ThisDayThatYear.com - Events from History on December 17

Events from History on December 17

xxxx : Staius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1526 : Ferdinand of Austria chosen as King of Bohemia
1526 : Pope Clemens VII publishes degree Cum ad zero - forms Inquisition
1538 : Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII
1572 : Spanish army begins fires in Haarlem Netherlands
1587 : Earl Leicesters army leaves Netherlands
1638 : French/Swedish troops occupy Breisach on the Rhine
1718 : England declares war on Spain
1728 : Congregation Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street
1728 : in lower Manhattan, to build NY's 1st synagogue
1745 : Bonnie Prince Charles army retreats to Scotland
1777 : France recognizes independence of English colonies in America
1777 : George Washingtons army returns to Valley Forge Pa
1788 : Russian army of Grigorij Potemkin occupies Och rov
1790 : Aztec calendar stone discovered in M‚xico City
1791 : NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1792 : Opening of 1st legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Qu‚bec city
1798 : 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins
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
1852 : 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized
1860 : Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County
1862 : Gen US Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
1864 : Battle of Franklin, TN
1865 : Franz Schubert's "Unvolendete" Symphony," premieres
1875 : Violent bread riots in Montr‚al
1885 : France declares Madagascar a protectorate
1887 : Georges Feydeaus' "Tailleur Pour Dames" premieres in Paris
1892 : Tsjaikovski's ballet "Casse-noisette," premieres in St Petersburg
1893 : Russia ratifies Duple Alliance with France
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
1900 : New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million
1900 : extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy
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
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 Ireland Freestate
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-martial for insubordination
1925 : Russia & Turkey sign non-aggresion pact
1926 : German Marx govt 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
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 : Spain's 2nd Govt of Lerroux forms
1936 : Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy, appear on TV
1938 : Utrecht Central Station destroyed by fire
1939 : German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay
1940 : British troops occupies Sollum
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
1942 : Allies in London sentence German war criminals
1943 : Transport 63 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1944 : Japanese-Americans released from detention camps
1944 : M-Ocean View streetcar resumes service & is extended to Market St
1944 : US Army announces end of excluding Jap-Americans from West Coast
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' 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
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 govt 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 govt shuts Limburgs coal mine
1965 : Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50›)
1967 : WEDW TV channel 49 in Bridgeport, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 : 50m TV viewers saw singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky, on Tonight Show
1969 : USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of
1969 : extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
1970 : Gdansk, Poland shipworkers strike
1970 : US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 : USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
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 Pres 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
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 : Bomb attack on Harrod's war house in London, 5 killed, 94 injured
1983 : Disco in Madrid catches fire; 83 die
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 : Mrs Davina Thompson makse medical history by having the 1st heart,
1986 : US Congress forms "Irangate" committee
1986 : lung & liver transplant (Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England)
1987 : Czechoslovak party leader Gustav Hus k resigns
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 : Brazil elects conservative Fernando Collor de Mello pres
1990 : KTBN, Salt Lake City Utah, begins shortwave radio transmissions
1991 : Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 pts
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

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