Wednesday 17th of July 1793

Assassin Charlotte Corday aka l'Ange de l'Assassinat known for the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat in his bath is executed by the Guillotine at the age of 25 in Paris, VIe, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 17th of July 1889

Lawyer and writer Erle Stanley Gardner known for creating Perry Mason is born in Malden, Massachusetts, United States.

Monday 17th of July 1899

Actor James Francis Cagney is born in New York City, New York, United States.

Wednesday 17th of July 1901

Victim of Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Friedel Rothe is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Wednesday 17th of July 1918

Emperor of Russia Nikolai II aka Nikolai the Bloody is executed by a firing squad led by Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky at the age of 50 in Ipatiev House, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia.

46-year-old Tsaritsa Alexandra, their children 17-year-old Anastasia, 21-year-old Tatiana, 22-year-old Olga, 13-year-old Alexei and 19-year-old Maria survived the first hail of bullets; the sisters were wearing over 1.3 kilograms of diamonds and precious gems sewn into their clothing, which provided some initial protection from the bullets and bayonets. They were then stabbed with bayonets and finally shot at close range in their heads. Non-family members 53-year-old court physician Eugene Botkin, 40-year-old servant Anna Demidova, 62-year-old head footman Alexei Trupp and 36-year-old head cook Ivan Kharitonov were killed with them.

Wednesday 17th of July 1935

Actor Donald McNichol Sutherland is born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Friday 17th of July 1942

Greta Kneller is presumably murdered by doctor and serial killer Marcel Petiot aka The Triangular Chamber of Death Murderer in 21 Rue Le Sueur, Paris, XVIe, Île-de-France, France.

Monday 17th of July 1944

320 die in Liberty ship SS E. A. Bryan explosion in Port Chicago Naval Magazine, Port Chicago, California, United States.

Tuesday 17th of July 1945

Victim of Harvey Louis Carignan aka The Want-Ad Killer Eileen Marie Fisher Hunley is born in Hutchinson Reno County, Kansas, United States.

Wednesday 17th of July 1946

Singer-songwriter Demis Roussos is born as Artemios Ventouris-Roussos in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.

Saturday 17th of July 1954

Presumed murderess Marguerite Jeanne 'Meg' Japy Steinheil aka Lady Abinger aka Mme de Serignac known for her many love affairs with important men dies of natural causes at the age of 85 in Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom.

Sunday 17th of July 1955

54-year-old Film director and animator Walt Walter Elias Disney opens his first attraction park in Disneyland, Anaheim, California, United States.

It is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney himself.

Thursday 17th of July 1958

Film director Kar-wai Wong is born in Shanghai, China.

Friday 17th of July 1959

Singer-songwriter Billie Holiday aka Lady Day dies of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 44 in Metropolitan Hospital, New York, Harlem, New York, United States.

On 31 May Holiday was taken to hospital with liver and heart disease. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying and her hospital room was raided. Holiday stayed under police guard until she died.

Wednesday 17th of July 1968

Serial killer Yang Xinhai aka The Monster Killer is born in Zhengyang County, Henan, China.

Saturday 17th of July 1971

46-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey is arrested in Saint Helier, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Thursday 17th of July 1975

40-year-old Serial killer Fritz Friedrich Paul Honka aka Der Frauen-Schlächter von St. Pauli is arrested in Zeißstrasse 74, Hamburg, Ottensen, Hamburg, Germany.

After a fire in the apartment below Honka's attic flat the police found bodyparts of four women.

Sunday 17th of July 1977

The villa of 78-year-old War criminal and art collector Pieter Nicolaas Menten is burned to the ground by persons unknown in Vliegweg, Blaricum, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

Friday 17th of July 1981

114 die in Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Saturday 17th of July 1982

Noise music band Club Moral play their 17th concert in an exhibition by Janos Veto in Szentendre, Pest, Hungary.

Wednesday 17th of July 1996

Nazi collaborator Paul Touvier dies of prostate cancer at the age of 81 in Prison de Fresnes, Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, France.

Wednesday 17th of July 1996

230 die in TWA Flight 800 Boeing 747-100 explosion in Moriches Inlet, East Moriches, New York, United States.

Thursday 17th of July 2003

After spending 38 years behind bars 63-year-old Serial killer Klaus Gosmann aka Der Mittagsmörder appeals for a release from prison in Regensburg, Bayern, Germany.

Gosmann's appeal was denied.

Thursday 17th of July 2003

10 Minutes Before the Worm in Butterfly Park, Jalan Cendarasari, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia.

Monday 17th of July 2006

Writer Mickey Frank Morrison Spillane known for his signature detective character Mike Hammer dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 88 in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, United States.

Tuesday 17th of July 2007

199 die in TAM Airlines Flight 3054 Airbus A320-233 runway crash in São Paulo, Região Sudeste, Brazil || Congonhas-São Paulo Airport, São Paulo, Região Sudeste, Brazil.

Friday 17th of July 2009

CBS anchorman Walter Leland Cronkite aka The Most Trusted Man in America dies of cerebrovascular disease at the age of 93 in New York City, New York, United States.

Friday 17th of July 2009

An Easter Bunny lost in time in Antwerpen, Borgerhout, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Friday 17th of July 2015

Blurred vision on the bus from Catania to Messina in Taormina, Sicilia, Italy.

Friday 17th of July 2020

Multiple murderer Dustin Lee Honken is executed by lethal injection at the age of 52 in Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.

Honken's last words were "Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me."