Independence
day
Syrian Arab
Republic
Events
of the day
American Samoa (US)
Flag Day
69
– After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius
becomes Roman Emperor.
1080 – King of Denmark Harald III dies and is
succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the
first Dane to be canonized.
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.
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 of 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.
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 Festung
Königstein.
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 – Brazilian forces liberate the town of
Montese, Italy, from German 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 CIA
financed and trained Cuban exiles 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 – Czechoslovakian Communist Party chairman
Alexander Dubček 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.
1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer
Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian
government forces surrender.
1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber was assassinated, provoking
a communist coup d'état in Afghanistan.
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 gunfire from the Libyan People's Bureau 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.
2006 – Sami Hammad, a Palestinian suicide bomber,
detonates an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing
11 people and injuring 70.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)
Pope Anicetus
April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Store Bededag or General
Prayer Day can fall, while May 13 is the latest;
observed on the 4th Friday after Easter day.
(Denmark)
Evacuation Day, celebrates the recognition of
the independence of Syria from France in 1946.
FAO Day (Iraq)
Flag Day (American Samoa)
Women's Day (Gabon)
World Hemophilia Day (International)
For details, contact Datacentre
