On this day | April 17th

On this day: April 17th

Credit/Source: Wikipedia

1080 Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV of Denmark, who would later be the first Dane to be canonization.

1349 The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II (Bavandid ruler).

1362 Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a Siege of Kaunas (1362).

1492 Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.

1521 Trial of Martin Luther over his Lutheranism begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.

1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

1797 Sir Ralph Abercromby Battle of San Juan (1797) San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.

1797 Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful Veronese Easter against the French First Republic occupying forces.

1861 The state of Virginia's Virginia in the American Civil War # Secession convention votes to secede from the United States; Virginia later becomes the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.

1863 American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.

1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth (1864) begins: Confederate States of America forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

1869 Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.

1876 Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.

1895 The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Liaoning province, Taiwan and the Penghu to Japan.

1905 The Supreme Court of the United States decides ''Lochner v. New York'', which holds that the "Freedom of contract" is implicit in the Due process of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1907 The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

1912 Russian Empire troops Lena massacre on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.

1931 After negotiations between Catalan and Spanish provisional governments, the Catalan Republic (1931) proclaimed in April 14 becomes the Generalitat de Catalunya, the autonomous government of Catalonia within the Second Spanish Republic.

1941 World War II: The Axis powers invasion of Yugoslavia is completed when it signs an armistice with Germany and Italy.

1942 French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.

1944 Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People's Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.

1945 World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.

1945 Historian Tran Trong Kim is appointed the Prime Minister of the Empire of Vietnam.

1946 The Evacuation Day (Syria) from Mandatory Syrian Republic.

1951 The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National parks of England and Wales.

1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the Central Intelligence Agency lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.

1964 Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the ''Spirit of Columbus'', which took 29 1/2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.

1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

1969 Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

1970 Apollo program: The damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

1971 The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.

1975 The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge Fall of Phnom Penh the capital Phnom Penh and Khmer National Armed Forces surrender.

1978 Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.

1982 Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.

1986 An alleged state of Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have been legally considered to exist.

1992 The ''Katina P'' is deliberately run aground off Maputo, Mozambique, and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.

1998 Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-90, the final Spacelab mission.

2003 Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland.

2006 A Palestinians suicide bomber 2nd Rosh Ha'ir restaurant bombing, killing 11 people and injuring 70.

2013 West Fertilizer Company explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.

2014 NASA's Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of Kepler-186f in the Circumstellar habitable zone of another star.

2021 The Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

1277 Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)

1455 Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (d. 1538)

1497 Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, conquered northern Chile (d. 1553)

1573 Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)

1586 John Ford (dramatist), English poet and playwright (d. 1639)

1598 Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (d. 1671)

1620 Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (d. 1700)

1635 Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (d. 1699)

1683 Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (d. 1729)

1710 Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (d. 1767)

1734 Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)

1741 Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1811)

1750 François de Neufchâteau, French academic and politician, List of Interior Ministers of France (d. 1828)

1756 Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)

1766 Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, and politician (d. 1861)

1794 Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (d. 1868)

1798 Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (d. 1840)

1799 Eliza Acton, English food writer and poet (d. 1859)

1814 Josif Pančić, Serbian botanist and academic (d. 1888)

1816 Thomas Hazlehurst (chapel builder), English architect and philanthropist (d. 1876)

1820 Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter and (disputed) inventor of baseball (d. 1892)

1833 Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1900)

1837 J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)

1842 Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd List of Prime Ministers of France (d. 1911)

1849 William R. Day, American jurist and politician, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)

1852 Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)

1863 Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)

1865 Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (d. 1939)

1866 Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)

1875 Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1941)

1877 Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)

1878 Emil Fuchs (baseball), German-American lawyer and businessman (d. 1961)

1878 Demetrios Petrokokkinos, Greek tennis player (d. 1942)

1879 Henri Tauzin, French hurdler (d. 1918)

1882 Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1951)

1888 Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (d. 1954)

1891 George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (d. 1965)

1895 Robert Dean Frisbie, American soldier and author (d. 1948)

1896 Señor Wences, Spanish-American ventriloquist (d. 1999)

1897 Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian philosopher and educator (d. 1981)

1897 Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (d. 1975)

1897 Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)

1899 Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)

1903 Nicolas Nabokov, Russian-American composer and educator (d. 1978)

1903 Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (d. 1976)

1903 Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (d. 1975)

1905 Louis Jean Heydt, American journalist and actor (d. 1960)

1905 Arthur Lake (actor), American actor (d. 1987)

1906 Sidney Garfield, American physician, co-founded Kaiser Permanente (d. 1984)

1909 Alain Poher, French politician, President of France (d. 1996)

1910 Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, List of defence ministers of Greece (d. 1990)

