Sunday 17th of April 1695

Nun, writer and women's rights activist Juana Inés de la Cruz aka The Mexican Phoenix dies of bubonic plague at the age of 44 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Saturday 17th of April 1790

Founding Father of the United States Benjamin Franklin aka The First American dies of a pleuritic attack at the age of 85 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Thursday 17th of April 1884

Alleged child killer Leo Max Frank aka Max the Jew is born in Cuero, Texas, United States.

Friday 17th of April 1885

Murderer Carmine Santore is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Maine State Prison, Thomaston, Maine, United States.

Wednesday 17th of April 1907

9-year-old Auguste Bavouzet is strangled by serial killer Jeanne Weber aka l’Ogresse de la Goutte d’Or in Villedieu-sur-Indre, Centre-Val de Loire, France.

Wednesday 17th of April 1918

Actor William Holden is born as William Franklin Beedle Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois, United States.

Tuesday 17th of April 1923

Film director Lindsay Gordon Anderson is born in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Thursday 17th of April 1924

16-year-old Wilhelm Apel is killed and his meat sold by serial killer Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf in Das Mordhaus, Rote Reihe 4, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Tuesday 17th of April 1928

Mass murderer Thomas Gene Doty is born in San Antonio, Texas, United States.

Monday 17th of April 1933

Serial killer Joachim Georg Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale is born in Hindenburg in Oberschlesien, Śląsk, Poland.

Saturday 17th of April 1937

FBI Special Agent Wimberly Baker dies from injuries after being shot by suspected bank robbers Glen Applegate and Robert Suhay at the downtown post office the day before at the age of 27 in Topeka, Kansas, United States.

Wednesday 17th of April 1940

Victim of William Heirens aka Catch Me Before I Kill More Suzanne Degnan is born in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.

Wednesday 17th of April 1946

Serial killer Paul John Knowles aka The Casanova Killer is born in Orlando, Florida, United States.

Sunday 17th of April 1960

Singer-songwriter and musician Eddie Edward Raymond Cochran dies of severe head injuries suffered in a car crash the day before at the age of 22 in Rowden Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.

Cochran was involved in a traffic accident in a Ford Consul taxi taking him to the airport. The speeding taxi blew a tire, the driver lost control and the vehicle crashed into a lamppost. No other car was involved. Cochran threw himself over his fiancée Sharon Sheeley to shield her and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. Taxi driver George Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sent to prison for six months.

Friday 17th of April 1964

39-year-old Aviation pioneer Jerrie Geraldine Fredritz Mock known for becoming the first woman to fly solo around the world becomes the first woman to fly solo around the world in Columbus, Ohio, United States.

Mock's trip in a single engine Cessna 180 'The Spirit of Columbus' began on 19 March in Columbus, Ohio and took 29 days, 21 stopovers and 36,790 km.

Monday 17th of April 1967

42-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Materialaktion nr. 36 / Zock – Exercises / Omo Super Materialaktion Bodylyrik' in Galerie Nächst St. Stephan, Grünangergasse 1, Wien, Wien, Austria.

Wednesday 17th of April 1974

19-year-old Susan Elaine Rancourt is abducted, assaulted and strangled by serial killer Ted Bundy aka The Only Living Witness in Central Washington State College, Ellensburg, Washington, United States.

Rancourt's skull and mandible were found on Taylor Mountain in March 1975

Thursday 17th of April 1975

28-year-old Lillian Dresch is attacked by serial killer Bernd Bopp aka Der Hammermörder in Mannheim, Neckarau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Dresch was Bopp's first victim. He stabbed her in the throat but her screams alerted the neighbourhood and he ran off. Dresch survived.

Sunday 17th of April 1977

19-year-old Valentina Francesca Suriani is shot dead by serial killer David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam in New York, Bronx, New York, United States.

Suriani's 20-year-old boyfriend Alexander Esau was also shot and died in hospital later that day.

Sunday 17th of April 1977

Police discover the “I am Son of Sam, I am the Monster - Beëlzebub”-letter by 24-year-old Serial killer David Richard Berkowitz aka Son of Sam at the crime scene where he shot Valentina Suriani and Alexander Esau in New York, Bronx, New York, United States.

"I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "Son of Sam." I am a little "brat". When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kill" commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young—raped and slaughtered—their blood drained—just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic, too. I can't get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wave length then everybody else—programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first—shoot to kill or else. Keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. Too many heart attacks. "Ugh, me hoot it hurts sonny boy." I miss my pretty princess most of all. She's resting in our ladies house but I'll see her soon. I am the "Monster"—"Beelzebub"—the "Chubby Behemouth." I love to hunt. Prowling the streets looking for fair game—tasty meat. The wemon of Queens are z prettyist of all. I must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt—my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I dont want to kill anymore no sir, no more but I must, "honour thy father." I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on Earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I wa want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next and for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police—Let me haunt you with these words; I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interrpreted as—bang, bang, bang, bank, bang—ugh!! Yours in murder Mr. Monster"

Thursday 17th of April 1986

Aircraft designer Marcel Dassault dies of unknown causes at the age of 94 in American Hospital, 63 Blvd Victor Hugo, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 17th of April 2002

112 die in China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 crash in Bohai Bay, Dalian, Liaoning, China.

The plane crashed into the bay shortly after the pilot reported "fire on board". A passenger named Zhang Pilin apparently set fire to the passenger cabin with gasoline, causing the loss of control and crash. Zhang had purchased seven air insurance policies worth a total of 1.400.000 renminbi prior to boarding the flight.

Sunday 17th of April 2005

A train conductor waiting for passengers to embark on the Trans-Siberian Express in Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.

Sunday 17th of April 2011

Actor Michael Jacques Michel André Sarrazin known from the film ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ dies of mesothelioma at the age of 71 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.