This Day in History on 17th April

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam. 

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 17th April. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

  • Malbec World Day
  • Women’s Day (Gabon)
  • World Hemophilia Day

Important Events

1899: Kolkata got hydroelectric power.

1935: In the dream of the Sun Myung, Jesus Christ gave an insight into the dream and commanded to carry forward the work you started.

1941: Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany during World War II.

1946: Syria gained independence from France.

1952: The first Lok Sabha came into existence.

1970: An astronaut from Chandrayaan Apollo 13 safely returned to the earth.

2003: Formation of Indo-UK Parliamentary Forum after 55 years.

2014: NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Birthday / Anniversary

1479: Poet Surdas, a great poet and a great Krishna devotee in Hindi was born.

1756:  Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)

1820: Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr., Known as the father of Baseball.

1897: Nisargadatta Maharaj, a Hindu guru of nondualism.

1912: Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, an Indian novelist and short story writer of Malayalam literature.

1915:  Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 2000)

1916: Sirimavo Bandaranaike, a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She was the world’s first female prime minister.

1941: Asaram Bapu, a controversial Indian godman, currently serving a life sentence for the rape of a minor.

1961: Geet Siriram Sethi, an Indian professional player of English billiards.

1966: Vikram, an Indian actor, and playback singer.

1972: Muttiah Muralitharan, a Sri Lankan cricket coach, and former professional cricketer.

Death / Death Anniversary

1790: Benjamin Franklin, an American researcher, and diplomat.

1882: George Jennings, inventor of the flush toilet.

1946: V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, an Indian politician, administrator, educator, orator, and Indian independence activist.

1975: Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, the first vice president and the Second President of India.

1997: Biju Patnaik, an Indian politician. He served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha.

2004: Soundarya, an Indian actress.

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History

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