History for April 17

History for April 17 - On-This-Day.com
J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan 1837 - Financier, Thornton Wilder 1897 - Novelist, playwright, William Holden (Beedle Jr.) 1918 - Actor ("Stalag 17 [1953]", "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "The Towering Inferno")


Don Kirshner 1934 - Music publisher, created The Monkees, Sean Bean 1958 - Actor ("Goldeneye", "The Lord of the Rings" series), Victoria Beckham (Victoria Caroline Adams) 1974 - Singer (Posh Spice of the Spice Girls)


1946 - The last French troops left Syria.


1961 - About 1,400 U.S.-supported Cuban exiles invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. It was an unsuccessful attack.


1964 - The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model.


1969 - In Los Angeles, Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.


1969 - Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.


1970 - Apollo 13 returned to Earth safely after an on-board accident with an oxygen tank.


1993 - A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King. Two other officers were acquitted.


1996 - Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents.