1492 – Signing of an agreement between Spain and Christopher Columbus for a voyage to Asia for a supply of spices
1521 – Martin Luther summoned by the Emperor to justify himself before the Diet of Worms
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor
1797 – The Veronese Easters broke out in Verona against the French who had invaded the Venetian Republic.
1848 – The wall surrounding the Jewish ghetto in Rome was demolished.
1861 – The State of Virginia secedes from the United States
1865 – Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1895 – Treaty of Shimonoseki, known in China as the Treaty of Maguan, a convention signed at the Shunpanrō Hotel on April 17, 1895 between the Japanese Empire and the Qing Dynasty. It ended the First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895).
1912 – The tsarist army carries out the Lena Massacre
1924 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) is founded
1941 – World War II: Yugoslavia capitulates following the invasion by Axis forces.
1944 – Nazi-fascist massacre in Berceto, Rufina (FI): German soldiers kill two elderly people, two little girls and five women.
1944 – Second World War: Roundup of the Quadraro neighborhood in Rome
1961 – Cuban Missile Crisis/Bay of Pigs: Invasion of Cuba begins
1964 – Ford introduces the Mustang car
Jerrie Mock is the first woman to circumnavigate the earth by air
1969 – Chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubček, is deposed
Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of the assassination of Robert Kennedy
1970 – USA/NASA: return of Apollo 13 with rescue of the crew
1975 – Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge
1984 – London: Officer Yvonne Fletcher is killed in a shootout outside the Libyan embassy between police and a group of demonstrators. Ten other people are injured. The episode will cause an eleven-day siege of the building where the embassy is located
2002 – Afghanistan: Killing of four Canadian soldiers hit by friendly fire from two US F-16s
2003 – Pope John Paul II publishes the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia on the Eucharist in its relationship with the Church
2004 – West Bank: Gaza, the head of the Palestinian group Hamas, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, killed by an Israeli missile
2014 – NASA announces the discovery of the most Earth-like planet discovered so far which is given the name Kepler-186f
Saints of the day: April 17th
Saint Anicetus was the tenth Pope of the Catholic Church, who ruled from 155 to 166 AD. During his pontificate, he stood out for having addressed and resolved various controversies within the Church. He was also a Christian martyr, as he died during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Saint Sulpice the Pious was a bishop of Bourges, France, in the 6th century AD. He was known for his devotion to prayer and meditation, as well as his kindness and humility. He was considered a saint already during his lifetime and after his death, the fame of his sanctity spread throughout France.
Saint Ròculus was a monk who lived near Limoges, France, in the 10th century AD. He was known for his ascetic life and his devotion to prayer. He was venerated as a saint after his death, thanks to the numerous miracles he was said to have performed.
San Donnino di Città di Castello was a bishop who lived in Italy in the 3rd century AD. He was martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Decius and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. He is considered the patron saint of the city of Città di Castello, where his feast day is still celebrated every year.
Saint Benedict Menni was a Spanish priest of the 19th century AD who founded the Congregation of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His mission was to assist the mentally ill and promote their rehabilitation. He was canonized in 1999 by Pope John Paul II and his liturgical memory is celebrated on 24 April.
Born today April 17th
Victoria Adams (1974)
Giusy Ferreri (1979)
Jennifer Garner (1972)
Nick Hornby (1957)
Paola Perego (1966)
Deaths today April 17th
Benjamin Franklin (1790)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2014)
Catherine Spaak (2022)
