April 17
Jump to:
Events on This Day
1629 - Horses were first imported into the colonies by the Massachusetts Bay Colony on this day.1704 - John Campbell, known by many as America’s first news vendor, published what would eventually become the first successful American newspaper, the Boston News-Letter.
1790 - Benjamin Franklin, U.S. scientist, inventor, writer, printer, publisher, businessman, statesman, diplomat, legislator, and social activist, died. He was 84 years old. Franklin helped frame the U.S. Declaration of Independence and was one of the earliest and strongest advocates for the abolition of slavery, and for the protection of civil rights.
1810 - Pineapple cheese was patented by Lewis M. Norton. Mr. Norton lived nowhere near pineapples. He was from Litchfield, CT. Pineapple cheese... Yummy!
1860 - New Yorkers learned of a new law. It required fire escapes to be provided for tenement houses.
1916 - The American Academy of Arts and Letters obtained its charter from Congress.
1933 - Backed by the On the Trail portion of the magnificent Grand Canyon Suite, Johnny Roventini, pillbox hat and all, uttered the words “Call for Philip Morris” for the first time on radio. The famous phrase was said in perfect B flat pitch and tone to perfectly match the accompanying music. This “Call for Philip Morris” phrase became one of the most famous in all of advertising. Here are a few other classics from advertising’s golden age to jog your brain’s memory cells: “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet,” “Pepsi Cola hits the spot, 12 full ounces and that’s a lot,” “When better cars are built, Buick will build them,” “Aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did?”
1935 - People gathered around the radio to listen for the first time to what would become the ultimate horror show on NBC Radio. Lights Out remained on radio, until 1946.
1941 - Igor Sikorsky accomplished the first successful helicopter (or heliocopter as it was called then) lift-off from water near Stratford, CT.
1946 - Syria declared its independence from French administration.
1950 - Tony Bennett made his first recording, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, for Mitch Miller and Columbia Records. Although it was not a big hit, the record marked the beginning of Bennett’s long association with Columbia. He hit number one the following year with Because of You.
1953 - One of the most famous home runs in baseball history was whacked by New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle on this day. ‘The Mick’ hit a 565-foot homer in Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC.
1956 - Two of the greats began their major-league baseball careers this day: Luis Aparicio played for the Chicago White Sox and Don Drysdale began work with the Brooklyn (later, LA) Dodgers. Aparicio became the American League Rookie of the Year. Drysdale won 209 games before he retired. Both were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on the same day, August 12, 1984. Drysdale later became a broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox and the Dodgers.
1960 - Eddie Cochran (Summertime Blues) was killed and Gene Vincent (Be-Bop-A-Lula) was seriously injured when their car blew a tire and crashed into a lamp post. They had been on their way to the airport in London after a tour of Britain. Cochran’s fiancee, Shari Sheeley, was also seriously injured in the crash.
1961 - The 33rd Annual Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Bob Hope, ended the ten year drought during which producer, writer, director Billy Wilder could not capture the elusive Oscar. Wilder was no stranger to Oscar, though. He had three of the golden statuettes sitting on his mantle (or wherever the Wilders keep their awards) from previous years. But this year, the winnings were much sweeter. Not only did Mr. Wilder receive the Oscar for Best Writing/Story and Screenplay/Written Directly for the Screen (shared with I.A.L. Diamond) and the Best Director Oscar (both for The Apartment), he and The Apartment also received the top award, Best Picture. There were other happy Oscar recipients this night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, as well. Burt Lancaster took the Best Actor honors and Shirley Jones, the Best Supporting Actress, for their performances in Elmer Gantry. Elizabeth Taylor was voted Best Actress for her role in Butterfield 8. Spartacus, nominated in six categories, won four Oscars, including one for Peter Ustinov as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The Best Music/Song was awarded to Never on Sunday and Manos Hadjidakis from the foreign flick: Pote tin Kyriaki. Yes, we know ... it’s all Greek to you. Some one-Oscar wonder films from 1960: Sons and Lovers, The Alamo, The Time Machine, Exodus. Some multi-nominations but no wins from that year include: Inherit the Wind, The Sundowners, Cimarron, Sunrise at Campobello, Psycho, Bells are Ringing, The Magnificent Seven, Can-Can.
