December 17

### Up to 1900

- 497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival is first celebrated in Ancient Rome.
- 546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under King Totila plunder Rome, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
- 942 – William I of Normandy is assassinated.
- 1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.
- 1577 – Francis Drake sails from Plymouth on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Ocean coasts of the Americas.
- 1583 – Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.
- 1586 – Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan becomes Emperor.
- 1600 – Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
- 1637 – In Japan, the Shimabara Rebellion led by Amakusa Shigeharu against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu begins.
- 1718 – Great Britain declares war on Spain.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: France formally recognizes the United States as an independent country.
- 1790 – The Aztec calendar stone Piedra del Sol is discovered during building work in Mexico City.
- 1819 – Simon Bolivar declares the independence of Gran Colombia (present–day Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador) in Angostura, now Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela.
- 1830 – Simon Bolivar dies at the age of 47.
- 1835 – Great Fire of New York City: Fire levels Lower Manhattan.
- 1837 – A fire rips through the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing 30 guards.
- 1862 – Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order Number 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
- 1865 – First performance of Franz Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony.
- 1892 – The first issue of Vogue magazine is published.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier–than–air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1907 – Ugyen Wangchuck becomes the first King of Bhutan.
- 1909 – Albert I of Belgium becomes King.
- 1918 – Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
- 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1922 – The last British troops leave the Irish Free State.
- 1926 – Antanas Smetona becomes President of Lithuania.
- 1938 – Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
- 1939 – World War II: Battle of River Plate – The German Navy sinks its own ship _Admiral Graf Spee_ outside Montevideo.
- 1941 – World War II: Japanese forces land in northern Borneo.
- 1960 – Haile Selassie is re–installed as Emperor of Ethiopia, after he had previously been removed by a coup, while he was in Brazil, on December 13.
- 1960 – 1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 people on board the aircraft and 32 on the ground are killed.
- 1961 – The world's biggest circus tragedy occurs in Niteroi, Brazil when the circus is set on fire by angry workers, killing 323 people.
- 1967 – Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt goes missing on a diving trip off the state of Victoria. He is declared dead two days later.
- 1970 – The current flag of Oman comes into use.
- 1973 – 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
- 1981 – Senegal and Gambia form the Senegambia Confederation.
- 1983 – An IRA bomb at a Harrods Department store in London kills 6 people.
- 1989 – Fernando Collor de Mello is elected President of Brazil.
- 1989 – The first full–length episode of The Simpsons airs.
- 1997 – Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie releases in theaters by Warner Bros.

### From 2001

- 2003 – The Soham murder trial ends with Ian Huntley being found guilty of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman near Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002.
- 2004 – Out of health and cultural reasons, Bhutan bans the sale of tobacco.
- 2005 – King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan decides to abdicate the throne.
- 2010 – Arab Spring: Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire in an act of protest. He dies as a result of this on January 4, 2011. Shortly after, Tunisia's President, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali is overthrown, and this starts a series of uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
- 2010 – Murder of Joanna Yeates: Vincent Tabak murders Joanna Yeates at her home in Clifton, Bristol. More than 10 months later, he is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 2011 – A typhoon hits the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, killing at least 400 people.
- 2011 – North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il dies. His son, Kim Jong-un, takes over from him.
- 2014 – US President Barack Obama declares a normalization in US–Cuba relations for the first time in over 50 years, after the release of American Alan Gross, who was held in Cuba since December 2009.
- 2017 – Sebastian Pinera is elected President of Chile for a second time.
- 2019 – Fallon Sherrock becomes the first woman to win a match in a World Darts Championship.

