On this day: 17 April

Lithuanian Crusade: After a month-long siege, the Teutonic Order captured and destroyed Kaunas Castle, which was defended by troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.

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.

Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

The Mechanical Turk (pictured), a fraudulent chess-playing "machine" by Wolfgang von Kempelen that was secretly controlled by a hidden human, began a tour of Europe.

Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.

The state of Virginia's secession convention votes to secede from the United States; Virginia later becomes the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.

American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.

Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.

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.

The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Minas Geraes (pictured), the first of three Brazilian dreadnought battleships, was laid down, sparking a vastly expensive South American naval arms race with Argentina and Chile.

The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

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.

After negotiations between Catalan and Spanish provisional governments, the Catalan Republic proclaimed in April 14 becomes the Generalitat de Catalunya, the autonomous government of Catalonia within the Spanish Republic.

World War II: The Axis powers invasion of Yugoslavia is completed when it signs an armistice with Germany and Italy.

World War II: Captured French general Henri Giraud escaped from German captivity in the Königstein Castle.

Historian Tran Trong Kim is appointed the Prime Minister of the Empire of Vietnam.

The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.

Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.

Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the Spirit of Columbus, which took 29+1⁄2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.

Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček was deposed.

Apollo program: The damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.

George Lucas began writing a 13-page film treatment that later formed the basis of Star Wars.

The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, the capital of the Khmer Republic, ending the Cambodian Civil War and establishing the socialist state of Democratic Kampuchea.

An alleged state of war lasting 335 years between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly is declared over.

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-90, the final Spacelab mission.

Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland.

NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, the first exoplanet with a radius similar to Earth's discovered in the habitable zone of another star.