Unix Timestamp: 1026864000
Wednesday, July 17. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Kuwait names Ali al-Momen as its first ambassador to Iraq since the Gulf War. //afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i24EvTHs6ZjsrGI0mqU2ZjD9NJpA (AFP via Google News)

Pope Benedict XVI speaks to 150,000 pilgrims in Sydney for World Youth Day 2008. //www.theage.com.au/national/benedicts-big-day-out-in-sydney-20080717-3gt3.html ("The Age")

TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 carrying 186 people crashes in Congonhas International Airport, São Paulo, Brazil. The death toll is estimated to be at least 200 people. //ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNewsstoryID=2007-07-17T230229Z_01_N17263598_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BRAZIL-CRASH-COL.XML (Reuters) //www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19815779/ (MSNBC) //edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/07/17/brazil.plane.crash/index.html (CNN) //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6903837.stm (BBC) //www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289696,00.html (Fox News) //video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Noticias/0,,GIM61910-7823-GLOBO+NEWS+AO+VIVO,00.html (Globo News Online) //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/18/1981490.htm (AFP via ABC News Australia)

TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 overruns the runway of Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport and crashes, killing all 186 and others on the ground.

In a press conference in Belfast, journalist Seán Ó Muireagáin denies Israeli claims that suspected him of being a Real IRA activist. He states that he is not, and never has been, a member or supporter of the IRA. Israel repeats that the arrest of Ó Muireagáin was unfortunate, but refuses to apologise. Israel's treatment of Ó Muireagáin is strongly criticised in Ireland. SDLP ex-minister Sean Farren states that Ó Muireagáin is well known and respected in Northern Ireland.

Same-sex marriage in Canada: the federal government releases its draft bill to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples while protecting the rights of clergy not to perform marriages that run counter to their religious beliefs. The government will seek a reference from the Supreme Court of Canada to ensure the bill is constitutional. //www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/07/17/marriage_030717

The Altamira caves's replica (created by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel) is inaugurated.

The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.

The Nasdaq Composite index closes above the 1,000 mark for the first time.

Brazil wins the 1994 FIFA World Cup, defeating Italy by 3–2 in penalties (full time 0–0).

Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.

A car bomb placed by mafia with collaboration of Italian intelligence kills judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his escort.

A Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey crashes in the Potomac River as it approached Marine Corps Base Quantico, killing all seven people on board.

The Slovak National Councildeclares Slovakia an independent country, signaling the breakup of Czechoslovakia.

The Cabinet of Israel approves a freeze on new settlements in the occupied territories, a move expected to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process.

An airlift of food and medicine to Sarajevo is halted after 23 days due to renewed fighting.

President Bush and President Gorbachev reach an agreement on START II, which is formally signed on July 31.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.

Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida.

Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela wins the Miss Universe Pageant the stage collapses after contestants and news photographers rush to her throne.

Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal

The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary caign against the U.S. backed Somoza dictatorship and assumes power in Nicaragua.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: A manned American Apollo spacecraft and the manned Soviet Soyuz spacecraft for the "Soyuz 19" mission, docks in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations.

France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll, over the protests of Australia and New Zealand.

Bruce Lee dies.

King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.

Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about South Tyrol.

The New York Times publicly takes back the ridicule of the rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard published in 13 Jan 1920 that spaceflight is impossible.ref name=astronauticsnow_com-indexRobert H. Goddard. "The New York Times". astronauticsnow.com/history/goddard/index.html 090118 astronauticsnow.com

Saddam Hussein becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup d'état.

Nuclear testing: The Small Boy test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site.

The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania.

British paratroopers arrive in Jordan King Hussein has asked help against pressure from Iraq.

Disneyland opens to the public in Anaheim, California.

The first nuclear-generated electrical power is sold commercially, partially powering the town of Arco, Idaho.

The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts a sneak preview of Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

The Illinois Governor, William Stratton, signs the Loyalty Oath Act, passed by the State Legislature, which mandates all public employees take a loyalty oath to Illinois and the United States, or lose their jobs.

The first Geneva Summit meeting between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France begins. It ends on July 23.

King Baudouin takes the oath as king of Belgium.

Florence Chadwick swims across the English Channel in 13 hours, 22 minutes.

