28 Farvardin 1405 | Friday 17 April 2026

This day in four calendars

1521 (505 years ago) Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1869 (157 years ago) Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.
1895 (131 years ago) The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtian province, Taiwan and the Penghu to Japan.
1925 (101 years ago) The Communist Party of Korea (CPK) was founded in Japanese-ruled Korea (Chōsen) in Keijō (now Seoul) by Kim Yong-bom and Pak Hon-yong.
1941 (85 years ago) World War II: The Axis powers invasion of Yugoslavia is completed when it signs an armistice with Germany and Italy.
1970 (56 years ago) Apollo program: The damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1978 (48 years ago) Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.
1986 (40 years ago) An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly is declared over.

1837 (189 years ago) J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (died 1913)
1885 (141 years ago) Karen Blixen, Danish writer (died 1962)
1897 (129 years ago) Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (died 1975)
1916 (110 years ago) Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world's first female prime minister (died 2000)
1918 (108 years ago) William Holden, American actor (died 1981)
1959 (67 years ago) Sean Bean, English actor
1972 (54 years ago) Jennifer Garner, American actress
1974 (52 years ago) Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer

858 (1168 years ago) Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Church
1695 (331 years ago) Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (born 1651)
1790 (236 years ago) Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (born 1706)
1942 (84 years ago) Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1870)
1975 (51 years ago) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (born 1888)
1993 (33 years ago) Turgut Özal, Turkish engineer and politician, 8th president of Turkey (born 1927)
2014 (12 years ago) Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)
2018 (8 years ago) Barbara Bush, American political matriarch and literacy advocate, First Lady of the United States (1989–1993), and Second Lady of the United States (1981–1989) (born 1925)