April 17

Wednesday 17, 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.

Tuesday 17, 2001:

Barry Bonds becomes the 17th member of the 500 home run club at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California.

Wednesday 17, 1991:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever gaining 17.58 to 3,004.46.

Thursday 17, 1986:

Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.

Tuesday 17, 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.

Saturday 17, 1982:

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

Thursday 17, 1975:

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

Friday 17, 1970:

Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

Thursday 17, 1969:

Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dub?ek is deposed.

Friday 17, 1964:

1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.

Monday 17, 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.

Tuesday 17, 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.

Friday 17, 1942:

POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.

Thursday 17, 1941:

World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

Saturday 17, 1937:

Daffy Duck debuts in Warner Bros' short Porky's Duck Hunt.

Thursday 17, 1924:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.

Wednesday 17, 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.

Monday 17, 1882:

Copies of Pat Garrett's biography of Billy the Kid, An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, arrive at the Library of Congress.

Monday 17, 1865:

Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Sunday 17, 1864:

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

Wednesday 17, 1861:

American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.

Thursday 17, 1524:

Giovanni da Verrazano reaches New York harbor.

Sunday 17, 1521:

Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.

Sunday 17, 1492:

Spain and Christopher Columbus sign a contract for him to sail to Asia to get spices.

Monday 17, 1397:

Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.

More on April, 17

• People Born on April, 17
• They left us on April, 17