Today's 17 December Major Events in History

Photo for the article Today's 17 December Major Events

283 St. Caius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
546 Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison during the Gothic War
920 Romanos I is crowned as co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII

942 Assassination of William I Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy.
1206 Crusader Wallon de Sarton presents Bishop of Amiens Richard de Gerberoy with purported skull of John the Baptist, stolen from Constantinople (Amiens cathedral later built to house it)

Tamerlane Captures Delhi

1398 Tamerlane captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud's armies by setting camels loaded with hay alight and driving them toward the Sultan's armored war elephants

1526 Ferdinand of Austria chosen as King of Bohemia

Cum ad nihil magis

1531 Pope Clement VII publishes the papal bull "Cum ad nihil magis", authorizing the Inquisition in Portugal at Evora, Coimbra, and Lisbon; it is rescinded in 1535

Henry VIII Excommunicated

1538 Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England

1572 Spanish army starts fires in Haarlem, Netherlands
1586 Go-Yōzei becomes 107th Emperor of Japan
1587 The Earl of Leicester's army leaves Netherlands
1637 Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu
1638 French and Swedish troops occupy Breisach on the Rhine
1718 France, Britain and Austria declare war on Spain (War of the Quadruple Alliance 1718–1720)
1728 Congregation Shearith Israel of New York purchases a lot on Mill Street in Lower Manhattan to build the city's first synagogue
1777 France recognizes the independence of the British colonies in America
1777 George Washington's army returns to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
1788 Russian army led by Grigory Potemkin assaults and captures the fortress of Ochakov in modern-day Ukraine after a five-month siege during a major campaign of the Russo-Turkish War
1790 Aztec calendar stone is discovered in Mexico City
1791 A traffic regulation creates the first one-way street in New York City
1792 Opening of the First Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec City
1798 First impeachment trial against a US senator begins (William Blount, Tennessee)
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 Real Estate developer Samuel Ruggles deeds Gramercy Park to board of trustees to hold as parkland, he is granted tax exempt status by New York City for the park, and develops the surrounding lots ensuring private access only to those properties
1836 Colonel William Light chooses the site for the settlement of Adelaide in South Australia
1843 Henry Cole, founder of London's V&A Museum, commissions printing of the 1st Christmas card

Leichhardt Survives Overland Expedition

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 is organized
1860 Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County

Jews Expelled from Tennessee

1862 General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from his military district, which comprises areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky

Unfinished Symphony

1865 Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished Symphony", premieres in Vienna with Johann von Herbeck conducting

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 Day 3 of first cricket test between Australia and England, England 325 all out, 261 behind on 1st innings
1895 Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, D.C.
1895 George Brownell patents a machine for making paper twine in Massachusetts
1900 First prize of 100,000 francs is offered for communication with extraterrestrials, with Martians excluded because they are considered too easy
1900 New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million

Leo XIII Closes 'Holy Door'

1900 Pope Leo XIII closes the 'Holy Door' of St Peter's in Rome, ending the Jubilee Year of 1900

1902 Frank Wedekind's play "Der Erdgeist" (Earth Spirit) premieres in Berlin

1903 At 10:35 am, Orville Wright pilots the first sustained, powered, and controlled flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; the flight lasts 12 seconds and covers 120 feet

1907 Ugyen Wangchuck became 1st hereditary king of Bhutan

Young Turks in Government

1908 In Turkey the new parliament convenes with reformist Young Turks as the majority

1912 Albania's de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire is recognized at the London Conference of Ambassadors
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
1918 A conference of workers' and soldiers' councils take control of German government in Berlin, until elections in January selects new national assembly
1919 Austrian parliament approves 8-hour working day
1920 AL votes to let spitball pitchers to continue using it
1920 British Empire receives League of Nations mandate over 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
1924 First US diesel electric locomotive enters service in the Bronx, New York
1924 The Hamilton Tigers and Ottawa Senators battle out the first scoreless game in NHL history; Jake Forbes (Hamilton) and Alex Connell (Ottawa) each record shutouts
1925 Colonel William "Billy" Mitchell court-martialed for insubordination
1925 Soviet Union & Turkey sign non-aggresion pact

