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 107^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 258 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 4, 2025 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,080,800 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 ‘hectaheptagon’ 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 306 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 4,500 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

April 17 Historical Events

• 1521 –
  Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
• 1524 –
  Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
• 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.
• 1905 –
  The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
• 1907 –
  The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
• 1912 –
  Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
• 1941 –
  World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
• 1951 –
  The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
• 1961 –
  Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of CIA financed and trained Cuban exiles lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
• 1984 –
  Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan People’s 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.

Who were born on April 17?

• 1833 –
  Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian composer (d. 1900)
• 1885 –
  Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Danish author (d. 1962)
• 1930 –
  Chris Barber, British jazz band leader
• 1938 –
  Ben Barnes, American politician
• 1942 –
  Kenas Aroi, Nauruan politician
• 1964 –
  Maynard James Keenan, American singer (Tool and A Perfect Circle)
• 1967 –
  Henry Ian Cusick, Peruvian-born Scottish actor
• 1973 –
  Theo Ratliff, American basketball player
• 1974 –
  Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish guitarist and singer (Opeth)
• 1980 –
  Nicholas D'Agosto, American television and film actor

Who died on April 17?

• 485 –
  Proclus, Greek philosopher (b. 412)
• 617 –
  Donnán of Eigg, Celtic Christian martyr, patron saint of Eigg
• 1742 –
  Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman (b. 1664)
• 1790 –
  Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, diplomat, and printer (b. 1706)
• 1882 –
  George Jennings Sanitary engineer (b. 1810)
• 1984 –
  Claude Provost, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
• 1994 –
  Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1913)
• 1996 –
  Piet Hein, Danish scientist and poet (b. 1905)
• 2003 –
  Robert Atkins, American dietician (b. 1930)
• 2008 –
  Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (b. 1913)