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, 29,432,160 minutes 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
- 1807 –France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
- 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.
- 1927 –Indian revolutionary Rajendranath Lahiri was hanged to death in Gonda jail of U.P. in India 2 days before the scheduled date.
- 1939 –World War II: Battle of the River Plate – The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
- 1960 –1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.
- 1989 –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.
- 1989 –Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party’s District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
- 1997 –The United Kingdom commences its Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, which extends the state’s gun ban to include all handguns—with the exception of antique and show weapons.
- 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.
Who were born on December 17?
- 1619 –Prince Rupert of the Rhine, English Civil War figure (d. 1682)
- 1892 –Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
- 1906 –Russell C. Newhouse, American inventor (d. 1998)
- 1940 –Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist
- 1958 –Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.)
- 1972 –John Abraham, Indian actor
- 1980 –Ryan Hunter-Reay, American race car driver
- 1982 –Lorenzo Cittadini, Italian rugby player
- 1983 –Bryan Jurynec, American ice hockey player
- 1989 –Taylor York, American rock guitarist
Who died on December 17?
- 1833 –Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1929 –Manuel Gomes da Costa, Portuguese politician (b. 1863)
- 1962 –Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1992 –Günther Anders, Polish philosopher (b. 1902)
- 1998 –Allan D'Arcangelo, American artist (b. 1930)
- 1999 –Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (b. 1920)
- 2004 –Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (b. 1931)
- 2008 –Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
- 2011 –Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean singer (b. 1941)
- 2011 –Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader (b. 1941)
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