December 17 facts for kids

December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 14 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

• 497 BC - The first Saturnalia festival is first celebrated in Ancient Rome.
• 546 - Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under King Totila plunder Rome, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
• 942 – William I of Normandy is assassinated.
• 1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.
• 1577 - Francis Drake sails from Plymouth on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Ocean coasts of the Americas.
• 1583 - Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.
• 1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan becomes Emperor.
• 1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
• 1637 – In Japan, the Shimabara Rebellion led by Amakusa Shigeharu against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu begins.
• 1718 – Great Britain declares war on Spain.
• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: France formally recognizes the United States as an independent country.
• 1790 – The Aztec calendar stone Piedra del Sol is discovered during building work in Mexico City.
• 1819 - Simon Bolivar declares the independence of Gran Colombia (present-day Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador) in Angostura, now Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela.
• 1830 - Simon Bolivar dies at the age of 47.
• 1835 - Great Fire of New York City: Fire levels Lower Manhattan.
• 1837 - A fire rips through the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing 30 guards.
• 1862 – Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order Number 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
• 1865 – First performance of Franz Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony.
• 1892 - The first issue of Vogue magazine is published.

1901 – 2000

• 1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1907 – Ugyen Wangchuck becomes the first King of Bhutan.
• 1909 - Albert I of Belgium becomes King.
• 1918 - Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
• 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
• 1922 - The last British troops leave the Irish Free State.
• 1926 – Antanas Smetona becomes President of Lithuania.
• 1938 - Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
• 1939 - World War II: Battle of River Plate - The German Navy sinks its own ship Admiral Graf Spee outside Montevideo.
• 1941 – World War II: Japanese forces land in northern Borneo.
• 1960 - Haile Selassie is re-installed as Emperor of Ethiopia, after he had previously been removed by a coup, while he was in Brazil, on December 13.
• 1960 - 1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 people on board the aircraft and 32 on the ground are killed.
• 1961 – The world's biggest circus tragedy occurs in Niteroi, Brazil when the circus is set on fire by angry workers, killing 323 people.
• 1967 – Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt goes missing on a diving trip off the state of Victoria. He is declared dead two days later.
• 1970 – The current flag of Oman comes into use.
• 1973 – 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
• 1981 – Senegal and Gambia form the Senegambia Confederation.
• 1983 – An IRA bomb at a Harrods Department store in London kills 6 people.
• 1989 – Fernando Collor de Mello is elected President of Brazil.
• 1989 – The first full length episode of The Simpsons aires.

From 2001

• 2004 – Out of health and cultural reasons, Bhutan bans the sale of tobacco.
• 2005 – King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan decides to abdicate the throne.
• 2010 – Arab Spring: Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire in an act of protest. He dies as a result of this on January 4, 2011. Shortly after, Tunisia's President, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali is overthrown, and this starts a series of uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
• 2011 – A typhoon hits the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, killing at least 400 people.
• 2011 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il dies. His son, Kim Jong-un, takes over from him.
• 2014 - US President Barack Obama declares a normalization in US-Cuba relations for the first time in over 50 years, after the release of American Alan Gross, who was held in Cuba since December 2009.

Births

Up to 1900

• 1267 – Emperor Go-Uda, emperor of Japan (d. 1324)
• 1554 - Ernest of Bavaria (d. 1612)
• 1619 – Prince Rupert, 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 (d. 1816)
• 1749 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
• 1758 – Nathaniel Macon, American politician (d. 1837)
• 1778 – Humphrey Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
• 1789 - Clement Comer Clay, 8th Governor of Alabama (d. 1866)
• 1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
• 1797 - Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878)
• 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, Swiss-American scientist (d. 1910)
• 1842 – Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1899)
• 1853 – Herbert Beerbohm Tree, English actor (d. 1917)
• 1866 - Kazys Grinius, 3rd President of Lithuania (d. 1950)
• 1872 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
• 1873 – Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
• 1874 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
• 1887 - Hermine Reuss of Greiz, wife of Wilhelm II of Germany (d. 1947)
• 1889 - Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)
• 1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
• 1893 – Erwin Piscator, German movie director (d. 1966)
• 1894 - Willem Schermerhorn, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
• 1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
• 1898 - Loren Murchison, American athlete (d. 1979)
• 1900 - Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)

1901 – 1950

• 1901 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor and director (d. 1982)
• 1903 – Erskine Caldwell, American writer (d. 1987)
• 1903 – Ray Noble, English musician {d. 1978}
• 1905 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier (d. 2002)
• 1905 - Mohammad Hidayatullah, 11th Chief Justice of India (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Willard Frank Libby, American physicist and chemist (d. 1980)
• 1913 - Burt Baskin, American businessman (d. 1967)
• 1915 – André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
• 1916 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
• 1919 - Tomas Spidlik, Czech cardinal (d. 2010)
• 1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
• 1922 - Mario Rigamonti, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
• 1926 - Stephen Lewis, English actor (d. 2015)
• 1926 - Patrice Wymore, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1928 - Marilyn Beck, American columnist (d. 2014)
• 1928 - George Lindsey, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1929 – William Safire, American columnist (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
• 1930 – Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Bob Mathias, American athlete
• 1930 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
• 1931 - Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (d. 2014)
• 1934 - Ray Wilson, English footballer
• 1935 - Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1999)
• 1936 - Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires)
• 1936 – Tommy Steele, English singer and actor
• 1936 - Klaus Kinkel, German politician
• 1937 - John Kennedy Toole, American author (d. 1969)
• 1937 - Art Neville, American singer and keyboardist
• 1937 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
• 1938 - Gilles Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete
• 1939 – Eddie Kendricks, American musician (d. 1992)
• 1941 – Gene Clark, American musician (d. 1991)
• 1941 - Dave Dee, English singer (d. 2009)
• 1942 – Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
• 1942 - Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian leader
• 1943 - Christopher Cazenove, English actor (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Ron Geesin, Scottish musician
• 1943 – Lauren Hutton, American model and actress
• 1944 – Jack L. Chalker, American novelist
• 1944 – Lorne Michaels, Canadian television producer
• 1944 – Bernard Hill, English actor
• 1945 – Jacqueline Wilson, English writer
• 1945 – Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
• 1945 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
• 1946 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
• 1947 – Wes Studi, American actor
• 1948 - Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
• 1949 – Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free)

