William Eriksson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward.
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1985
Neil McGregor
Neil McGregor
Scottish footballer
Neil McGregor is a Scottish former football defender who has previously played in the Scottish Premier League for Dundee.
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1985
Adam Lind
Adam Lind
American baseball player
Adam Alan Lind is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Washington…
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1983
Omari Banks
Omari Banks
Anguillan cricketer
Omari Ahmed Clement Banks is an Anguillan musician and former cricketer, who appeared in 10 Test matches for the West Indies, as well as domestic matches for the Leeward Islands. In 2011, Banks began to pursue his…
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1982
Hely Ollarves
Venezuelan runner
Hely Domingo Ollarves Arias is a male track and field athlete from Venezuela. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, where he was eliminated in the first round…
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1981
Javier Camuñas
Spanish footballer
Javier Camuñas Gallego is a Spanish former professional footballer. A versatile midfielder, he could also operate as a second striker.
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1980
Brett Goldstein
Brett Goldstein
British actor, comedian and writer
Brett Goldstein is an English actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. Known for his role as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso, he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding…
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1980
Ryan Miller
Ryan Miller
American ice hockey player
Ryan Dean Miller is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played as a goaltender for 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and Anaheim…
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1980
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Died on July 17

20 people 2014 – 2025
Felix Baumgartner
Felix Baumgartner
Austrian daredevil (born 1969)
Felix Baumgartner was an Austrian skydiver, extreme sportsman, and BASE jumper. He was widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United…
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2025
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman
American songwriter (born 1925)
Alan Bergman and Marilyn Keith Bergman were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated television, film, and stage productions. The…
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2025
Joanna Kołaczkowska
Joanna Kołaczkowska
Polish cabaret performer (born 1966)
Joanna Dorota Kołaczkowska was a Polish cabaret performer, theatre actress, songwriter and radio presenter. She was widely recognized as one of the most prominent figures in Polish cabaret in the early 21st century,…
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2025
Cheng Pei-pei
Cheng Pei-pei
Chinese actress (born 1946)
Cheng Pei-pei was a Hong Kong-American actress who was considered cinema's first female action hero. Popularly known as "Queen of Swords" and "Queen of Martial Arts Films", Cheng starred in numerous successful wuxia and…
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2024
Mary Gibby
British botanist and professor (born 1949)
Professor Mary Gibby was a British botanist, pteridologist and cytologist. She was an expert on ferns, becoming president of the British Pteridological Society and long-time editor of its journal, the Fern Gazette.…
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2024
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Bernice Johnson Reagon
American singer, songwriter and scholar (born 1942)
Bernice Johnson Reagon was an American song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist. In the early 1960s, she was a founding member of the Freedom Singers,…
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2024
Pat Williams
Pat Williams
American basketball player (born 1940)
Patrick Livingston Murphy Williams was an American sports executive, who served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front…
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2024
John Lewis
John Lewis
American civil rights activist and politician (born 1940)
John Robert Lewis was an American civil rights activist and statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020.
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2020
Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya
Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya
Russian-Australian pair skater (born 2000)
Ekaterina Dmitriyevna Alexandrovskaya was a Russian-Australian pair skater. With her skating partner, Harley Windsor, she was the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy champion, the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medallist, the 2018…
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2020
Marie Sophie Hingst
Marie Sophie Hingst
German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended from Holocaust survivors
Marie Sophie Hingst was a German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended from Holocaust survivors. Born in Wittenberg to a Protestant family, she fabricated a Jewish background and sent documentation…
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2019
Bill Arnsparger
American football player and coach (born 1926)
William Stephen Arnsparger was an American college and professional football coach. He was born and raised in Paris, Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, and graduated from Miami…
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2015
Jules Bianchi
Jules Bianchi
French race car driver (born 1989)
Jules Lucien André Bianchi was a French racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2013 to 2014.
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2015
Owen Chadwick
Owen Chadwick
English rugby player, historian, and academic (born 1916)
William Owen Chadwick was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. As a leading academic, Chadwick became Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History in…
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2015
Van Miller
Van Miller
American sportscaster (born 1927)
Van Miller was an American radio and television sports announcer from Dunkirk, New York, where he began his career at Dunkirk radio station WFCB calling play-by-play for high school football games. In the 1950s, he…
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2015
John Taylor
John Taylor
English pianist and educator (born 1942)
John Taylor was a British jazz pianist, born in Manchester, England, who occasionally performed on the organ and the synthesizer. In his obituary, The Guardian described him as "one of the great jazz pianists and…
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2015
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Liam Patrick Davison was an Australian novelist and reviewer. He was born in Melbourne, where, until 2007, he taught creative writing at the Chisholm Institute in Frankston.
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2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Shubashini "Shuba" Jeyaratnam, also known by stage names Shuba Jay and Shuba Jaya, was a Malaysian entrepreneur, stage performer, and actress who achieved popularity through her roles in several TV shows. Of Indian…
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2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Joseph Marie Albert "Joep" Lange was a Dutch clinical researcher specialising in HIV therapy. He served as the president of the International AIDS Society from 2002 to 2004. He was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines…
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2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
Willem Johannes Witteveen was a Dutch legal scholar, politician, and author. He was a law professor at Tilburg University (1990–2014) and a Member of the Senate for the Labour Party. He was also the author of several…
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2014
Henry Hartsfield
Henry Hartsfield
American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (born 1933)
Henry Warren Hartsfield Jr. was a colonel in the United States Air Force and a NASA astronaut who logged over 480 hours in space. He was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2006.
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2014
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Related questions

More questions about July 17

What happened on July 17?

A featured event on this date is 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. This page also lists 45 events from other years on the same day.

Why is July 17 remembered in history?

July 17 brings together events, births, and deaths across many eras, which makes it useful for seeing how one calendar date connects different historical turning points.

Who was born on July 17?

Notable birthdays on this date include Connor Bedard, Jordan Lawlar, Rosana Serrano.

See birthdays

Who died on July 17?

Notable deaths on this date include Felix Baumgartner, Alan Bergman, Joanna Kołaczkowska.

See deaths
Short answer

What happened on July 17 in history?

On July 17, one notable event in history was 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..

This date currently highlights 45 recorded events on thisDay.info, spanning 180 – 2015.

DateJuly 17
Featured year2014
Locationthe border of Ukraine and Russia after being shot down
Events listed45

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