July 17 Birthday
On July 17, 1918, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their five children, and four servants were executed by Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The family had been held since the Tsar's abdication in March 1917. The Bolsheviks, facing an advancing White Army, decided to kill the Tsar rather than risk his rescue. The execution was botched — the firing squad's bullets ricocheted off the women's jewel-filled corsets. Bayonets were used. The bodies were dumped in a mine shaft. They were not found until 1979. The Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia for 304 years. Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California. It was not ready. The asphalt was still soft — women's heels sank into it. The Mark Twain Riverboat was overloaded. A gas leak closed Fantasyland. Food ran out. The temperature was 100°F. Walt Disney called it "Black Sunday." 28,000 people attended — half with counterfeit tickets. The park cost $17 million to build. It has since been visited by over 700 million people. People born on July 17 fall under the zodiac sign of Cancer. The birthstone is Ruby and the birth flower is Larkspur. Historical events on July 17 include 1918: Tsar Nicholas II and family executed by Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, 1945: Potsdam Conference begins (Truman, Churchill, Stalin), 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California. Famous people born on July 17 include Donald Sutherland (1935), Diahann Carroll (1935), David Hasselhoff (1952).