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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
17 April, 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.
17 April, 1991
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,000 for the first time ever gaining 17.58 to 3,004.46.
17 April, 1986
Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
17 April, 1984
Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan Peoples 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.
17 April, 1982
Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
17 April, 1975
Cambodian Civil War ends: The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
17 April, 1973
Federal Express delivers its first package.
17 April, 1971
Peoples Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
17 April, 1970
Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
17 April, 1969
Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
17 April, 1969
Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek is deposed.
17 April, 1964
The Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York Worlds Fair.
17 April, 1964
Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
17 April, 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.
17 April, 1949
At midnight 26 counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on OConnell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland
17 April, 1945
In Stassfurt, 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.
17 April, 1942
POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
17 April, 1941
World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
17 April, 1924
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
17 April, 1907
Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than any other day.
17 April, 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.
17 April, 1865
Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
17 April, 1864
American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
17 April, 1861
American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.
17 April, 1797
Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions to Spanish territories in America.
17 April, 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.
17 April, 1524
Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
17 April, 1521
Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
17 April, 1492
Spain and Christopher Columbus sign a contract for him to sail to Asia to get spices.
17 April, 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 when the books pilgrimage to Canterbury starts.
17 April, 69
After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.

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