April 17
1790
Benjamin Franklin, U.S. patriot, diplomat, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, died in Philadelphia.
1895
The Sino-Japanese War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
1937
Daffy Duck made his debut in Porky’s Duck Hunt.
1961
Supported by the U.S. government, 1,500 exiles made the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.
1964
Geraldine Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world.
1969
Sirhan Sirhan was convicted for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy.
1970
The Apollo 13 astronauts safely splashed down after their near-disastrous flight.
1975
Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, ending the five year Cambodian war.
Birthdays
Nikita Khrushchev
Pronunciation: [nyikE´tu syirgA´yuvich khrooschôf´]
1894–1971, Soviet Communist leader, premier of the USSR (1958–64), and first secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (1953–64).
J. P. Morgan
financier (1837)
Isak Dinesen
author (1885)
Thornton Wilder
playwright (1897)
Harry Reasoner
media journalist (1923)