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April 17 is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 258 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 1080 – King Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by King Canute IV of Denmark, who later became the first Dane to be canonized.
- 1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.
- 1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign a contract for him to sail to Asia to get spices.
- 1521 – Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
- 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazano reaches New York harbor.
- 1555 – After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine Imperial Army.
- 1694 – Pope Patricus I is assassinated outside St Peter's Basilica.
- 1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would become one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
- 1797 – Citizens of Verona, Italy begin an eight–day rebellion against the French occupying forces which will end unsuccessfully.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
- 1865 – Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
- 1882 – Copies of Pat Garrett's biography of Billy the Kid, An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, arrive at the Library of Congress.
- 1895 – The Treaty of Maguan (also known as 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.
1901 – 2000
- 1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than any other day.
- 1912 – Russian troops shoot striking goldfield workers in Northeastern Siberia, killing at least 50.
- 1924 – Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer studios is formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
- 1937 – Daffy Duck first appears in Warner Bros' short Porky's Duck Hunt.
- 1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
- 1942 – POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
- 1945 – In Strassfurt, Germany, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash seizes half a ton of uranium, in an attempt to foil Soviet Union plans to build an atomic bomb.
- 1946 – Syria gains full independence from France.
- 1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first national park.
- 1958 – Brussels holds its first International Exposition since World War II. The Atomium, built for the exposition, becomes a symbol of the city.
- 1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of CIA–financed and –trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
- 1964 – The Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York World's Fair.
- 1964 – Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
- 1969 – British passenger steamer "Sir Harvey Adamson" disappears without a trace after leaving Rangoon, Burma, with 269 people on board.
- 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1969 – Czechoslovak 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.
- 1975 – Cambodian Civil War ends: The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
- 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 automatic gunfire coming from the Libyan People's Bureau in central London. She had been policing a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten other people are wounded. The events lead to an 11–day siege of the building.
- 1991 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever (3,004.46).
From 2001
- 2002 – Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. Air Force F–16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War.
- 2004 – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero becomes Prime Minister of Spain.
- 2013 – The Parliament of New Zealand votes by a majority to legalize same–sex marriage in the country, making it the first country in the Asia–Pacific region to do so.
- 2013 – The funeral of Margaret Thatcher takes place in London. See Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher.
- 2013 – West Fertilizer Plant explosion: An explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas kills 15 people and injures over 160.
- 2014 – NASA's Kepler telescope confirms the discovery of the planet Kepler–186f in the habitable zone of another solar system.
- 2019 – Indonesia holds presidential and parliamentary elections.
- 2019 – Former President of Peru Alan García commits suicide by gunshot while police prepare to arrest him over corruption allegations.
- 2019 – A bus carrying German tourists crashes in Madeira, Portugal, killing 29 people.
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Up to 1900
- 1278 – Michael IX Palaiologus, co–ruling Eastern Roman Emperor (d. 1320)
- 1573 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
- 1586 – John Ford, English dramatist (d. 1639)
- 1598 – Giovanni Riccioli, Italian astronomer (d. 1671)
- 1620 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French saint (d. 1700)
- 1622 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet (d. 1695)
- 1676 – King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
- 1699 – Robert Blair, Scottish poet (d. 1746)
- 1734 – Taksin, King of Siam (d. 1782)
- 1741 – Samuel Chase, American founding father (d. 1811)
- 1750 – Francois de Neufchateau, French statesman (d. 1828)
- 1756 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Tamil revolutionary (d. 1805)
- 1766 – Colin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant and politician (d. 1861)
- 1770 – Mahlon Dickerson, American politician (d. 1853)
- 1795 – George Edmund Badger, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1866)
- 1799 – Edward Williams Clay, American artist (d. 1857)
- 1820 – Alexander Cartwright, American, figure in the history of baseball (d. 1892)
- 1824 – John Basson Humffray, Welsh–Australian politician (d. 1891)
- 1833 – Jean–Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer and conductor (d. 1900)
- 1837 – J. P. Morgan, American financier (d. 1913)
- 1842 – Maurice Rouvier, 53rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1911)
- 1849 – William R. Day, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)
