April 17 Events

69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.
1397 - Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) as when the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury starts.
1492 - Spain and Christopher Columbus sign a contract for him to sail to Asia to get spices.
1521 - Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
1524 - Giovanni da Verrazano reaches New York harbor.
1861 - American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1865 - Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
1895 - The Treaty of Maguan (also known as the "Treaty of Shimonoseki") between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
1924 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
1935 - Sun Myung Moon has a vision of Jesus Christ who tells him to complete his mission from almost 2000 years ago.
1937 - Daffy Duck debuts in Warner Bros' short Porky's Duck Hunt.
1941 - World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 - POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
1945 - In Strassfurt, Germany, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash seizes half a ton of uranium, in an attempt to foil Soviet Union plans to build an atomic bomb.
1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of CIA-financed and -trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1964 - The Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York World's Fair.
1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 - Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubc¼ek is deposed.
1970 - Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1975 - Cambodian Civil War ends: The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1976 - During his unsuccessful re-election bid, U.S. President Gerald Ford appears as himself on Saturday Night Live.
1982 - Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
1984 - Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by automatic gunfire coming from the Libyan People's Bureau in central London. She had been policing a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten other people are wounded. The events lead to an 11-day siege of the building.
1986 - Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
1991 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever gaining 17.58 to 3,004.46.
2001 - Barry Bonds becomes the 17th member of the 500 home run club at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California.
2002 - Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. Air Force F-16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War.

April 17 Births

593 - Emperor Jomei, emperor of Japan (d. 641)
1573 - Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
1586 - John Ford, English dramatist
1598 - Giovanni Riccioli, Italian astronomer (d. 1671)
1710 - Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, British Freemason (d. 1767)
1734 - Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)
1794 - Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist (d. 1868)
1837 - J.P. Morgan, American financier, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1913)
1842 - Maurice Rouvier, French statesman (d. 1911)
1863 - Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician (d. 1940)
1866 - Ernest Starling, British physiologist (d. 1927)
1882 - Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (d. 1951)
1885 - Isak Dinesen, Danish author (d. 1962)
1890 - Art Acord, American actor and rodeo rider (d. 1931)
1894 - Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
1897 - Thornton Wilder, American dramatist (d. 1975)
1902 - Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican writer, politician, and diplomat (d. 1974)
1903 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (d. 1976)
1903 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (d. 1975)
1915 - Joe Foss, American soldier and politician (d. 2003)
1916 - Helenio Herrera, French footballer player and manager (d. 1997)
1917 - Bill Clements, Governor of Texas
1918 - William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
1923 - Lindsay Anderson, English film director (d. 1994)
1923 - Harry Reasoner, American journalist (d. 1991)
1926 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (d. 2004)
1929 - James Last, German band leader
1934 - Don Kirshner, American television producer and composer
1938 - Ben Barnes, Lieutenant Governor of Texas
1940 - Anja Silja, German soprano
1946 - Georges J.F. Kohler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1995)
1947 - Linda Martin, Irish singer and Eurovision Song Contest winner
1948 - Jan Hammer, Czech composer
1950 - Bruce McNall, American former NHL team owner
1951 - Olivia Hussey, Argentine-born actress
1952 - Zeljko Raznatovic, Serbian Warlord
1954 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
1954 - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (Roderick Toombs), Canadian professional wrestler and actor
1957 - Nick Hornby, English author
1959 - Sean Bean, English actor
1961 - Boomer Esiason, American football player
1963 - Joel Murray, American actor
1964 - Maynard James Keenan, American singer (Tool and A Perfect Circle)
1967 - Marquis Grissom, baseball player
1967 - Liz Phair, American musician/songwriter
1969 - Henry Ian Cusick, Peruvian-born actor
1972 - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricket player
1972 - Tony Boselli, American football player
1972 - Jennifer Garner, American actress
1974 - Victoria Adams, English singer
1974 - Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer and guitarist (Opeth)
1977 - Sizzla, Jamaican dancehall artist
1977 - Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
1978 - Jordan Hill, American singer

April 17 Deaths

326 - Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria
487 - Proclus, Greek philosopher (b. 412)
1080 - King Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
1427 - John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
1539 - George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
1574 - Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (b. 1500)
1695 - Sor Juana, Mexican writer
1696 - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French writer (b. 1626)
1711 - Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
1742 - Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman (b. 1664)
1761 - Thomas Bayes, English mathematician
1764 - Johann Mattheson, German composer (b. 1681)
1790 - Benjamin Franklin, American politician, inventor, diplomat, and printer (b. 1706)
1799 - Richard Jupp, English architect (b. 1728)
1843 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (b. 1762)
1891 - Alexander Mackenzie, second Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
1936 - Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch prime minister (b. 1873)
1941 - Al Bowlly, British dance band vocalist (b. 1899)
1942 - Jean Perrin, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
1944 - J.T. Hearne English cricketer (b. 1867)
1960 - Eddie Cochran, American musician (b. 1938)
1967 - Red Allen, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1908)
1975 - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher (b. 1888)
1977 - William Cardinal Conway, Northern Irish clergyman (b. 1913)
1988 - Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (b. 1900)
1990 - Reverend Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights activist (b. 1936)
1994 - Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1913)
1998 - Linda McCartney, American photographer, activist, and musician (b. 1941)
2003 - Dr. Robert Atkins, American diet doctor (b. 1930)
2003 - Paul Getty, American-born philanthropist (b. 1932)
2003 - Earl King, American musician and songwriter (b. 1934)
2004 - Edmond Pidoux, Swiss writer (b. 1908)
2004 - Soundarya, Indian actress (b. 1971)

Back to Calendar