1961 - Some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Their attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro failed.
1964 - The CBS television network paid $1,800,000 per game for the rights to the 1964 and 1965 National Football League (NFL) Championship games.
1964 - The Mustang was introduced to the public at the New York World’s Fair this day. Ford’s legendary car was unveiled to the public as a mid-model-year entry (1964 1/2) for $2,368 base price. Over 22,000 orders were taken on the first day and over 417,000 Mustangs were sold in the first 12 months.
1967 - Comedian Joey Bishop got the opportunity to attempt to unseat the king of late night, Johnny Carson. The Joey Bishop Show made its debut on ABC-TV this night. Bishop, Regis Philbin (announcer) and Johnny Mann (music) couldn’t beat Carson, but held out until December 26, 1969 (the show’s last broadcast).
1970 - The breakup of The Beatles, the most influential rock group in music history, was official when Paul McCartney’s solo LP, McCartney, was released. Paul played all the instruments himself on this Apple album.
1971 - Joy to the World, by Three Dog Night, made it to the top of the pop music charts on this day. The song was number one for six weeks. Now that’s a hit!
1972 - Betcha by Golly, Wow, by The Stylistics from Philadelphia, earned a gold record for the group. The Stylistics also scored million sellers with You are Everything, I’m Stone in Love with You, Break Up to Make Up and You Make Me Feel Brand New. The smooth R&B group could have won an award for the most creative use of the words, Betcha, by Golly, Wow, too, if anyone had thought about it...
1975 - ‘Khmer Rouge’ guerrillas seized Phnom Penh and began a reign of terror in which more than one million people died.
1977 - I Love My Wife opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The musical was a satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s. On Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New Jersey two married couples, close friends since high school, found themselves contemplating a ménage-à-quatre... I Love My Wife starred James Naughton, Joanna Gleason, Lenny Baker and Ilene Graff. It closed on May 20, 1979, after 857 fun-filled performances.
1978 - The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction went to Carl Sagan for his Dragons of Eden.
1982 - Queen Elizabeth II signed the Constitution Act (also called the Canada Act) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The act cut the last legal tie between Canada and Britain. (The constitution retains Queen Elizabeth as queen of Canada and keeps Canada’s membership in the Commonwealth.)
1985 - The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its new 22-cent LOVE stamp. In a clever promotion, the USPS used the set of ABC-TV’s The Love Boat as a backdrop. The stamp went on to become one of the most popular ever offered by the postal service.
1986 - The Netherlands ambassador to the Isles of Scilly, Jonkheer Rein Huydecoper, flew to the Isles of Scilly delivering a proclamation that terminated a 335-year war. It seems that in 1651, the war had begun. No one seems to know or care what started the war. What seems to be more important is that, although the actual fighting ended in the 17th century, no one had ever officially declared an end to the war until this day.
1986 - Larry McMurtry won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Lonesome Dove.
1989 - The Polish trade union Solidarity was legalized after a seven-year ban. This led to the first non-communist government in the Eastern Bloc.
1990 - The Reverend Ralph D. Abernathy, the civil rights activist and top aide to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, died in Atlanta at age 64.
1991 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 3,000 for the first time (3,004.46). A post-Gulf-War rally propelled stocks past the 3,000 milestone, nine months after just missing it.
1995 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signed an executive order stripping the classified label from most national security documents that were at least 25 years old.
1996 - A jury in Los Angeles opted to spare Erik and Lyle Menendez the death penalty, recommending that the brothers instead serve life in prison without parole for gunning down their wealthy parents.
