This Day in History

Tuesday 17th April 2012

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Historical Events

858 - Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope

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 when the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury starts.
1492 - Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find Indies
1524 - Giovanni Verrazano, a florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 - Sir Thomas More confined in London Tower
1555 - Siena surrenders for Spanish troops
1596 - Arch duke Albrecht of Austria occupies Calais
1629 - 1st commercial fishery established
1704 - 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 - Charles VI Habsburg becomes king of Austria
1747 - French troops occupy Zeeuws-Flanders, Netherlands
1758 - Francis Williams, 1st US black college graduate, publishes poems
1793 - Battle of Warsaw
1797 - Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions to Spanish territories in America.
1808 - Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships

Today's Historical Events »

John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company he merged in 1901 with the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses, including Consolidated Steel and Wire Company owned by William Edenborn, to form the United States Steel Corporation.

Famous Birthdays

1539 - Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter/cartoonist (Comedia)
1573 - Maximilian I, duke/ruler of Bayern (Catholic League)
1573 - Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
1586 - John Ford, English dramatist ('Tis Pity She's a Whore)
1587 - Marco Ivan Lukacic, composer
1598 - Giovanni Riccioli, Italian astronomer (d. 1671)
1620 - Marguerite Bourgeoys, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame (d. 1700)
1622 - Henry Vaughan, English poet (Silex Scintillans)
1644 - Abraham Jansz Storck, painter, baptized
1666 - Francois Valentijn, Dutch vicar/writer
1676 - Frederik I, van Hessen Kassel, King of Sweden (1720-51)
1683 - Johann David Heinichen, composer
1699 - Robert Blair, Scottish poet (Grave)
1710 - Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, British Freemason (d. 1767)

Today's Famous Birthdays »

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705^[1]] – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist,politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass 'armonica'. He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania.