History of 17th December

283 - St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
546 - Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
920 - Romanos I is crowned as co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
942 - Assassination of William I of Normandy.
1398 - Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.
1526 - Ferdinand of Austria chosen as King of Bohemia
1526 - Pope Clemens VII publishes degree Cum ad zero - forms Inquisition
1531 - Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.
1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII
1572 - Spanish army begins fires in Haarlem Netherlands
1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
1587 - Earl Leicesters army leaves Netherlands
1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
1637 - Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.
1638 - French/Swedish troops occupy Breisach on the Rhine
1718 - England declares war on Spain
1718 - Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1728 - Congregation Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan, to build NY's 1st synagogue
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charles army retreats to Scotland
1777 - France recognizes independence of English colonies in America
1777 - George Washingtons army returns to Valley Forge Pa
1788 - Russian army of Grigorij Potemkin occupies Ocharov
1790 - Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
1791 - NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1792 - Opening of 1st legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec city
1798 - 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins
1807 - France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1819 - Congress of Angostura establishes Colombia's independence from Spain
1821 - Kentucky abolishes debtors prisons
1832 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin sails in Strait Le Maire
1852 - 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized
1860 - Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County
1862 - Gen US Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
1864 - Battle of Franklin, TN
1865 - Franz Schubert's "Unvolendete" Symphony," premieres
1875 - Violent bread riots in Montreal
1885 - France declares Madagascar a protectorate
1887 - Georges Feydeaus' "Tailleur Pour Dames" premieres in Paris
1892 - Tsjaikovski's ballet "Casse-noisette," premieres in St Petersburg
1893 - Russia ratifies Duple Alliance with France
1894 - Cricket day 3 1T Aus v Eng Eng 325 all out, 261 behind on 1st inn
1895 - Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, DC
1895 - George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine (Mass)
1900 - 1st prize of 100,00 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy
1900 - New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million
1902 - Frank Wedekind's "Der Erdgeist," premieres in Berlin
1903 - At 10:35 AM, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright)
1907 - Ugyen Wangchuck became 1st hereditary king of Bhutan
1909 - Leopold II, king of Belgium, buried in Brussels
1914 - Austrian troops beat Russians in Limanova Poland
1914 - Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate
1914 - Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv by Turkish authorities
1919 - Austria parliament approves 8-hour day
1920 - AL votes to let spitball pitchers to continue using it
1920 - British Empire receives League of Nations mandate to Nauru
1920 - Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands
1920 - South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over SW Africa
1922 - Last British troops leave Ireland Freestate
1923 - Greek king George II overthrown by army/republic
1924 - 1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY
1925 - Col William "Billy" Mitchell court-martial for insubordination
1925 - Russia & Turkey sign non-aggresion pact
1926 - German Marx govt falls due to cooperation with red army
1926 - KYA-AM in San Francisco CA begins radio transmissions
1926 - Lithuanian military state under gen Augustine Woldemaras
1926 - Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the ‎1926 coup d'état‎ is successful.
1927 - Bradman scores 118 on 1st-class cricket debut, 188 mins 8 fours
1927 - US sub 'S-4' sinks after collision kills all 34 aboard
1927 - Victoria score 793 against Queensland, Bill Ponsford 437
1928 - John McGraw backs NL Pres John Heydler's designated hitter idea
1932 - Cards trade Jim Bottomley to Reds for Estel Crabtree & Ownie Carroll
1933 - B H Valentine scores 133 on Test Cricket debut, Eng v India at Bombay
1933 - Lala Amarnath scores century on Test Cricket debut (went on to 118)
1933 - Spain's 2nd Govt of Lerroux forms
1933 - NFL starts official stats as Bears beat Giants 23-21 in champ game
1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
1936 - Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy, appear on TV
1938 - Utrecht Central Station destroyed by fire
1939 - German pocket battleship Graf Spee scuttled by its crew off Uruguay
1940 - British troops occupies Sollum
1941 - Dutch & Australian troops lands on Portuguese-Timor
1941 - German submarine U-31 sunk
1941 - German troops led by Rommel begin retreating in North Africa
1941 - World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.