A bomb-laden B-29 Superfortress crashes into a residential area in California 17 are killed, 68 injured.

The Suppression of Communism Act, passed on June 26, comes into force in South Africa.

The Indian passenger ship "Ramdas" is capsized by a cyclone at Mumbai, India, with 625 people killed.

Following wide media and UNSCOP coverage, "The Exodus" is captured by British troops and refused entry into Palestine at the port of Haifa.

President Harry S. Truman signs the Presidential Succession Act into law, which places the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate next in the line of succession after the Vice President.

August 2 ndash WWII ndash Potsdam Conference: At Potsdam, the three main Allied leaders hold their final summit of the war.

The SS ''E. A. Bryan'', loaded with ammunition, explodes at the Port Chicago naval base 320 are killed.

The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia under Royal Canadian Navy protection.

WWII: A BBC broadcast by Colonel Britton calls on the people of occupied Europe to resist the Nazis under the slogan V for Victory.

The first episode "The Midnight Snack" in which Tom and Jerry are officially named, more than a year after their first production "Puss Gets the Boot"

Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak ends.

The Army of Africa launches a "coup d'état" against the Second Spanish Republic, beginning the Spanish Civil War.

The North Dakota Supreme Court declares Lieutenant Governor Ole H. Olson the legitimate governor and tells William Langer to resign. Langer proceeds to declare North Dakota independent. He revokes the declaration after the Supreme Court justices meet him.

José de León Toral assassinates Álvaro Obregón, president of Mexico.

Voting in federal elections becomes compulsory in Australia, after a private member's bill proposed by Tasmanian Nationalist senator Herbert Payne results in the passing of the Commonwealth Electoral (Compulsory Voting) Act 1924.

King George V of the United Kingdom issues a proclamation, stating that thenceforth the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor, vice the Germanic bloodline of "House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha", which is an offshoot of the historic (800+ years) House of Wettin.

The Parliament of Finland, dominated by Social Democrats, passes the Power Law, declaring itself holder of the former Tsar's sovereignty in the Grand Principality of Finland. The Russian Provisional Government does not recognize the law, as it would alter the relationship between Finland and Russia into a real union, with Russia solely responsible for the defence and foreign relations of Finland with no more say in the country's internal affairs.

(July 7, O.S.) ndash Alexander Kerensky becomes premier of the Russian Provisional Government, replacing Prince Georgy Lvov.

The Corfu Declaration, which enabled the establishment of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and the Kingdom of Serbia.

Spanish-American War ndash Battle of Santiago Bay: Troops under United States General William R. Shafter take the city of Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish.

The Klondike Gold Rush begins when the first successful prospectors arrive in Seattle.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established as the first dental school in the United States.

The Lutine bell, is salvaged and subsequently hung in Lloyd's of London.

The Great Train Wreck (the worst railroad calamity in the world to date) occurs near Philadelphia, PA, USA.

"Bienio progresista": Revolutionary coup in Spain.

First edition of the humorous magazine "Punch" published in London.

Barthélemy Thimonnier is granted a patent (#7454) for a sewing machine in France it chains stitches at 200/minute.

The French passenger ship "Medusa" runs aground off the coast of Senegal, with 140 lives lost in the botched rescue that takes weeks, leading to a scandal in the French government.

Charlotte Corday is executed.

The Ch de Mars Massacre occurs during the French Revolution.

Bloody Falls Massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.

The first section of the Bridgewater Canal is opened, for the transportation of coal from local mines to Manchester."BBC History", July 2011, p 12

In a convoy of ships from Great Britain, returning to India for the East India Company, the lead ship "Dodington" wrecks at Port Elizabeth, losing a chest of gold coins from Robert Clive, worth £33,000. In 1998, 1,400 coins are offered for sale, and in 2002 a portion is given to the South African government.

The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland.

In France, Madame de Brinvilliers is executed for poisoning her father and brothers. The case also scares the king Louis XIV into starting a series of investigations about possible poisonings and witchcraft, later called the Affair of the Poisons.

r July 19 ndash Sir Walter Ralegh is arrested for treason.

