NOW & THEN
17 APRIL
1421: More than 100,000 people drowned when the sea broke through dykes at Dort, in the Netherlands.
1491: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain signed a contract with Christopher Columbus concerning his proposed voyage of discovery.
1521: Martin Luther, critical of Roman Catholic Church, appeared before Diet of Worms.
1847: The Educational Institute of Scotland was founded “to promote sound learning and advance the interests of education in Scotland”.
1860: The first world title fight took place near Farnborough when Tom Sayers took on the American John Heenan. It lasted 37 rounds and both men were seriously hurt. The match was declared a draw.
1888: The first formal meeting of the English Football League took place in the Royal Hotel, Manchester.
1937: A British attendance record at a football match was set when 149,547 watched Scotland play England at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
1943: American bombers attacked Palermo, Sicily.
1953: How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?, sung by Lita Roza, reached No 1 in the charts.
1956: A £1 Premium Bond was introduced by Harold Macmillan, as chancellor of the Exchequer.
1957: Archbishop Makarios arrived back in Athens after a 13-month exile in the Seychelles.
1961: An attempt by Cuban rebels and American forces to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs and overthrow the Castro regime, was repulsed.
1963: Greville Wynne, a British businessman, was found guilty in Moscow of spying. He was sentenced to three years in prison and five years in a labour camp.
1969: Everyone in Britain over the age of 18 was allowed to vote, 21 having been the minimum age since 1928.
1969: Bernadette Devlin became the youngest woman MP when elected for Mid Ulster, six days short of her 22nd birthday.
1971: Egypt, Syria and Libya signed agreement to confederate.
1975: Communists took over rule of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, as Cambodian War drew to end.
1980: Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe.
1984: WPC Yvonne Fletcher shot dead by terrorists outside the Libyan Embassy in London.
1989: Chancellor Nigel Lawson, , rejected proposals for economic and monetary union within the European Community.
1991: Graeme Souness quit as manager of Rangers FC to return to Liverpool FC as manager.
1992: Russian lawmakers refused to approve arms control pact, setting up another confrontation with Boris Yeltsin.
1995: More than 300 passengers rescued from a French catamaran ferry which hit a rock and began sinking off Jersey.
2014: Scotland’s biggest works of art, the Kelpies, near Falkirk – the creations of Glasgow artist Andy Scott – were launched with a spectacular special effects.