### Up to 1900

- 1267 – Emperor Go-Uda, emperor of Japan (d. 1324)
- 1554 – Ernest of Bavaria (d. 1612)
- 1619 – Prince Rupert, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
- 1632 – Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
- 1638 – Anna Sophia II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1683)
- 1685 – Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
- 1706 – Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
- 1734 – Maria I of Portugal (d. 1816)
- 1749 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
- 1758 – Nathaniel Macon, American politician (d. 1837)
- 1778 – Humphrey Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
- 1789 – Clement Comer Clay, 8th Governor of Alabama (d. 1866)
- 1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
- 1797 – Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878)
- 1799 – Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
- 1807 – John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
- 1824 – John Kerr, Scottish physicist (d. 1907)
- 1830 – Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
- 1835 – Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, Swiss–American scientist (d. 1910)
- 1842 – Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1899)
- 1853 – Herbert Beerbohm Tree, English actor (d. 1917)
- 1866 – Kazys Grinius, 3rd President of Lithuania (d. 1950)
- 1866 – Mario García Menocal, 3rd President of Cuba (d. 1941)
- 1872 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
- 1874 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
- 1884 – Alison Uttley, English writer (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Hermine Reuss of Greiz, wife of Wilhelm II of Germany (d. 1947)
- 1889 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish–Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)
- 1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Erwin Piscator, German movie director (d. 1966)
- 1894 – Willem Schermerhorn, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
- 1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
- 1898 – Loren Murchison, American athlete (d. 1979)
- 1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1901 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian–born actor and director (d. 1982)
- 1903 – Erskine Caldwell, American writer (d. 1987)
- 1903 – Ray Noble, English musician {d. 1978}
- 1905 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier (d. 2002)
- 1905 – Mohammad Hidayatullah, 11th Chief Justice of India (d. 1992)
- 1905 – Jan Valtin, German writer (d. 1951)
- 1908 – Willard Frank Libby, American physicist and chemist (d. 1980)
- 1913 – Burt Baskin, American businessman (d. 1967)
- 1915 – André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Robert A. Dahl, American political theorist (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Tomas Spidlik, Czech cardinal (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Mario Rigamonti, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
- 1926 – Stephen Lewis, English actor (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Patrice Wymore, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Marilyn Beck, American columnist (d. 2014)
- 1928 – George Lindsey, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1929 – William Safire, American columnist (d. 2009)
- 1929 – Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
- 1931 – Dave Madden, Canadian–American actor (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Ray Wilson, English footballer (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1999)
- 1936 – Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires)
- 1936 – Tommy Steele, English singer and actor
- 1936 – Klaus Kinkel, German politician (d. 2019)
- 1937 – John Kennedy Toole, American author (d. 1969)
- 1937 – Art Neville, American singer and keyboardist (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Gilles Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Eddie Kendricks, American musician (d. 1992)
- 1941 – Gene Clark, American musician (d. 1991)
- 1941 – Dave Dee, English singer (d. 2009)
- 1942 – Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
- 1942 – Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian leader
- 1943 – Christopher Cazenove, English actor (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Ron Geesin, Scottish musician
- 1943 – Lauren Hutton, American model and actress
- 1944 – Jack L. Chalker, American novelist
- 1944 – Lorne Michaels, Canadian television producer
- 1944 – Bernard Hill, English actor
- 1945 – Jacqueline Wilson, English writer
- 1945 – Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
- 1945 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
- 1946 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
- 1947 – Wes Studi, American actor
- 1947 – Robert Dornhelm, Romanian–Austrian film and television director
- 1948 – Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
- 1949 – Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free)

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1953 – Bill Pullman, American actor
- 1953 – Sally Menke, American movie producer (d. 2010)
- 1955 – Brad Davis, American basketball player
- 1956 – Peter John Farrelly, American screenwriter and director
- 1958 – Mike Mills, American musician in band R.E.M.
- 1959 – Gregg Araki, American filmmaker
- 1959 – Albert King, American basketball player
- 1960 – Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
- 1961 – Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama)
- 1962 – Ari Folman, Israeli film director, screenwriter and film score composer
- 1963 – Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Icelandic writer
- 1966 – Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
- 1966 – Valery Liukin, Soviet gymnast
- 1967 – Gigi D'Agostino, Italian musician and DJ
- 1968 – Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
- 1969 – Chris Mason, English darts player
- 1970 – Sean Patrick Thomas, American actor
- 1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- 1973 – Paula Radcliffe, English runner
- 1973 – Codrin Tapu, Romanian psychologist
- 1974 – Sarah Paulson, American actress
- 1974 – Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
- 1974 – Marissa Ribisi, American actress and screenwriter
- 1975 – Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
- 1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian–born actress and model

