{"id":16027,"date":"2022-07-17T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T05:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=211634"},"modified":"2022-07-17T07:43:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T05:43:10","slug":"17-july-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/17-july-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"17 July: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 17 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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17 July 1453\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The last battle of the Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/a> saw the French, under Jean Bureau, use artillery to defeat the English under John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury at Castillon in Gascony. Talbot was killed in the battle.<\/p>\n

17 July 1717: Handel\u2019s Water Music makes its royal premiere\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

George I throws a Thames party featuring a classical soundtrack\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost three years after George I had succeeded to the British throne, the Elector of Hanover was not exactly the most popular man in the country. With his thick accent, he still struck most people as irredeemably German. To compound matters, his son seemed determined to eclipse him, pointedly throwing huge parties that left his father looking soul-numbingly boring. What was a king to do?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer was a theatrical spectacular that still resonates down the ages. On the evening of 17 July, the monarch boarded an open barge at Whitehall and set off up the Thames towards Chelsea. The first British daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, takes up the story: \u201cMany other Barges with Persons of Quality attended, and so great a Number of Boats, that the whole River in a manner was cover\u2019d; a City Company\u2019s Barge was employ\u2019d for the Musick, wherein were 50 instruments of all sorts, who play\u2019d all the way from Lambeth the finest Symphonies, compos\u2019d express for this Occasion, by Mr Hendel; which his Majesty\u00a0 <\/span>liked so well, that he caus\u2019d it to be plaid over three times in going and returning\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Hendel\u2019 was, of course, the great George Frideric Handel, who had once worked for George in Hanover. Some said the future king had been offended by Handel\u2019s lucrative move to London, but the Water Music was the perfect way to rebuild their relationship. The banks of the Thames were packed with sightseers; many people declared they had heard nothing like it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The king was clearly delighted with Handel\u2019s efforts, and the party went on well into the night. \u201cAt Eleven his Majesty went a-shore at Chelsea where a Supper was prepar\u2019d,\u201d said the Courant, \u201cand then there was another very fine Concert of Musick, which lasted till two; after which, his Majesty came again into his Barge, and return\u2019d the same Way, the Musick continuing to play until he landed\u201d. | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/b><\/p>\n

17 July 1761<\/h3>\n

The first section of the Bridgewater canal was opened. Commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, it was built to transport coal from Bridgewater\u2019s mines at Worsley to the industrial parts of Manchester, and was the first major canal in England not to follow an existing watercourse. One of its most notable features was the Barton aqueduct \u2013 the work of Derbyshire- born engineer James Brindley who had been brought in to advise on the project.<\/p>\n

17 July 1862\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The United States Militia Act authorised the president to employ \u201cpersons of African descent\u201d in military or naval service. The rates of pay established by the act for black soldiers were lower than those enjoyed by their white counterparts.<\/p>\n

17 July 1918: Russia\u2019s royals are killed in cold blood\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A cellar in Yekaterinburg becomes the scene of a horrific murder\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere around us is electric,\u201d Alexandra, the former empress of Russia, wrote to a friend in one of her last letters before her death. \u201cWe fear that a storm is coming but we know that God is merciful.\u201d If Alexandra had known what was really coming, even she might have questioned the Almighty\u2019s intentions for her family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the city of Yekaterinburg, on the edge of the Urals, July 1918 was punishingly hot. In a former merchant\u2019s house, commandeered by the local Soviet, Russia\u2019s royal family awaited their fate. Since the fall of the monarchy more than a year earlier, Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their five children \u2013 Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei \u2013 had been stripped of their privileges, placed under heavy guard and shipped east. But with Russia now torn apart by civil war, and Czechoslovakian forces approaching the city, the atmosphere was heavy with tension.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n