Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
On 17, Saturday July 1869, Mariette Rheiner Garner, Second Lady of the United States, born (d. 1948)
On 17, Tuesday July 1894, Georges Lemaître, Belgian physicist, astronomer, born (d. 1966)
On 17, Thursday July 1919, Milt Smith, American football player and business operator, born (d. 2010)
On 17, Monday July 1944, WWII: The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia, under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
On 17, Monday July 1944, The SS E. A. Bryan, loaded with ammunition, explodes at the Port Chicago naval base; 320 are killed.
On 17, Monday July 1944, Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricket captain, born
On 17, Monday July 1944, Catherine Schell, Hungarian actress, born
On 17, Monday July 1944, Charles Lapointe, Canadian businessman, politician and public servant, born
On 17, Monday July 1944, Tom Kalinske, American businessman, born
On 17, Monday July 1944, Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer, born (d. 2016)
On 17, Monday July 1944, Tarsykiya Matskiv, Soviet Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox religious sister and blessed, died (b. 1919)
On 17, Friday July 1959, The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania.
On 17, Friday July 1959, Margaret Becker, American Christian singer, born
On 17, Friday July 1959, Billie Holiday, American singer, died (b. 1915)
On 17, Thursday July 1969, Ravi Kishan, Indian actor, born
On 17, Thursday July 1969, Kazuki Kitamura, Japanese actor, born
On 17, Thursday July 1969, Harry Benham, American actor, died (b. 1884)
On 17, Tuesday July 1979, Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami.
On 17, Tuesday July 1979, Mike Vogel, American actor, born
On 17, Tuesday July 1979, Brendan James, American, piano-based singer/songwriter, born
On 17, Tuesday July 1979, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ghanese politician and lawyer, 5th President of Ghana, died (b. 1906)
On 17, Monday July 1989, The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber makes its first flight.
On 17, Monday July 1989, Poland and the Vatican re-establish diplomatic relations after approximately fifty years.
On 17, Monday July 1989, Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician, died (b. 1922)
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Michael Dalton wins the men’s national marathon title, clocking 2:16:17 in Brisbane, while Joanne Cowan claims the women’s title in 2:45:35.
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Brazil wins the 1994 FIFA World Cup, defeating Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout in the final (full-time 0–0).
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Derrick Henry, American football player, born
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Victor Lindelöf, Swedish footballer, born
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Benjamin Mendy, French footballer, born
On 17, Sunday July 1994, Jean Borotra, French tennis player, died (b. 1898)
On 17, Saturday July 1999, Kevin Newman, 65, Liberal politician, died
On 17, Saturday July 1999, Lisandro Cuxi, Portuguese-French singer, born
On 17, Saturday July 1999, Stahl Gubag, Papua New Guinean footballer, born
On 17, Friday July 2009, Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, died (b. 1921)
On 17, Friday July 2009, Walter Cronkite, American newscaster, died (b. 1916)
On 17, Friday July 2009, Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher, died (b. 1927)
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Liam Davison, 56, author, died
On 17, Thursday July 2014, John Walton, 62, actor, died
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a missile. All 298 people on board are killed.
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Liam Davison, Australian author, died (b. 1957)
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Henry Hartsfield, American colonel and astronaut, died (b. 1933)
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Joep Lange, former president of the International AIDS Society, died (b. 1954)
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer, died (b. 1925)
On 17, Thursday July 2014, Willem Witteveen, Dutch senator, died (b. 1952)
Other On This Day days in history
Neville Buch
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