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 352nd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 14 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 4, 2024 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,734,393,600 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 ‘trihectapentacontadigon’ day.
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 43 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 4,379 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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December 17 Historical Events
- 1718 –Great Britain declares war on Spain.
- 1777 –France formally recognizes the United States of America.
- 1807 –France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
- 1907 –Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan
- 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.
- 1961 –Fire in the Gran Circus American in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the biggest tragedy in circus history.
- 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.
- 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?
- 1632 –Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (d. 1695)
- 1939 –Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992)
- 1943 –Mary Brunner, American “Manson Family” member
- 1943 –Ron Geesin, Scottish musician and composer
- 1951 –Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete
- 1953 –Bill Pullman, American actor
- 1975 –Mayuko Aoki, Japanese voice actress
- 1975 –Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress
- 1982 –Josh Barfield, American baseball player
- 1989 –Ashley Edner, American actress
Who died on December 17?
- 535 –Emperor Ankan of Japan (b. 466)
- 1833 –Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1847 –Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon (b. 1791)
- 1962 –Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1992 –Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1992 –Günther Anders, Polish philosopher (b. 1902)
- 1999 –Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)
- 2002 –James Hazeldine, English actor (b. 1947)
- 2005 –Marc Favreau, French-Canadian humourist (b. 1929)
- 2011 –Eva Ekvall, Venezuelan beauty queen (b. 1983)
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