On This Day - April 17th
Featured Event:
Canada Act proclaimed (1982) 🇨🇦
The Canada Act, also known as the Constitution Act, took effect on this day in 1982, establishing certain individual rights, preserving parliamentary supremacy, and making Canada a wholly independent, fully sovereign state.
Other Events:
1961: Cuban leader Fidel Castro's forces repelled the Bay of Pigs invasion, which was led by recent Cuban exiles and financed by the U.S. government during the Cold War. 🇨🇺
1970: The Apollo 13 command module entered Earth's atmosphere and splashed down, ending one of the most tense chapters in space history; four days earlier an oxygen tank had exploded, threatening the lives of three astronauts. 🚀
2003: Anneli Jäätteenmäki was sworn in as prime minister of Finland, which thereby became the second country (after New Zealand) to install a woman as head of both state and government. ♀️
2011: The hugely popular TV show Game of Thrones debuted on HBO. 📺
Holidays:
Evacuation Day 🇸🇾
Flag Day 🇦🇸
Women's Day 🇬🇦
World Hemophilia Day 🌏
Featured Birthdays:
1837: J.P. Morgan 🇺🇸 (Financier)
1894: Nikita Khrushchev 🇷🇺 (Premier)
1968: Adam McKay 🇺🇸 (Director)
1975: Victoria Beckham 🇬🇧 (Singer)
Featured Deaths:
1790: Benjamin Franklin 🇺🇸 (Founding Father)
1998: Linda McCartney 🇺🇸 (Photographer)
2014: Gabriel García Márquez 🇨🇴 (Novelist)
2018: Barbara Bush 🇺🇸 (First Lady)