July 17, 1917The British royal family adopts the Windsor name. King George V changes the family name to the House of Windsor from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.

July 18, AD 64 The Great Fire of Rome begins. After the fire Nero begins to build his Golden House in the center of the city.

July 19, 1979The Nicaraguan capital of Managua falls to the Sandinista guerrillas, two days after President Anastasio Somoza flees the country.

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