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 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.
1956: A £1 Premium Bond was introduced by Harold Macmillan, as chancellor of the Exchequer.
1961: An attempt by Cuban rebels and American forces to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs was repulsed.
1963: Greville Wynne, a British businessman, was found guilty in Moscow of spying. He was sentenced to three years in jail 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 Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.
1980: Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. 1984: WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libyan Embassy in London.
1989: Nigel Lawson, the chancellor, rejected proposals for economic and monetary 2 On this day in 1953 Lita Roza – seen as she announced she was marrying musician Ronnie Hughes – became the first solo singer to top UK charts, with How Much is That Doggie in the Window? union within the European Community.
1991: Graeme Souness quit as manager of Rangers.
1995: More than 300 passengers were rescued from a French catamaran ferry which hit a rock and began sinking off Jersey.
1996: The Duke and Duchess of York were granted a decree nisi, ending their ten-year marriage.
2006: A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
2009: Research revealed that being even moderately obese could cut as much as four years off a person’s life.
2014: Scotland’s biggest work of art, the Kelpies, near Falkirk – the creations of Glasgow artist Andy Scott – was launched with a spectacular special effects display.