July 17

Pre-1600

• 180 – 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.
• 1048 – Damasus II is elected pope, and dies 23 days later.
• 1203 – The Fourth Crusade assaults Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.
• 1402 – Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming dynasty of China.
• 1429 – 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.
• 1453 – 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.

1601–1900

• 1717 – 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.
• 1762 – Former emperor Peter III of Russia is murdered.
• 1771 – Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.
• 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.
• 1794 – The 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne are executed ten days prior to the end of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.
• 1821 – The Kingdom of Spain cedes the territory of Florida to the United States.
• 1850 – Vega became the first star (other than the Sun) to be photographed.
• 1867 – Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the first dental school in the U.S. that is affiliated with a university.
• 1899 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.

1901–present

• 1901 – Liner Deutschland sets east to west transatlantic record of five days, eleven hours and five minutes.
• 1902 – Willis Carrier creates the first air conditioner in Buffalo, New York.
• 1917 – King George V issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor.
• 1918 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are executed by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
• 1918 – The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; five lives are lost.
• 1919 – The form of government in the Republic of Finland is officially confirmed. For this reason, July 17 is known as the Day of Democracy (Kansanvallan päivä) in Finland.
• 1932 – Altona Bloody Sunday: A riot between the Nazi Party paramilitary forces, the SS and SA, and the German Communist Party ensues.
• 1936 – Spanish Civil War: An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the civil war.
• 1938 – Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
• 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 – World War II: At Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery in Normandy Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is seriously injured by allied aircraft while returning to his headquarters.
• 1945 – World War II: The main three leaders of the Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin, meet in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.
• 1953 – The largest number of United States midshipman casualties in a single event results from an aircraft crash in Florida, killing 44.
• 1955 – Disneyland is dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim, California.
• 1962 – Nuclear weapons testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada National Security Site.
• 1968 – Abdul Rahman Arif is overthrown and the Ba'ath Party is installed as the governing power in Iraq with Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as the new Iraqi President.
• 1973 – King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, while having surgery in Italy, is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan.
• 1975 – Apollo–Soyuz Test Project: An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with each other in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations.
• 1976 – East Timor is annexed and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.
• 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.
• 1979 – Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida, United States.
• 1981 – A structural failure leads to the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.
• 1984 – The national drinking age in the United States was changed from 18 to 21.
• 1985 – Founding of the EUREKA Network by former head of states François Mitterrand (France) and Helmut Kohl (Germany).
• 1989 – First flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.
• 1989 – Holy See–Poland relations are restored.
• 1996 – TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
• 1997 – After takeoff from Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Sempati Air Flight 304 crashes into a residential neighborhood in Bandung, killing 28 people.
• 1998 – The 7.0 M_w  Papua New Guinea earthquake triggers a tsunami that destroys ten villages in Papua New Guinea, killing up to 2,700 people, and leaving several thousand injured.
• 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.
• 2000 – During approach to Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Alliance Air Flight 7412 suddenly crashes into a residential neighborhood in Patna India, killing 60 people.
• 2001 – Concorde is brought back into service nearly a year after the July 2000 crash.
• 2006 – The 7.7 M_w  Pangandaran tsunami earthquake severely affects the Indonesian island of Java, killing 668 people, and leaving more than 9,000 injured.
• 2007 – TAM Airlines Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, crashes into a warehouse after landing too fast and missing the end of the São Paulo–Congonhas Airport runway, killing 199 people.
• 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.
• 2014 – A French regional train on the Pau-Bayonne line crashes into a high-speed train near the town of Denguin, resulting in at least 25 injuries.
• 2014 – Eric Garner is killed by police officer Daniel Pantaleo in New York City, after the latter put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him.
• 2015 – At least 120 people are killed and 130 injured by a suicide bombing in Diyala Governorate, Iraq.
• 2018 – Scott S. Sheppard announces that his team has discovered a dozen irregular moons of Jupiter.