1942 - Allies in London sentence German war criminals
1943 - Transport 63 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1944 - Green Bay Packers win NFL championship
1944 - Japanese-Americans released from detention camps
1944 - M-Ocean View streetcar resumes service & is extended to Market St
1944 - US Army announces end of excluding Jap-Americans from West Coast
1944 - US destroyers sink in storm off Philippines, 790 killed
1946 - Bradman & Barnes complete 405 run 5th wkt stand, score 234 ea
1946 - US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, NM
1947 - NY struck by a blizzard, resulting with 27" of snow
1947 - WEWS TV channel 5 in Cleveland, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting
1949 - "Regina" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 86 performances
1949 - Burma recognizes People's Republic of China
1951 - Dutch Communist Party members forbidden to be civil servants
1953 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 10th Symphony, premieres in Leningrad
1953 - FCC approves RCA's black & white-compatible color TV specifications

1954 - 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana)
1954 - WEAU TV channel 13 in Eau Claire, WI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 - US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
1959 - "On The Beach," is 1st film to premiere on both sides of Iron Curtain
1959 - 1st movie opening simultaneously in major cities (On The Beach)
1960 - "La Plume de Ma Tante" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 835 perfs
1960 - "Take Me Along" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 448 performances
1960 - Pablo Casals' oratorio "El Pesebrio," premieres
1961 - Disgruntled employee set fire to a circus tent in Niteroi Brazil
1961 - India seizes Goa & 2 other Portuguese colonies
1961 - Niteroi Circus of Rio de Janeiro catches fire; 323 die
1962 - Beatles 1st British TV appearance (People & Places)
1962 - Current constitution of Monaco promulgated
1963 - Tsjoi Doo Sun forms govt in South Korea
1963 - West & East Berlin sign accord about travel rules
1965 - Astrodome opens, 1st event is Judy Garland & Supremes concert
1965 - British government proclaims ends oil-embargo against Rhodesia
1965 - David Levy begins his search for comets
1965 - Dutch govt shuts Limburgs coal mine
1965 - Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents)
1967 - WEDW TV channel 49 in Bridgeport, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 - 50m TV viewers saw singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky, on Tonight Show
1969 - USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
1970 - Gdansk, Poland shipworkers strike
1970 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1970 - Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
1971 - "Diamonds are Forever" premieres in US
1971 - Cease fire between India & Pakistan in Kashmir
1971 - Radio Bangladesh begins transmitting
1972 - New line of control agreed to in Kashmir between India & Pakistan
1972 - WGVC (now WUCX) TV channel 35 in Grand Rapids, MI (PBS) 1st broadcast
1973 - Arabs terrorists shoot passengers on Boeing 737 to Kuwait
1975 - 1st time NY Islanders shut-out NY Rangers, 3-0-Billy Smith's 5th
1975 - John Paul Stevens appointed to Supreme Court
1975 - Lynette Fromme sentenced to life for attempt on Pres Ford's life
1976 - Superstation WTBS in Atlanta went national
1977 - Bobby Simpson scores 176 Australia v India at the WACA, aged 41
1977 - Elvis Costello & The Attractions 1st US TV appearance (SNL)
1977 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1978 - OPEC raises oil prices 18%
1978 - Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda
1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
1979 - Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph (record for wheeled vehicle)
1980 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 - Mauritania provisional constitution published
1981 - Members of Red Brigades kidnap Brig Gen James L Dozier
1983 - "Peg" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 5 performances
1983 - Bomb attack on Harrod's war house in London, 5 killed, 94 injured
1983 - Disco in Madrid catches fire; 83 die
1983 - The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.
1984 - NJ Devils 1st penalty shot-Rocky Trottier scores against Edmonton
1984 - NJ Devils 1st shutout, Glenn Resch makes 42 saves beat Minn, 2-0
1986 - US Congress forms "Irangate" committee
1986 - Mrs Davina Thompson makse medical history by having the 1st heart, lung & liver transplant (Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England)
1987 - Czechoslovak party leader Gustav Husak resigns
1988 - 77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1)
1988 - Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Wash Caps)
1988 - NY Islanders break 12 game losing streak, beat Devils 5-2
1988 - USS Tennessee, 1st sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned
1988 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1989 - 78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2)
1989 - Brazil elects conservative Fernando Collor de Mello pres
1989 - Michael Bevan scores cricket century on 1st-class debut (114 SA v WA)
1989 - Patti Rizzo/Mike Hill wins LPGA Mazda Golf Championship
1989 - The longest-running American sitcom The Simpsons had its debut.
1990 - KTBN, Salt Lake City Utah, begins shortwave radio transmissions
1991 - Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 pts
1991 - NBA's most lopsided game Cleveland beats Miami 148-80
1991 - Patrick Manning becomes premier of Trinidad & Tobago
1991 - Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
1992 - "Christmas Carol" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 22 performances
1992 - Gen Suwa finds tooth of 4.4 million year old Australopithecus ramidus
1993 - Bangladesh moslem call for murder of feminist Taslima Nasrin
1993 - Kevin Scott skates world record 1000 m (1:12.54)
1993 - Northern Exposure star Barry Corbin falls off his horse
1993 - Tennis star Boris Becker (26) weds Barbara Feltus (27)
1994 - KLM's last DC-10 goes out of service
1995 - "School after Scandal" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 23 perfs
1999 - The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
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.
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.
2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight.
2005 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
2007 - Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States