Historical Events on Thursday, 17th April

17/04/2021

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

On 9 April 2021, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-serving royal consort in history, died of old age at Windsor Castle at the age of 99.

---

17/04/2014

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

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space exploration. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the US and is organized into mission directorates for Science, Space Operations, Exploration Systems Development, Space Technology, Aeronautics Research, and Mission Support. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle.

---

17/04/2013

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

On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, United States, while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire there. Fifteen people were killed, over 160 injured, and more than 150 buildings damaged or destroyed. Investigators confirmed that ammonium nitrate was the material that exploded. On May 11, 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stated that the fire was deliberately set. That finding has been disputed.

---

17/04/2006

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

Palestinians are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. They represent a highly homogeneous community who share a cultural and ethnic identity, speak Palestinian Arabic and share close religious, linguistic, and cultural ties with other Levantine Arabs.

---

17/04/2003

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

Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki is a Finnish politician who was the first female and 39th prime minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Finland.

---

17/04/1998

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

Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared with later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a heavier aft fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock throughout its lifetime, these made Columbia the heaviest of the five spacefaring orbiters: around 1,000 kilograms heavier than Challenger and 3,600 kilograms heavier than Endeavour when originally constructed. Columbia also carried ejection seats based on those from the SR-71 during its first six flights until 1983, and from 1986 onwards carried an imaging pod on its vertical stabilizer.

---

17/04/1992

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

Katina P was a Greek oil tanker carrying 72,000 tonnes of oil which sank off the Mozambique coast on 26 April 1992.

---

17/04/1986

An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have been legally considered to exist.

The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War was an alleged state of war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. It is said to have been extended by the lack of a peace treaty for 335 years without a single shot being fired, which would make it one of the world's longest wars, and a bloodless war. Despite the uncertain validity of the declaration of war, and thus uncertainty about whether or not a state of war ever actually existed, peace was finally declared in 1986, bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have been legally considered to exist.

---

17/04/1982

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

The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of patriating the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, including renaming it the Constitution Act, 1867. In addition to patriating the Constitution, the Constitution Act, 1982 enacted the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; guaranteed rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada; entrenched provincial jurisdiction over natural resources; provided for future constitutional conferences; and set out the procedures for amending the Constitution in the future.

---

17/04/1978

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

Mir Akbar Khyber was an Afghan left-wing intellectual and a leader of the Parcham faction of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). His assassination by an unidentified person or people led to the overthrow of Mohammed Daoud Khan's republic, and to the advent of a socialist regime in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

---

17/04/1975

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

The Cambodian Civil War was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam and China, against the government of the Kingdom of Cambodia and, after October 1970, the Khmer Republic, which had succeeded the kingdom after a coup, both supported by the United States and South Vietnam. The conflict was part of the Vietnam War.

---

17/04/1971

The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.

The Provisional Government of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government and also known as the Bangladeshi government-in-exile, was the first and founding government of Bangladesh that was established following the proclamation of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 10 April 1971. Headed by prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, it was the supreme leadership of the liberation movement, comprising a cabinet, a diplomatic corps, an assembly, an armed force, and a radio service. It operated as a government-in-exile from Kolkata. The president of this government was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is the main undisputed figure here; however, in his absence, Syed Nazrul Islam became the acting president.

---

17/04/1970

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

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. It was conceived in 1960 as a three-person spacecraft during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

---

17/04/1969

Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Palestinian-Jordanian man who assassinated U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 United States presidential election on June 5, 1968. Sirhan was 24 years old at the time. On April 17, 1969, he was convicted of first-degree murder, among other charges. He was subsequently sentenced to death by gas chamber. In 1972, this was commuted to a life sentence in the aftermath of People v. Anderson. The circumstances surrounding the attack, which took place five years after President Kennedy's assassination, have led to numerous conspiracy theories.

---

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comintern. Between 1929 and 1953, it was led by Klement Gottwald. The KSČ was the sole governing party in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic though it was a leading party along with the Slovak branch and four other legally permitted non-communist parties. After its election victory in 1946, it seized power in the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état and established a one-party state allied with the Soviet Union. Nationalization of virtually all private enterprises followed, and a planned economy was implemented.

---

17/04/1964

Jerrie 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.

Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz Mock was an American pilot and the first woman to fly solo around the world. She flew a single engine Cessna 180 christened the Spirit of Columbus and nicknamed "Charlie." The trip began March 19, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio, and ended April 17, 1964, in Columbus. It took 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes, with 21 stopovers and almost 22,860 miles (36,790 km).

---

17/04/1961

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.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front (DRF), consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, clandestinely and directly financed by the U.S. government. The operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure influenced relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

---

17/04/1951

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

The Peak District is an upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivided into the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west of the district, and the White Peak covers central and southern areas. The highest point is Kinder Scout. Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.

---

17/04/1946

The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.

Independence Day is Syria's National Day commemorating the evacuation of the last French soldier at the end of the French mandate of Syria on 17 April 1946 after Syria's proclamation of full independence on 27 September 1941.