September 20–21 ndash Execution of the Babington Plotters: The 14 men convicted of the Babington Plot, which intended to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary Stuart, were executed over two days in St Giles Field, London. They were all hung, drawn and quartered. The executions of the first seven traitors on 20 September was carried out in a particularly cruel way.

A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between 'some evangelical Princes and Electors' and representatives of the King of Navarre, the King of Denmark and the Queen of England. The object of this meeting is the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence against the Catholic League, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae'.Statement is made on folio 35 of the dedication of the "Naometria" to the Duke of Wurttemberg, repeated on folio 122. Cf. A.E. Waite, "Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross", London, 1924, pp. 639 ff.

Luther enters the monastic life at an Augustinian cloister in Erfurt.

Delhi: Sikander Lodi succeeds Bahlul Khan Lodi as sultan.

Battle of Castillon: The French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed.

Charles VII of France crowned in Rheims.

Charles VI of France marries Isabeau of Bavaria

Battle of Aljubarrota: John of Aviz defeats John I of Castile in the decisive battle of the 1383-1385 Crisis. John of Aviz is crowned King John I of Portugal, ending Queen Beatrice\'s rule, and Portugal's independence from Castile is secured.

The Union of Krewo establishes the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland and Lithuania through the proposed marriage of Queen Jadwiga of Poland and Grand Duke Jagiello of Lithuania, and sees the acceptance of Roman Catholicism by the Lithuanian elite.

Bran Castle is erected by the Teutonic Knights.

Battle of Navas de Tolosa: The Christian kingdoms of Spain decisively defeat the Almohads. This victory leaves however the Kingdom of Castile in a difficult financial position as the numerous soldiers have to be paid by the treasury.ref name=linehan1999

June ndash 12-year-old Stephen of Cloyes leads a group across France to Marseilles.

The Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa is begun. It is a trophy of Ferdinand III of Castile, and will end up in the Museo de Telas Medievales.

John of England impounds the revenue of all prelates appointed by bishops who had deserted him at his excommunication. He remains on good terms, however, with churchmen who stood by him, including Abbot Sson, who this year bequeaths John his jewels.

The Children's Crusade for the Holy Land is organised. There are probably two separate movements of young people, both led by shepherd boys, neither of which embark from Europe, but both of which suffer considerable hardship:

The city of Bergen op Zoom probably gets municipal rights.

Early spring ndash Nicholas leads a group from the Rhineland to Genoa and Rome.

In Japan, Kamo no Chōmei writes the "Hōjōki", one of the great works of classical Japanese prose.

December ndash Frederick II of Hohenstaufen is crowned King of Germany with the support of Pope Innocent III.

The contemplative Order of Poor Clares is founded by Clare of Assisi.

1210ndash1211 ndash Shazi makes Pen box, from Persia (Iran) or Afghanistan. It is now kept at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C..

Former king Sverker the Younger of Sweden is defeated and killed by present king Erik Knutsson of Sweden in the Battle of Gestilren.

Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III for invading southern Italy.

St Helen's Bishopsgate in London is founded.

Gottfried von Strassburg writes his epic poem "Tristan" (approximate date).

St Helen's Bishopsgate in London is founded.

The Delhi Sultanate begins.

In England, king John raises "£" 100,000 from church property as an extraordinary fiscal levy the operation is described as an “inestimable and incomparable exaction” by contemporary sources.

The Portuguese troops conquer Beja from the Almohads.ref name=lameretlesmusulmansPicard C. (1997) "La mer et les musulmans d'Occident au Moyen Age". Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, pp.78

Provence: Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands and the city of Toulon killing an estimated 300 and taking captives. The surviving captives are free from the Balearic Islands in 1185.

George III of Georgia defeats a noble revolt and proclaims his daughter Tamar coregent.

Pope Damasus II succeeds Pope Benedict IX as the 151st pope.

Irene of Athens orders her son, Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI, captured and deposed.

Jnanagupta begins translating Buddhist texts into Chinese.

Pope John III succeeds Pope Pelagius I as the 61st pope.

Twelve Christian inhabitants of Scillium in Numidia are executed in Carthage (also in North Africa) (known as the Scillitan Martyrs) ndash they had refused to swear an oath to the Emperor.

Commodus creates an official cult of the Zoroastrian god Mithra.