1910 Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)

1910 Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)

1911 Hervé Bazin, French author and poet (d. 1996)

1911 Lester Rodney, American soldier and journalist (d. 2009)

1912 Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 2013)

1914 George Davis (art director), American art director (d. 1984)

1914 Mac Raboy, American illustrator (d. 1967)

1915 Martin Clemens, Scottish soldier (d. 2009)

1915 Joe Foss, American general and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (d. 2003)

1915 Regina Ghazaryan, Armenian painter (d. 1999)

1916 Win Maung, 3rd President of Union of Myanmar (d. 1989)

1916 A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan educator and politician (d. 1981)

1916 Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world's first female prime minister (d. 2000)

1918 William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)

1919 Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2016)

1919 Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)

1920 Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (d. 2016)

1923 Lindsay Anderson, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)

1923 Solly Hemus, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)

1923 Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (d. 2014)

1923 Gianni Raimondi, Italian lyric tenor (d. 2008)

1923 Harry Reasoner, American soldier and journalist (d. 1991)

1924 Kenneth Norman Jones, Australian public servant (d. 2022)

1924 Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (d. 2013)

1925 René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)

1926 Joan Lorring, British actress (d. 2014)

1926 Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2004)

1927 Margot Honecker, East German politician and First Lady (d. 2016)

1928 Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)

1928 Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist

1928 Heinz Putzl, Austrian fencer

1928 Fabien Roy, Canadian accountant and politician (d. 2023)

1929 James Last, German-American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)

1930 Chris Barber, English trombonist and bandleader (d. 2021)

1931 John Barrett (tennis), English tennis player and sportscaster

1931 Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)

1934 Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)

1934 Peter Morris (surgeon), Australian-English surgeon and academic (d. 2022)

1935 Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (d. 2015)

1936 Urs Wild, Swiss chemist (d. 2022)

1937 Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2012)

1937 Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian-German engineer and businessman (d. 2019)

1938 Ben Barnes (Texas politician), American businessman and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas

1938 Doug Lewis (politician), Canadian lawyer and politician, 41st Minister of Justice (Canada)

1938 Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (d. 2011)

1938 Kerry Wendell Thornley, American theorist and author (d. 1988)

1939 Robert Miller (art dealer), American art dealer (d. 2011)

1940 Eric Dancer, English businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Devon

1940 Billy Fury, English singer-songwriter (d. 1983)

1940 John McCririck, English journalist (d. 2019)

1940 Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)

1940 Anja Silja, German soprano and actress

1940 Agostino Vallini, Italian cardinal and Vicar General of Rome

1941 Lagle Parek, Estonian architect and politician, Minister of the Interior (Estonia)

1942 Buster Williams, American jazz bassist

1942 Dnyaneshwar Agashe, Indian businessman and cricketer (d. 2009)

1943 Richard Allen Epstein, American lawyer, author, and academic

1946 Clare Francis, English sailor and author

1947 Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, Scottish lawyer and judge

1947 Richard Field (judge), English lawyer and judge

1947 Sherrie Levine, American photographer

1947 Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager

1948 Jan Hammer, Czech pianist, composer, and producer

1948 Alice Harden, American educator and politician (d. 2012)

1948 Pekka Vasala, Finnish runner

1951 Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress (d. 2024)

1951 Börje Salming, Swedish ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2022)

1952 Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (d. 2016)

1952 Pierre Guité, Canadian ice hockey player

1952 John McColl (British Army officer), English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey

1952 Željko Ražnatović, Serbian commander "Arkan" (d. 2000)

1952 John Robertson (Glasgow politician), Scottish businessman and politician

1954 Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver

1954 Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler and actor (d. 2015)

1954 Michael Sembello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1955 Todd Lickliter, American basketball player and coach