1997 - Former Israeli statesman and president, Chaim Herzog, died at age 78. Herzog played a major role in the founding of the Jewish state and defended Israel on the battlefield. He also chronicled its history and championed its cause at the United Nations (chief delegate 1975-1978).
1997 - House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced he would borrow $300,000 from retired Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole to pay a sanction imposed for violation of House of U.S. Reprentatives rules.
1998 - Linda McCartney died of breast cancer at age 56. She not only performed with her husband, former Beatle, Paul McCartney, but was also an acclaimed photographer. She was also an advocate of vegetarianism and animal rights. Born Linda Eastman in New York on September 24, 1941, she was the daughter of copyright attorney Lee Eastman (no relation to the famous Eastman Kodak family). Photography was her greatest claim to faim, however, and during the 1960s she became a noted shutterbug, covering the rock music scene (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors) for Rolling Stone and other magazines. She met McCartney during the launch of the Beatles’ Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band (1967), and they began dating following the dissolution of his longtime relationship with girlfriend Jane Asher. Paul and Linda were married March 12, 1969. The Linda McCartney cancer treatment Centre in Liverpool was opened in her memory in 2000.
1998 - These films debuted in the U.S.: Homegrown, a comedy, thriller, with John Lithgow, Jon Tenney, Ryan Phillippe and Hank Azaria; Major League III: Back to the Minors, starring Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen, Dennis Haysbert and Takaaki Ishibashi; The Object of My Affection, with Paul Rudd, Kali Rocha, Jennifer Aniston and Lena Cardwell; Paulie (“Life from a parrot’s point of view,” starring Gena Rowlands Tony Shalhoub Cheech Marin and, of course, Paulie the parrot; and Suicide Kings, a comedy, drama, mystery, thriller, with Christopher Walken, Henry Thomas, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto and Denis Leary.
2000 - Elijah Lagat of Kenya won the 104th Boston Marathon. Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won the women’s race.
2001 - By a nearly two-to-one margin, Mississippians voted to keep the Confederate emblem on their state flag.
2001 - San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds became the 17th major-leaguer to hit 500 home runs.
2002 - A federal judge ruled the U.S. Justice Department could not interfere with the state of Oregon’s assisted-suicide law.
2003 - The Actors opened in U.S. movie theatres. The crime comedy stars Michael Caine, Dylan Moran, Michael Gambon, Lena Headey, Miranda Richardson, Michael McElhatton, Aisling O'Sullivan, Ben Miller, Abigail Iverson, Michael Colgan, Deirdre Walsh, Bill Hickey, Veronica O'Reilly, Paul Ward and Brian McGuinness.
2004 - Indian movie star Soundarya (32) and three other people were killed when their plane crashed minutes after takeoff in southern India.
2005 - A Swiss tourist bus carrying 27 people plunged into an Alpine ravine near the Great St. Bernard Pass, and at least 100 rescuers descended to the wreck on ropes to try to aid the injured. Police said at least 12 people died.
2005 - Cubans elected municipal assemblies across the communist-run island in local elections Fidel Castro defended as “the most democratic in the world.”
2006 - The price of oil closed at $70.40 per barrel in New York trading. It was the first time ‘black gold’ had closed above $70.
2006 - The Boston Marathon was won by Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot in a record time of 2:07:14; Rita Jeptoo of Kenya was the women’s winner at 2:23:38.
2007 - A survey reported that the number of U.S. households with a net worth of $5 million or more exceeded 1 million for the first time.
2007 - Kitty Carlisle (Hart), Broadway and film actress, singer and arts advocate, died in New York. She was 96 years old. Carlisle’s films included Murder at the Vanities (1934), A Night At the Opera (1935), Radio Days (1987) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). She was a also a long-time panelist on TV’s To Tell the Truth.
2008 - Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up his two-day visit with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi by writing off $4.5 billion in Libyan debts -- in exchange for multibillion-dollar deals for Russian companies.
