Notable Historical Events on December 17th
December 17th Historical Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
283 |
St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope |
546 |
Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison. |
920 |
Romanos I is crowned as co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII. |
942 |
Assassination of William I Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy. |
1398 |
Timur (Tamerlane) captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies which include elephants |
1526 |
Ferdinand of Austria chosen as King of Bohemia |
1526 |
Pope Clemens VII publishes degree Cum ad zero - forms Inquisition |
1531 |
Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal. |
1538 |
Pope Paul III excommunicates England's King Henry VIII |
1572 |
Spanish army begins fires in Haarlem Netherlands |
1586 |
Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan. |
1587 |
The Earl Leicester's army leaves Netherlands |
1637 |
Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu. |
1638 |
French/Swedish troops occupy Breisach on the Rhine |
1718 |
France, Britain and Austria declare war on Spain. |
1728 |
Congregation Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan, to build NY's 1st synagogue |
1745 |
Bonnie Prince Charlie's army retreats to Scotland |
1777 |
France recognizes independence of British colonies in America |
1777 |
George Washington's army returns to Valley Forge, Pa |
1788 |
Russian army of Grigorij Potemkin occupies Ocharov |
1790 |
Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City |
1791 |
NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street |
1792 |
Opening of 1st legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec city |
1798 |
1st impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins |
1807 |
France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System. |
1819 |
Congress of Angostura establishes Colombia's independence from Spain |
1821 |
Kentucky abolishes debtors' prisons |
1832 |
HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin sails in Strait Le Maire |
1845 |
German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt arrives in Port Essington after a nearly 4,800 km (3,000 mi) overland journey to explore Australia's Northern Territory |
1852 |
1st Hawaiian cavalry organized |
1860 |
Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County |
1862 |
General Ulysses S. Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee |
1865 |
Franz Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" premieres |
1875 |
Violent bread riots in Montreal |
1885 |
France declares Madagascar a protectorate |
1887 |
Georges Feydeau's "Tailleur Pour Dames" premieres in Paris |
1892 |
Tchaikovski's ballet "Casse-noisette" premieres in St Petersburg |
1893 |
Russia ratifies Double Alliance with France |
1894 |
Cricket day 3 1T Aus v Eng Eng 325 all out, 261 behind on 1st inn |
1895 |
Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, DC |
1895 |
George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine (Mass) |
1900 |
1st prize of 100,00 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy |
1900 |
New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million |
1900 |
Pope Leo XIII closes the 'Holy Door' of St Peter's in Rome, ending the Jubilee Year of 1900 |
1902 |
Frank Wedekind's "Der Erdgeist" premieres in Berlin |
1903 |
At 10:35 AM, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright) |
1907 |
Ugyen Wangchuck became 1st hereditary king of Bhutan |
1908 |
In Turkey, the new parliament convenes, with reformist Young Turks as the majority |
1909 |
Leopold II, king of Belgium, buried in Brussels |
1914 |
Austrian troops beat Russians in Limanova Poland |
1914 |
Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate |
1914 |
Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv by Turkish authorities |
1919 |
Austria parliament approves 8-hour day |
1920 |
AL votes to let spitball pitchers to continue using it |
1920 |
British Empire receives League of Nations mandate to Nauru |
1920 |
Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands |
1920 |
South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over SW Africa |
1922 |
Last British troops leave Irish Free State |
1923 |
Greek king George II overthrown by army/republic |
1924 |
1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY |
1925 |
Col William "Billy" Mitchell court-martialed for insubordination |
1925 |
Russia & Turkey sign non-aggresion pact |
1926 |
German Marx government falls due to cooperation with red army |
1926 |
KYA-AM in San Francisco CA begins radio transmissions |
1926 |
Lithuanian military state under gen Augustine Woldemaras |
