Warning: Zend OPcache API is restricted by "restrict_api" configuration directive in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/historylookup/public/wp-content/plugins/tubepress/vendor/tedivm/stash/src/Stash/Driver/FileSystem.php on line 253
Today December 17th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
546 – Gothic War (535–554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
920 – Romanos I is crowned 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.
1531 – Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1577 – Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.
1586 – Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
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.
1718 – Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1807 – France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
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).
1834 – Opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway on the island of Ireland.
1837 – Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred.
1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1918 – Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1926 – Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d état is successful.
1935 – First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate – The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1941 – World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge – Malmedy massacre – American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.
1957 – The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1961 – History of Goa: Operation Vijay – India seizes Goa from Portugal.
1967 – Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned.
1969 – The SALT I talks begin.
1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and misidentification of various conventional objects.
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.
1978 – The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
1981 – Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
1981 – The Senegambia Confederation is founded.
1983 – The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.
1989 – Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timisoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party s District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
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 – The Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States
Births
1239 – Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1256)
1267 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
1619 – Prince Rupert of the Rhine, commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
1632 – Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (d. 1695)
1685 – Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
1706 – Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
1734 – Maria I of Portugal, Portuguese queen (d. 1816)
1749 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
1770 – (Baptism) – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1778 – Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist and physicist (d. 1829)
1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
1807 – John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
1830 – Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
1835 – Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, American scientist; son of Louis Agassiz (d. 1910)
1847 – Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
1853 – Émile Roux, French physician (d. 1933)
1859 – Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)
1873 – Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
1874 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
1883 – Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
1887 – Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957)
1887 – Hermine Reuss, Empress of Germany and Duchess of Bohemia (d. 1947)
1888 – King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
1893 – Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)
1900 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (d. 1973)
1903 – Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)
1903 – Ray Noble, English bandleader and actor (d. 1978)
1904 – Paul Cadmus, American artist (d. 1999)
1905 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish sniper (d. 2002)
1905 – Érico Lopes Veríssimo, Brazilian writer (d. 1975)
1906 – Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer and musicologist (d. 1994)
1908 – Willard Frank Libby, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980)
1910 – Sy Oliver, American jazz arranger and bandleader (d. 1988)
1915 – André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
1916 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
1920 – Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
1922 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005)
1923 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (d. 2006)
1926 – Ray Jablonski, American baseball player (d. 1985)
1927 – Richard Long, American actor (d. 1974)
1929 – Jacqueline Hill, English actress (d. 1993)
1929 – William Safire, American columnist
1930 – Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher
1930 – Bob Mathias, American decathlete and congressman (d. 2006)
1930 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
1931 – Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor
1934 – Ray Wilson, English footballer
1935 – George Lindsey, American actor
1935 – Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball coach (d. 1999)
1936 – Tommy Steele, English singer and actor
1937 – Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
1937 – John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (d. 1969)
1937 – Calvin Waller, US Army general (d. 1996)
1937 – Art Neville, American musician (The Neville Brothers)
1938 – Carlo Little, English drummer (d. 2005)
1938 – Peter Snell, New Zealand runner
1939 – Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992)
1940 – Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist
1942 – Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
1943 – Mary Brunner, American former Manson Family member
1943 – Ron Geesin, Scottish musician and composer
1944 – Jack L. Chalker, American novelist (d. 2005)
1944 – Bernard Hill, English actor
1945 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
1945 – Chris Matthews, American journalist
1945 – Jacqueline Wilson, English author
1946 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
1947 – Wes Studi, American actor
1949 – Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer
1949 – Paul Rodgers, English singer (Free; Bad Company)
1950 – Laurence F. Johnson, American educator
1951 – Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
1951 – Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete
1953 – Samuel Hadida, film distributor
1953 – Barry Livingston, American actor
1953 – Bill Pullman, American actor
1955 – Brad Davis, American basketball player
1956 – Peter Farrelly, American film director
1957 – Earl Hudson, American drummer (Bad Brains)
1958 – Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.)
