What are the important events that happened on December 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
December 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
December 17 is the 351st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 14 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 4, 2025 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 490,536 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectapentacontahenagon’ day.
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Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 62 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,744 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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December 17 Historical Events
- 1398 –Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud’s armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
- 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).
- 1935 –First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
- 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.
- 1981 –Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
- 1989 –Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party’s District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
- 2005 –Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicate the throne as King of Bhutan.
- 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.
Who were born on December 17?
- 1706 –Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
- 1847 –Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
- 1912 –Edward Short, British politician
- 1914 –Fernando Alonso, Cuban ballet dancer and instructor
- 1926 –Ray Jablonski, American baseball player (d. 1985)
- 1936 –Jorge Bergoglio, Argentine cardinal
- 1955 –Brad Davis, American basketball player
- 1982 –Josh Barfield, American baseball player
- 1982 –Lorenzo Cittadini, Italian rugby player
- 1983 –Kosuke Saito, Japanese DJ
Who died on December 17?
- 1927 –Rajendra Lahiri, Indian British anti-occupation activist (b. 1892)
- 1964 –Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1883)
- 1981 –Ada Kramm, Norwegian actress (b. 1899)
- 1992 –Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1999 –Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (b. 1920)
- 2002 –James Hazeldine, English actor (b. 1947)
- 2003 –Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
- 2006 –Larry Sherry, American baseball player (b. 1935)
- 2008 –Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
- 2011 –Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader (b. 1941)
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