1901–present 1901 – Liner 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 , the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the , is sunk off Ireland by the German ; 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.Suomen hallitusmuoto 100 vuotta (Valtioneuvoston kanslia) (in Finnish) 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. 1954 – First Indochina War: Viet Minh troops successfully ambush the armoured French column 'G.M. 42' in the Battle of Chu Dreh Pass in the Central Highlands. It is the last battle of the war. 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 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 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.
1901–present 1901 – Liner sets east to west transatlantic record of five days, eleven hours and five minutes. 1902 – Willis Carrier creates the first air c,onditioner 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 , the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the , is sunk off Ireland by the German ; 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.Suomen hallitusmuoto 100 vuotta (Valtioneuvoston kanslia) (in Finnish) 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. 1954 – First Indochina War: Viet Minh troops successfully ambush the armoured French column 'G.M. 42' in the Battle of Chu Dreh Pass in the Central Highlands. It is the last battle of the war. 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 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 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-Ba,yonne 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.