Pre-1600

• 1487 – Ismail I of Iran (d. 1524)
• 1499 – Maria Salviati, Italian noblewoman (d. 1543)
• 1531 – Antoine de Créqui Canaples, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1574)

1601–1900

• 1674 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter and theologian (d. 1748)
• 1695 – Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim (d. 1766)
• 1698 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1759)
• 1708 – Frederick Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (d. 1769)
• 1714 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (d. 1762)
• 1744 – Elbridge Gerry, American merchant and politician, 5th Vice President of the United States (d. 1814)
• 1763 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1848)
• 1774 – John Wilbur, American minister and theologian (d. 1856)
• 1797 – Paul Delaroche, French painter and academic (d. 1856)
• 1823 – Leander Clark, American businessman, judge, and politician (d. 1910)
• 1831 – Xianfeng Emperor of China (d. 1861)
• 1837 – Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 7th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1886)
• 1839 – Ephraim Shay, American engineer, invented the Shay locomotive (d. 1916)
• 1853 – Alexius Meinong, Ukrainian-Austrian philosopher and academic (d. 1920)
• 1868 – Henri Nathansen, Danish director and playwright (d. 1944)
• 1870 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, Scottish soldier and bagpipe player (d. 1939)
• 1871 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
• 1873 – Many Benner, French painter (d. 1965)
• 1879 – Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1960)
• 1882 – James Somerville, English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (d. 1949)
• 1888 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Ukrainian-Israeli novelist, short story writer and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1889 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (d. 1970)
• 1894 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (d. 1966)
• 1896 – Rupert Atkinson, English RAF officer (d. 1919)
• 1898 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (d. 1991)
• 1898 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian soldier and cinematographer (d. 1999)
• 1899 – James Cagney, American actor and dancer (d. 1986)

