See what makes December 17 special at Famous Daily.
History, birthdays, holiday, and a quote!
What happened on December 17
- December 17, 0283 St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- December 17, 0546 Gothic War (535552): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
- December 17, 0920 Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
- December 17, 0942 Assassination of William I of Normandy.
- December 17, 1398 Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
- December 17, 1531 "Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal."
- December 17, 1538 Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII
- December 17, 1577 "Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I."
- December 17, 1586 Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
- December 17, 1600 Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
- December 17, 1637 Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.
- December 17, 1718 Great Britain declares war on Spain.
- December 17, 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven is baptized at Bonn.
- December 17, 1777 France recognizes independence of English colonies in America
- December 17, 1790 Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
- December 17, 1791 NYC traffic regulation creates the 1-way street system
- December 17, 1792 Opening of first legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec city
- December 17, 1798 "First impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins"
- December 17, 1807 "France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System."
- December 17, 1807 The Milan Decree issued by Napoleon reiterates the paper blockade against British trade with the Continent
- December 17, 1819 Congress of Angostura establishes Columbia's independence from Spain
- December 17, 1819 Simn Bolvar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolvar in Venezuela).
- December 17, 1821 Kentucky abolishes debtors prisons
- December 17, 1830 South American revolutionary hero Simon Bolivar dies in Colombia.
- December 17, 1834 "The Dublin and Kingstown Railway the first public railway on the island of Ireland, opens in Ireland."
- December 17, 1843 Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is first published.
- December 17, 1852 The first Hawaiian cavalry organized
- December 17, 1860 Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County
- December 17, 1862 "American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky."
- December 17, 1862 "General US Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee"
- December 17, 1875 Violent bread riots in Montreal
- December 17, 1894 Arthur Fiedler the conductor of The Boston Pops Orchestra was born
- December 17, 1895 "Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, DC"
- December 17, 1895 George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine (Mass)
- December 17, 1900 "First prize of 100,000 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy"
- December 17, 1903 "At 10:35 AM, first sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright)"
- December 17, 1919 Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- December 17, 1920 British Empire receives League of Nations mandate to Nauru
- December 17, 1920 Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands
- December 17, 1920 South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over SW Africa
- December 17, 1924 "First US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx NY"
- December 17, 1925 "Colonel William ""Billy"" Mitchell court-martial for insubordination"
- December 17, 1927 US sub 'S-4' sinks after collision kills all 34 aboard
- December 17, 1935 First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
- December 17, 1939 German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay
- December 17, 1939 The first elements of the first Canadian Dvision arrive in Britian
- December 17, 1941 German troops led by Rommel begin retreating in North Africa
- December 17, 1941 "HMS THRACIAN, lost while in Hong Kong - ran aground, dry-docked but damaged by Japanese bombing, later beached. Salvaged and served in Japanese Navy"
- December 17, 1942 Allies condemn the Nazis for murdering Jews.
- December 17, 1944 Japanese-Americans released from detention camps
- December 17, 1944 US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast
- December 17, 1946 "US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, NM"
- December 17, 1947 "New York struck by a blizzard, resulting with 27"" of snow"
- December 17, 1954 fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary IN)
- December 17, 1955 "Carl Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes. Less than 48 hours later, he recorded it at the Sun Studios in Memphis."
- December 17, 1957 The Atlas U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile makes its inaugural test flight.
- December 17, 1957 "The United States successfully launched the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile in Cape Canaveral, Florida."
- December 17, 1959 On the Beach premiered this day at the Astor Theatre in New York City -- and in 17 other cities. It was the first motion picture to debut simultaneously in major cities around the world
- December 17, 1961 Disgruntled employee set fire to a circus tent in Niteroi Brazil
- December 17, 1961 History of Goa: Operation Vijay - India seizes Goa from Portugal.
- December 17, 1961 India seizes Goa and 2 other Portuguese colonies
- December 17, 1962 Current constitution of Monaco promulgated
- December 17, 1965 Largest newspaper-Sunday New York Times at 946 pages ($0.50)
- December 17, 1967 "Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned."
- December 17, 1969 "50m TV viewers saw singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky, on Tonight Show"
- December 17, 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."""
- December 17, 1969 The SALT I talks begin.
- December 17, 1969 "USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings"
- December 17, 1970 "Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens."
