What are the important events that happened on April 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
April 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
April 17 is the 108th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 258 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 4, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,555,200 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaoctagon’ day.
Aries is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Diamond is the modern birthstone for this month. Opal is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 287 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,135 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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April 17 Historical Events
- 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.
- 1797 –Citizens of Verona, Italy, begin an eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces, which will end unsuccessfully.
- 1797 –Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.
- 1907 –The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
- 1941 –World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
- 1946 –Syria obtains its Independence from the French occupation.
- 1964 –Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
- 1982 –Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
- 1986 –The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years’ War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends.
- 2006 –Sami Hammad, a Palestinian suicide bomber, detonates an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
Who were born on April 17?
- 1586 –John Ford, English dramatist
- 1741 –Samuel Chase, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1811)
- 1896 –Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist (d. 1999)
- 1915 –Martin Clemens, Scottish guerilla fighter (d. 2009)
- 1919 –Gilles Lamontagne, French Canadian politician
- 1923 –Solly Hemus, American baseball player
- 1947 –Linda Martin, Irish singer
- 1967 –Henry Ian Cusick, Peruvian-born Scottish actor
- 1967 –Timothy Gibbs, American actor
- 1976 –Monet Mazur, American actress and musician
Who died on April 17?
- 1427 –John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
- 1680 –Kateri Tekakwitha, first American Indian to receive beatification (b. 1656)
- 1790 –Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, diplomat, and printer (b. 1706)
- 1849 –Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (b. 1777)
- 1977 –William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
- 1985 –Evadne Price (aka Helen Zenna Smith), British writer (b. 1896)
- 1988 –Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (b. 1900)
- 1990 –Reverend Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights activist (b. 1936)
- 2003 –John Paul Getty Jr., American-born philanthropist (b. 1932)
- 2006 –Scott Brazil, American television producer and director. (b. 1955)
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