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Historical Events on this Day in History

Events in History for Friday 17th April 2015

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Today's Significant Events

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 book's pilgrimage to Canterbury starts.
1492 - Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find Indies
1895 - Treaty of Shimonoseki signed, ends 1st Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1982 - Canada adopts its constitution
2012 - The St Cuthbert Gospel, Europe's oldest intact book, purchased by the British Library for 9 million pounds

Today's Historical Events

Events 1 - 170 of 170

858 - Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
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 book's pilgrimage to Canterbury starts.
1492 - Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find Indies
1524 - Giovanni Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 - Sir Thomas More confined in Tower of London
1555 - Siena surrenders to Spanish troops
1596 - Archduke Albrecht of Austria occupies Calais

Explorer of the New WorldChristopher Columbus1629 - 1st commercial fishery established
1704 - 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 - Charles VI becomes Holy Roman Emperor after the death of his brother Joseph I
1747 - French troops occupy Zeeuws-Flanders, Netherlands
1758 - Francis Williams, 1st US black college graduate, publishes poems
1793 - Battle of Warsaw
1797 - Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of Spanish territories in America.
1808 - Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships
1817 - 1st US school for deaf (Hartford, Conn)
1824 - Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54° 40'N
1839 - Guatemala forms republic
1853 - Thorbecke government resigns

French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte1853 - US Marine Hospital at Presidio (SF) forms
1861 - Indianola TX - "Star of West" taken by Confederacy
1861 - Virginia secedes from the Union (US Civil War)
1863 - R Grierson's: La Grange, TN to Baton Rouge, LA
1864 - Battle of Plymouth, NC
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
1875 - Snooker invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain
1892 - 1st Sunday NL baseball game, Reds beat Cards 5-1
1895 - Treaty of Shimonoseki signed, ends 1st Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1900 - 7 high chiefs of American Samoa sign Instrument of Cession
1905 - US Supreme court judges maximum work day unconstitutional
1905 - The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York which held that the "right to free contract" was implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
1907 - Ellis Island, NY-11,745 immigrants arrive
1912 - 1st unofficial gold record (Al Jolson's "Ragging The Baby To Sleep")
1920 - American Professional Football Association forms (NFL)
1923 - Longest NL opening game, Phillies & Dodgers tie 5-5 in 14
1924 - Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures & Louis B Mayer Co merged to form Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)

Baseball Legend Babe Ruth1925 - NY Yankee Babe Ruth has ulcer surgery
1925 - Paul Painlevé succeeds Edouard Herriot as French premier
1927 - Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls/Baron Tanaka becomes premier
1930 - Abkhazian ASSR forms in Georgian SSR
1930 - DuPont scientist Elmer K. Bolton invents neoprene using Julius Nieuwland's divinyl acetylene
1932 - Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1933 - Chicago Bears win their 1st NFL Game beating NY Giants 23-21
1934 - New Fenway Park opens, Washington Senators beat Red Sox 6-5
1935 - Provincial-National elections (Musserts NSB achieves 7.9%/44 chairs)
1937 - Debut of cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig
1939 - Joe Louis KOs Jack Roper in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 - SN Behrman's "No Time for Comedy" premieres in NYC

Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin1939 - Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-Nazi pact
1941 - British troop land in Iraq/Yugoslavia; surrender to nazis
1941 - US Office of Price Administration forms (handled rationing)
1941 - World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
1942 - 12 Lancasters bomb MAN factory in Augsburg
1942 - Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp
1942 - POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein.
1943 - Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul
1943 - SS-Gruppenführer (Lt Gen) Jurgen Stoop arrives in Warsaw
1945 - 8th Air Force bombs Dresden
1945 - German occupiers flood Wieringermeer, Netherlands
1945 - Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1945 - US troops lands in Mindanao

Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini1946 - Syria declares independence from French administration
1947 - Jackie Robinson bunts for his 1st major league hit
1948 - Elpidio Quirino assumes the Presidency of the Philippines, taking his oath of office two days after the death of President Manuel Roxas
1951 - NY Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1st game, he goes 1 for 4
1953 - Mickey Mantle hits a 565' (172 m) HR in Wash DC's Griffith Stadium
1955 - Betty Jameson wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1956 - Bulgaria premier Tchervenkov resigns
1956 - Premium Savings Bonds introduced in Great Britain
1956 - USSR's Cominform (Parliament) dissolves
1956 - Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1958 - Brussells (Belgium) World Fair opens
1960 - American Samoa sets up a constitutional government
1960 - Cleveland Indians trade Rocky Colavito to Tigers for Harvey Kuenn

