This Day In History : April 17

1986 United Kingdom

World's Longest War Ends Without a Single Shot Fired

On April 17, 1986, the world's longest war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly officially ended. This war, which lasted 335 years, had not seen any combat or casualties. The conflict was formally concluded with a peace treaty, bringing an end to the unique and prolonged state of war.

Also on This Day in History April 17

Discover what happened on April 17 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, April 17
  • 1598 Giovanni Riccioli

    Italian astronomer who was the first to observe (1650) a double star (two stars so close together that they appear to be one) - Mizar in Ursa Major, the middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper.

  • 1863 Augustus Edward Hough Love

    British geophysicist and mathematician who discovered a major type of earthquake wave that was subsequently named for him.

  • 1925 Charles Yanofsky

    American geneticist who demonstrated the collinearity of gene and protein structures.

  • 1874 Clarence Hungerford Mackay

    American communications executive and philanthropist who supervised the completion of the first transpacific cable between the United States and the Far East in 1904.

  • 1820 Alexander Cartwright

    American inventor of Baseball

Deaths on This Day, April 17
  • 1996 Arnold Neustadter

    American inventor of the Rolodex, an alphabetized rotating card file with a ball-bearing clutch.

  • 1933 Harriet Brooks

    Canadian nuclear physicist who was probably the first to observe the recoil of the atomic nucleus as nuclear particles were emitted during radioactive decay.

  • 1977 Richard Dagobert Brauer

    German-American mathematician and educator, a pioneer in the development of algebra theory.

  • 1790 Benjamin Franklin

    American statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, author, printer and publisher who become widely known in European scientific circles for his reports of electrical experiments and theories.

  • 2003 Robert Atkins

    American physician and cardiologist who created the Atkins diet

1970

Apollo 13 return

In 1970, The Apollo 13 mission ended safely with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, four days after the spacecraft aborted its mission while it was four-fifths of the way to the moon.
1967

Surveyor 3

In 1967, the spacecraft Surveyor 3 was successfully launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. It was the second US spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, where it studied the lunar surface and sent more than 6300 pictures back to Earth.
1976

Sun approach

In 1976, the Helios-B deep-space probe made (what was then) the closest controlled approach to the Sun at 27 million miles (43 million km) or within 0.3 AU.
1982

Canada Adopts Its Constitution

On April 17, 1982, Canada formally adopted its constitution, known as the Constitution Act, 1982. This act, which includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was signed by Queen Elizabeth II. It marked a pivotal moment in Canadian history, affirming the country's sovereignty and legal independence from the United Kingdom.
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