- 1852 – Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)
- 1863 – Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Ursula Ledochowska, Polish–Austrian nun and saint (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)
- 1877 – Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)
- 1879 – Henri Tauzin, French athlete (d. 1918)
- 1882 – Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist (d. 1951)
- 1885 – Karen Blixen, Danish writer (d. 1962)
- 1888 – Jan Vos, Dutch footballer (d. 1939)
- 1891 – George Adamski, Polish–American ufologist and writer (d. 1965)
- 1894 – Nikita Krushchev, Soviet political leader (d. 1971)
- 1895 – Robert Dean Frisbie, American writer (d. 1948)
- 1897 – Thornton Wilder, American writer and playwright (d. 1975)
- 1897 – Edouard Wyss–Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)
- 1899 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)
1901 – 1950
- 1903 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian–born cellist (d. 1976)
- 1903 – Nicolas Nabokov, Russian–American composer and educator (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler (d. 1975)
- 1909 – Alain Poher, French politician (d. 1996)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
- 1911 – Hervé Bazin, French writer (d. 1996)
- 1911 – George Seaton, American director and producer (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Marta Eggerth, Hungarian actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1914 – Dovey Johnson Roundtree, American civil rights activist and attorney (d. 2018)
- 1915 – Joe Foss, American politician, 20th Governor of North Dakota (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 2000)
- 1917 – Bill Clements, American politician, Governor of Texas (d. 2011)
- 1918 – William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1918 – Carol Rama, Italian painter (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican–Mexican singer–songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Edmonde Charles–Roux, French writer (d. 2016)
- 1923 – Gianni Raimondi, Italian tenor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Lindsay Anderson, British director
- 1923 – Neville McNamara, Royal Australian Air Force commander (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Donald Richie, American–Japanese writer and critic (d. 2013)
- 1925 – René Moawad, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)
- 1926 – Joan Lorring, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Margot Honecker, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Cynthia Ozick, American writer
- 1929 – James Last, German musician (d. 2015)
- 1931 – John Barrett, English tennis player
- 1931 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Howard Honig, American actor
- 1933 – Joachim Kroll, German serial killer (d. 1991)
- 1934 – Don Kirshner, American composer (d. 2011)
- 1934 – Peter Morris, Australian–English surgeon
- 1935 – Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek movie director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1940 – Billy Fury, British singer (d. 1983)
- 1940 – Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)
- 1942 – Kenas Aroi, Nauruan politician
- 1943 – Roy Estrada, American musician
- 1946 – Georges J.F. Kohler, German biologist (d. 1995)
- 1947 – Linda Martin, Irish singer–songwriter
- 1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech composer, pianist and keyboardist
- 1948 – Pekka Vasala, Finnish middle–distance runner
- 1948 – John N. Gray, English philosopher
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Horst Hrubesch, German footballer
- 1951 – Olivia Hussey, Argentine–British actress
- 1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver
- 1954 – Lester Square, Canadian musician
- 1955 – Mike Stroud, English physician and explorer
- 1957 – Nick Hornby, British writer
- 1959 – Sean Bean, British actor
- 1959 – Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter
- 1959 – Peter Doig, Scottish painter
- 1960 – Vladimir Polyakov, Russian pole vaulter
- 1961 – Bella Freud, English fashion designer
- 1963 – Joel Murray, American actor
- 1963 – Penny Villagos, Canadian swimmer
- 1963 – Vicky Villagos, Canadian swimmer
- 1964 – Maynard James Keenan, American singer, musician and actor
- 1964 – Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Lela Rochon, American actress
- 1966 – Vikram, Indian actor, singer and producer
- 1967 – Henry Ian Cusick, Peruvian–born actor
- 1967 – Birgitta Jonsdottir, Icelandic politician
- 1970 – Redman, American rapper, producer and actor
- 1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1972 – Claire Sweeney, British actress and television personality
- 1972 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
- 1974 – Victoria Beckham, English singer
- 1974 – Mikael Akerfeldt, Swedish singer–songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1975 – Stefano Fiore, Italian footballer
From 1976
- 1977 – Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
- 1977 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer and pianist
- 1978 – David Murdoch, Scottish curler
- 1978 – Jason White, Scottish rugby player
- 1978 – Jordan Hill, American singer
- 1979 – Siddharth, Indian actor, singer and producer
- 1980 – Lee Hyun–il, South Korean badminton player
- 1981 – Michael Mifsud, Maltese footballer
- 1981 – Jenny Meadows, English middle–distance runner
- 1981 – Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer
- 1981 – Myuran Sukumaran, Australian drug trafficker (d. 2015)
- 1983 – Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player
- 1983 – Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer
- 1984 – Rosanna Davison, Irish model and actress
- 1985 – Jo–Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
- 1985 – Rooney Mara, American actress
- 1985 – Luke Mitchell, Australian actor
- 1985 – Takuya Honda, Japanese footballer
- 1986 – Romain Grosjean, Swiss–French racing driver
- 1987 – Eelco Sintnicolaas, Dutch decathlete
- 1987 – Jacqueline McInnes Wood, Canadian actress and singer
- 1988 – Takahiro Morita, Japanese singer
- 1990 – Gia Mantegna, American actress
- 1991 – Tessa James, Australian actress
- 1992 – Shkodran Mustafi, German footballer
- 1996 – Dee Dee Davis, American actress
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Up to 1900
- 326 – Alexander of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria
- 485 – Proclus, Greek philosopher (b. 412)
- 1080 – King Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
- 1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
- 1539 – George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
- 1574 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar (b. 1500)
- 1669 – Antonio Bertali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1605)
- 1680 – Kateri Jekakwitha, American saint (b. 1656)
- 1711 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
- 1742 – Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman (b. 1664)
- 1790 – Benjamin Franklin, American politician, scientist and writer (b. 1706)
- 1799 – Richard Jupp, English architect (b. 1728)
- 1843 – Samuel Morey, American inventor (b. 1762)
- 1849 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (b. 1777)
- 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (b. 1783)
- 1882 – George Jennings, English engineer and plumber (b. 1810)
- 1888 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (b. 1821)
- 1892 – Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
1901 – 2000
- 1902 – Francis of Spain, King Consort of Spain (b. 1822)
- 1921 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, writer and philosopher (b. 1860)
- 1930 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter (b. 1863)
- 1933 – Kote Marjanishvili, Georgian director and playwright (b. 1872)
- 1936 – Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1873)
- 1937 – Yi Sang, Korean poet (b. 1910)
- 1941 – Al Bowlly, Mozambican–English singer–songwriter and bandleader (b. 1899)
- 1942 – Jean Perrin, French physicist (b. 1870)
- 1960 – Eddie Cochran, American musician (b. 1938)
- 1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and President of India (b. 1888)
- 1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish chemist, won the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
- 1977 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
- 1979 – Yukio Tsuda, Japanese footballer (b. 1917)
- 1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American singer–songwriter, bass player and producer (b. 1939)
- 1984 – Claude Provost, Canadian–American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 1984 – Yvonne Fletcher, British police officer (b. 1958)
- 1985 – Evadne Price, Australian–British writer, actress and astrologer (b. 1888)
- 1990 – Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights activist (b. 1926)
- 1990 – Angelo Schiavio, Italian footballer (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Turgut Ozal, 8th President of Turkey (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Piet Hein, Danish scientist and poet (b. 1905)
- 1997 – Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Linda McCartney, American designer and photographer (b. 1941)
From 2001
- 2003 – Robert Atkins, American dietician (b. 1930)
- 2003 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American–born millionnaire (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Koji Kondo, Japanese footballer (b. 1972)
- 2004 – Abdel Aziz al–Rantissi, Hamas leader (b. 1947)
- 2005 – Konrad Spindler, German scientist (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Kitty Carlisle, American singer and actress (b. 1910)
- 2008 – Aimé Césaire, French–Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)
- 2008 – Danny Federici, American musician (b. 1950)
- 2011 – Bhawani Singh, Indian nobleman (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Karpal Singh, Malaysian politician (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Cheo Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer–songwriter (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Henry Maksoud, Brazilian businessman (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian novelist, won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Francis George, American cardinal (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Robert P. Griffin, American politician, United States Senator (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Mariano Gago, Portuguese engineer and politician (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Viktor Korshunov, Russian actor (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Jeremiah J. Rodell, American brigadier general and priest (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Cyril Leonoff, Canadian civil engineer and historian (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Dawson Mathis, American politician (b. 1940)
- 2017 – John T. Noonan Jr., American judge (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Rosey, Samoan–American professional wrestler (b. 1970)
- 2018 – Barbara Bush, First Lady of the United States (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Big Tom, Irish singer (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Carl Kasell, American radio journalist and quiz show judge (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Vel Phillips, American attorney and politician (b. 1923)
- 2018 – T. V. R. Shenoy, Indian journalist and columnist (b. 1941)
- 2018 – Philibert Randriambololona, Malagasy Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1927)
- 2019 – Alan García, 61st and 64th President of Peru (b. 1949)
- 2019 – Kazuo Koike, Japanese manga artist (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Ya'akov Nehoshtan, Israeli politician and diplomat (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Pieter Verhoeff, Dutch film director (b. 1938)
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- National Day of Syria
- Flag Day (American Samoa)
- Women's Day (Gabon)
- World Hemophilia Day
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