Good morning. It's July 17th — let's begin where we always do: on this very date in history.
📅 On This Day — July 17
😀 (It's also World Emoji Day — yes, that's really why the calendar emoji shows this date.)
1955 — Disneyland opened its gates for the first time in Anaheim, California — the park that started it all.
1975 — High above the Earth, an American Apollo capsule and a Soviet Soyuz capsule docked together in orbit — the first joint U.S.-Soviet spaceflight, a genuine handshake in the middle of the Cold War.
1998 — In Rome, delegates from around the world adopted the Rome Statute, establishing the International Criminal Court.
Now, let's set the dial back to 1981…
⏪ REWIND: 1981 Ronald Reagan is settling into his first year in office, a first-class stamp costs 18 cents, gas runs about $1.35 a gallon — and there's an odd quiet in the sports pages, because the ballplayers are on strike.
📰 The Headlines In twelve days, the world's eyes turn to London: Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are set to marry at St. Paul's Cathedral, in what's already being billed as the wedding of the century, with a global TV audience expected in the hundreds of millions.
🎬 At the Movies In its fifth week, Raiders of the Lost Ark keeps packing theaters — Harrison Ford's whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones has become the summer's biggest phenomenon (a reissued Empire Strikes Back briefly knocked it from #1 for one week, but Raiders will finish the year as the country's highest-grossing film by a wide margin).
🎵 On the Charts Topping the Hot 100 for a fourth straight week is "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes — the smoky, synth-laced ballad that'll go on to be named the biggest song of the year.
🏆 In Sports There's an emptiness in the sports pages this month: the Major League Baseball players' strike, now in its sixth week, has already wiped out more than 700 games with no settlement yet in sight — though when it ends later this month, the season will resume with a brand-new split format.
🏰 The Disney Vault A week ago, The Fox and the Hound arrived in theaters — Disney's tale of an unlikely friendship between a fox and a hound, already on its way to becoming the studio's highest-grossing animated film to date.
— secondary touches —
👟 Step Challenge: the Summer 2026 Step Challenge is rolling — grab the free Pacer app and walk with us: Join the challenge (already have Pacer? Club code E42727228). Every step counts.
💡 Health Snap: Friday energy dips are real — a short walk outside beats another cup of coffee for shaking off the afternoon slump. Want a simple, no-cost health baseline to build on? Grab your free health report.
🎉 Born on a July 17th — or know someone who was?
Forward this to them right now — there's no better "this is the day you were born" gift than a little time travel.
🎂 In good company: July 17 babies include German Chancellor Angela Merkel (1954), actor David Hasselhoff (1952), actress Diahann Carroll (1935), country singer Luke Bryan (1976), and mathematician Terence Tao (1975).
Yesterday Today — A NovaOpsLab Briefing Series 345 Route 9 South, Suite 358, Englishtown, NJ 07726 You subscribed at yesterdaytoday.news. [Unsubscribe anytime]. Yesterday Today may earn a commission from partner links.