Baseball Legend Mickey Mantle1961 - 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Castro
1961 - 33rd Academy Awards - "Apartment" wins best film, Burt Lancaster &Elizabeth Taylor win best actor/actress
1961 - Jimmy Stewart accepts an honorary Oscar on behalf of his friend Gary Cooper, who is too ill to attend
1964 - "Cafe Crown" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 3 performances
1964 - "High Spirits" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 375 performances
1964 - 1st game at Shea Stadium, NY Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1964 - Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2,368 base)
1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes 1st woman to fly solo around the world
1966 - 100th international soccer match between Netherlands-Belgium (3-1)
1966 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
1967 - Shortwave Radio NY Worldwide goes back on the air after a week off

Actor Jimmy Stewart1967 - Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
1968 - "Fade Out-Fade In" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 72 perfs
1968 - A's 1st game in Oakland-Alameda Stadium, lose 4-1 to Balt Orioles
1969 - People's Democracy activist Bernadette Devlin becomes the youngest woman Member of Parliament ever elected to Westminster at 21 years old
1969 - Alexander Dubček forced to resign as first secretary of Czechoslovakia's Communist Party
1969 - Mont Expos Bill Stoneman no-hits Phillies, 7-0
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Sen Robert F Kennedy
1969 - The Band (formerly The Hawks), perform their 1st concert
1970 - Apollo 13 limps back safely, Beech-built oxygen tank no help
1970 - Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released
1971 - Egypt, Libya & Syria form federation (FAR)

Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartney1971 - People's Republic Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1972 - 1st Boston Women's Marathon won by Nina Kuscsik of NY 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
1973 - German counter-terrorist unit GSG 9 founded.
1974 - Bundy victim Susan Rancourt disappears from CWU, Ellensburg, WA
1974 - Muslim fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis, Egypt
1975 - Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Kampuchea Natl Day)
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 Schmidthits 4 consecutive HRs

MLB Third Baseman Mike Schmidt1977 - "I Love My Wife" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 864 performances
1977 - Christian-democrats win Belgium parliamentary election
1977 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament
1978 - 63,500,000 shares traded on NY stock exchange (record)
1978 - 7th Boston Women's Marathon won by Gayle Barron of Ga 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
1979 - Four Royal Ulster Constabulary officers are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army van bomb in Bessbrook, County Armagh; the bomb is believed to be the largest PIRA bomb used up to that point
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 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Prime Minister of CanadaPierre Trudeau1982 - Proclamation of the Constitution Act by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
1983 - 1st National Coin Week begins
1983 - Grete Waltz runs female world record marathon (2:25:29)
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
1983 - Islanders tie NHL record with 3 shorthanded playoff goals vs Rangers Rangers 7-Isles 6-Patrick Div Finals-Isles hold 2-1 lead Wayne Gretzky scores 7 points in one Stanley Cup playoff game
1984 - Braves pitcher Pascual Perez suspended due to cocaine usage
1984 - During Libyan Embassy demonstration in London, British police officer Yvonne Fletcher shot dead

Ice Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky1986 - IBM produces 1st megabit-chip
1986 - Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
1986 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Larry McMurtry for "Lonesome Dove"
1987 - Julius Erving becomes 3rd NBA player to score 30,000 points
1987 - Richard Wilbur appointed as US poet laureate
1987 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
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 Marath 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 NY State unemployment benefits raised to $245 per week
1989 - Polish labor union granted legal status
1989 - Soviet-US agreement allows Soviets to fight US pros
1990 - Gas explosion on passenger train in Kumrahar India, 80 die

LPGA Golfer Nancy Lopez1991 - Dow Jones closes above 3,000 for 1st time (3,004.46)
1991 - Railroad workers go on strike in US
1993 - Two Los Angeles police officers convicted in federal court of violatingRodney King's civil rights
1993 - STS-56 (Discovery) lands
1994 - "Little More Magic" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 30 perfs
1994 - "Twilight - Los Angeles 1992" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 72 perfs
1994 - 55th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Lee Trevino wins
1994 - Aruba government of Oduber falls
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, recieves new pacemaker

NHL Goalie Martin Brodeur1997 - NJ Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game
2001 - A letter between Gale Norton and Jeb Bush is released, stating that the Bush administration has decided to go ahead with plans to auction 6 million acres of potentially oil-and-gas-rich seabed in the Gulf of Mexico
2002 - Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two United States Air Force F-16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War.
2012 - The St Cuthbert Gospel, Europe's oldest intact book, purchased by the British Library for 9 million pounds
2013 - 5 people are killed in Wana, Pakistan, by a United States drone attack
2013 - 15 people are killed and 100 are injured after a fertilizer plant explodes in West, Texas
2013 - North Korea blocks a South Korean supply delegation from the Kaesong joint industrial zone
2013 - Same-sex marriage is legalized in New Zealand
2014 - Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins a fourth term as President of Algeria

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