On July 17, 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a time of unparalleled racial tensions in the United States, the nation loses one of the last towering figures of the civil rights movement.

On July 17, halfway through a flight from Amsterdam to Malaysia, a passenger plane was shot down in Eastern Ukraine, near the war-torn border with Russia.

On July 17, 2014, two New York Police Department officers confront Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American father of six, for illegally selling cigarettes.

On July 17, 1984, the Reverend Jesse Jackson delivers his famous “Rainbow Coalition” speech in San Francisco at the Democratic National Convention, which presents the upcoming election as a stark choice between a future of justice for all or advantages for some under another term for President Ronald Reagan.

As part of a mission aimed at developing space rescue capability, the U.

On July 17, 1967, one of the oddest musical pairings in history comes to an end when Jimi Hendrix dropped out as the opening act for teenybopper sensations The Monkees.

On July 17, 1945, President Harry S.

The final “Big Three” meeting between the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain takes place towards the end of World War II, to discuss how geopolitics would shake out after the war.

On July 17, 1941, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio fails to get a hit against the Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Cleveland Indians), ending his historic 56-game hitting streak.

Douglas Corrigan, the last of the early glory-seeking fliers, takes off from Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, New York, on a flight that would finally win him a place in aviation history.