180-Six residents of Carthage, North Africa, are executed for being Christian, the earliest recorded instance of Christianity in the region
1203-The Siege of Constantinople begins during the Fourth Crusade, as Roman Catholic Crusaders, aboard a Venetian fleet, attack the city
1762-Empress Catherine II becomes Tsarina of Russia following the murder of Tsar Peter III
1918-The Romanov royal family and several of their retainers are executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of Ipatiev House, in Yekaterinburg, Siberia
1936-Spanish generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola lead a right-wing uprising, starting the Spanish Civil War
1945-Leaders Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill hold their first post World War II meeting at the Potsdam Conference
2014-Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over Eastern Ukraine by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board