Jeddah Conquered

1925 Sultan Abdulaziz Ibn Saud conquers Jeddah, the last major stand of the Hashemites against the Saudis

1926 Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the ‎1926 coup d'état‎ is successful
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

Bradman's 1st Class Debut

1927 Australian cricket prodigy Don Bradman scores 118 in his first class debut for New South Wales against South Australia at Adelaide Oval

1927 US submarine S-4 sinks after collision killing all 34 aboard
1928 John McGraw backs NL President John Heydler's designated hitter idea

1932 St. Louis Cardinals trade future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Jim Bottomley to the Cincinnati Reds for Estel Crabtree and Ownie Carroll
1933 Bryan Valentine (136) and Lala Amarnath (102no) score centuries on their Test Cricket debut on Day 3 of 1st Test between England and India at Bombay
1933 Spain's 2nd government of Lerroux forms

Douglas DC-3's 1st Flight

1935 1st flight of the Douglas DC-3 (C-47 Skytrain/Dakota) airplane.

1936 Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and 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 and Australian troops land on Portuguese Timor
1941 German submarine U-31 sunk

Germans Retreat in Africa

1941 German troops led by Erwin 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 San Francisco 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 record 405 run 5th wicket stand, score 234 each in 2nd Cricket Test Australia vs. England in Sydney
1946 US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico

Holograpy Patent

1947 British industrial company BTH receives a patent for holography, invented by Dennis Gabor in their development lab

1947 NY struck by a blizzard, resulting with 27" of snow
1947 WEWS TV channel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio (ABC) begins broadcasting
1949 Burma recognizes People's Republic of China
1951 Dutch Communist Party members forbidden to be civil servants

1953 US Federal Communications Commission 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 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stéfano wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of Englishmen Billy Wright and Duncan Edwards

The Nat King Cole Show

1957 Last episode of "The Nat King Cole Show" airs on NBC, cancelled due to lack of national sponsorship

1957 The largest trade in NHL history at the time in terms of quantity; Chicago Black Hawks move Nick Mickoski, Jack McIntyre, Bob Bailey & Hec Lalonde to Detroit Red Wings for Earl Reibel, Billy Dea, Bill Dineen & Lorne Ferguson
1957 US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile

Lindsay's Scoring Record

1958 Ted Lindsay becomes highest scoring left wing in NHL history, passing Aurel Joliat who retired with 270; scores twice and adds an assist In Chicago Black Hawks' 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins at Chicago Stadium

1959 "On The Beach" is the first film to premiere simultaneously on both sides of the Iron Curtain
1960 Pablo Casals' oratorio "El Pesebrio" premieres in Acapulco, Mexico
1961 India seizes Goa & 2 other Portuguese colonies
1961 Niteroi Circus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil catches fire; 323 die after disgruntled employee sets fire to the tent
1962 Beatles 1st British TV appearance on "People & Places"
1962 Current constitution of Monaco promulgated
1963 Ballon d'Or: Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin wins award for best European football player; beats Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera and Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves; first Russian national to win trophy
1963 Tsjoi Doo Sun forms government in South Korea
1963 West & East Berlin sign accord about travel rules

Goldfinger

1964 "Goldfinger", 3rd James Bond film, starring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman premieres in London