2009 - Singer Morrissey stopped in mid-performance and left the stage at California’s Coachella music festival, saying, “I can smell burning flesh and I hope to God it’s human.” He returned several minutes later to pick up where he left off, saying, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I just couldn’t bear it.” Morrissey has been a controversial figure throughout his music career due to his forthright opinions and outspoken nature, endorsing vegetarianism and animal rights -- among other causes.
2009 - New movies in U.S. theatres: 17 Again, starring Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg, Melora Hardin, Hunter Parrish and Jim Gaffigan; Crank 2: High Voltage, with Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Corey Haim, Bai Ling, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez, Clifton Collins Jr., Reno Wilson, Simone Bargetze and Danna Hansen; and State of Play, starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels and Helen Mirren.
2010 - At least 5 people were killed and several others were injured when two oil tankers collided and burst into flames in southwest Ogun state, Nigeria.
2011 - Air traffic controllers had more time to rest between shifts under new work rules announced by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on this day. There had been several instances of controllers dozing off while on duty.
2013 - The U.S. Senate voted 60-40 to defeat California Senator Diane Feinstein’s assault weapons ban. Another vote introduced by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to limit the size of magazines to 10 rounds failed by a vote of 46-54. “I have watched these votes, and I must say I view them with substantial dismay at the lack of courage in this house,” Feinstein said. “Courage to stand up and say we’ve had enough of these killings.”
2014 - Kang Min-gyu (52), the vice-principal of a South Korean high school who accompanied hundreds of pupils on a ferry that capsized a day earlier, committed suicide. Kang, who had been rescued from the sinking "Sewol" ferry, left a note, expressing regret that he had survived while so many others had died.
2015 - New movies in U.S. theatres included: Child 44, starring Tom Hardy, Joel Kinnaman and Gary Oldman; the documentaries, Monkey Kingdom, Antarctic Edge: 70º South; Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, with Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez and Eduardo Verástegui; Alex of Venice, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Derek Luke and Don Johnson; Mr. X, with Emraan Hashmi, Amyra Dastur and Arunoday Singh; and The Squeeze, starring Jeremy Sumpter, Jason Dohring and Katherine LaNasa.
2015 - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls unveiled a €100-million ($108-million) plan to fight rising racism and anti-Semitism, notably through tougher punishment.
2015 - The SpaceX supply ship arrived at the International Space Station, delivering the first espresso machine designed exclusively for astronauts. Italy provided the espresso maker for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who captured the Dragon capsule with the Canadarm2 robot arm. She had been stuck with instant coffee since her mission began in November 2014.
2016 - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a bill legalizing a comprehensive medical marijuana program, making his state the 24th to legalize pot.
2017 - U.S. V.P. Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating South and North Korea. Pence said, “Since 1992, the United States and our allies have stood together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We hope to achieve this objective through peaceful means. But all options are on the table. Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region.”
2017 - The so-called Trump rally on Wall Street was challenged by rising global fears of possible conflicts -- including the above-mentioned North Korea, Syria and Afghanistan. There were a growing number of signs that investors had become more worried about the increasingly-precarious geopolitical situation.
2018 - Barbara Bush, the wife of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush -- and mother of the 43rd President, George W. Bush -- died at her home in Houston, Texas. She was 92 years old. The former First Lady and former President George H.W. Bush had the longest-lasting marriage in presidential history – 73 years.
2018 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1996 federal immigration law that required deportation of any noncitizen convicted of a felony that posed a “substantial risk of violence.” The court said the law was unconstitutional because the wording was so vague that it set no clear standard for either judges or immigrants on which crimes it covers.
2019 - The European Union and Canada joined forces to protect their companies after the U.S. opened the door for lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton described the new initiative as “undoing the damage” of the Obama administration, which sought to normalise diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba.
2020 - Movies new to U.S. theatres included: Behind You, starring Addy Miller, Elizabeth Birkner and Jan Broberg; Martin Eden, with Luca Marinelli, Jessica Cressy and Vincenzo Nemolato; and The Quarry, starring Shea Whigham, Michael Shannon and Catalina Sandino Moreno.