1955 Pete Shelley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)

1955 Mike Stroud (physician), English physician and explorer

1956 Colin Tyre, Lord Tyre, Scottish lawyer and judge

1957 Teri Austin, Canadian actress

1957 Afrika Bambaataa, American disc jockey

1957 Dwane Casey, American basketball coach

1957 Nick Hornby, English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter

1957 Julia Macur, English lawyer and judge

1957 Frank McDonough, British historian

1958 Laslo Babits, Canadian javelin thrower (d. 2013)

1959 Sean Bean, English actor

1959 Jimmy Mann (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player

1959 Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter

1960 Vladimir Polyakov (pole vaulter), Russian pole vaulter

1961 Norman Cowans, Jamaican-English cricketer

1961 Boomer Esiason, American football player and sportscaster

1961 Bella Freud, English fashion designer

1962 Paul Nicholls (horse racing), English jockey and trainer

1964 Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

1964 Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter and producer

1964 Rachel Notley, Canadian politician

1964 Lela Rochon, American actress

1966 Vikram (actor), Indian actor and singer

1967 Henry Ian Cusick, Peruvian-Scottish actor

1967 Kimberly Elise, American actress

1967 Marquis Grissom, American baseball player and coach

1967 Ian Jones (rugby union, born 1967), New Zealand rugby player

1967 Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician, 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

1967 Liz Phair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1968 Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer

1968 Phil Henderson (basketball), American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)

1968 Eric Lamaze, Canadian jockey

1968 Roger Twose, New Zealand cricketer

1968 Richie Woodhall, English boxer and trainer

1970 Redman (rapper), American rapper, producer, and actor

1971 Claire Sweeney, English actress

1972 Gary Bennett (baseball), American baseball player

1972 Tony Boselli, American football player and sportscaster

1972 Jennifer Garner, American actress

1972 Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer

1972 Yuichi Nishimura, Japanese footballer and referee

1972 Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player

1973 Katrin Koov, Estonian architect

1973 Brett Maher (basketball), Australian basketball player and sportscaster

1973 Theo Ratliff, American basketball player

1974 Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1974 Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer

1975 Heidi Alexander, English politician

1975 Travis Roy, American ice hockey player (d. 2020)

1976 Maurice Wignall, Jamaican hurdler and long jumper

1977 Chad Hedrick, American speed skater

1977 Frederik Magle, Danish composer, organist, and pianist

1978 Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier

1978 Lindsay Hartley, American actress

1978 Jason White (rugby union), Scottish rugby player

1979 Eric Brewer (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player

1979 Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper

1980 Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer

1980 Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager

1981 Jenny Meadows, English runner

1981 Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter

1981 Ryan Raburn, American baseball player

1981 Chris Thompson (athlete), English runner

1981 Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer

1982 Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player

1982 Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player

1982 Tyron Woodley, American mixed martial artist

1983 Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player

1983 Roberto Jiménez (footballer, born 1983), Peruvian footballer

1983 Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player

1984 Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer

1984 Jed Lowrie, American baseball player

1984 Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer

1985 Rooney Mara, American actress

1985 Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model

1985 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player

1986 Romain Grosjean, French race car driver

1988 Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter

1989 Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper

1989 Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter

1990 Jonathan Brown (Welsh footballer), Welsh footballer

1992 Lachlan Maranta, Australian rugby league footballer

1992 Jinho, South Korean singer

1994 Alanna Goldie, Canadian fencer

1994 Hongseok, South Korean singer and actor

1995 Wheein, South Korean singer

1996 Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress

1996 Caitlin Parker, Australian boxer

1996 Helene Spilling, Norwegian dancer

1998 Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana (Saint), Thai actor and singer

2001 Ryujin (rapper), South Korean rapper, singer and dancer

485 Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (b. 412)

617 Donnán of Eigg, Irish priest and saint

648 Empress Xiao (Sui dynasty), empress of the Sui dynasty

744 Al-Walid II, Umayyad Caliphate caliph (b. 706)

818 Bernard of Italy, Frankish king (b. 797)

858 Pope Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Church

1071 Manuel Komnenos (kouropalates), Byzantine military commander (b. c. 1045)

1080 Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)

1111 Robert of Molesme, Christian saint and abbot (b. 1027)

1298 Árni Þorláksson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1237)

1321 Blanche of Portugal (1259–1321), daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1259)

1331 Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English nobleman (b. 1257)

1344 Constantine II, King of Armenia

1355 Marin Falier, Doge of Venice (b. 1285)

1427 John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)

1539 George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)

1574 Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (b. 1500)

1669 Antonio Bertali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1605)

1680 Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk people-born Native Americans in the United States saint (b. 1656)

1695 Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1651)

1696 Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (b. 1626)

1711 Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)

1713 David Hollatz (dogmatician), Polish pastor and theologian (b. 1648)

1764 Johann Mattheson, German lexicographer and composer (b. 1681)

1790 Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th List of Governors of Pennsylvania (b. 1706)