1926 |
Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful. |
1927 |
Bradman scores 118 on 1st-class cricket debut, 188 mins 8 fours |
1927 |
US sub 'S-4' sinks after collision kills all 34 aboard |
1927 |
Victoria score 793 against Queensland, Bill Ponsford 437 |
1928 |
John McGraw backs NL Pres John Heydler's designated hitter idea |
1932 |
Cards trade Jim Bottomley to Reds for Estel Crabtree & Ownie Carroll |
1933 |
B H Valentine scores 133 on Test Cricket debut, Eng v India at Bombay |
1933 |
Lala Amarnath scores century on Test Cricket debut (went on to 118) |
1933 |
Spain's 2nd government of Lerroux forms |
1933 |
NFL starts official stats as Bears beat Giants 23-21 in champ game |
1935 |
First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane. |
1936 |
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy, appear on TV |
1938 |
Discovery of nuclear fission using uranium by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann |
1938 |
Utrecht Central Station destroyed by fire |
1939 |
German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay |
1940 |
British troops occupy Sollum, Egypt |
1941 |
Dutch & Australian troops lands on Portuguese Timor |
1941 |
German submarine U-31 sunk |
1941 |
German troops led by Rommel begin retreating in North Africa |
1941 |
World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol. |
1942 |
Allies in London sentence German war criminals |
1943 |
Transport 63 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany |
1944 |
Green Bay Packers win NFL championship |
1944 |
M-Ocean View streetcar resumes service & is extended to Market St |
1944 |
US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast, detainees released. |
1944 |
US destroyers sink in storm off Philippines, 790 killed |
1946 |
Bradman & Barnes complete 405 run 5th wkt stand, score 234 ea |
1946 |
US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, NM |
1947 |
NY struck by a blizzard, resulting with 27" of snow |
1947 |
WEWS TV channel 5 in Cleveland, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting |
1949 |
"Regina" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 86 performances |
1949 |
Burma recognizes People's Republic of China |
1951 |
Dutch Communist Party members forbidden to be civil servants |
1953 |
Dmitri Shostakovitch's 10th Symphony premieres in Leningrad |
1953 |
FCC approves RCA's black & white-compatible color TV specifications |
1954 |
1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana) |
1954 |
WEAU TV channel 13 in Eau Claire, WI (NBC) begins broadcasting |
1957 |
US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile |
1957 |
The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show airs on NBC due to lack of national sponsorship |
1959 |
"On The Beach" is 1st film to premiere on both sides of Iron Curtain |
1959 |
1st movie opening simultaneously in major cities (On The Beach) |
1960 |
"La Plume de Ma Tante" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 835 perfs |
1960 |
"Take Me Along" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 448 performances |
1960 |
Pablo Casals' oratorio "El Pesebrio" premieres |
1961 |
Disgruntled employee set fire to a circus tent in Niteroi Brazil |
1961 |
India seizes Goa & 2 other Portuguese colonies |
1961 |
Niteroi Circus of Rio de Janeiro catches fire; 323 die |
1962 |
Beatles 1st British TV appearance (People & Places) |
1962 |
Current constitution of Monaco promulgated |
1963 |
Tsjoi Doo Sun forms government in South Korea |
1963 |
West & East Berlin sign accord about travel rules |
1965 |
Astrodome opens, 1st event is Judy Garland & Supremes concert |
1965 |
British government proclaims ends oil-embargo against Rhodesia |
1965 |
David Levy begins his search for comets |
1965 |
Dutch government shuts Limburgs coal mine |
1965 |
Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents) |
1967 |
WEDW TV channel 49 in Bridgeport, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting |
1967 |
Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, vanishes in mysterious circumstances while swimming near Melbourne. |
1969 |
USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings |
1970 |
US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
1970 |
USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR |
1970 |
Poland: shipyard workers in Gdansk strike; soldiers in Gdynia fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens. |
1971 |
"Diamonds are Forever" premieres in US |
1971 |
Cease fire between India & Pakistan in Kashmir |
1971 |
Radio Bangladesh begins transmitting |
1972 |
New line of control agreed to in Kashmir between India & Pakistan |
1972 |
WGVC (now WUCX) TV channel 35 in Grand Rapids, MI (PBS) 1st broadcast |
