This Day in History
17 Apr 1397
Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of English King Richard II
17 Apr 1524
Giovanni Verrazano a Florentine navigator discovers New York Bay
17 Apr 1534
Sir Thomas More confined in the Tower of London
17 Apr 1704
1st successful US newspaper published in Boston by John Campbell
More History
Benjamin Franklin dies
On April 17 1790 American statesman printer scientist and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.Born in Boston in 1706 Franklin became a...
Yugoslavia surrenders
During World War II representatives of Yugoslavias various regions sign an armistice with Nazi Germany at Belgrade ending 11 days of futile resistance...
Architect of Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring resigns
Alexander Dubcek the communist leader who launched a broad program of liberal reforms in Czechoslovakia is forced to resign as first secretary by the Soviet f...
Apollo 13 returns to Earth
With the world anxiously watching Apollo 13 a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon safely returns to Earth.On ...
First antiwar protest of the year is conducted
The first major antiwar protest of 1972 is held. The demonstration held at the University of Maryland was organized to protest the Reserve Officers Training C...
Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh and government forces surrender. The war between government troops and the communist insurgents had been raging since Marc...
Mike Schmidt hits four consecutive homers
On this day in 1976 Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits four consecutive home runs in a game against the Chicago Cubs. Schmidt was only the fourth p...
JFK waits for word on the Bay of Pigs invasion
President John F. Kennedy waits for word on the success of a covert plan to overthrow Cubas government on this day in 1961. Kennedy had authorized Opera...
Life of Billy the Kid arrives at Library of Congress
Several copies of Sheriff Pat Garretts wildly inauthentic biography An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid arrive at the Library of ...
Isak Dinesen is born
Karen Dinesen Baroness Blixen-Finecke better known by her pen name Isak Dinesen is born in Rungsted Denmark. Dinesens memoir Out of Africa helped...
Eddie Cochran dies, and Gene Vincent is injured, in a UK car accident
Eddie Cochran the man behind Summertime Blues and Cmon Everybody was killed on this day in 1960 when the taxi carrying him...
General Hospital airs 10,000th episode
On this day in the 2002 ABC airs the 10000th episode of the daytime drama General Hospital the networks longest-running soap opera and the longest-ru...
Volcanic eruption kills 80,000
Heavy eruptions of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia are letting up by this day in 1815. The volcano which began rumbling on April 5 killed almost 100000 peo...
A single horsehair uncovers a murderer
After a week of tracking down every conceivable lead police finally find the evidence they need in order to break the case of Nancy Tittertons rape-mur...
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel ...
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