Today is Monday, April 17, the 107th day of 2023 with 258 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include American industrialist/financier J.P. Morgan in 1837; baseball Hall of Fame member Cap Anson in 1852; Danish author Karen Blixen, who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen, in 1885; actor William Holden in 1918; music promoter Don Kirshner in 1934; musician Jan Hammer in 1948 (age 75); actor Olivia Hussey in 1951 (age 72); author Nick Hornby in 1957 (age 66); actor Sean Bean in 1959 (age 64); singer Maynard James Keenan in 1964 (age 59); actor Henry Ian Cusick in 1967 (age 56); singer Liz Phair in 1967 (age 56); filmmaker Adam McKay in 1968 (age 55); rapper Redman, born Reggie Noble, in 1970 (age 53); actor Jennifer Garner in 1972 (age 51); singer/model Victoria Beckham in 1974 (age 49); actor Luke Mitchell in 1985 (age 38); actor Rooney Mara in 1985 (age 38); actor Phoebe Dynevor in 1995 (age 28).On this date in history:

ADVERTISEMENT


In 1421, the sea broke the dikes at Dort, Holland, drowning an estimated 100,000 people.

In 1521, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Martin Luther after he refused to admit to charges of heresy.

In 1524, Italian navigator Giovanni Verrazano discovered New York Harbor.

In 1790, U.S. statesman, printer, scientist and writer Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.

ADVERTISEMENT


In 1912, the sister ship of the doomed RMS Titanic, the Olympic, radioed in that survivors of the ocean liner sinking were rescued and safely on board the RMS Carpathia.

In 1961, a force of anti-Castro rebels began the Bay of Pigs Invasion in an attempt to overthrow Cuba's new communist government.

In 1964, Jerrie Mock of Columbus, Ohio, became the first woman to complete a solo flight around the world.

In 1969, a jury found Sirhan B. Sirhan guilty of first-degree murder for the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.


ADVERTISEMENT


In 1970, with the world anxiously watching on television, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that sustained a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returned to Earth.

In 1989, the Polish labor union Solidarity was granted legal status after nearly a decade of struggle and suppression -- clearing the way for the downfall of the country's Communist Party.

In 1993, a federal jury convicted two Los Angeles police officers and acquitted two others of violating the civil rights of Rodney King during his 1991 arrest and beating.

In 2004, the Israeli army confirmed it had killed Abdel Aziz Rantisi, Hamas co-founder and its leader in Gaza, in a missile strike. Two others also died with Rantisi, who had opposed any compromise with Israel.

ADVERTISEMENT


In 2013, an explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant killed 15 people, injured dozens and caused massive property damage in the community.

In 2018, former first lady Barbara Bush died at the age of 92 after refusing medical treatment for her failing health. Her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, died less than one year later.

In 2022, three companies connected to far-right radio host Alex Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid lawsuits related to false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.

A thought for the day: "In the last 100 years, the average age of a Nobel Prize winner is 65 years old. Why should they deny us the ability to flourish and accomplish things because we're older people?" -- American actor Doris Roberts