On this day, April 17
1961 Some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day.
1964 Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair.
1969 A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
1970 Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.
1972 The Boston Marathon allowed women to compete for the first time; Nina Kuscsik was the first officially recognized women’s champion, with a time of 3:10:26.
1973 Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities.
1975 Cambodia’s five-year war ended as the capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, which instituted brutal, radical policies that claimed an estimated 1.7 million lives until the regime was overthrown in 1979.
1991 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46, up 17.58.
1993 A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.
2012 Riding on the back of a 747 jet, retired space shuttle Discovery traveled from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Chantilly, Va., to be installed in its new home: the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex in Virginia.
2022 Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians and continued to hold out against the capture of the strategically vital port.
Today’s birthdays: Actor David Bradley, 82. Composer-musician Jan Hammer, 76. Actor Olivia Hussey, 73. Actor Clarke Peters, 72. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa, 67. Actor Sean Bean, 65. Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, 63. Actor Joel Murray, 62. Actor Lela Rochon, 60. Actor William Mapother, 59. Actor Leslie Bega, 57. Actor Henry Ian Cusick, 57. Actor Kimberly Elise, 57. Singer Liz Phair, 57. Director/producer Adam McKay, 56. Rapper-actor Redman, 54. Actor Jennifer Garner, 52. Singer Victoria Beckham, 50. Actor-singer Lindsay Korman, 46. Actor Rooney Mara, 39.