This Day in History- July 17

1489- Nizam Shah as Sultan of Delhi
Sikandar Lodi, born Nizam Khan, was a Pashtun Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became the next ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Lodi on 17 July 1489.

1996– Madras to Chennai
On July 17, 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai. M. Karunanidhi, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced in the state assembly that the state capital of Madras would be known as Chennai from this date.

1850: First photograph of a star
The first photograph of a star was a daguerreotype of the star Vega by astronomer William Cranch Bond and daguerreotype photographer and experimenter John Adams Whipple with Harvard College Observatory’s 15-inch Great refractor.

1867: First dental school in the USA
The 1st US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established on this day in 1867. Five students were admitted to its first class. The School’s first Dean, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep, was a prominent Boston physician and strong proponent of dental education.

1955: 1st LPGA Championship Women’s Golf
Beverly Hanson won by 3 shots from Louise Suggs on July 17, 1955.  As an amateur golfer, she won the Texas Open in 1949 and both the California and Southern California ladies’ championships. She was a member of the 1950 U.S. Curtis Cup golf team and that year won the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

1959: Discovery of the partial skull of a new species
Paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey discovered a partial skull of a new species of early human ancestor, Zinjanthropus boisei or ‘Zinj’ that lived in Africa almost 2 million years ago on July 17, 1959. 

2005: 13th ESPY Awards
Lance Armstrong, Annika Sörenstam won the 13th ESPY award in 2005. 

2011: British Open Men’s Golf
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland claimed his only major title and won by 3 strokes from American pair Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson in 2011. 

2016: Works by a Swiss architect
17 works by Swiss architect Le Corbusier were included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites list in 2016, as “an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement”. 

1763: John Jacob Astor 
A German-American businessman, who was the first multi-millionaire in the United States was born in Walldorf, Electoral Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire in the year 1763.

1889: Erle Stanley Gardner
An American detective writer of ‘Perry Mason’ was born in Malden, Massachusetts was born on this day.

1917: Phyllis Diller
An American comedienne and actress were born in Lima, Ohio.

1920: Gordon Gould
An American physicist who was the inventor of the laser was born in NYC, New York on July 17, 1920. 

1947: Camilla Parker Bowles
The English wife of Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall was born in London, England.

1954: Angela Merkel
A German politician, Chancellor of Germany from 2005 onwards was born in Hamburg, West Germany on July 17, 1954.