July 16th
1940: Hitler issues Directive No. 16 ordering preparations to begin for Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sealion), the seaborne invasion of England, to be completed by mid-August.
1941: In the East, Finnish troops break through Soviet positions N of Lake Ladoga. On the central front, German forces of Heeesgruppe Mitte begin the destruction of several Soviet divisions encircled in the Uman pocket. Stalin's son, Lt. Jacob Dugashvili, is taken prisoner near Vitebsk. In Libya, Axis bombers carry out raids on Tobruk.
1942: In Egypt, the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) attacks the Afrikakorps' positions at El Alamein, gaining some ground near the railway station.
1943: In Sicily, troops of the US Seventh Army (Patton) continue their advance toward Palermo, while the British VIII Corps (Dempsey) approaches Catania.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts converge to capture Grodno SW of Vilna. In Italy, Allied forces are making only slow progress against German positions of the Gothic Line S of the Arno river.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1940: HMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen at BardiaHMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen were on screen at the bombardment of Bardia.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1957: United States Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16

1779: American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, N.Y.
1944: Soviet troops occupy Vilna, Lithuania, in their drive towards Germany.

July 17th

1941: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) cross the Dnepr river near Mogilev, while in the South the Rumanian 4.Armee (Dumitrescu) captures Kishinev on the lower Dnestr. Axis bombers carrry out raids on port facilities on Malta.
1942: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe A (List) capture Voroshilovgrad in the Donets industrial region. The German 6.Armee (Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) continue their advance toward Kalach on the Don.
1943: In Sicily, units of the US Seventh Army capture Agrigento on the road to Palermo.
1944: Returning by car to his HQ at La Roche-Guyon from a tour of inspection to I.SS-Panzerkorps S of Caen, Field Marshal Rommel, C-in-C of Heeresgruppe B, is severely wounded in a low-level attack by an RAF fighter bomber. In Italy, the British Eighth Army advances toward Ancona and Florence. In the East, the Soviet First Guards Tank Army reaches the River Bug, the old border between Poland and the USSR. At Moscow, 57,000 German prisoners of war captured in Belorussia, including several generals, are paraded through the center of the city. In Norway, the British Navy launches an abortive carrier raid on the German battleship Tirpitz in Kaa Fjord.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1918:Lieutenant A.C. Borella, VCLieutenant A.C. Borella, 26th Battalion, originally from Borung, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Villers-Bretonneux, France. At 36 Borella was the oldest member of the first AIF to receive this award.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1918: The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German submatine U-55; only 5 lives are lost.
1944: Napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17

1812: Michilimackinac Michigan - Charles Roberts captures Fort Michilimackinac with 600 British, Canadians and Indian allies from the British Fort St. Joseph.
1944: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Royal Canadian Navy escorts war's largest convoy of 167 ships into Atlantic; meets no U-Boat opposition; RCN now controls all Battle of the Atlantic escort forces.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jul&day=17