April 17: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 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 the start of the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury.
2. 1492 - Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
3. 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.
4. 1907 - The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
5. 1949 - At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.
6. 1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
7. 1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
8. 1964 - Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.
9. 1973 - George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.
10. 1982 - Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
11. Famous Birthdays: Giovanni Battista Riccioli (Italian priest and astronomer). étienne Bobillier (French mathematician), Alexander Cartwright (American inventor of Baseball), Thornton Wilder (American author and playwright), Malcolm Browne (American journalist and photographer)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: April 16

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: April 18

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.