17 December
Notable Births
Castello Lukeba
b. 2002
French footballer (born 2002)
Wesley Fofana (footballer)
b. 2000
French footballer (born 2000)
Holly Humberstone
b. 1999
British musician (born 1999)
Mirei Sasaki
b. 1999
Japanese actress, reporter, and model
Jasmine Armfield
b. 1998
English actress
Martin Ødegaard
b. 1998
Norwegian footballer (born 1998)
Naiktha Bains
b. 1997
Australian-British tennis player (born 1997)
Shoma Uno
b. 1997
Japanese figure skater (born 1997)
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
b. 1996
Russian figure skater (born 1996)
Guerschon Yabusele
b. 1995
French basketball player (born 1995)
Lloyd Perrett
b. 1994
NZ rugby league footballer
Nat Wolff
b. 1994
American actor, musician, and singer-songwriter
Kiersey Clemons
b. 1993
American actress
Quinton de Kock
b. 1992
South African cricketer (born 1992)
Buddy Hield
b. 1992
Bahamian basketball player (born 1992)
Jordan Rankin
b. 1991
Australian rugby league footballer
André Ayew
b. 1989
Footballer (born 1989)
Taylor York
b. 1989
American guitarist (born 1989)
Liisa Ehrberg
b. 1988
Estonian cyclist
Grethe Grünberg
b. 1988
Estonian ice dancer
Notable Deaths
Igor Kirillov (general)
d. 2024
Russian general (1970–2024)
Marisa Paredes
d. 2024
Spanish film actress (1946–2024)
Ronaldo Valdez
d. 2023
Filipino actor (1947–2023)
James McCaffrey (actor)
d. 2023
American actor (1958–2023)
Jeremy Bulloch
d. 2020
English actor (1945–2020)
Benjamin Gilman
d. 2016
American politician (1922–2016)
Gordon Hunt (director)
d. 2016
American filmmaker (1929–2016)
Hal Brown
d. 2015
American baseball player (1924–2015)
Osamu Hayaishi
d. 2015
Japanese biochemist
Michael Wyschogrod
d. 2015
German-American philosopher of religion and Jewish theologian (1928-2015)
Dieter Grau
d. 2014
American aerospace engineer
Oleh Lysheha
d. 2014
Ukrainian poet, playwright, translator and intellectual (1949 – 2014)
Lowell Steward
d. 2014
Tuskegee Airmen (1919–2014)
Ivan Vekić (politician)
d. 2014
Croatian politician and lawyer
Fred Bruemmer
d. 2013
Latvian Canadian artist (1929-2013)
Ricardo María Carles Gordó
d. 2013
Janet Rowley
d. 2013
American human geneticist (1925–2013)
Conny van Rietschoten
d. 2013
Dutch yacht racer
Daniel Inouye
d. 2012
American politician (1924–2012)
Laurier LaPierre
d. 2012
Canadian politician (1929–2012)
On This Day in History
All 64 ›
2014
The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.
Cuba–United States relations
2010
Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.
Mohamed Bouazizi
2009
MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.
MV Danny F II
2005
Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
World Trade Organization
2005
Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck
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.
Soham murders
2003
SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.
SpaceShipOne
2003
Sex work rights activists establish December 17 (or "D17") as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to memorialize victims of a serial killer who targeted prostitutes, and highlight State violence against sex workers by police and others.
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
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.
Second Congo War
1997
Peruvian internal conflict: Fourteen members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement provoke a hostage crisis by taking over the Japanese embassy in Lima.
Internal conflict in Peru
1997
Aerosvit Flight 241: A Yakovlev Yak-42 crashes into the Pierian Mountains near Thessaloniki Airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, killing all 70 people on board.
Aerosvit Flight 241
1989
Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timișoara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
Romanian revolution
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.
Fernando Collor de Mello
1989
The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
The Simpsons
1983
Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
1981
American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
James L. Dozier
1973
Thirty passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport.
1973 Rome airport attacks and hijacking
1970
Polish protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
December 1970 protests in Poland
1969
Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
Project Blue Book
1967
Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.
Harold Holt