2020 - In Austria, the Verbund utility company shut down its last coal-fired power plant as part of the plan to end the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
2020 - COVID-19 news: 1)U.S. coronavirus deaths topped 35,400. Globally, cases numbered 2.18 million with 147,265 people having been killed. 2)The French navy said it was trying to figure out how the virus infected more than 1,000 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. 3)Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged the international community to rally around the World Health Organization and said any of the body’s problems should be addressed only after the coronavirus outbreak was contained. 4)Russia’s President Vladimir Putin prodded top officials to move faster in handling coronavirus cases. The virus had penetrated more deeply into Moscow’s population than official data showed.
2021 - A car crash in a Spring, Texas (near Houston) residential area left two dead. The 2019 Tesla Model S carrying two people appeared to have occurred with no one in the driver’s seat. The car was traveling at a high speed and failed to negotiate a curve. Three days after the crash, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Autopilot had not and could not have been engaged at the time for a variety of reasons, including safeguards that limit its use to certain roads.
2021 - 27 paintings by three generations of Wyeths were donated to Maine’s Farnsworth Art Museum, thanks to the late Betsy Wyeth.
2021 - India reported 234,692 new coronavirus cases and New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown. Capital Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said New Delhi had at least 24,000 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours and faced a grim battle against a new pandemic wave with shortages of oxygen and drugs.
2022 - Hopeful relatives of of prisoners gathered outside Myanmar, Yangon’s Insein Prison after the military government announced the release of 1,600 prisoners. The amnesty marked the Southeast Asian nation’s new year.
2022 - Alex Jones’ Infowars filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Jones lost defamation lawsuits over his comments that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
2023 - New studies of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch showed ‘coast creatures’ (species more commonly found near coastlines of the western Pacific) living and breeding in it. Scientists identified 484 invertebrates from a surprising range of species on the plastic. These coastal species included ‘moss animals’ or bryozoans, jellyfish, sponges, worms and other organisms.
2023 - Clay County (Kansas City, MO) Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson announced that a White, 84-year-old homeowner who shot and wounded Ralph Yarl -- after the Black teen went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings -- would face two felony charges. Homeowner Andrew Lester told police he fired immediately after answering the doorbell when he saw the 16-year-old pulling on an exterior door handle. Lester said he was “scared to death” due to the boy’s size. After the April 13 shooting, which left the teenager with gunshot wounds to his head and arm, Ralph told police that he did not pull on the door. Protests had erupted in Kansas City as the teen and his family struggled with the trauma from the ordeal.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day April 17
1823 - Mifflin W. (Wistar) Gibbs
publisher: California’s first black newspaper, Mirror of the Times; judge: first black man in U.S. to be elected a judge [Little Rock, Arkansas City Judge, 1873]; U.S. consul to Madagascar [1850-1858]; died July 11, 19151837 - J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan
financier; died Mar 31, 19131885 - Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (pen name: Isak Dinesen)
author: Out of Africa, Babette’s Feast; died Sep 7, 19621893 - Irene Castle (Foote)
dancer, costume designer, actress: The Whirl of Life, The First Law, The Broadway Bride, French Heels, Broadway After Dark; subject of movie: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle [1939]; died Jan 25, 19691897 - Thornton Wilder
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist: The Bridge of San Luis Rey [1928] and playwright: Our Town [1938], The Skin of Our Teeth [1943]; died Dec 7, 19751903 - Gregor Piatigorsky
Russian-born cellist: performed worldwide; teacher: Univ. Southern California; died Aug 6, 19761905 - Arthur Lake (Silverlake)
actor: Blondie series, It’s a Great Life; died Jan 9, 19871913 - Richard Travis
actor: The Man Who Came to Dinner, Cyborg 2087, Missile to the Moon, Blonde Bait, City of Shadows, An Annapolis Story, Mesa of Lost Women, Passage West; died Jul 11, 19891916 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Ceylon Prime Minister: first woman prime minister in the world; died Oct 10, 20001918 - William Holden (Beedle Jr.)