### From 1976

- 1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
- 1976 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
- 1976 – Andrew Simpson, English sailor (d. 2013)
- 1977 – Liédson, Portuguese footballer
- 1977 – Arnaud Clément, French tennis player
- 1977 – Oxana Fedorova, Russian model, actress and singer
- 1978 – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician
- 1978 – Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor
- 1979 – Charlotte Edwards, English cricketer
- 1979 – William Green, American football player
- 1980 – Eli Pariser, American internet activist and computer programmer
- 1981 – Tim Wiese, German footballer
- 1982 – Dynamo, English magician
- 1982 – Boubacar Sanogo, Ivory Coast footballer
- 1982 – Craig Kielburger, Canadian author and activist
- 1983 – Sébastien Ogier, French rally driver
- 1983 – Chidi Odiah, Nigerian footballer
- 1984 – Shannon Woodward, American actress
- 1985 – Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer and actor
- 1986 – Emma Bell, American actress
- 1987 – Chelsea Manning, American soldier, leaked information on WikiLeaks
- 1988 – David Rudisha, Kenyan athlete
- 1989 – André Ayew, Ghanaian footballer
- 1989 – Taylor York, American musician (Paramore)
- 1991 – Tom Walker, Scottish singer
- 1993 – Patricia Ku Flores, Peruvian tennis player
- 1993 – Buddy Hield, Bahamian basketball player
- 1994 – Nat Wolff, American actor, singer and musician
- 1998 – Martin Odegaard, Norwegian footballer
- 2007 – James, Viscount Severn, British royal and youngest grandchild of Elizabeth II

### Up to 1900

- 942 – William I of Normandy
- 1187 – Pope Gregory VIII
- 1195 – Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
- 1273 – Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Persian poet and mystic (b. 1207)
- 1663 – Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
- 1721 – Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1830 – Simón Bolívar, Latin American politician and activist (b. 1783)
- 1833 – Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1847 – Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (b. 1791)
- 1857 – Hiram Runnels, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1796)
- 1860 – Desirée Clary, French–born Queen Consort of Sweden (b. 1777)
- 1881 – Isaac Israel Hayes, American physician and polar explorer (b. 1832)
- 1881 – Lewis H. Morgan, American anthropologist (b. 1818)
- 1897 – Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – Josep Manyanet i Vives, Catalan priest (b. 1833)
- 1907 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish–born physicist (b. 1824)
- 1909 – King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- 1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
- 1927 – Rajendra Lahiri, Indian activist (b. 1892)
- 1929 – Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, 10th President of Portugal (b. 1863)
- 1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
- 1934 – William L. Harding, 20th Governor of Iowa (b. 1877)
- 1935 – Juan Vicente Gómez, President of Venezuela (b. 1857)
- 1940 – Alicia Boole Stott, Irish–English mathematician (b. 1860)
- 1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
- 1962 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1964 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian–born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
- 1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
- 1969 – Artur da Costa e Silva, President of Brazil (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Charles Greeley Abbott, American astrophysicist (b. 1872)
- 1973 – Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Italian cardinal (b. 1883)
- 1978 – Josef Frings, German cardinal (b. 1887)
- 1982 – Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
- 1987 – Irving Allen, American producer (b. 1916)
- 1987 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1998 – Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
- 1999 – Grover Washington Jr., American musician (b. 1943)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 – Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2010 – Captain Beefheart, American musician (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Dina Manfredini, Italian–born American supercentenarian (b. 1897)
- 2012 – Daniel Inouye, United States Senator from Hawaii (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Janet Rowley, American cancer researcher (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Dieter Grau, German–American rocket scientist (b. 1913)
- 2014 – Richard C. Hottelet, American broadcast journalist (b. 1917)
- 2014 – Oleh Lysheha, Ukrainian poet (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Buckshot Hoffner, American politician (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Henry Heimlich, American physician (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Benjamin A. Gilman, American politician (b. 1922)
- 2017 – Johnny Fox, American sword swallower (b. 1953)
- 2017 – Bob Glidden, American drag racer (b. 1944)
- 2017 – Kevin Mahogany, American jazz singer (b. 1958)
- 2017 – Edward Rowny, American army officer (b. 1917)
- 2017 – Terry Cavanagh, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Jon Bluming, Dutch martial artist and actor (b. 1933)
- 2018 – Penny Marshall, American actress (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Amélie Mummendey, German social psychologist (b. 1944)
- 2018 – Rona Ramon, Israeli educator and activist (b. 1964)
- 2018 – Francis Roache, American police officer and politician (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (b. 1938)
- 2019 – Hayden Fry, American football player (b. 1929)
- 2019 – Bronco Horvath, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1930)
- 2019 – Shriram Lagoo, Indian actor (b. 1927)

## Observances

- National Day of Bhutan