April 17th Anniversaries

Santo Domingo.- The events of the 17th of April, are marked by important historical events and international celebrations that left their mark on world history. Below are the main events of the April 17th:

Holy Thursday

• World Hemophilia Day.
• World Day of Peasant Struggle.
• Bat Appreciation Day.
• World Malbec Day, (grape variety used to make red wines).

Today's Saints: Saints Isidore, Elias, Robert, Anicetus, Rudolph and Acacius. Blessed Mary and Anne of Jesus.

National: April 17th Anniversaries

• 1493: Christopher Columbus arrives at the port of Palos de la Frontera, Spain, from La Española, along with the Pinzón brothers, after his first trip to America.
• 1849: General Antonio Duvergé defeats the Haitian army commanded by Fabre Geffrard in "El Número".
• 1863: Execution in Santiago of Eugenio Perdomo, Pedro Ignacio Espaillat, Carlos de Lora and Vidal Pichardo, accused of conspiring against the Spanish colonial government.
• 1887: Inauguration of the National Conservatory of Music of Santo Domingo.
• 1954: The priest who would later be consecrated bishop of Santiago (on May 22, 1966), Monsignor Roque Adames Rodríguez, is ordained.
• 1970: The president of the SCJ, Manuel Ramón Ruiz Tejada, temporarily assumes the Executive Power and orders the political neutrality of the public administration.
• 2000: Mission of 15 officers and enlisted men of the National Police to Kosovo, under a UN mandate.
• 2001: The peace mission of the Dominican police in Kosovo ends.
• 2007: The XIII Meeting of the Rio Group begins in Santo Domingo, with the participation of around 50 foreign ministers and 2,000 delegates, to discuss regional integration, citizen security, electricity and the Haitian situation.
• - Inauguration of the Chinatown in Santo Domingo, headed by President Leonel Fernández.
• 2009: Hillary Clinton asks President Leonel Fernández to play a more active role in regional relations.
• 2017: Odebrecht's statements indicate that since 2014 its bribery department operated from the Dominican Republic.
• - Sergio Vargas criticizes the corruption of the PLD, although he recognizes that they did works.
• 2021: INDOTEL and its Haitian counterpart agree on collaboration to resolve interference on the border.

International: April 17th Anniversaries

• 1492: Christopher Columbus signs the Capitulations of Santa Fe with the Catholic Monarchs.
• 1521: Martin Luther is excommunicated by the Catholic Church.
• 1534: Thomas More is imprisoned for refusing to sign the act that recognizes Henry VIII as head of the Church.
• 1708: Jean Louis Petit performs the first successful cataract extraction.
• 1825: France recognizes Haiti's independence, conditioned on the payment of compensation.
• 1917: Lenin returns to Russia, received by the masses.
• 1961: The frustrated invasion of Cuba begins with a landing in the Bay of Pigs, which was financed by the United States to dissidents of Fidel Castro's communist regime.
• 1973: U.S. resumes bombing of Laos.
• 2009: Barack Obama proposes an "alliance of equals" to Latin America.
• 2011: VI Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba debates economic reforms.
• 2013: Explosion at a fertilizer factory in Waco, Texas: 15 dead and 200 injured.
• 2014: Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize in Literature 1982, Puerto Rican singer José Cheo Feliciano and Venezuelan actress Mayra Alejandra Barry Lezama die in different circumstances.
• 2017: Odebrecht is sentenced in the U.S. to pay US$2.6 billion for bribes.
• - The South Korean prosecutor officially indicts former President Park Geun-hye for crimes related to the corrupt plot of the "Rasputina" (bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leaking of official secrets), for which she may be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison to life imprisonment.
• 2023: The special envoy of the UN to Sudan, Volker Perthes, reports that more than 180 civilians have been murdered, including three members of the World Food Programme (WFP) and at least another 1,800 injured, during the fighting between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
• - Investigation concludes that the secretary of the OAS, Luis Almagro, violated internal regulations due to his relationship with an employee.

Births: April 17th Anniversaries

• 1772: Archibald Alexander, First professor of Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey.
• 1854: Fidel Cano Gutiérrez, was a Colombian journalist, writer, professor, businessman, educator, politician, and poet.
• 1902: Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican diplomat, essayist, and poet, director of UNESCO between 1948 and 1952.
• 1916: Ri Yong-suk, North Korean politician, guerrilla fighter, and revolutionary.
• 1961: Greg Gianforte, American politician, Governor of Montana since 2021.
• 1974: Victoria Beckham, British singer, from the band Spice Girls.
• 1992: Jinho, South Korean singer, dancer, and model from the group Pentagon.
• 1994: Hongseok, South Korean singer, model, and actor from the group Pentagon.
• 1995: Wheein, singer and dancer of Mamamoo.
• 2000: Zhang Yu, Chinese shooter.

Deaths: April 17th Anniversaries

• 1790: Benjamin Franklin, statesman, scientist, and writer.
• 1871: Manuel Rodríguez Objío, Dominican general, fought against the government of Buenaventura Báez.
• 1998: Linda McCartney, American singer, wife of Paul McCartney.
• 2014: Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian writer, novelist, and journalist, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.
• 2014: José Cheo Feliciano, Puerto Rican salsa and bolero singer and musician.
• 2014: Mayra Alejandra Barry Lezama, Venezuelan actress.
• 2019: Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, President of Peru between 1985-1990 and 2006-2011.