Academy Award-winning actor: Stalag 17 [1953], Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Born Yesterday, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Casino Royale, The Moon is Blue, Network, Picnic, Sunset Boulevard, The Towering Inferno, The World of Suzie Wong; died Nov 16, 19811918 - Anne Shirley
actress: Make Mine Laughs, Government Girl, Vigil in the Night, Condemned Women, Stella Dallas, Three on a Match, Mother Carey’s Chickens, Mother Knows Best; died July 4, 19931923 - Lindsay Anderson
director: This Sporting Life, The Whales of August, Glory! Glory!, Britannia Hospital, If..., O Lucky Man!; died Aug 30, 19941923 - Solly (Solomon Joseph) Hemus
baseball: SL Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies; died Oct 2, 20171923 - Harry Reasoner
newsman: Sixty Minutes, CBS Sunday Night News with Harry Reasoner, ABC News with Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters; died Aug 6, 19911924 - Roy A. Gallant
author: Rainbows, Mirages, and Sundogs, Earth’s Vanishing Forests1930 - Chris Barber
musician: trombone, bandleader: Petite Fleur; appeared in film: Look Back in Anger; died Mar 2, 20211934 - Warren Chiasson
jazz musician: vibes: group: Warren Chiasson Duo: LP: Point Counterpoint1934 - Don Kirshner
music publisher: Aldon Music with Al Nevins, Brill Building mogul: Screen Gems Music: started Bubblegum music fad with creation of The Monkees; died Jan 17, 20111935 - Lamar Lundy
football: LA Ram; died Feb 24, 20071942 - David Bradley
actor: Harry Potter film series, Game of Thrones, Hot Fuzz, Captain America: The First Avenger; stage: King Lear [Laurence Olivier Award winner]; Our Friends in the North [BBC series]; Broadchurch [ITV series]1943 - Dennis Hextall
hockey: NHL: NY Rangers, LA Kings, California Golden Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals; son of Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan A. Hextall1944 - Bobby Curtola
singer: one of Canada’s early teen idols: Hand In Hand With You, Don’t You Sweetheart Me, Three Rows Over, Fortune Teller; TV host: After Four, Shake, Rock, Roll1947 - Paul Thomas
actor [1974-2009]: X-rated films: The Autobiography of a Flea, Baby Face, Candy Stripers, The Ecstacy Girls, Taboo American Style, Debbie Does Dallas Again; director: Justine, Beauty & the Beast 2, Passages 1–4, Bad Wives, Fade to Black, The Masseuse, The New Devil in Miss Jones1948 - Jan Hammer
composer: motion picture/TV soundtracks: Miami Vice, Dark Angel, Tales from the Crypt1949 - Monroe Eley
football: Arizona State; British Columbia Lions; NFL: Atlanta Falcons1950 - Pedro (Modesto Delfi) Garcia
baseball: Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays1950 - Kevin Porter
basketball [point guard]: Saint Francis Univ; NBA: Baltimore/Washington Bullets [1972–1975], Detroit Pistons [1975–1977], New Jersey Nets [1977–1978], Detroit Pistons [1978–1979], Washington Bullets [1979–1983]1951 - Olivia Hussey
actress: Ice Cream Man, Stephen King’s It, Psycho 4: The Beginning, Death on the Nile, The Bastard, Romeo and Juliet1954 - Michael Sembello
musician: guitar, songwriter: LP: Maniac1955 - Pete Shelley (McNeish)
musician, singer: group: The Buzzcocks: Totally from the Heart, Alright O.K., Going Steady, Love Bites, What Do I Get, Orgasm Addict, Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn’t Fall in Love With, I Don't Mind, Promises; died Dec 6, 20181959 - Sean Bean