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 Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt vanishes in mysterious circumstances while swimming near Melbourne
1967 WEDW TV channel 49 in Bridgeport, Connecticut (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 USAF closes its Project Blue Book, concluding there is 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 the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1970 Workers returning to shipyard in Gdynia, Poland are met by soldiers who shoot at the crowd, killing at least 18, wounding hundreds
1971 "Diamonds are Forever", 7th James Bond film, last starring Sean Conner, also starring Jill St. John is 1st released in West Germany
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 John Paul Stevens appointed to the US Supreme Court
1975 Lynette Fromme sentenced to life for attempt on US President Ford's life
1975 NHL NY Islanders shut-out NY Rangers, for 1st time in 3-0 win with Billy Smith in goal
1976 NYC's Grand Central Terminal train station is added to the National Register of Historic Places [1]
1976 Superstation WTBS in Atlanta went national
1977 Bobby Simpson scores 176 Australia v India at the WACA, aged 41

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

1977 Elvis Costello & The Attractions make their first US TV appearance on "Saturday Night Live"

1977 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
1977 Rookie defenseman Barry Beck scores first career hat trick and adds an assist in Colorado Rockies' 5-1 win v Minnesota North Stars; sets NHL record for rookie defensemen with a goal in his 6th straight game
1978 OPEC raises oil prices by 18% and agrees on a 14.5% petroleum price increase for 1979, to be implemented quarterly
1978 Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda
1978 The Workers' Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe
1979 Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 km/h (739.66 mph) but is widely disputed because the speed is not measured under official land speed record conditions, and the methodology is questionable
1980 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 Mauritania provisional constitution published
1981 Members of Red Brigades kidnap Brigadier General James L Dozier
1983 Disco in Madrid catches fire; 83 die

Gretsky's Scores #800

1983 In his 352nd NHL game, Wayne Gretzky scores a goal & 5 assists in 8-1 rout of Quebec Nordiques to record his 800th point and 500th assist; averages 2.27 points, 1.42 assists, 0.85 goals per game to start career

1983 The Provisional IRA bombs Harrods department store in London, killing six people and injuring 90

A Christmas Carol

1984 "A Christmas Carol" directed by Clive Donner starring George C. Scott premieres in the US

1986 Davina Thompson makes medical history by undergoing the first combined heart, lung, and liver transplant at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England
1986 Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky scores 4 goals, including a natural hat trick in the 1st period and also records an assist as the Oilers win 5-3 over the visiting Quebec Nordiques; his 41st NHL career hat trick
1986 US Congress forms "Irangate" committee
1987 Czechoslovak party leader Gustav Husak resigns
1988 Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Washington Capitals)
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 the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

The Simpsons

1989 "The Simpsons," created by Matt Groening, premieres on Fox TV as a full animated series with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"

1989 Brazil elects conservative Fernando Collor de Mello as president
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 Pittsburgh Penguins score team record 8 goals in one period in 2nd session of 10-2 win over NHL expansion San Jose Sharks
1991 Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
1992 Japanese paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa discovers a tooth of the 4.4 million year old hominid Ardipithecus ramidus
1993 "Northern Exposure" star Barry Corbin falls off his horse
1993 Kevin Scott skates world record 1000 m (1:12.54)
1993 Muslims in Bangladesh call for the murder of feminist Taslima Nasrin
1994 KLM's last DC-10 goes out of service

René Préval Elected

1995 René Préval wins the Haiti presidential elections for the Fanmi Lavalas party

1996 "In My Bed" single released by Dru Hill (Billboard Song of the Year 1997)
1999 Ray Bourque becomes just the 3rd player in NHL history to score 1,100 assists, and goaltender Byron Dafoe records his 100th NHL victory in Boston Bruin's 3-1 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta
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 International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers established by SWOP-USA human rights organization
2003 SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight
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 Third Lord of the Rings film "The Return of the King" is released, earning $72 million on its opening weekend and becoming only the second film to gross over $1 billion worldwide
2005 Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
2007 Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States

2012 10 girls collecting firewood are killed by a mine blast in east Afghanistan
2012 17 people are killed and 70 are injured by a blast in a market in the Khyber Agency, Pakistan
2012 18 people drown after an overloaded boat sinks in Cotonou, Benin
2012 Jiroemon Kimura of Japan becomes the world's verified oldest living person at 116 years old
2012 NASA completes a successful mission to map the Moon’s gravity field

