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This day in history

This day in history: 17 April

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day227 · 103

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Key facts

375 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 17 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2021: The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Donnán of Eigg

Christian feast day: Henry Heath

Christian feast day: Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)

Christian feast day: Robert of Molesme

Christian feast day: Shemon bar Sabbae

Evacuation Day (Syria), celebrates the recognition of the independence of Syria from France in 1946.

Flag Day (American Samoa)

Malbec World Day

Women's Day (Gabon)

World Hemophilia Day

Events

2021The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

2014NASA's Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

2013An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.

2013The ceremonial funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher takes place at St Paul's Cathedral.

2006A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.

2003Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland.

1998Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-90, the final Spacelab mission.

1992The Katina P is deliberately run aground off Maputo, Mozambique, and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.

1986An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly is declared over.

1982Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.

1978Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.

1975The Cambodian Civil War ends and the Cambodian Genocide begins. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.

1971The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.

1970Apollo program: The damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

1969Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

1969Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

1964Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the Spirit of Columbus, which took 29+1⁄2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.

1961Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.

1951The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.

1946The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.

1945Historian Tran Trong Kim is appointed the Prime Minister of the Empire of Vietnam.

1945World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.

1944Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People's Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.

1942World War II: French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.

1941World War II: The Axis powers invasion of Yugoslavia is completed when it signs an armistice with Germany and Italy.

1931After negotiations between Catalan and Spanish provisional governments, the Catalan Republic proclaimed in April 14 becomes the Generalitat de Catalunya, the autonomous government of Catalonia within the Spanish Republic.

1925The Communist Party of Korea (CPK) was founded in Japanese-ruled Korea (Chōsen) in Keijō (now Seoul) by Kim Yong-bom and Pak Hon-yong.

1912Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.

1907The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

1905The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1895The 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 Fengtian provi

1876Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.

1869Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.

1864American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

1863American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.

1861The state of Virginia's secession convention votes to secede from the United States; Virginia later becomes the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.

1797Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.

1797Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.

1783American Revolutionary War: Colbert's Raid: A Spanish garrison under Captain Jacobo du Breuil defeat British irregulars at Arkansas Post.

1524Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

Born on this day

2005Antonio Nusa, Norwegian footballer

2001Shin Ryujin, South Korean rapper, singer and dancer

2001Violette Dorange, French Professional Round the World Sailor

1998Anna Odine Strøm, Norwegian ski jumper and two-time Olympic champion

1998Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana (Saint), Thai actor and singer

1996Caitlin Parker, Australian boxer

1996Helene Spilling, Norwegian dancer

1996Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress

1995Jung Wheein, South Korean singer

1994Alanna Goldie, Canadian fencer

1994Yang Hongseok, South Korean singer and actor

1992Jo Jinho, South Korean singer

1992Lachlan Maranta, Australian rugby league footballer

1990Jonathan Brown, Welsh footballer

1989Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter

1989Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper

1988Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter

1986Romain Grosjean, French race car driver

1985Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player

1985Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model

1985Rooney Mara, American actress

1984Jed Lowrie, American baseball player

1984Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer

1984Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer

1983Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player

1983Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer

1983Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player

1982Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player

1982Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player

1982Tyron Woodley, American mixed martial artist

1981Chris Thompson, English runner

1981Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter

1981Jenny Meadows, English runner

1981Ryan Raburn, American baseball player

1981Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer

1980Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager

1980Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer

1979Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player

1979Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper

1978Daniel Hensel, German composer and musicologist

Died on this day

2022Radu Lupu, Romanian pianist (born 1945)

2019Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, twice President of Peru (born 1949)

2019Gwen Marston, American quilter and writer (born 1936)

2018Barbara Bush, American political matriarch and literacy advocate, First Lady of the United States (1989–1993), and Second Lady of the United States (1981–1989) (born 1925)

2018Carl Kasell, American radio personality (born 1934)

2016Chyna, American wrestler (born 1969)

2016Doris Roberts, American actress (born 1925)

2015A. Alfred Taubman, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1924)

2015Jeremiah J. Rodell, American general (born 1921)

2015Robert P. Griffin, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1923)

2015Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1928)

2014Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (born 1922)

2014Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)

2014Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (born 1940)

2014Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (born 1938)

2013Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (born ≈1910)

2013Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (born 1931)

2013V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (born 1934)

2013Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (born 1957)

2012Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (born 1948)

2012Jonathan V. Plaut, American rabbi and author (born 1942)

2012J. Quinn Brisben, American educator and politician (born 1934)

2012Leila Berg, English journalist and author (born 1917)

2012Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (born 1912)

2012Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (born 1917)

2011Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (born 1926)

2011Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (born 1940)

2011Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (born 1926)

2008Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (born 1913)

2008Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (born 1950)

Quote of the day

“Confine yourself to the present.”

Marcus Aurelius

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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