By The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, April 17, the 107th day of 2021. There are 258 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 17, 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.
On this date:
In 1492, a contract was signed by Christopher Columbus and a representative of Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
In 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the first Sino-Japanese War.