Merkel's Third Term

2013 Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term

2013 Australia wins the 3rd test to take win the 2013-14 Ashes test cricket series
2014 103-year-old Gus Andreone records the 8th ace of his career on the 113-yard, 14th hole of the Lakes Course, Palm Aire, Sarasota, FL; oldest golfer to record a hole-in-one

The Interview

2014 Sony Pictures cancels the release of "The Interview", starring Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, and James Franco, after a cyber attack on the studio

2015 José Mourinho is sacked as manager of British Premier football club Chelsea
2015 Libyan warring political factions sign a UN-brokered deal to form a unified government
2015 Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals is arrested on fraud charges in New York by the FBI
2017 "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" takes more than $450m worldwide in its opening weekend, 2nd largest opening in North America ($220m)

Kaka Retires

2017 Brazilian footballer and former AC Milan and Real Madrid player Kaka retires

2017 French sailor François Gabart sets round-the-world record for fastest solo navigation of the globe in 42 days and 16 hours

Piñera Returns

2017 Sebastián Piñera wins Chile's presidential election run-off, returning to office after 4 years

Chinese Painting Record

2017 Set of ink-brush paintings by Qi Baishi sells at auction for 931.5m yuan ($US140m) in Bejing, a record for Chinese paintings

2017 Terrorist suicide attack on a Methodist church in Quetta, Pakistan kills nine
2018 Astronomers identify furtherest object in the solar system as 2018 VG18 (nicknamed Farout), 120 x further from the Sun than Earth
2018 CBS announces former Chief Executive Les Moonves will not receive his $120 million exit payout
2018 Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "justice"
2018 Malaysia files criminal charges against US bank Goldman Sachs for it role in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal
2018 New reports to US Senate say Russian propaganda efforts on social media much more extensive than thought, including targeting African Americans
2018 US military confirms it has killed 62 fighters from Islamist group al-Shabab in air strikes in Somalia
2018 US poacher is sentenced to watch the film "Bambi" once a month during his year-long sentence in prison for killing hundreds of deer in Missouri
2019 Australia has its hottest day ever with average temperature of 40.9°C across the country
2019 China's 1st domestically built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, enters naval service
2019 England's Fallon Sherrock becomes the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Darts Championship, beating compatriot Ted Evetts 3-2 at the Alexandra Palace in London

Musharraf Sentenced to Death

2019 Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf sentenced to death in absentia for high treason

2019 The DNA of a young girl or woman is successfully extracted from a 5,700-year-old piece of birch tar used as chewing gum found on Lolland Island, Denmark
2020 China's Chang'e-5 mission successfully returns from collecting rock samples from the Moon, landing in Siziwang Banner, Mongolia
2020 Cyclone Yasa makes landfall as a category 5 storm over Bula province, Fiji, killing two people
2020 French President Emanuel Macron tests positive for COVID-19, sending other European leaders into isolation

2020 King Carl XVI Gustaf says Swedish authorities have failed in their response to COVID-19, criticizing the country's controversial anti-lockdown strategy

2020 More than 300 school boys rescued after they were kidnapped from their school in Katsina state, northern Nigeria
2021 Discovery of the first true millipede (Eumillipes persephone) with 1,000 legs found down a drill hole in Western Australia is published in "Scientific Reports" [1]
2022 Minnesota Vikings recover from a 33-0 deficit at halftime to beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN; the biggest comeback in NFL history
2024 7.3 magnitude earthquakes strikes close to Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, causing significant damage [1]

Assassination Attempts on the Pope Foiled

2024 Pope Francis says two assassination attempts on him were foiled by British intelligence and Iraqi police, during his visit to Mosul, Iraq, in 2021 [1]

2024 Russian general Igor Kirillov, head of the country's chemical weapons, is assassinated by a bomb in an electric scooter in Moscow. Ukraine takes responsibility. [1]