1960 – Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
1961 – Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama)
1962 – Paul Dobson, English footballer
1962 – Richard Jewell, central figure in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing (d. 2007)
1962 – Rocco Mediate, American golfer
1964 – Ginger, English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts)
1964 – Frank Musil, Czech ice hockey player
1964 – Joe Wolf, American basketball player
1964 – Michele Tafoya, American sportscaster
1965 – Craig Berube, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 – Tracy Byrd, American musician
1966 – Valeri Liukin, Soviet gymnast
1966 – Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
1967 – Gigi D Agostino, Italian DJ and musician
1967 – Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 – Andrey Golovatiuk, Russian politician
1968 – Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
1969 – Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist
1969 – Chris Mason, English darts player
1970 – Sean Patrick Thomas, American actor
1971 – Alan Khan, South African radio disc jockey
1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
1972 – John Abraham, Indian actor
1972 – Laurie Holden, American actress
1973 – Konstadinos Gatsioudis, Greek javelin thrower
1973 – Rian Johnson, American writer and director
1973 – Paula Radcliffe, English runner
1974 – Duff Goldman, American chef
1974 – Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
1974 – Sarah Paulson, American actress
1975 – Nick Dinsmore (Eugene), American professional wrestler
1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress
1975 – Bree Sharp, American singer/songwriter
1975 – Mayuko Aoki, Japanese voice actress
1976 – Éric Bédard, Canadian speed skater
1976 – Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress
1976 – Nir Davidovich, Israeli footballer
1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
1976 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
1977 – Arnaud Clement, French tennis player
1978 – Alex Cintrón, Puerto Rican baseball player
1978 – Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor
1978 – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer
1978 – Neil Sanderson, Canadian drummer (Three Days Grace)
1978 – Chase Utley, American baseball player
1979 – Jaimee Foxworth, American actress and porn star
1979 – Ryan Key, American musician and songwriter (Yellowcard)
1979 – Matt Murley, American ice hockey player
1980 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, American race car driver
1980 – Eli Pariser, American political activist (MoveOn.org)
1982 – Josh Barfield, American baseball player
1982 – Craig Kielburger, Canadian labour activist
1982 – Stephane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player
1982 – Ryan Moats, National Football League runningback
1983 – Erik Christensen, NHL player
1984 – Andrew Davies, English footballer
1985 – Ryuichi Ogata, member of Japanese boy band w-inds.
1986 – Vanessa Zima, American actress
1992 – Thomas Law, British Actor
1992 – Jordan Garrett, American actor
1994 – Nat Wolff, American actor, and singer-songwriter
2007 – James, Viscount Severn, British royal
Deaths
535 – Emperor Ankan of Japan (b. 466)
942 – William Longsword (b. 893)
1187 – Pope Gregory VIII
1195 – Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
1273 – Rumi (b. 1207)
1663 – Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
1721 – Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
1830 – Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan military leader (b. 1783)
1833 – Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
1847 – Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon (b. 1791)
1860 – Désirée Clary, Queen of Sweden and Norway (b. 1777)
1907 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
1909 – Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
1917 – Frank Gotch, American professional wrestler (b. 1878)
1929 – Manuel Gomes da Costa, Portugese politician (b. 1863)
1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
1940 – Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician (b. 1860)
1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
1962 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
1964 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1883)
1967 – Harold Holt, Australian politician (b. 1908)
1967 – Jack Perrin, American actor (b. 1896)
1978 – Don Ellis, American jazz band leader (b. 1934)
1982 – Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
1987 – Linda Wong, American porn star (b. 1951)
1987 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
1992 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
1998 – Allan D Arcangelo, American artist (b. 1930)
1999 – Rex Allen, American actor and songwriter (b. 1920)
1999 – Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)
2002 – James Hazeldine, English actor (b. 1947)
2003 – Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
2003 – Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
2004 – Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (b. 1931)
2005 – Jack Anderson, American journalist (b. 1922)
2005 – Marc Favreau, French Canadian humourist (b. 1929)
2006 – Larry Sherry, American baseball player (b. 1935)
2008 – Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
2008 – Sammy Baugh, American football player (b. 1914)
Holidays and observances
Bhutan – National Day (1907)
Greek Orthodox Church-Saint Barbaras day – Feast of Daniel the Prophet
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
R.C. Saints – O Sapientia ; Saint Lazarus
Roman festivals – Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began
USA – Wright Brothers Day (by Presidential Proclamation)
YouTube responded with an error: The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your <a href="/youtube/v3/getting-started#quota">quota</a>.