17 December

The **17t o December** is the 351t day o the year (352t in lowp years) in the Gregorian Calendar, wi 14 days bidin.

## Events

* 1538 - Pape Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII o Ingland.
* 1718 - Great Breetain declares war on Spain.
* 1777 - Fraunce formally recognises the Unitit States.
* 1790 - The Aztec stane "Piedra de Sol" is disovered in El Zocalo, Mexico Ceety.
* 1819 - Simon Bolivar declares the unthirldom o Gran Colombie (Colombie, Ecuador an Venezuela).
* 1903 - The Wright brithers mak their first heavier-than-air flicht.
* 1907 - Ugyen Wangchuck is crouned the first King o Bhutan.
* 1909 - Albert I o Belgium becomes King.
* 1922 - The last Breetish troops leave the Erse Free State.
* 1926 - Antanas Smetona becomes Preses o Lithuanie.
* 1941 - Warld War II: Japanese forces laund on North Borneo.
* 1967 - Prime Meenister o Australie Harold Holt goes missin on a divin trip.
* 1970 - The current Banner o Oman comes intae use.
* 1973 - 30 fowk are kilt in an attack by Palestinian militants at Roum's Da Vinci Airport.
* 1981 - Senegal an the Gambie form the Senegambia Confederation.
* 1989 - The first full series o The Simpsons stairts.
* 2004 - Bhutan bans the sale o tobacca.
* 2010 - Tunisie fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi sets himsel on fire in an act o protest, stairtin a series o uprisins in the Arab warld.
* 2011 - A typhoon hits Mindanao in the soothren Philippines, killin 400 fowk.
* 2011 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies. His son, Kim Jong-un, succeeds him.
* 2011 - Johann Lamont becomes leader o the Scots Labour Pairty.
* 2014 - Barack Obama propales the normalisation o Unitit States relations wi Cuba.
* 2017 - Fitbaa: Celtic's 69-gemme unbeaten domestic run is endit, wi a 4-0 defeat tae Hearts in a league gemme.
* 2017 - Sebastian Pinera is electit Preses o Chile for a seicont time.
* 2019 - Fallon Sherrock becomes the first female dairts player tae win a gemme at the Warld Championships.

## Births

* 1619 - Prince Ruprecht o the Palainate, Duke o Cumberland (d. 1682)
* 1778 - Humphry Davy, Cornish chemist (d. 1829)
* 1797 - Joseph Henry, American scientist (d. 1878)
* 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet (d. 1892)
* 1824 - John Kerr, Scots pheesicist (d. 1907)
* 1849 - Peter Hume Brown, Scots historian an professor (d. 1918)
* 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime meenister o Canadae (d. 1950)
* 1908 - Willard Libby, American pheesical chemist (d. 1980)
* 1915 - Stuart Hood, Scots novelist (d. 2011)
* 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
* 1936 - Pape Francis
* 1942 - Muhammadu Buhari, Preses o Nigerie
* 1947 - Mykola Azarov, Ukrainian politeecian, umwhile Prime meenister o Ukraine
* 1958 - Mike Mills, American muisicker (R.E.M.)
* 1967 - Gigi D'Agostino, Italian DJ an sangster
* 1973 - Paula Radcliffe, Inglis athlete
* 1974 - Sarah Paulson, American actress
* 1974 - Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
* 1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-American model an actress
* 1976 - Xanthé Mallett, Scots forensic anthropologist, creeminologist an telly presenter
* 1978 - Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer an politeecian
* 1987 - Chelsea Manning, American sodger an activist
* 1988 - David Rudisha, Kenyan runner
* 1991 - Tom Walker, Scots sangster-sangwriter

## Daiths
* 1187 - Pape Gregory VIII (b. 1100)
* 1648 - George Gillespie, Scots theologian (b. 1613)
* 1830 - Simon Bolivar, Sooth American revolutionary (b. 1783)
* 1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Erse-Scots pheesicist an ingineer (b. 1824)
* 1909 - Leopold II o Belgium (b. 1835)
* 1921 - Thomas Algernon Chapman, Scots entomologist; b. 1842
* 1964 - Victor Francis Hess, Austrick pheesicist (b. 1883)
* 1967 - Harold Holt, Prime Meenister o Australie (b. 1908)
* 2009 - Jennifer Jones, American actress (b. 1919)
* 2011 - Kim Jong-il, leader o North Korea (b. 1941)
* 2012 - Daniel Inouye, American politeecian (b. 1924)
* 2018 - Penny Marshall, American actress (b. 1943)

## Halidays
* Naitional Day o Bhutan