actor: Snowpiercer, Game of Thrones, Goldeneye, Sharpe’s series, Patriot Games, The Field, Stormy Monday, The Lord of the Rings series1959 - Stephen Singleton
musician: saxophone: group: ABC: Tears are Not Enough, Poison Arrow, Be Near Me, When Smokey Sings, King Without a Crown1961 - Boomer (Norman) Esiason
football: quarterback: NY Jets, Cincinnati Bengals [Super Bowl XXIII]; TV commentator: ABC Monday Night Football [1998-2000]; in-studio analyst: The NFL Today on CBS; co-host: Inside The NFL [Showtime]; more1964 - Lela Rochon
actress: Waiting to Exhale, Mr. and Mrs. Loving, Blood Done Sign My Name, Labor Pains, Any Given Sunday1967 - Henry Ian Cusick
actor: MacGyver [2020], Lost, Scandal, The Book Group, Body of Proof, The 100, The Girl on the Train, 10.0 Earthquake; more1967 - Kimberly Elise
actress: For Colored Girls, Set It Off, Beloved, John Q, The Manchurian Candidate [2004], Woman Thou Art Loosed, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Close to Home1967 - Marquis Grissom
baseball [center field]: Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs1967 - Liz Phair
singer, songwriter: LPs: Exile in Guyville, whitechocolatespaceegg1970 - Redman (Reginald ‘Reggie’ Noble)
rapper: groups: EPMD: It’s My Thing, You’re a Customer, Strictly Business, You Gots to Chill, I’m Housin’, Get Off the Bandwagon; Method Man; Def Squad; Method Man & Redman1972 - Gary Bennett
baseball [catcher]: Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals1972 - Jennifer Garner
actress: Alias, Catch Me If You Can, Pearl Harbor, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Mr. Magoo, Dead Man’s Walk, Zoya, Felicity, Pearl Harbor1974 - Victoria ‘Posh’ Beckham (Adams)
singer: group: The Spice Girls: 2 Become 1, Wanna Be, Spice Up Your Lives, Let Love Lead the Way, Wasting My Time, Oxygen1976 - Monet Mazur
actress: NCIS: Los Angeles, Torque, Dead Man Running, Monster-In-Law, Just Married, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, Jack & Jill, Strange World, Chuck, Rizzoli & Isles, Party of Five, Castle1976 - Alex Nesic
actor: Sleeper Cell, High Crimes, What Boys Like, CSI: Miami, JAG, As If, Angel, Felicity, Unhappily Ever After, From Mexico with Love, In Fidelity1978 - David Murdoch
Scottish curler from Lockerbie: two-time World Junior Curling Champ1980 - Alaina Huffman
actress: Smallville, Stargate Universe, Painkiller Jane, Alphas, NCIS: Los Angeles, Supernatural1981 - Susie Amy
actress: La Femme Musketeer, House of 9, Modigliani, Sirens, Footballers’ Wives1984 - C.J. Watson
basketball: NBA: Golden State Warriors [2008–2010], Chicago Bulls [2010–2012], Brooklyn Nets [2012–2013], Indiana Pacers [2013–2015], Orlando Magic [2015–2017]1985 - Rooney Mara
actress: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, A Nightmare on Elm Street [2010], The Social Network, Women’s Murder Club, Friends (With Benefits), Side Effects, Her1985 - Luke Mitchell
actor: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Neighbours, H2O: Just Add Water, Home and Away, The Tomorrow People, Mothers and Daughters, Blindspot1993 - Sarah Sjöström
Swedish swim champ: 2016 Olympic gold 100m butterfly, 2024 100m freestyle; 14-time World Championship winner1996 - Dee Dee Davis
actress: The Bernie Mac Show
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day April 17
1947The Anniversary Song (facts) - Dinah Shore
Heartaches (facts) - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
1956
1965
1974
1983
1992
2001
2010
2019
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
TWtD Calendar