1973 |
Arabs terrorists shoot passengers on Boeing 737 to Kuwait |
1975 |
1st time NY Islanders shut-out NY Rangers, 3-0-Billy Smith's 5th |
1975 |
John Paul Stevens appointed to Supreme Court |
1975 |
Lynette Fromme sentenced to life for attempt on US President Ford's life |
1976 |
Superstation WTBS in Atlanta went national |
1977 |
Bobby Simpson scores 176 Australia v India at the WACA, aged 41 |
1977 |
Elvis Costello & The Attractions 1st US TV appearance (SNL) |
1977 |
France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island |
1978 |
OPEC raises oil prices 18% |
1978 |
Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda |
1978 |
The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe. |
1978 |
OPEC decides on a 14.5 percent petrolium price increase for 1979, to be implemented quarterly |
1979 |
Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph (record for wheeled vehicle) |
1980 |
Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
1980 |
Mauritania provisional constitution published |
1981 |
Members of Red Brigades kidnap Brig Gen James L Dozier |
1983 |
"Peg" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 5 performances |
1983 |
Disco in Madrid catches fire; 83 die |
1983 |
The Provisional IRA bombs Harrods department store in London, killing six people and injuring 90 |
1984 |
NJ Devils 1st penalty shot-Rocky Trottier scores against Edmonton |
1984 |
NJ Devils 1st shutout, Glenn Resch makes 42 saves beat Minn, 2-0 |
1986 |
US Congress forms "Irangate" committee |
1986 |
Mrs Davina Thompson makes medical history by having the 1st heart, lung & liver transplant (Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England) |
1986 |
American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski is arrested at a roadblock |
1987 |
Czechoslovak party leader Gustav Husak resigns |
1988 |
77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1) |
1988 |
Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Wash Caps) |
1988 |
NY Islanders break 12 game losing streak, beat Devils 5-2 |
1988 |
USS Tennessee, 1st sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned |
1988 |
USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR |
1989 |
78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2) |
1989 |
Brazil elects conservative Fernando Collor de Mello as president |
1989 |
Michael Bevan scores cricket century on 1st-class debut (114 SA v WA) |
1989 |
Patti Rizzo/Mike Hill win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship |
1989 |
The longest-running American sitcom the simpsons had its debut. |
1990 |
KTBN, Salt Lake City Utah, begins shortwave radio transmissions |
1991 |
Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 pts |
1991 |
NBA's most lopsided game Cleveland beats Miami 148-80 |
1991 |
Patrick Manning becomes premier of Trinidad & Tobago |
1991 |
Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode |
1992 |
"Christmas Carol" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 22 performances |
1992 |
Gen Suwa finds tooth of 4.4 million year old Australopithecus ramidus |
1993 |
Bangladesh moslem call for murder of feminist Taslima Nasrin |
1993 |
Kevin Scott skates world record 1000 m (1:12.54) |
1993 |
Northern Exposure star Barry Corbin falls off his horse |
1994 |
KLM's last DC-10 goes out of service |
1995 |
"School after Scandal" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 23 perfs |
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 |
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. |
2003 |
SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight. |
2005 |
Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong |
2007 |
Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States |
2012 |
Jiroemon Kimura of Japan becomes the world's oldest verified man at 116 years old |
2012 |
17 people are killed and 70 are injured by a blast in a market in the Khyber Agency, Pakistan |
2012 |
10 girls collecting firewood are killed by a mine blast in east Afghanistan |
2012 |
18 people drown after an overloaded boat sinks in Cotonou, Benin |
2012 |
NASA completes a successful mission to map the Moon's gravity field |
2013 |
Australia wins the 3rd test to take win the 2013-14 Ashes test cricket series |
2013 |
Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term |
2013 |
Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, and Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |
2015 |
Wolf 1061 exoplanet: 'Super-Earth' discovered only 14 light-years away |
2016 |
FBI backs CIA assessment on Russian motives in US hacking - official |
2017 |
Suicide bombers attack church in Pakistan, killing 5 |
Keep in touch with us:
beta testing:
nothing here now
