DECEMBER 17

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 546 - Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome bribing the Byzantine garrison.

★ 942 - Assassination of William I of Normandy.

★ 1398 - Sultan Mehmud's armies in Delhi defeated by Timur.

★ 1531 - Pope Clement VII established a parallel to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.

★ 1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

★ 1577 - Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for British Queen Elizabeth I.

★ 1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.

★ 1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.

★ 1637 - Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.

★ 1718 - Great Britain declares war to Spain.

★ 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven is baptised at Bonn.

★ 1807 - France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.

★ 1819 - Simón Bolívar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).

★ 1834 - The Dublin and Kingstown Railway opened in Ireland, the first public railway on the island of Ireland.

★ 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues ''General Order No. 11'', expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

★ 1903 - The Wright Brothers made their first powered and 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.

★ 1941 - World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.

★ 1941 - World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.

★ 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 - The SALT I talks begin.

★ 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 dozens.

★ 1973 - 32 are killed in an attempt at the Rome Fiumicino Airport.

★ 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.

★ 1981 - Founding of the Senegambia Confederation.

★ 1983 - The IRA bomb Harrods Department Store in London, killing seven people (see Harrods bombing).

★ 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.

★ 1989 - First free elections in Brazil in 25 years.

★ 1999 - The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.

★ 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.

★ 2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes the first privately-funded manned supersonic flight.

★ 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, 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, English 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)

★ 1835 - Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, American scientist; son of Louis Agassiz (d. 1910)

★ 1847 - Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)

★ 1853 - Émile Roux, French physician (d. 1933)

★ 1859 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)

★ 1873 - Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)

★ 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th 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)

★ 1900 - Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)

★ 1900 - Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (d. 1973)

★ 1903 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)

★ 1903 - Ray Noble, English bandleader and actor (d. 1978)

★ 1904 - Paul Cadmus, American artist (d. 1999)

★ 1905 - Simo Häyhä, Finnish sniper (d. 2002)

★ 1905 - Érico Lopes Veríssimo, Brazilian writer (d. 1975)

★ 1906 - Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer and musicologist (d. 1994)

★ 1908 - Willard Frank Libby, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980)

★ 1910 - Sy Oliver, American jazz arranger and bandleader (d. 1988)

★ 1915 - André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)

★ 1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)

★ 1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)

★ 1922 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005)

★ 1923 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (d. 2006)

★ 1926 - Ray Jablonski, American baseball player (d. 1985)

★ 1927 - Richard Long, American actor (d. 1974)

★ 1929 - Jacqueline Hill, English actress (d. 1993)

★ 1929 - William Safire, American columnist

★ 1930 - Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher

★ 1930 - Bob Mathias, American decathlete and congressman (d. 2006)

★ 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor

★ 1931 - Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor

★ 1934 - Ray Wilson, English footballer

★ 1935 - George Lindsey, American actor

★ 1935 - Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball coach (d. 1999)

★ 1936 - Tommy Steele, English singer and actor

★ 1937 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)

★ 1937 - John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (d. 1969)

★ 1937 - Calvin Waller, US Army general (d. 1996)

★ 1938 - Carlo Little, English drummer (d. 2005)

★ 1938 - Peter Snell, New Zealand runner

★ 1939 - Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992)

★ 1940 - Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist

★ 1942 - Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)

★ 1943 - Mary Brunner, American former "Manson Family" member

★ 1943 - Ron Geesin, Scottish musician and composer

★ 1944 - Jack L. Chalker, American novelist

★ 1944 - Bernard Hill, English actor

★ 1945 - Ernie Hudson, American actor

★ 1945 - Chris Matthews, American journalist

★ 1945 - Jacqueline Wilson, English author

★ 1946 - Eugene Levy, Canadian actor

★ 1947 - Wes Studi, American actor

★ 1949 - Paul Rodgers, English singer (Free; Bad Company)

★ 1950 - Laurence F. Johnson, American educator

★ 1951 - Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach

★ 1951 - Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete

★ 1953 - Samuel Hadida, film distributor

★ 1953 - Barry Livingston, American actor

★ 1953 - Bill Pullman, American actor

★ 1955 - Brad Davis, American basketball player

★ 1956 - Peter Farrelly, American film director

★ 1958 - Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.)

