Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 17
- 1895 - The Empire of Japan and the Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Maguan, an 'unequal' treaty that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1937 - Daffy Duck made his debut in a short cartoon by the Warner Bros. Studio.
- 1942 - Captured French General Henri Giraud escaped from his castle prison.
- 1961 - The CIA-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba began.
- 1975 - The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, ending the Cambodian Civil War.