December 17

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807-1892

Events

• 920 – Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
• 942 – Assassination of William I of Normandy.
• 1398 – Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
• 1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
• 1577 – Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.
• 1583 – Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeats the troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.
• 1586 – Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
• 1600 – Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
• 1718 – Great Britain declares war on Spain.
• 1777 – France formally recognizes the United States of America.
• 1790 – Discovery of the Aztec calendar stone.
• 1807 – France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
• 1812 – War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a friendly Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.
• 1819 – Simón Bolívar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).
• 1837 – Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred.
• 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
• 1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
• 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 is crowned first King of Bhutan
• 1918 – Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
• 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1926 – Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful.
• 1927 – Indian revolutionary Rajendranath Lahiri was hanged to death in Gonda jail of U.P. in India 2 days before the scheduled date.
• 1928 – Indian 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.
• 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: 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.
• 1947 – First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.
• 1950 – The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.
• 1957 – The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1960 – Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I 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.
• 1960 – 1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.
• 1967 – Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and is presumed drowned.
• 1969 – The SALT I talks begin.
• 1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings are 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 – Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
• 1981 – Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
• 1983 – The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.
• 1989 – The first episode of television series The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", airs in the United States.
• 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timisoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
• 1989 – Fernando 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.
• 1997 – The United Kingdom commences its Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, which extends the state's gun ban to include all handguns—with the exception of antique and show weapons.
• 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
• 2005 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicate the throne as King of Bhutan.
• 2007 – John and Hank Green of the vlogbrothers launch the Project for Awesome. An annual event taking place on YouTube, the Project for Awesome is a day devoted to videos about charities and non-profit organizations.
• 2009 – MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.
• 2010 – Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire.This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution. The success of the Tunisian protests sparked protests in several other Arab countries.

Births

• 1239 – Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1256)
• 1267 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
• 1619 – Prince Rupert of the Rhine, English Civil War figure (d. 1682)
• 1632 – Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (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)
• 1778 – Humphry Davy, English chemist and physicist (d. 1829)
• 1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
• 1797 – Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878).
• 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)
• 1842 – Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician; (d. 1899)
• 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)
• 1881 – Aubrey Faulkner, South African cricketer (d. 1930)
• 1883 – Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
• 1887 – Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957)
• 1887 – Empress Hermine Reuss of Germany (d. 1947)
• 1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
• 1893 – Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
• 1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
• 1895 – Nils Asheim, Norwegian politician (d. 1966)
• 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)
• 1906 – Russell C. Newhouse, American inventor (d. 1998)
• 1908 – Willard Frank Libby, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980)
• 1910 – Sy Oliver, American jazz arranger and bandleader (d. 1988)
• 1912 – Edward Short, British politician
• 1913 – Burt Baskin, American entrepreneur (Baskin and Robbins) (d. 1967)
• 1914 – Raymond Fernandez, American convicted murderer (d. 1951)
• 1914 – Fernando Alonso, Cuban ballet dancer and instructor
• 1915 – André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
• 1916 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Kenneth Dike, Nigerian historian (d. 1983)
• 1920 – Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
• 1921 – Lore Berger, Swiss writer (d. 1943)
• 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 (d. 2009)
• 1930 – Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
• 1931 – Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor
• 1931 – James McGaugh, American professor and neurobiologist
• 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
• 1936 – Jorge Bergoglio, Argentine cardinal
• 1937 – Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
• 1937 – John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (d. 1969)
• 1937 – Calvin Waller, American Army general (d. 1996)
• 1937 – Art Neville, American musician (The Neville Brothers)
• 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 "Manson Family" member
• 1943 – Ron Geesin, Scottish musician and composer
• 1944 – Jack L. Chalker, American novelist (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Bernard Hill, English actor
• 1945 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
• 1945 – Chris Matthews, American journalist
• 1945 – Jacqueline Wilson, English author
• 1945 – Cees de Wolf, Dutch footballer (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
• 1947 – Wes Studi, American actor
• 1949 – Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer
• 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, Morrocan film producer
• 1953 – Barry Livingston, American actor
• 1953 – Bill Pullman, American actor
• 1953 – Sally Menke, American film editor (d. 2010)
• 1955 – Brad Davis, American basketball player
• 1956 – Peter Farrelly, American film director
• 1957 – Earl Hudson, American drummer (Bad Brains)
• 1957 – Bob Ojeda, American baseball player
• 1958 – Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.)
• 1959 – Albert King, American basketball player
• 1960 – Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
• 1961 – Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama)
• 1962 – Paul Dobson, English footballer
• 1962 – Richard Jewell, American security guard and accused bomber (d. 2007)
• 1962 – Rocco Mediate, American golfer
• 1964 – Ginger, English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts)
• 1964 – Frank Musil, Czech ice hockey player
• 1964 – Michele Tafoya, American sportcaster
• 1964 – Joe Wolf, American basketball player
• 1965 – Craig Berube, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Tracy Byrd, American musician
• 1966 – Valeri Liukin, Soviet gymnast
• 1966 – Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
• 1967 – Gigi D'Agostino, Italian DJ and musician
• 1967 – Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – Andrey Golovatiuk, Russian politician
• 1968 – Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
• 1969 – Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist
• 1969 – Chris Mason, English darts player
• 1969 – Mick Quinn, English musician (Supergrass)
• 1969 – Michael V., Filipino comedian and actor
• 1970 – Sean Patrick Thomas, American actor
• 1971 – Sinan Akkus, Turkish-German actor
• 1971 – Alan Khan, South African radio & TV presenter
• 1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
• 1972 – John Abraham, Indian actor
• 1972 – Laurie Holden, American actress
• 1973 – Konstadinos Gatsioudis, Greek javelin thrower
• 1973 – Rian Johnson, American writer and director
• 1973 – Paula Radcliffe, English runner
• 1974 – Duff Goldman, American chef
• 1974 – Sarah Paulson, American actress
• 1974 – Ian Petrella, American actor
• 1974 – Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
• 1974 – Marissa Ribisi, American actress
• 1975 – Nick Dinsmore (Eugene), American professional wrestler
• 1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress
• 1975 – Bree Sharp, American singer/songwriter
• 1975 – Mayuko Aoki, Japanese voice actress
• 1976 – Éric Bédard, Canadian speed skater
• 1976 – Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress
• 1976 – Nir Davidovich, Israeli footballer
• 1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
• 1976 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
• 1977 – Arnaud Clément, French tennis player
• 1977 – Samuel Pahlsson, Swedish hockey player
• 1977 – Oxana Fedorova, Russian beauty pageant contestant (Miss Universe 2002)
• 1978 – Alex Cintrón, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1978 – Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor
• 1978 – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician
• 1978 – Neil Sanderson, Canadian drummer (Three Days Grace)
• 1978 – Chase Utley, American baseball player
• 1979 – Jaimee Foxworth, American porn actress
• 1979 – Ryan Key, American musician and songwriter (Yellowcard)
• 1979 – Matt Murley, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, American race car driver
• 1980 – Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower
• 1980 – Eli Pariser, American political blogger and activist
• 1980 – Stella Ng, Singaporean singer & actress
• 1981 – Jerry Hsu, American pro skater
• 1981 – Tim Wiese, German footballer
• 1981 – Rena Takeshita, Japanese fashion model
• 1982 – Josh Barfield, American baseball player
• 1982 – Lorenzo Cittadini, Italian rugby player
• 1982 – Craig Kielburger, Canadian anti-child-labor activist
• 1982 – Stephane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player
• 1982 – Ryan Moats, American football player
• 1983 – Erik Christensen, Canadian hockey player
• 1983 – Bryan Jurynec, American ice hockey player
• 1983 – Kosuke Saito, Japanese DJ
• 1984 – Luis Maria Alfageme, Argentine footballer
• 1984 – Andrew Davies, English footballer
• 1985 – Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer (w-inds.)
• 1986 – Vanessa Zima, American actress
• 1987 – Bradley Manning, American soldier, leaked information to WikiLeaks
• 1989 – Ashley Edner, American actress
• 1989 – Taylor York, American rock guitarist
• 2007 – James, Viscount Severn, British royal

