● April 17 in History

1860 — English boxer Tom Sayers fights American John Heenan for 37 rounds in a bareknuckle match at Farnborough, Hampshire, that is called a draw. The first “world title” international boxing match draws much attention on both sides of the Atlantic, illegal as it may have been. 1885 — Karen Blixen, Danish author (“Out of Africa”), is born Karen Christenze Dinesen in Rungsted, on the Øresund coast. She marries Baron Bror Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke in 1914 and also writes under the pen names Isak Dinesen, Tania Blixen, Osceola and Pierre Andrézel.

1895 — The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan marks the end of the First SinoJapanese War. The defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to cede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.

1912 — The Lena Massacre/Execution: Russian troops open fire on striking (against exceptionally harsh working conditions) goldfield workers near the Lena River in northeast Siberia, killing at least 270 and wounding 250.

1918 — William Holden, American actor (“Stalag 17 ”— best actor Oscar; “The Bridge on the River Kwai”), is born William Franklin Beedle jnr in O’Fallon, Illinois.

1929 — James Last, bassist, composer and bigband leader, is born in Bremen, Germany. After almost 50 years on tour, his farewell tour, Non Stop Music James Last in Concert 2015, ends in Lanxess Arena in Cologne on April 26. He dies on June 9 at age 86. His compositions include “Happy Heart” (recorded by Andy Williams and Petula Clark) and “Fool” (Elvis Presley).

1945 —“Hannie” (real name Jannetje Johanna “Jo” Schaft), 24, a Dutch resistance fighter who lived in Haarlem and was known as “the girl with red hair”, is executed by the Germans just a month before the end of World War 2.

1959 — Sean Bean, English actor (“The Lord of the Rings”, “Game of Thrones”), is born in Sheffield. 1969 — Dorothy Fischer, 38, becomes the first South African woman to undergo a heart transplant. Her heart had been damaged by rheumatic fever as a child and by 1969 her doctors agreed that she was dying. The fifth transplant patient of Dr Christiaan Barnard and his team, she is for many years the world’s longest-surviving heart recipient. She dies on October 19 1981.

1975 — The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.