- December 17, 1970 "The Beach Boys played to royalty at Royal Albert Hall in London. Princess Margaret was in attendance and shook the royal jewelry to such classics as Good Vibrations, I Get Around and Help Me, Rhonda."
- December 17, 1971 Cease-fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
- December 17, 1971 Radio Bangladesh begins transmitting
- December 17, 1972 New line of control agreed to in Kashmir between India and Pakistan
- December 17, 1973 Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
- December 17, 1975 Lynette Fromme was sentenced to life for attempt on President Ford's life
- December 17, 1978 Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda
- December 17, 1978 The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
- December 17, 1979 Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph (record for wheeled vehicle)
- December 17, 1979 "Driver Stan Barrett became the first person in the world to travel faster than sound on land. He drove the Budweiser Rocket car at a top speed of 739.666 in a one-way run at Rogers Dry Lake,California."
- December 17, 1981 "Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy."
- December 17, 1981 Members of the Red Brigades kidnap Brigadier General James L Dozier
- December 17, 1981 The Senegambia Confederation is founded.
- December 17, 1983 "The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people."
- December 17, 1986 "Richard Kuklinski, a suspect in several murders, is arrested by undercover agents at a truck stop off the New Jersey Turnpike, marking the culmination of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' ""Operation Iceman."""
- December 17, 1986 "Wayne Danke Schoen Newton won a $19.2 million judgment against NBC News, which had aired reports linking Newton to mob figures"
- December 17, 1988 "USS Tennessee, first sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned"
- December 17, 1989 First free elections in Brazil in 25 years.
- December 17, 1989 Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timioara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
- December 17, 1989 The premiere of animated television series The Simpsons.
- December 17, 1991 Karina Esquivel was born on dec. 17th AKA (freshman)
- December 17, 1991 "Soap opera ""One Life To Live"" airs its 6,000th episode"
- December 17, 1994 North Korea shoots down a US Army helicopter when it strays north of the demilitarized zone.dec18
- December 17, 1996 Intel Corporation and the Energy Department announced the development of a high-speed computer capable of performing more than one trillion calculations per second.
- December 17, 1997 "Microsoft and Silicon Graphics Inc ended their conflict over the display of three-dimensional graphics online. The companies had engaged in a long battle over technical standards, which delayed development of graphics technology."
- December 17, 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 presidential elections within two years.
- December 17, 2003 "SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes the first privately-funded manned suborbital flight."
- December 17, 2003 "The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice."
- December 17, 2005 "Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong"
- December 17, 2009 "A Nigerian court throws out corruption charges against the former governor of the country's Delta State, James Ibori, saying there was no clear evidence."
- December 17, 2009 Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray resigns following allegations contained within the Murphy Report. The Vatican accepts his resignation.
- December 17, 2009 Egyptian archaeologists recover from the Mediterranean Sea an ancient temple pylon belonging to the palace complex of Cleopatra.
- December 17, 2009 "Europe is hit by heavy snowfall leading to disruptions in France, Germany, Poland and Spain."
- December 17, 2009 "Ireland exits ""one of Europe's worst recessions""."
- December 17, 2009 "It is revealed that Iraqi militants intercepted live video feeds from U.S. MQ-1 Predator drones, potentially acquiring information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations."
- December 17, 2009 "Sahwari activist Aminatou Haidar is hospitalized in Tenerife, Spain, after 32 days of hunger strike protesting against her expulsion by the Moroccan authorities."
- December 17, 2009 "The Catholic Church condemns as ""inappropriate"" and ""disrespectful"" a New Zealand billboard involving nudity and the birth of Jesus Christ."
- December 17, 2009 The collapse of UK airline Flyglobespan leaves thousands of travellers stranded.
- December 17, 2009 The English High Court grants British Airways an injunction against a proposed twelve day strike by cabin crew represented by trade union Unite scheduled to occur over Christmas.
- December 17, 2009 The Pakistani opposition calls on President Asif Ali Zardari to resign after the Supreme Court declared void an amnesty protecting him and other senior officials from corruption charges.
- December 17, 2009 The Panamanian livestock transporter MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon while travelling from Uruguay to Syria with 83 people on board.
- December 17, 2009 "Two of Colombia's main rebel groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), announce they are to unite."
- December 17, 2009 Yemen authorities say 34 suspected Al-Qaeda militants have been killed and 17 captured in raids at hideouts and training camps in the west of the country.
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