1799 Richard Jupp, English surveyor and architect (b. 1728)

1840 Hannah Webster Foster, American journalist and author (b. 1758)

1843 Samuel Morey, American engineer (b. 1762)

1882 George Jennings, English engineer and plumber, invented the flush toilet (b. 1810)

1888 E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (b. 1821)

1892 Alexander Mackenzie (politician), Scottish-Canadian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)

1919 Svetozar Ćorović, Serbian novelist (b. 1875)

1921 Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, author, and philosopher (b. 1860)

1923 Laurence Ginnell, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1852)

1930 Aleksandr Golovin (artist), Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1863)

1933 Kote Marjanishvili, Georgian director and playwright (b. 1872)

1936 Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch lawyer and politician, 28th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1873)

1942 Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1870)

1944 J. T. Hearne, English cricketer and coach (b. 1867)

1944 Dimitrios Psarros, Greek lieutenant, founded the National and Social Liberation (b. 1893)

1946 Juan Bautista Sacasa, Nicaraguan medical doctor, politician and 20th President of Nicaragua (b. 1874)

1948 Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)

1954 Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Romanian lawyer and politician, Ministry of Justice (Romania) (b. 1900)

1960 Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)

1961 Elda Emma Anderson, American physicist and health researcher (b. 1899)

1967 Red Allen, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)

1975 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (b. 1888)

1976 Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1895)

1977 William Conway (cardinal), Irish cardinal (b. 1913)

1983 Felix Pappalardi, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1939)

1984 Claude Provost, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)

1986 Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (b. 1892)

1987 Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher (b. 1901)

1987 Dick Shawn, American actor (b. 1923)

1988 Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor and educator (b. 1900)

1990 Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (b. 1936)

1993 Turgut Özal, Turkish engineer and politician, 8th president of Turkey (b. 1927)

1993 Gamal Hamdan, Egyptian scholar and geographer (b. 1928)

1994 Roger Wolcott Sperry, American psychologist and biologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1913)

1995 Frank E. Resnik, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1928)

1996 Piet Hein (scientist), Danish poet and mathematician (b. 1905)

1997 Chaim Herzog, Israeli general, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of Israel (b. 1918)

1998 Linda McCartney, American photographer, activist, and musician (b. 1941)

2003 Robert Atkins (nutritionist), American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (b. 1930)

2003 H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)

2003 John Paul Getty, Jr., American-English philanthropist (b. 1932)

2003 Earl King, American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1934)

2003 Yiannis Latsis, Greek businessman (b. 1910)

2004 Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (b. 1908)

2006 Jean Bernard (physician), French physician and haematologist (b. 1907)

2006 Scott Brazil, American director and producer (b. 1955)

2006 Henderson Forsythe, American actor (b. 1917)

2007 Kitty Carlisle, American actress, singer, socialite and game show panelist (b. 1910)

2008 Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (b. 1913)

2008 Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (b. 1950)

2011 Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (b. 1926)

2011 Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (b. 1940)

2011 Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (b. 1926)

2012 Leila Berg, English journalist and author (b. 1917)

2012 J. Quinn Brisben, American educator and politician (b. 1934)

2012 Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (b. 1948)

2012 Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1912)

2012 Jonathan V. Plaut, American rabbi and author (b. 1942)

2012 Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1917)

2013 Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (b. 1931)

2013 Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (b. ≈1910)

2013 Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (b. 1957)

2013 V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1934)

2014 Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (b. 1927)

2014 Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (b. 1922)

2014 Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (b. 1938)

2014 Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1940)

2015 Robert P. Griffin, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1923)

2015 Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1928)

2015 Jeremiah J. Rodell, American general (b. 1921)

2015 A. Alfred Taubman, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)

2016 Chyna, American wrestler (b. 1969)

2016 Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925)

2018 Barbara Bush, American political matriarch and literacy advocate, First Lady of the United States (1989–1993), and Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States (1981–1989) (b. 1925)

2018 Carl Kasell, American radio personality (b. 1934)

2019 Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (b. 1949)

2022 Radu Lupu, Romanian pianist (b. 1945)

Christian Calendar of saints:

- Donnán of Eigg

- Henry Heath (martyr)

- Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)

- Robert of Molesme

- Shemon bar Sabbae

- April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Evacuation Day (Syria), celebrates the recognition of the independence of Syria from France in 1946.

FAO Day (Iraq)

Flag Day (American Samoa)

Malbec World Day

Public holidays in Gabon (Gabon)

World Hemophilia Day

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/17 BBC: On This Day]

[https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/17 Historical Events on April 17]