★ 1960 - Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist

★ 1962 - Paul Dobson, English footballer

★ 1962 - Richard Jewell, central figure in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing (d. 2007)

★ 1962 - Rocco Mediate, American golfer

★ 1964 - Ginger, English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts)

★ 1964 - Frank Musil, Czech ice hockey player

★ 1966 - Tracy Byrd American musician

★ 1966 - Valeri Liukin, Soviet gymnast

★ 1966 - Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician

★ 1967 - Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1967 - Chris Mason (darts player) PDC Darts player

★ 1968 - Andrey Golovatiuk, Russian politician

★ 1968 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver

★ 1969 - Chuck Liddell, American martial artist

★ 1970 - Joshua Seth, American voice actor

★ 1971 - Alan Khan, South African radio disc jockey

★ 1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player

★ 1972 - John Abraham, Indian actor

★ 1972 - Laurie Holden, American actress

★ 1973 - Paula Radcliffe, English runner

★ 1973 - Konstadinos Gatsioudis, Greek javelin thrower

★ 1974 - Duff Goldman, American chef

★ 1974 - Giovanni Ribisi, American actor

★ 1975 - Nick Dinsmore (Eugene), American professional wrestler

★ 1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress

★ 1975 - Sarah Paulson, American actress

★ 1975 - Bree Sharp, American singer/songwriter

★ 1976 - Éric Bédard, Canadian speed skater

★ 1976 - Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress

★ 1976 - Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer

★ 1976 - Takeo Spikes, American football player

★ 1977 - Arnaud Clement, French tennis player

★ 1978 - Alex Cintrón, Puerto Rican baseball player

★ 1978 - Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor

★ 1978 - Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer

★ 1978 - Chase Utley, American baseball player

★ 1979 - Jaimee Foxworth, American actress

★ 1979 - Ryan Key, American musician and songwriter (Yellowcard)

★ 1979 - Matt Murley, American ice hockey player

★ 1980 - Eli Pariser, American political activist (MoveOn.org)

★ 1982 - Josh Barfield, Venezuelan baseball player

★ 1982 - Craig Kielburger, Canadian labour activist

★ 1982 - Stephane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player

★ 1984 - Andrew Davies, English footballer

★ 1985 - Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer

★ 1994 - Nat Wolff, American Singer, Actor and songwriter

Deaths

★ 942 - William Longsword

★ 1187 - Pope Gregory VIII

★ 1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)

★ 1273 - Rumi (b.1207)

★ 1663 - Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)

★ 1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)

★ 1830 - Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan-born libertator, six nations (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 - Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)

★ 1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, British physician (b. 1836)

★ 1917 - Frank Gotch, wrestler (b. 1878)

★ 1933 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)

★ 1940 - Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician (b. 1860)

★ 1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers, British writer (b. 1893)

★ 1962 - Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)

★ 1964 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1883)

★ 1967 - Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister (b. 1908)

★ 1967 - Jack Perrin, American actor (b. 1896)

★ 1978 - Don Ellis, American jazz band leader (b. 1934)

★ 1982 - Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)

★ 1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)

★ 1987 - Linda Wong, pornographic actress (b. 1951)

★ 1992 - Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)

★ 1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian, Pediatric Neurologist and researcher (b. 1959)

★ 1999 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)

★ 1999 - Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter (b. 1920)

★ 2002 - James Hazeldine, British actor (b. 1947)

★ 2003 - Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)

★ 2003 - Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)

★ 2005 - Jack Anderson, American journalist (b. 1922)

★ 2005 - Marc Favreau, French Canadian humourist (Sol) (b. 1929)

★ 2006 - Larry Sherry, American baseball player (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances

★ Roman festivals – Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began.

★ R.C. Saints – O Sapientia ; Saint Lazarus

★ Greek Orthodox Church-Saint Barbaras day – Feast of Daniel the Prophet

★ Bhutan – National Day (1907)

★ USA – Wright Brothers Day (by Presidential Proclamation)

★ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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