Template:On this day - March 17

Soledad Acosta de Samper

• 45 BC – At the Battle of Munda, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger, whom he accused of being Roman traitors allied with rebel Hispanic forces.
• 455 – In Ancient Rome, with the support of the Roman Senate, Petronius Maximus succeeds Valentinian III as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 1001 – In the Philippine Islands, the Maharaja of Butuan sends a tribute mission to the Song dynasty (in China).
• 1452 – In the Iberian Peninsula, the Christian troops complete the conquest of the Kingdom of Murcia after their victory at the Battle of Los Alporchones.
• 1586 – In Ecuador, the University of San Fulgencio is founded, the oldest in the country, which would become the Central University of Ecuador, merging with the Universities of San Gregorio Magno, founded in 1620 by the Jesuits, and of Santo Tomás de Aquino, founded in 1688 by the Dominicans.
• 1734 – In New Spain, Juan Antonio Vizarrón y Eguiarreta takes office as Viceroy, replacing Juan de Acuña.
• 1808 – In Aranjuez (Spain), the popular uprising of the Mutiny of Aranjuez takes place, when supporters of Ferdinand VII storm the palace of Manuel Godoy. This event will lead to the abdication of Charles IV of Spain in favor of his son.
• 1811 – In the Captaincy General of Chile, during the Patria Vieja, the Governing Junta of the Kingdom (presided over by Fernando Márquez de la Plata) is dissolved and the Superior Governing Junta is formed (with Juan Martínez de Rozas as president).
• 1913 – The Uruguayan Air Force is created, part of the country's Armed Forces.
• 1913 – Death of Soledad Acosta de Samper, Colombian historian, writer, journalist, translator and editor (b. 1833).
• 1957 – In Cebu (Philippines), President Ramón Magsaysay y del Fierro and 24 other people die in a plane crash.
• 1960 – In Washington, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the directive to undertake a program of covert actions against Cuba, which will lead to the failed attempted invasion at Playa Girón (ordered by President John F. Kennedy).
• 1966 – Off the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the U.S. submarine Alvin finds the hydrogen bomb that had fallen from an airplane.
• 1977 – Colombia and Costa Rica sign the Facio-Fernández Treaty, establishing their maritime borders.
• 1987 – In Spain, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences holds the first Goya Awards ceremony.
• 1995 – Death of José María Forqué, Spanish architect, film director and screenwriter (b. 1923).
• 2008 – Death of José Castillo Farreras, Mexican lawyer, professor and philosopher (b. 1930).
• 2021 – Death of the Spanish composer and musician Antón García Abril (b. 1933).