FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009

Today is Friday, April 17, the 107th day of 2009. There are 258 days left in the year.

1521 _ Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church

1524 _ Giovanni Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay

1534 _ Sir Thomas More confined in London Tower

1704 _ First successful U.S newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell .

1945 _ 8th Air Force bombs Dresden

1956 _ Kominform disbands

1969 _ Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy

1969 _ The Band (formerly The Hawks), perform their first concert

1971 _ People's Republic Bangladesh forms, under Sheik Mujib ur-Rahman

1975 _ Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year war