April
17
Independence
Day
Syria : April 17 1946
April
17
American Samoa (US)
Flag Day
Events
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
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