History Events on December 17

Go-Y?zei becomes Emperor of Japan.

#Emperor_Go-Y?zei

Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timi?oara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.

#Romanian_Revolution

First flight of the Douglas DC-3.

#Douglas_DC-3

Thirty passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport.

#1973_Rome_airport_attacks_and_hijacking

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.

#Bhagat_Singh

The Finnish Security Police is established to remove communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police.

#Finnish_Security_Intelligence_Service

Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.

#Otto_Hahn

Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.

#Cologne_War

Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.

#Haile_Selassie

Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

#World_Trade_Organization

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America, is destroyed in a fire.

#Pittsburgh

Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.

#Jigme_Singye_Wangchuck

Munich C-131 crash: Twenty passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.

#1960_Munich_C-131_crash

The first NFL Championship Game is played. The game was at Wrigley Field between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears won 23-21.

#1933_NFL_Championship_Game

Indian revolutionary Rajendra Lahiri is hanged in Gonda jail, Uttar Pradesh, India, two days before the scheduled date.

#Rajendra_Lahiri

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

#American_Civil_War

World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.

#Battle_of_the_Bulge

The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.

#North_American_F-86_Sabre

War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.

#War_of_1812

Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.

#Mohamed_Bouazizi

Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful.

#Antanas_Smetona

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

Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

#Uruguay

Kurdistan flag day, the flag of Kurdistan was raised for the first time in Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan (Iran).

#Kurdistan

Romanos I Lekapenos is crowned co-emperor of the underage Constantine VII.

#Romanos_I_Lekapenos

The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.

#Saturnalia

Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.

#Tughlaq_dynasty

First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.

#Boeing_B-47_Stratojet

War of the Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain declares war on Spain.

#War_of_the_Quadruple_Alliance

World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.

#World_War_II

Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.

#Harold_Holt

American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.

#James_L._Dozier

American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.

#American_Revolution

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

Napoleonic Wars: France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.

#Napoleonic_Wars

The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.

#Cuba-United_States_relations

World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.

#Imperial_Japanese_Army

Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan

#Ugyen_Wangchuck

The second Great Fire of New York destroys 50 acres (200,000 square meters) of New York City's Financial District.

#Great_Fire_of_New_York

The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

#Wright_brothers

First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.

#Symphony_No._8_(Schubert)

SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.

#SpaceShipOne

All Chinese are again permitted to become citizens of the United States upon the repeal of the Act of 1882 and the introduction of the Magnuson Act.

#Chinese_Exclusion_Act

Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

#Pope_Paul_III

A fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg kills 30 guards.

#Fire_in_the_Winter_Palace

The Simpsons first premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

#The_Simpsons

MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.

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.

Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.

Polish protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.

Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.

Niterói circus fire: Fire breaks out during a performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing more than 500.

The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The American Civil Rights Congress delivers "We Charge Genocide" to the United Nations.

Darwin Rebellion: Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

A spur of the Shaker Heights streetcar line opens, the first line of the eventual Cleveland RTA Rapid Transit system.

First issue of Vogue is published.

The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.

Assassination of William I of Normandy.

Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.

#Sack_of_Rome_(546)