1901–present

• 1901 – Luigi Chinetti, Italian-American race car driver (d. 1994)
• 1901 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet and author (d. 1938)
• 1901 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 1982)
• 1902 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (d. 1983)
• 1905 – William Gargan, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1910 – James Coyne, Canadian lawyer and banker, 2nd Governor of the Bank of Canada (d. 2012)
• 1910 – Frank Olson, American chemist and microbiologist (d. 1953)
• 1911 – Lionel Ferbos, American trumpet player (d. 2014)
• 1911 – Heinz Lehmann, German-Canadian psychiatrist and academic (d. 1999)
• 1912 – Erwin Bauer, German race car driver (d. 1958)
• 1912 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Bertrand Goldberg, American architect, designed the Marina City Building (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Eleanor Steber, American soprano and educator (d. 1990)
• 1915 – Bijon Bhattacharya, Indian actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1915 – Arthur Rothstein, American photographer and educator (d. 1985)
• 1916 – Eleanor Hadley, American economist and policymaker (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Lou Boudreau, American baseball player and manager (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Phyllis Diller, American actress, comedian, and voice artist (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (d. 2015)
• 1917 – Christiane Rochefort, French author (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, Guatemalan soldier and politician, President of Guatemala (d. 2003)
• 1919 – Albert Stubbins, English footballer (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, 7th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 2010)
• 1921 – George Barnes, American guitarist, producer, and songwriter (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Louis Lachenal, French mountaineer (d. 1955)
• 1921 – Mary Osborne, American guitarist (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Toni Stone, American baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1921 – František Zvarík, Slovak actor (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Jeanne Block, American psychologist (d. 1981)
• 1923 – John Cooper, English car designer, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Garde Gardom, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Jimmy Scott, American singer and actor (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Mohammad Hasan Sharq, Afghan politician
• 1926 – Édouard Carpentier, French-Canadian wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Willis Carto, American activist and theorist (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Vince Guaraldi, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1976)
• 1929 – Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2023)
• 1932 – Niccolò Castiglioni, Italian composer (d. 1996)
• 1932 – Red Kerr, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Wojciech Kilar, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Karla Kuskin, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Slick Leonard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2021)
• 1932 – Ian Moir, Australian rugby league player (d. 1990)
• 1932 – Quino, Spanish-Argentinian cartoonist (d. 2020)
• 1932 – Hal Riney, American businessman, founded Publicis & Hal Riney (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Maltese politician, 9th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 2022)
• 1933 – Tony Pithey, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2006)
• 1934 – Lucio Tan, Chinese-Filipino billionaire businessman and educator
• 1935 – Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2019)
• 1935 – Peter Schickele, American composer and educator (d. 2024)
• 1935 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor and producer
• 1938 – Hermann Huppen, Belgian author and illustrator
• 1939 – Andrée Champagne, Canadian actress and politician (d. 2020)
• 1939 – Spencer Davis, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2020)
• 1940 – Tim Brooke-Taylor, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2020)
• 1941 – Daryle Lamonica, American football player (d. 2022)
• 1941 – Bob Taylor, English cricketer
• 1941 – Achim Warmbold, German race car driver and manager
• 1942 – Gale Garnett, New Zealand–born Canadian singer
• 1942 – Connie Hawkins, American basketball player (d. 2017)
• 1942 – Don Kessinger, American baseball player and manager
• 1942 – Zoot Money, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1943 – LaVyrle Spencer, American author and educator
• 1944 – Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricketer and footballer
• 1944 – Catherine Schell, Hungarian-English actress
• 1944 – Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
• 1945 – Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
• 1945 – John Patten, Baron Patten, English politician, Secretary of State for Education
• 1946 – Chris Crutcher, American novelist and short story writer
• 1946 – Ted Sampley, American POW/MIA activist (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St John's, English educator and politician
• 1947 – Robert Begerau, German footballer and manager
• 1947 – Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom
• 1947 – Wolfgang Flür, German musician (Kraftwerk)
• 1947 – Mick Tucker, English rock drummer (Sweet) (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1948 – Luc Bondy, Swiss director and producer (d. 2015)
• 1949 – Geezer Butler, English bass player and songwriter
• 1949 – Charley Steiner, American journalist and sportscaster
• 1950 – Sadhan Chandra Majumder, Bangladeshi politician
• 1950 – Tengku Sulaiman Shah, Malaysian corporate figure
• 1950 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
• 1951 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress and singer
• 1951 – Mark Bowden, American journalist and author
• 1951 – Andrew Robathan, English soldier and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
• 1952 – David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1952 – Nicolette Larson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
• 1952 – Thé Lau, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Robert R. McCammon, American author
• 1954 – Angela Merkel, German chemist and politician, Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.
• 1954 – Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (d. 2015)
• 1954 – J. Michael Straczynski, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1955 – Sylvie Léonard, Canadian actress and screenwriter
• 1955 – Paul Stamets, American mycologist and author
• 1956 – Julie Bishop, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
• 1956 – Bryan Trottier, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
• 1957 – Bruce Crump, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1957 – Wendy Freedman, Canadian-American cosmologist and astronomer
• 1958 – Wong Kar-wai, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Suzanne Moore, English journalist
• 1958 – Thérèse Rein, Australian businesswoman, founded Ingeus
• 1958 – Susan Silver, American music manager
• 1959 – Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin, Bangladeshi-English politician
• 1960 – Kim Barnett, English cricketer and coach
• 1960 – Mark Burnett, English-American screenwriter and producer
• 1960 – Nancy Giles, American journalist and actress
• 1960 – Robin Shou, Hong Kong martial artist and actor
• 1960 – Dawn Upshaw, American soprano
• 1960 – Jan Wouters, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1961 – António Costa, Portuguese politician, 119th Prime Minister of Portugal
• 1961 – Jeremy Hardy, English comedian and actor (d. 2019)
• 1963 – Regina Belle, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1963 – Letsie III of Lesotho
• 1963 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper and singer (d. 2019)
• 1964 – Heather Langenkamp, American actress and producer
• 1965 – Craig Morgan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1965 – Alex Winter, English-American actor, film director and screenwriter
• 1966 – Lou Barlow, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1966 – Sten Tolgfors, Swedish lawyer and politician, 30th Swedish Minister of Defence
• 1969 – Jason Clarke, Australian actor
• 1969 – Scott Johnson, American cartoonist
• 1969 – Jaan Kirsipuu, Estonian cyclist
• 1971 – Calbert Cheaney, American basketball player and coach
• 1971 – Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist
• 1971 – Nico Mattan, Belgian cyclist
• 1972 – Elizabeth Cook, American singer and guitarist
• 1972 – Donny Marshall, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Jason Rullo, American drummer
• 1972 – Jaap Stam, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1972 – Eric Williams, American basketball player
• 1973 – Eric Moulds, American football player
• 1974 – Claudio López, Argentine footballer
• 1975 – Andre Adams, New Zealand cricketer
• 1975 – Elena Anaya, Spanish actress
• 1975 – Darude, Finnish DJ and producer
• 1975 – Harlette, Australian-English fashion designer
• 1975 – Loretta Harrop, Australian triathlete
• 1975 – Konnie Huq, English television presenter
• 1975 – Terence Tao, Australian-American mathematician
• 1976 – Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Gino D'Acampo, Italian chef and author
• 1976 – Dagmara Domińczyk, Polish-American actress
• 1976 – Marcos Senna, Brazilian-Spanish footballer
• 1976 – Anders Svensson, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
• 1976 – Eric Winter, American actor
• 1977 – Andrew Downton, Australian cricketer
• 1977 – Leif Hoste, Belgian cyclist
• 1977 – Marc Savard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Ricardo Arona, Brazilian mixed martial artist
• 1978 – Panda Bear, American musician and songwriter
• 1978 – Jason Jennings, American baseball player
• 1978 – Justine Triet, French film director and screenwriter
• 1979 – Mike Vogel, American actor
• 1980 – Javier Camuñas, Spanish footballer
• 1980 – Brett Goldstein, British actor, comedian and writer
• 1980 – Ryan Miller, American ice hockey player
• 1981 – Hely Ollarves, Venezuelan runner
• 1982 – Omari Banks, Anguillan cricketer
• 1983 – Adam Lind, American baseball player
• 1985 – Loui Eriksson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1985 – Neil McGregor, Scottish footballer
• 1986 – DeAngelo Smith, American football player
• 1987 – Darius Boyd, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Jeremih, American singer, songwriter, and record producer
• 1992 – Billie Lourd, American actress
• 1992 – Tatu Sinisalo, Finnish actor
• 1994 – Kali Uchis, American singer-songwriter
• 1998 – Rosana Serrano, Cuban rower
• 2005 – Connor Bedard, Canadian ice hockey player

