December 17
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Events
- 283 - St Gaius becomes Pope.
- 384 - St Siricius becomes Pope.
- 1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
- 1637 - Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.
- 1843 - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is first published.
- 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
- 1903 - The Wright Brothers make the first powered heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1919 - Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
- 1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmedy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.
- 1961 - History of Goa: Operation Vijay - India seizes Goa from Portugal.
- 1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria.
- 1969 - Project Blue Book: The USAF closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of 'A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, Psychopathological persons, and Misidentification of various conventional objects'.
- 1970 - Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing hundreds.
- 1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
- 1981 - Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
- 1983 - The IRA bomb Harrods Department Store in London, killing seven people.
- 1989 - The first episode of The Simpsons airs on FOX.
- 1989 - Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
- 2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and prrresidential elections within two years.
- 2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes the first privately-funded manned supersonic flight.
- 2003 - is released worldwide.
- 2004 - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is released in theaters.
- 2005 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Births
- 1239 - Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1256)
- 1267 - Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
- 1619 - Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
- 1632 - Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
- 1685 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
- 1706 - Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
- 1734 - Maria I of Portugal, Portuguese queen (d. 1816)
- 1749 - Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
- 1770 - (Baptism) - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
- 1778 - Sir Humphry Davy, British chemist and physicist (d. 1829)
- 1796 - Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
- 1799 - Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
- 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
- 1830 - Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
- 1853 - Émile Roux, French physician (d. 1933)
- 1859 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)
- 1873 - Ford Madox Ford, British writer (d. 1939)
- 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
- 1883 - Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
- 1887 - Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957)
- 1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
- 1892 - Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
- 1894 - Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
- 1901 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor and director (d. 1982)
- 1903 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Ray Noble, British bandleader, composer, arranger and actor (d. 1978)
- 1906 - Simo Häyhä, Finnish sniper (d. 2002)
- 1908 - Willard Frank Libby, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
- 1915 - André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald, British writer (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist
- 1922 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian
- 1929 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
- 1929 - William Safire, American columnist
- 1930 - Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher
- 1930 - Bob Mathias, American decathlete and congressman
- 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
- 1934 - Ray Wilson, English footballer
- 1936 - Tommy Steele, British singer and actor
- 1937 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
- 1938 - Peter Snell, New Zealander runner
- 1938 - Carlo Little, UK influential rock and roll drummer (d.2005)
- 1939 - Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992)
- 1940 - Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist
- 1941 - Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (d. 1991)
- 1942 - Paul Butterfield, American harmonica player (d. 1987)
- 1943 - Ron Geesin, British musician and composer
- 1944 - Jack L. Chalker, Canadian novelist
- 1944 - Bernard Hill, British actor
- 1945 - Ernie Hudson, American actor
- 1945 - Jacqueline Wilson, British author
- 1946 - Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
- 1949 - Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free & Bad Company)
- 1951 - Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1951 - Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete
- 1955 - Brad Davis, American basketball player
- 1956 - Mike Mills, American bassist (R.E.M.)
- 1960 - Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
- 1962 - Rocco Mediate, American golfer
- 1962 - Paul Dobson, English footballer
- 1966 - Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
- 1967 - Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1968 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
- 1970 - Joshua Seth, American voice actor
- 1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- 1971 - Alan Khan, South African radio disc jockey
- 1973 - Paula Radcliffe, British runner
- 1975 - Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
- 1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model
- 1976 - Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress and nude model
- 1978 - Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer
- 1978 - Chase Utley, baseball player
- 1980 - Larry Broadway, Professional baseball player
Deaths
- 942 - William Longsword
- 1187 - Pope Gregory VIII
- 1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
- 1663 - Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
- 1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1830 - Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan-born President of Bolivia (b. 1783)
- 1833 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)
- 1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
- 1909 - King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- 1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, British physician (b. 1836)
- 1933 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
- 1987 - Linda Wong, Pornographic actress (b. 1951)
- 1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers, British writer (b. 1893)
- 1964 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
- 1967 - Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister, believed drowned, (b. 1908)
- 1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
- 1992 - Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
- 1999 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)
- 2003 - Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Jack Anderson, American journalist (b. 1922)
Holidays and observances
- Roman festivals – Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began.
- R.C. Saints – O Sapientia ; Saint Lazarus
- Greek Orthodox Church – Feast of Daniel the Prophet
- Bhutan – National Day (1907)
- USA – Wright Brothers Day (by Presidential Proclamation)
External links
December 16 - December 18 - November 17 - January 17 -- listing of all days
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