---

17/04/1945

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

Montese is a town in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

---

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

Trần Trọng Kim (Vietnamese: [t͡ɕən˨˩ t͡ɕawŋ͡m˧˨ʔ kim˧˧]; chữ Hán: 陳仲金, Kanji pronunciation: Chin Jūkin; Japanese: チャン・チョン・キム, romanized: Chan Chon Kimu; 1883 – December 2, 1953; courtesy name Lệ Thần was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a state established with the support of Imperial Japan in 1945 after Japan had seized direct control of Vietnam from Vichy France toward the end of World War II. He was an uncle of Bùi Diễm.

---

17/04/1944

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.

The Greek People's Liberation Army was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, following the Dekemvriana clashes and the Varkiza Agreement, it was disarmed and disbanded. ELAS was the largest and most significant of the military organizations of the Greek resistance.

---

17/04/1942

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

A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.

---

17/04/1941

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

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

---

17/04/1931

After 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.

The Catalan Republic was a state proclaimed in 1931 by Francesc Macià as the "Catalan Republic within the Iberian Federation", in the context of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. It was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, and superseded three days later, on 17 April, by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan institution of self-government within the Spanish Republic.

---

17/04/1925

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

The Communist Party of Korea was a communist party in Korea founded during a secret meeting in Seoul in 1925. The Governor-General of Korea had banned communist and socialist parties under the Peace Preservation Law so the party had to operate in a clandestine manner. The leaders of the party were Kim Yong-bom and Pak Hon-yong.

---

17/04/1912

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

The Russian Empire spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history, behind only the British and Mongol empires. It also colonized Alaska between 1799 and 1867. The empire's 1897 census, the only one it conducted, found a population of 125.6 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity.

---

17/04/1907

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

Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, about 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were processed there; according to one estimate, two-fifths of Americans may be descended from these immigrants. It has been part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument since 1965 and is accessible to the public only by ferry. The north side of the island is a national museum of immigration, while the south side of the island, including the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is open to the public through guided tours.

---

17/04/1905

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.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party". In 1803, the court asserted itself the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.

---

17/04/1895

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 Fengtian province, Taiwan and the Penghu to Japan.

The Treaty of Shimonoseki , also known as the Treaty of Maguan in China or the Treaty of Bakan in Japan, was signed in Shimonoseki, Japan, on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and the Qing dynasty. The treaty ended the First Sino-Japanese War, in which the Japanese decisively defeated the Chinese land and naval forces. The treaty was signed at the Shunpanrō hotel by Count Itō Hirobumi and Viscount Mutsu Munemitsu for Japan and Li Hongzhang and his son Li Jingfang on behalf of China.

---

17/04/1876

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

The Catalpa rescue was the escape, on 17–19 April 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from the Convict Establishment, a British penal colony in Western Australia. They were taken on the convict ship Hougoumont to Fremantle, Western Australia, arriving 9 January 1868. In 1869, pardons had been issued to many of the imprisoned Fenians. Another round of pardons was issued in 1871, after which only a small group of "military" Fenians remained in Western Australia's penal system.

---

17/04/1869

Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.

Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca.

---

17/04/1864

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

The Battle of Plymouth was an engagement during the American Civil War that was fought from April 17 through April 20, 1864, in Washington County, North Carolina.

---

17/04/1863

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

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

---

17/04/1861

The 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.

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. It borders Kentucky to the west, Tennessee to the south-west, North Carolina to the south, West Virginia to the north-west, and Maryland to the north. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populous city is Virginia Beach. With a population of 8.8 million, it is the twelfth-most populous and fifteenth-most densely populated state. More than one-third of Virginia's population lives in Northern Virginia, which includes the most populous jurisdiction in the state, Fairfax County.

---

17/04/1797

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

Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank of lieutenant general in the British army, he was commander-in-chief, Ireland, and was noted for his military service during the French Revolutionary Wars, which included defeating the French invasion of Egypt and Syria.

---

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

Verona is the largest city in the region of Veneto in Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in Northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

---

17/04/1783

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

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.

---

17/04/1524

Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer from the Republic of Florence, best known for his expedition to North America. He led most of his later missions, including the one to America, in the service of King Francis I of France.

---

17/04/1521

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.

Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history.

---

17/04/1492

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

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

---

17/04/1362

Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege.

Kaunas Castle is a medieval castle in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. Archeological evidence suggests that it was built during the mid-14th century in the Gothic style. Its site is strategic—a rise on the banks of the Nemunas River near its confluence with the Neris River. As of the 21st century, roughly one-third of the original castle remains.

---

17/04/1349

The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II.

The Bavand dynasty, or simply the Bavandids, was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in parts of Tabaristan in what is now northern Iran from 651 until 1349, alternating between outright independence and submission as vassals to more powerful regional rulers. They ruled for 698 years, which is the second longest dynasty of Iran after the Baduspanids.

---

17/04/1080

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

Harald Hen was King of Denmark from 1076 to 1080. Harald III was an illegitimate son of Danish king Sweyn II Estridsson, and contested the crown with some of his brothers. He was a peaceful ruler who initiated a number of reforms. Harald was married to his cousin Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter, but did not leave any heirs, and was succeeded by his brother Canute IV the Saint. Four of his half-brothers were in turn crowned Danish kings.

---