What happened this day in history December 17

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, 1,765,929,600 seconds 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

  • 920
    Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
  • 1600
    Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
  • 1777
    France formally recognizes the United States of America.
  • 1837
    Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred.
  • 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.
  • 1939
    World War II: Battle of the River Plate – The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
  • 1950
    The F-86 Sabre’s first mission over Korea.
  • 1969
    The SALT I talks begin.
  • 1981
    Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
  • 2005
    Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Who were born on December 17?

  • 1267
    Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
  • 1895
    Nils Asheim, Norwegian politician (d. 1966)
  • 1906
    Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer and musicologist (d. 1994)
  • 1923
    Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (d. 2006)
  • 1949
    Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer
  • 1964
    Ginger, English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts)
  • 1972
    Laurie Holden, American actress
  • 1973
    Rian Johnson, American writer and director
  • 1974
    Marissa Ribisi, American actress
  • 1985
    Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer (w-inds.)

Who died on December 17?

  • 1273
    Rumi (b. 1207)
  • 1830
    Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan military leader (b. 1783)
  • 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)
  • 1962
    Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
  • 1987
    Linda Wong, American porn star (b. 1951)
  • 1987
    Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
  • 2005
    Marc Favreau, French-Canadian humourist (b. 1929)
  • 2006
    Larry Sherry, American baseball player (b. 1935)

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