December 17Birthdays & History

On this day: December 17 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 497 BCThe first Saturnalia festival is celebrated in ancient Rome.Europe
2. 546Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Eastern Roman garrison.Europe
3. 920Romanos I Lekapenos is crowned co-emperor of the underage Constantine VII.Europe
4. 942Assassination of William Longsword, Count of Normandy.Europe
5. 1297King Kyawswa of Pagan is overthrown by the three Myinsaing brothers, marking the de facto end of the Pagan Kingdom.Asia
6. 1354Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut and Holy Roman Empress and her son William I, Duke of Bavaria, sign a peace treaty ending the Hook and Cod wars.Europe
7. 1398Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.Asia
8. 1538Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.Europe
9. 1583Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.Europe
10. 1586Go-Yōzei becomes Emperor of Japan.Asia
11. 1665The first account of a blood transfusion is published, in the form of a letter from physician Richard Lower to chemist Robert Boyle, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyEurope
12. 1718War of the Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain declares war on Spain.Europe
13. 1777American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.North AmericaEurope
14. 1790The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.Latin America
15. 1807Napoleonic Wars: France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.Europe
16. 1812War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.North America
17. 1819Simón Bolívar declares the independence of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).Latin America
18. 1835The second Great Fire of New York destroys 53,000 square metres (13 acres) of New York City's Financial District.North America
19. 1837A fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg kills 30 guards.Europe
20. 1862American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.North America
21. 1865First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.Europe
22. 1892First issue of Vogue is published.North America
23. 1896Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America, is destroyed in a fire.North America
24. 1903The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.North America
25. 1907Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan.Asia
26. 1918Darwin Rebellion: Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.Oceania
27. 1926Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful.Europe
28. 1927Indian revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri is hanged in Gonda jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, two days before the scheduled date.Asia
29. 1928Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.AsiaEurope
30. 1933The first NFL Championship Game is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears win 23–21.North America
31. 1935Douglas DC-3: The twin-engine airliner makes its maiden flight from Santa Monica.North America
32. 1938Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.Europe
33. 1939World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.Latin America
34. 1943All Chinese are again permitted to become citizens of the United States upon the repeal of the Act of 1882 and the introduction of the Magnuson Act.AsiaNorth America
35. 1944World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.North America
36. 1945Kurdistan flag day, the flag of Kurdistan is raised for the first time in Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan.Middle East
37. 1947First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.North America
38. 1948The Finnish Security Police is established to remove communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police.Europe
39. 1950The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.Asia
40. 1951The American Civil Rights Congress delivers "We Charge Genocide" to the United Nations.North America
41. 1957The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.North America
42. 1960Munich C-131 crash: Twenty passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.Europe
43. 1960Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.AfricaLatin America
44. 1961Niterói circus fire: Fire breaks out during a performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing more than 500.Latin America
45. 1967Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.Oceania
46. 1969Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.North America
47. 1970Polish protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.Europe
48. 1973Thirty passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport.Middle EastEurope
49. 1981American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.North AmericaEurope
50. 1983Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.Europe
51. 1989The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".North America
52. 1989Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years.Latin America
53. 1989Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timișoara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.Europe
54. 1997Aerosvit Flight 241: A Yakovlev Yak-42 crashes into the Pierian Mountains near Thessaloniki Airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, killing all 70 people on board.Europe
55. 1997Peruvian internal conflict: Fourteen members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement provoke a hostage crisis by taking over the Japanese embassy in Lima.Latin AmericaAsia
56. 2002Second 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.Africa
57. 2003The 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.Europe
58. 2003Sex work rights activists establish December 17 (or "D17") as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to memorialize victims of a serial killer who targeted prostitutes, and highlight State violence against sex workers by police and others.World
59. 2003SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.North America
60. 2005Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.Asia
61. 2005Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.Asia
62. 2009MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.Middle East
63. 2010Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.AfricaMiddle East
64. 2014The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.North AmericaLatin America

Source: Wikipedia "December 17" / CC BY-SA 4.0