Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 17
This is a list of selected April 17 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
- 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: British Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby and a force of over 6,000 men invaded Spanish-controlled Puerto Rico.
- 1895 – The Empire of Japan and the Qing Empire of China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki to end the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1907 – Brazil's Minas Geraes (pictured) was laid down, making the country the third in the world to have a dreadnought battleship under construction and sparking a South American naval arms race.
- 1961 – Armed Cuban exiles backed by the CIA invaded Cuba, landing in the Bay of Pigs, with the aim of overthrowing the Cuban government under Fidel Castro.
- 1975 – The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot captured Phnom Penh, ending the Cambodian Civil War, and established Democratic Kampuchea.
- 1982 – A new patriated Constitution of Canada, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a bill of rights intended to protect certain political and civil rights of people in Canada from the policies and actions of all levels of government, was signed into law by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.