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On April 17, 1961, about 1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA landed at Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs), Cuba, attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro's government. The invasion, approved by President Kennedy, was a total failure: the invaders were captured within 72 hours. The disaster strengthened Castro's position, pushed Cuba towards the USSR and was one of the greatest fiascos of the CIA.

On April 17, 1975, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge) under Pol Pot completed their takeover of Cambodia, following the fall of Phnom Penh. What followed was one of the most brutal genocides of the twentieth century: between 1.5 and 2 million people — between 25% and 33% of the Cambodian population — died of starvation, disease, forced labour and executions in the "Killing Fields".

On April 17, 1946, the last French troops left Syria, which proclaimed its full independence. France had held the mandate over Syria since 1920, following the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. Syrian independence, achieved under the leadership of Shukri al-Quwatli, was the end of French colonialism in the Levant. April 17 is today Syria's national holiday.