17 April 2024 (MIA)

1080 – The King of Denmark, Harald III dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.

1349 – Fall of the Bavand dynasty, and rise of the Afrasiyab dynasty.

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 the start of the book’s pilgrimage to Canterbury.

1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.

1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.

1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

1555 – After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine-Imperial army. The Republic of Siena is incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

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

1797 – Citizens of Verona, Italy, begin an eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces, which will end unsuccessfully.

1861 – The state of Virginia’s secession convention votes to secede from the United States, becoming the 8th state to join the Confederate States of America.

1863 – American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.

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

1895 – 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.

1897 – The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident.

1905 – The 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.

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

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

1937 – Daffy Duck’s first appearance, in Porky’s Duck Hunt.

1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.

1944 – Forces 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.

1945 – World War II: Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from Nazi forces.

1946 – Syria obtains its independence from the French occupation.

1949 – At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.

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

1961 – Bay 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.

1964 – Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.

1964 – Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.

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

1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubcek is deposed.

1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

1971 – The People’s Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.

1973 – George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.

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

1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’etat in Afghanistan.

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

1984 – Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan People’s Bureau (Embassy) in London during a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten others are wounded. The events lead to an 11-day siege of the building.

1986 – The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years’ War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends.

1986 – Nezar Hindawi’s attempt to detonate a bomb aboard an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv is thwarted.

1992 – President of the Republic of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, unveils a plaque at the army center reading “The Republic of Macedonia, Army House – Skopje.” In a symbolic way, it marked the arrival of the new army recruits as the Army was witnessing its military independence.

1993 – Turkish President Turgut Ozal died on April 8, in Ankara. During his time of ruling, the Republic of Turkey recognized the Republic of Macedonia. He was born on October 13, 1927, in the eastern region of Turkey, Malatya

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

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

2014 – NASA’s Kepler confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.