Pre-1600

• 521 – Magnus Felix Ennodius, Gallo-Roman bishop
• 855 – Leo IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 790)
• 952 – Wu Hanyue, Chinese noblewoman (b. 913)
• 961 – Du, empress dowager of the Song Dynasty
• 1070 – Baldwin VI, count of Flanders (b. 1030)
• 1085 – Robert Guiscard, Norman adventurer
• 1119 – Baldwin VII, count of Flanders (b. 1093)
• 1210 – Sverker II, king of Sweden (b. 1210)
• 1304 – Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer (b. 1251)
• 1399 – Jadwiga, queen of Poland (b. 1374)
• 1453 – Dmitry Shemyaka, Grand Prince of Moscow
• 1453 – John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, English commander and politician (b. 1387)
• 1531 – Hosokawa Takakuni, Japanese commander (b. 1484)
• 1571 – Georg Fabricius, German poet and historian (b. 1516)
• 1588 – Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect and engineer, designed the Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque and Süleymaniye Mosque (b. 1489)

1601–1900

• 1603 – Mózes Székely, Hungarian noble (b. 1553)
• 1642 – William, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count, field marshal of the Dutch State Army (b. 1592)
• 1645 – Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, English-Scottish politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (b. 1587)
• 1704 – Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French fur trader and explorer (b. 1657)
• 1709 – Robert Bolling, English planter and merchant (b. 1646)
• 1725 – Thomas King, English and British soldier, MP for Queenborough, lieutenant-governor of Sheerness (b. before 1660?).
• 1762 – Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)
• 1790 – Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (b. 1723)
• 1791 – Martin Dobrizhoffer, Austrian missionary and author (b. 1717)
• 1793 – Charlotte Corday, French murderer (b. 1768)
• 1794 – John Roebuck, English chemist and businessman (b. 1718)
• 1845 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1764)
• 1871 – Karl Tausig, Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer (b. 1841)
• 1878 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet and politician (b. 1812)
• 1879 – Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian-Polish painter (b. 1856)
• 1881 – Jim Bridger, American scout and explorer (b. 1804)
• 1883 – Tự Đức, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1829)
• 1885 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian farmer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1811)
• 1893 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (b. 1833)
• 1894 – Leconte de Lisle, French poet and translator (b. 1818)
• 1894 – Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist and biologist (b. 1810)
• 1900 – Thomas McIlwraith, Scottish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Queensland (b. 1835)

