April 17, the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Today is Thursday, April 17, the 107th day of 2025. There are 258 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 17, 1961, some 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion within three days.

Also on this date:

In 1964, Jerrie Mock completed the first solo around-the-world flight by a woman, landing her single-engine Cessna plane in Columbus, Ohio after a 29-day journey.

In 1969, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. (Sirhan’s death sentence would be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He remains in prison today.)

In 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 enroute to the moon.

In 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.

In 1975, Cambodia’s five-year civil 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 (nearly one in four Cambodians) until the regime was overthrown in 1979.

In 1991, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46, up 17.58.

In 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.

In 2020, President Donald Trump, via Twitter, urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home mandates aimed at stopping the coronavirus.