11 History Lessons + 4 Births & 5 Deaths for April 17, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus receives funding from Queen Isabella I of Spain for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano becomes the first European to reach New York Harbor.
- 1861 – Virginia secedes from the Union during the American Civil War.
- 1905 – The Supreme Court rules in Lochner v. New York that limits to working time violate the 14th Amendment.
- 1941 – Yugoslavia surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II.
- 1961 – The Bay of Pigs Invasion begins as Cuban exiles, backed by the CIA, land in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro.
- 1964 – The Ford Mustang is officially introduced at the World’s Fair in New York.
- 1970 – The ill-fated Apollo 13 mission safely returns to Earth after a critical failure in space.
- 1986 – The FBI arrests U.S. Navy spy Jonathan Pollard for selling secrets to Israel.
- 2002 – Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during the Second Intifada.
- 2014 – NASA’s Kepler telescope confirms the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1967 – Liz Phair, singer-songwriter known for Exile in Guyville (58)
- 1971 – Jennifer Garner, actress (Alias, 13 Going on 30) (54)
- 1972 – Victoria Beckham, singer (Spice Girls) and fashion designer (53)
- 1987 – Rooney Mara, actress (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) (38)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1790 – Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the U.S. and inventor (84)
- 1960 – Eddie Cochran, American rock and roll pioneer (Summertime Blues) (21)
- 1983 – Felix Pappalardi, musician and producer (Cream, Mountain) (43)
- 2014 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian author and Nobel laureate (One Hundred Years of Solitude) (87)
- 2018 – Barbara Bush, former U.S. First Lady and literacy advocate (92)
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