Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 17
April 17: Fast of the Firstborn (Judaism, 2008).
- 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 Chinese Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, an unequal treaty that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1942 – World War II: Captured French General Henri Giraud (pictured) escaped from German captivity in the Königstein Castle.
- 1961 – Armed Cuban exiles backed by the CIA invaded Cuba, landing in the Bay of Pigs, with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
- 1975 – The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot captured Phnom Penh, ending the Cambodian Civil War, and established the Democratic Kampuchea.
- 1986 – The Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace, ending the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War.