17 April It Happened Today

1790  Death of American diplomat and scientist Benjamin Franklin.

1919  Movie stars Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford. Douglas Fairbanks and D W Griffith launch United Artists Corporation.

1960  American musician Eddie Cochran is killed in a car crash.

1961  The Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba ends in failure.

1984  WPC Yvonne Fletcher is shot dead in St James’s Square, London. The shot is fired from within the Libyan embassy.