April 17

• 1492 - Spain and Christopher Columbus sign a contract for him to sail to Asia to get spices.
• 1521 - Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
• 1524 - Giovanni da Verrazano reaches New York harbor.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina begins - Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
• 1865 - Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
• 1882 - Copies of Pat Garrett's biography of Billy the Kid, An Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, arrive at the Library of Congress.
• 1924 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed from a merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
• 1937 - Daffy Duck debuts in Warner Bros' short Porky's Duck Hunt.
• 1941 - World War II: Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
• 1942 - POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein.
• 1945 - In Strassfurt, Germany, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash seizes half a ton of uranium, in an attempt to foil Soviet Union plans to build an atomic bomb.
• 1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion begins: A group of CIA-financed and -trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
• 1964 - Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York World's Fair.
• 1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
• 1969 - Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
• 1969 - Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
• 1970 - Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
• 1975 - Cambodian Civil War ends: The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
• 1982 - Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
• 1984 - WPC Yvonne Fletcher is killed by automatic gunfire fire from Libyan People's Bureau in central London. She had been policing a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten other people are wounded. The events lead to an 11 day siege of the building.
• 2002 - Four Canadian infantrymen are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. F-16s.

• 1598 - Giovanni Riccioli, astronomer (d. 1671)
• 1837 - J.P. Morgan, financier, art collector, philanthropist (d. 1913)
• 1852 - Cap Anson, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1922)
• 1882 - Artur Schnabel, pianist (d. 1951)
• 1885 - Isak Dinesen, author (d. 1962)
• 1893 - Irene Castle, dancer (d. 1969)
• 1894 - Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet politician and Premier 1958-1964 (d. 1971)
• 1897 - Thornton Wilder, dramatist and narrator (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (d. 1975)
• 1915 - Joe Foss, soldier, politician (d. 2003)
• 1917 - Bill Clements, governor of Texas
• 1918 - William Holden, actor (d. 1981)
• 1923 - Lindsay Anderson, director (d. 1994)
• 1923 - Harry Reasoner, journalist (d. 1991)
• 1929 - James Last, band leader
• 1934 - Don Kirshner, television producer, composer
• 1940 - Anja Silja, soprano
• 1948 - Jan Hammer, composer
• 1951 - Olivia Hussey, actress
• 1954 - Blackbyrd McKnight, musician (P Funk)
• 1954 - Riccardo Patrese, racing driver
• 1957 - Nick Hornby, author
• 1961 - Boomer Esiason, American football player
• 1967 - Marquis Grissom, baseball player
• 1967 - Liz Phair, musician
• 1972 - Jennifer Garner, actress

• 487 - Proclus, Neoplatonic philosopher (b. 412)
• 1790 - Benjamin Franklin, politician, inventor, diplomat, printer (b. 1706)
• 1799 - Richard Jupp, English architect (b. 1728)
• 1843 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (b. 1762)
• 1891 - Alexander Mackenzie, second Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
• 1942 - Jean Perrin physicist (b. 1870)
• 1960 - Eddie Cochran, musician (b. 1938)
• 1967 - Red Allen, jazz musician (b. 1908)
• 1990 - Reverend Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist (b. 1936)
• 1998 - Linda McCartney, activist, musician (b. 1941)