Today In History - April 17

858 Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1421 Dikes at Dort Holland breaks, 100,000 drown
1492 Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find Indies
1521 Martin Luther is excommunicated from Roman Catholic Church
1534 Sir Thomas Moore confined in London Tower
1555 Siena surrenders for Spanish troops
1596 Arch duke Albrecht of Austria occupies Calais
1629 1st commercial fishery established
1704 1st successful U.S. newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 Charles VI Habsburg becomes king of Austria
1793 Battle of Warsaw
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of U.S. ships
1824 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54 degrees 40' N
1839 Guatemala forms republic
1853 Thorbecke government resigns
1853 U.S. Marine Hospital at Presidio San Francisco forms
1861 Virginia is 8th state to secede
1863 R Grierson's: La Grange, Tennessee to Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1864 Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina
1864 Bread revolt in Savannah, Georgia
1864 Grant suspends prisoner-of-war exchanges
1865 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination
1869 1st pro baseball games-Cin Reds 24, Cin amateurs 15
1892 1st Sunday NL baseball game, Reds beat Cards 5-1
1900 7 high chiefs of American Samoa sign Instrument of Cession
1905 U.S. Supreme Court judges maximum work day unconstitutional
1907 Ellis Island, New York - 11,745 immigrants arrive
1923 Longest NL opening game, Phillies and Dodgers tie 5-5 in 14
1924 Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer merged to form MGM
1925 New York Yankee Babe Ruth has ulcer surgery
1927 Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls/Baron Tanaka becomes premier
1930 Abkhazian ASSR forms in Georgian SSR
1932 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1933 Chicago Bears win their 1st NFL Game beating New York Giants 23-21
1934 New Fenway Park opens, Washington Senators beat Red Sox 6-5
1937 Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Petunia Pig, debut
1939 Joe Louis KOs Jack Roper in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 SN Behrman's "No Time for Comedy," premieres in New York City
1939 Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-nazi pact
1941 British troop land in Iraq/Yugoslavia; surrender to nazis
1942 12 Lancasters bombs MAN-factory in Augsburg
1942 Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp
1943 Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul
1943 SS-lt-general Jurgen Stoop arrives in Warsaw
1945 8th Air Force bombs Dresden
1945 Mussolono flees from Salo to Molan
1945 U.S. troops lands in Mindanao
1946 Syria declares independence from French administration
1947 Jackie Robinson bunts for his 1st major league hit
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1st game, he goes 1 for 4
1955 Betty Jameson wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1956 Bulgaria premier Tchervenkov resigns
1956 Kominform disbands
1956 Premium Savings Bonds introduced in Great Britain
1956 Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1960 American Samoa sets up a constitutional government
1960 Cleveland Indians trade Rocky Colavito to Tigers for Harvey Kuenn
1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs attempt to overthrow Castro
1961 33rd Academy Awards - "Apartment," Burt Lancaster and Liz Taylor win
1964 "Cafe Crown" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 3 performances
1964 "High Spirits" opens at Alvin Theater New York City for 375 performances
1964 1st game at Shea Stadium, New York Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1964 Jerrie Mock becomes 1st woman to fly solo around the world
1966 Carol Mann wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
1967 Shortwave Radio New York Worldwide goes back on the air after a week off
1967 Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
1968 "Fade Out-Fade In" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 72 performances
1968 A's 1st game in Oakland-Alameda Stadium, lose 4-1 to Baltimore Orioles
1969 Bernadette Devlin elected to British house of commons
1969 Czechoslovakia's Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek deposed
1969 Mont Expos Bill Stoneman no-hits Phillies, 7-0
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Sen Robert F Kennedy
1970 Apollo 13 returns back safely to Earth
1970 Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released
1971 People's Republic Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1972 1st Boston Women's Marathon won by Nina Kuscsik of New York in 3:10:26
1972 76th Boston Marathon won by Olavi Suomalainen of Finland in 2:15:39
1972 Revised Dutch constitution proclaimed
1972 Kiteman attempting to throw out 1st ball in Phillie Vet crashes into centerfield seats
1973 2nd Boston Women's Marathon won by Jacqueline Hansen of CA in 3:05:59
1973 77th Boston Marathon won by Jon Anderson of Oreg in 2:16:03
1974 Moslem fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis Egypt
1975 Penguins 6-Isles 4-Quarterfinals-Penguins hold 3-0 lead
1976 NL greatest comeback, trailing 12-1 Phils win 18-16 in 10, Mike Schmidt hits 4 consecutive HRs
1977 "I Love My Wife" opens at Barrymore Theater New York City for 864 performances
1977 Christian-democrats win Belgium parliamentary election
1977 Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament
1978 7th Boston Women's Marathon won by Gayle Barron of Georgia in 2:44:52
1978 82nd Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:10:13
1978 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sagan for "Dragons of Eden"
1979 Brian Clark's "Whose Life is it Anyway?," premieres in London
1981 Isle Potvin's 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers
1981 Ranger's Anders Hedberg is 2nd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
1982 Canada adopts its constitution
1982 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1983 1st National Coin Week begins
1983 In Warsaw, police route 1,000 Solidarity supporters
1983 India entered space age launching SLV-3 rocket
1983 Lynn Adams wins LPGA Combanks Orlando Golf Classic
1983 Nolan Ryan strikes out his 3,500th batter
1984 Braves pitcher Pascual Perez suspended due to cocaine usage
1984 Libyan embassy demonstration, 1 shot dead
1986 IBM produces 1st megabit-chip
1986 Pulitzer prize awarded to Larry McMurtry for "Lonesome Dove"
1987 Julius Erving becomes 3rd NBA player to score 30,000 points
1987 New York Richard Wilbur appointed as U.S. poet laureate
1988 Ethiopian Belayneh Densimo runs world record marathon (2:06:50)
1988 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA AI Star/Centinela Hospital Golf Classic
1989 18th Boston Women's Marathon won by Ingrid Kristiansen of Nor in 2:24:33
1989 93rd Boston Marathon won by Abebe Mekonen of Ethiopia in 2:09:06
1989 Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $245 per week
1989 Polish labor union granted legal status
1989 Soviet-U.S. agreement allows Soviets to fight U.S. pros
1990 Gas explodes on passenger train in Kumrahar India, 80 die
1991 Railroad workers go on strike in U.S.
1993 Police officers found guilty of violating Rodney Kings civil rights
1994 "Little More Magic" closes at Belasco Theater New York City after 30 performances
1994 "Twilight - Los Angeles 1992" opens at Cort Theater New York City for 72 performances
1994 55th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Lee Trevino wins
1994 Aruba government of Oduber falls
1994 Jennie Garth weds Dan Clark
1994 Val Skinner wins LPGA Atlanta Women's Golf Championship
1995 24th Boston Women's Marathon won by Uta Pippig of Germany in 2:25:11
1995 99th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 2:09:22
1997 John Bell, 115, receives new pacemaker
1997 New Jersey Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game

Today In History - April 17

On This Date in History

Famous Persons Born on This Date in History