1901–present

• 1907 – Hector Malot, French author and critic (b. 1830)
• 1912 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1854)
• 1918 – Victims of the Shooting of the Romanov family:
  • Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868)
  • Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia (b. 1872)
  • Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1895)
  • Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1897)
  • Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1899)
  • Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1901)
  • Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia (b. 1904)
  • Anna Demidova (b. 1878)
  • Ivan Kharitonov (b. 1872)
  • Alexei Trupp (b. 1858)
  • Yevgeny Botkin (b. 1865)
• 1925 – Lovis Corinth, German painter (b. 1858)
• 1928 – Giovanni Giolitti, Italian politician, 13th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1842)
• 1928 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (b. 1880)
• 1932 – Rasmus Rasmussen, Norwegian actor, singer, and director (b. 1862)
• 1935 – George William Russell, Irish poet and painter (b. 1867)
• 1942 – Robina Nicol, New Zealand photographer and suffragist (b. 1861)
• 1944 – William James Sidis, American mathematician and anthropologist (b. 1898)
• 1945 – Ernst Busch, German field marshal (b. 1885)
• 1946 – Florence Fuller, South African-born Australian artist (b. 1867)
• 1946 – Draža Mihailović, Serbian general (b. 1893)
• 1950 – Evangeline Booth, English 4th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1865)
• 1950 – Antonie Nedošinská, Czech actress (b. 1885)
• 1959 – Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
• 1959 – Eugene Meyer, American businessman and publisher (b. 1875)
• 1960 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (b. 1879)
• 1961 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1886)
• 1961 – Emin Halid Onat, Turkish architect and academic (b. 1908)
• 1967 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1926)
• 1974 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1910)
• 1975 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian author (b. 1893)
• 1980 – Don "Red" Barry, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1890)
• 1988 – Bruiser Brody, American football player and wrestler (b. 1946)
• 1989 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (b. 1922)
• 1991 – John Patrick Spiegel, American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1911)
• 1994 – Jean Borotra, French tennis player (b. 1898)
• 1995 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1911)
• 1996 – Victims of TWA Flight 800:
  • Michel Breistroff, French ice hockey player (b. 1971)
  • Marcel Dadi, Tunisian-French guitarist (b. 1951)
  • David Hogan, American composer (b. 1949)
  • Jed Johnson, American interior designer and director (b. 1948)
• 1996 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1911)
• 2003 – David Kelly, Welsh weapons inspector (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichord player (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Walter Zapp, Latvian-Swiss inventor, invented the Minox (b. 1905)
• 2005 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-American actress (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
• 2005 – Joe Vialls, Australian journalist and theorist (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
• 2006 – Mickey Spillane, American crime novelist (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Grant Forsberg, American actor and businessman (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Júlio Redecker, Brazilian politician (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Paulo Rogério Amoretty Souza, Brazilian lawyer and businessman (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Walter Cronkite, American journalist and actor (b. 1916)
• 2009 – Leszek Kołakowski, Polish historian and philosopher (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Larry Keith, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2011 – David Ngoombujarra, Australian actor (b. 1967)
• 2012 – Richard Evatt, English boxer (b. 1973)
• 2012 – Forrest S. McCartney, American general (b. 1931)
• 2012 – İlhan Mimaroğlu, Turkish-American composer and producer (b. 1926)
• 2012 – William Raspberry, American journalist and academic (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Marsha Singh, Indian-English politician (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Henri Alleg, English-French journalist and author (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Peter Appleyard, English-Canadian vibraphone player and composer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Vincenzo Cerami, Italian screenwriter and producer (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Don Flye, American tennis player (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Ian Gourlay, English general (b. 1920)
• 2013 – David White, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims:
  • Liam Davison, Australian author and critic (b. 1957)
  • Shuba Jay, Malaysian actress (b. 1976)
  • Joep Lange, Dutch physician and academic (b. 1954)
  • Willem Witteveen, Dutch scholar and politician (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Henry Hartsfield, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Bill Arnsparger, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Jules Bianchi, French race car driver (b. 1989)
• 2015 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (b. 1916)
• 2015 – Van Miller, American sportscaster (b. 1927)
• 2015 – John Taylor, English pianist and educator (b. 1942)
• 2019 – Marie Sophie Hingst, German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended from Holocaust survivors
• 2020 – John Lewis, American Politician and Civil Rights Leader. (b. 1940)
• 2020 – Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, Russian-Australian pair skater (b. 2000)

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexius of Rome (Western Church)
  • Andrew Zorard
  • Cynehelm
  • Cynllo
  • Inácio de Azevedo
  • Jadwiga of Poland
  • Magnus Felix Ennodius
  • Marcellina
  • Martyrs of Compiègne
  • Blessed Pavel Peter Gojdič (Greek Catholic Church)
  • Pope Leo IV
  • Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)
  • Speratus and companions
  • William White (Episcopal Church)
  • July 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (South Korea)
• Gion Matsuri (Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto)
• Independence Day (Slovakia)
• International Firgun Day (International)
• King's Birthday (Lesotho)
• U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)
• World Day for International Justice (International)
• World Emoji Day (International)

• "On This Day". BBC.
• The New York Times: On This Day
• "Historical Events on July 17". OnThisDay.com.