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1953 – Bill Pullman, American actor
• 1953 - Sally Menke, American movie producer (d. 2010)
• 1955 – Brad Davis, American basketball player
• 1956 - Peter John Farrelly, American screenwriter and director
• 1958 - Mike Mills, American musician in band R.E.M.
• 1961 - Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama)
• 1963 – Jon Kalman Stefansson, Icelandic writer
• 1966 – Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
• 1966 – Valery Liukin, Soviet gymnast
• 1967 – Gigi D'Agostino, Italian musician and DJ
• 1968 – Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
• 1969 - Chris Mason, English darts player
• 1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
• 1973 – Paula Radcliffe, English runner
• 1973 - Codrin Tapu, Romanian psychologist
• 1974 - Sarah Paulson, American actress
• 1974 - Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
• 1974 - Marissa Ribisi, American actress and screenwriter
• 1975 – Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
• 1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model

From 1976

• 1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
• 1976 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
• 1976 - Andrew Simpson, English sailor (d. 2013)
• 1977 – Liédson, Portuguese footballer
• 1977 - Arnaud Clément, French tennis player
• 1977 - Oxana Fedorova, Russian model, actress and singer
• 1978 – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician
• 1978 - Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor
• 1979 - Charlotte Edwards, English cricketer
• 1979 – William Green, American football player
• 1980 - Eli Pariser, American internet activist and computer programmer
• 1981 – Tim Wiese, German footballer
• 1982 - Dynamo, English magician
• 1982 – Boubacar Sanogo, Ivory Coast footballer
• 1982 - Craig Kielburger, Canadian author and activist
• 1983 - Sébastien Ogier, French rally driver
• 1985 - Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer and actor
• 1986 - Emma Bell, American actress
• 1987 – Chelsea Manning, American soldier, leaked information on WikiLeaks
• 1988 - David Rudisha, Kenyan athlete
• 1989 – André Ayew, Ghanaian footballer
• 1989 - Taylor York, American musician (Paramore)
• 1993 - Patricia Ku Flores, Peruvian tennis player
• 1993 - Buddy Hield, Bahamian basketball player
• 1994 - Nat Wolff, American actor, singer and musician
• 2007 – James, Viscount Severn, British royal and youngest grandchild of Elizabeth II

Deaths

Up to 1900

• 942 – William I of Normandy
• 1187 – Pope Gregory VIII
• 1195 – Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
• 1273 – Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Persian poet and mystic (b. 1207)
• 1663 – Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
• 1721 – Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
• 1830 – Simón Bolívar, Latin American politician and activist (b. 1783)
• 1833 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
• 1847 - Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (b. 1791)
• 1857 - Hiram Runnels, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1796)
• 1860 - Desiree Clary, French-born Queen Consort of Sweden (b. 1777)
• 1881 - Isaac Israel Hayes, American physician and polar explorer (b. 1832)
• 1897 – Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)

1901 – 2000

• 1901 - Josep Manyanet i Vives, Catalan priest (b. 1833)
• 1907 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
• 1909 – King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
• 1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
• 1927 - Rajendra Lahiri, Indian activist (b. 1892)
• 1929 - Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, 10th President of Portugal (b. 1863)
• 1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
• 1934 - William L. Harding, 20th Governor of Iowa (b. 1877)
• 1935 - Juan Vicente Gomez, President of Venezuela (b. 1857)
• 1940 - Alicia Boole Stott, Irish-English mathematician (b. 1860)
• 1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
• 1962 - Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1964 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
• 1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
• 1969 - Artur da Costa e Silva, President of Brazil (b. 1899)
• 1973 - Charles Greeley Abbott, American astrophysicist (b. 1872)
• 1973 - Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Italian cardinal (b. 1883)
• 1978 - Josef Frings, German cardinal (b. 1887)
• 1982 - Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
• 1987 – Irving Allen, American producer (b. 1916)
• 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 musician (b. 1943)

From 2001

• 2003 – Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Captain Beefheart, American musician (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader (b. 1941)
• 2012 - Dina Manfredini, Italian-born American supercentenarian (b. 1897)
• 2012 - Daniel Inouye, United States Senator from Hawaii (b. 1924)
• 2013 - Janet Rowley, American cancer researcher (b. 1925)
• 2014 - Dieter Grau, German-American rocket scientist (b. 1913)
• 2014 - Richard C. Hottelet, American broadcast journalist (b. 1917)
• 2014 - Oleh Lysheha, Ukrainian poet (b. 1949)
• 2015 - Buckshot Hoffner, American politician (b. 1924)
• 2016 - Henry Heimlich, American physician (b. 1920)
• 2016 - Benjamin A. Gilman, American politician (b. 1922)

Observances

• National Day of Bhutan