Deaths

• 535 – Emperor Ankan of Japan (b. 466)
• 942 – William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (b. 893)
• 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 military leader (b. 1783)
• 1833 – Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
• 1847 – Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon (b. 1791)
• 1860 – Désirée Clary, Queen of Sweden and Norway (b. 1777)
• 1907 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
• 1909 – Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
• 1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
• 1917 – Frank Gotch, American professional wrestler (b. 1878)
• 1927 – Rajendra Lahiri, Indian British anti-occupation activist (b. 1892)
• 1929 – Manuel Gomes da Costa, Portuguese politician (b. 1863)
• 1930 – Peter Warlock, Anglo-Welsh composer (b. 1894)
• 1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
• 1940 – Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician (b. 1860)
• 1947 – Christos Tsigiridis, Greek electrical engineer and technological pioneer (b. 1877)
• 1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
• 1962 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1964 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1883)
• 1967 – Harold Holt, Australian politician (b. 1908)
• 1967 – Jack Perrin, American actor (b. 1896)
• 1978 – Don Ellis, American jazz band leader (b. 1934)
• 1981 – Antiochos Evangelatos, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Ada Kramm, Norwegian actress (b. 1899)
• 1982 – Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
• 1987 – Linda Wong, American porn star (b. 1951)
• 1987 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
• 1992 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1992 – Günther Anders, Polish philosopher (b. 1902)
• 1998 – Allan D'Arcangelo, American artist (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)
• 2002 – James Hazeldine, English actor (b. 1947)
• 2003 – Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Jack Anderson, American journalist (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Marc Favreau, French-Canadian humourist (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Larry Sherry, American baseball player (b. 1935)
• 2008 – Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
• 2008 – Sammy Baugh, American football player (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Freddy Breck, German schlager singer and news anchor (b. 1942)
• 2009 – Chris Henry, American football player (b. 1983)
• 2009 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (b. 1919)
• 2009 – Dan O'Bannon, American screenwriter and actor (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Captain Beefheart, American musician (b. 1941)
• 2010 – Walt Dropo, American baseball player (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Saint Barbara
  • Daniel the Prophet
  • Lazarus of Bethany (local commemoration in Cuba)
  • O Sapientia (Roman Catholic Church)
  • December 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (United States)
• National Day (Bhutan)
• Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn (Roman festivals)
• Wright Brothers Day, a United States federal observances by Presidential Proclamation