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This Day On History
| Date | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 17th of December 0546 | EVENT | Gothic War: The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison. |
| 17th of December 0920 | EVENT | Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII. |
| 17th of December 0942 | EVENT | Assassination of William I of Normandy. |
| 17th of December 1398 | EVENT | Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur. |
| 17th of December 1531 | EVENT | Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal. |
| 17th of December 1538 | EVENT | Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England. |
| 17th of December 1577 | EVENT | Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I. |
| 17th of December 1583 | EVENT | Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeats the troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg. |
| 17th of December 1586 | EVENT | Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan. |
| 17th of December 1600 | EVENT | Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. |
| 17th of December 1637 | EVENT | Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu. |
| 17th of December 1718 | EVENT | Great Britain declares war on Spain. |
| 17th of December 1777 | EVENT | France formally recognizes the United States of America. |
| 17th of December 1790 | EVENT | Discovery of the Aztec calendar stone. |
| 17th of December 1807 | EVENT | France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System. |
| 17th of December 1812 | EVENT | War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a friendly Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa. |
| 17th of December 1819 | EVENT | Simon Bolivar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolivar in Venezuela). |
| 17th of December 1837 | EVENT | Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred. |
| 17th of December 1862 | EVENT | American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. |
| 17th of December 1865 | EVENT | First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert. |
| 17th of December 1903 | EVENT | The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. |
| 17th of December 1907 | EVENT | Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan |
| 17th of December 1918 | EVENT | Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. |
| 17th of December 1919 | EVENT | Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty. |
| 17th of December 1926 | EVENT | Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'etat is successful. |
| 17th of December 1935 | EVENT | First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane. |
| 17th of December 1939 | EVENT | World War II: Battle of the River Plate : The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo. |
| 17th of December 1941 | EVENT | World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo. |
| 17th of December 1947 | EVENT | First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber. |
| 17th of December 1950 | EVENT | The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea. |
| 17th of December 1957 | EVENT | The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida. |
| 17th of December 1960 | EVENT | 1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed. |
| 17th of December 1960 | EVENT | Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt. |
| 17th of December 1961 | EVENT | History of Goa: Operation Vijay : India seizes Goa from Portugal. |
| 17th of December 1967 | EVENT | Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and is presumed drowned. |
| 17th of December 1969 | EVENT | Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings are 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." |
| 17th of December 1969 | EVENT | The SALT I talks begin. |
| 17th of December 1970 | EVENT | Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens. |
| 17th of December 1973 | EVENT | Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport. |
| 17th of December 1973 | EVENT | The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental diseases. |
| 17th of December 1981 | EVENT | The Senegambia Confederation is founded. |
| 17th of December 1981 | EVENT | Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy. |
| 17th of December 1983 | EVENT | The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people. |
| 17th of December 1989 | EVENT | Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years. |
| 17th of December 1989 | EVENT | The first episode of television series The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", airs in the United States. |
| 17th of December 1989 | EVENT | 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. |
| 17th of December 1997 | EVENT | 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. |
| 17th of December 2002 | EVENT | 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. |
| 17th of December 2003 | EVENT | 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. |
| 17th of December 2003 | EVENT | SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight. |
| 17th of December 2005 | EVENT | Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong |
| 17th of December 2005 | EVENT | Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicate the throne as King of Bhutan. |
| 17th of December 2009 | EVENT | MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals. |
| 17th of December 2010 | EVENT | Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire.This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution. The success of the Tunisian protests sparked protests in several other Arab countries. |
| 17th of December 1239 | BIRTHDAY | Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1256) |
| 17th of December 1267 | BIRTHDAY | Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324) |
| 17th of December 1619 | BIRTHDAY | Prince Rupert of the Rhine, commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682) |
| 17th of December 1632 | BIRTHDAY | Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (d. 1695) |
| 17th of December 1685 | BIRTHDAY | Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740) |
| 17th of December 1706 | BIRTHDAY | Emilie du Chatelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749) |
| 17th of December 1734 | BIRTHDAY | Maria I of Portugal, Portuguese queen (d. 1816) |
| 17th of December 1749 | BIRTHDAY | Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801) |
| 17th of December 1778 | BIRTHDAY | Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist and physicist (d. 1829) |
| 17th of December 1796 | BIRTHDAY | Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865) |
| 17th of December 1797 | BIRTHDAY | Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878). |
| 17th of December 1807 | BIRTHDAY | John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892) |
| 17th of December 1830 | BIRTHDAY | Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870) |
| 17th of December 1835 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, American scientist; son of Louis Agassiz (d. 1910) |
| 17th of December 1842 | BIRTHDAY | Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician; (d. 1899) |
| 17th of December 1847 | BIRTHDAY | Emile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916) |
| 17th of December 1853 | BIRTHDAY | Emile Roux, French physician (d. 1933) |
| 17th of December 1859 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Cesar Helleu, French artist (d. 1927) |
| 17th of December 1873 | BIRTHDAY | Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939) |
| 17th of December 1874 | BIRTHDAY | William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950) |
| 17th of December 1881 | BIRTHDAY | Aubrey Faulkner, South African cricketer (d. 1930) |
| 17th of December 1883 | BIRTHDAY | Raimu, French actor (d. 1946) |
| 17th of December 1887 | BIRTHDAY | Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957) |
| 17th of December 1887 | BIRTHDAY | Hermine Reuss, Empress of Germany and Duchess of Bohemia (d. 1947) |
| 17th of December 1892 | BIRTHDAY | Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950) |
| 17th of December 1893 | BIRTHDAY | Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966) |
| 17th of December 1894 | BIRTHDAY | Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979) |
| 17th of December 1895 | BIRTHDAY | Nils Asheim, Norwegian politician (d. 1966) |
| 17th of December 1900 | BIRTHDAY | Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998) |
| 17th of December 1900 | BIRTHDAY | Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (d. 1973) |
| 17th of December 1903 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Noble, English bandleader and actor (d. 1978) |
| 17th of December 1903 | BIRTHDAY | Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987) |
| 17th of December 1904 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Cadmus, American artist (d. 1999) |
| 17th of December 1905 | BIRTHDAY | Simo Hayha, Finnish sniper (d. 2002) |
| 17th of December 1905 | BIRTHDAY | Erico Lopes Verissimo, Brazilian writer (d. 1975) |
| 17th of December 1906 | BIRTHDAY | Fernando Lopes-Graca, Portuguese composer and musicologist (d. 1994) |
| 17th of December 1906 | BIRTHDAY | Russell C. Newhouse, Inventor (d. 1998) |
| 17th of December 1908 | BIRTHDAY | Willard Frank Libby, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980) |
| 17th of December 1910 | BIRTHDAY | Sy Oliver, American jazz arranger and bandleader (d. 1988) |
| 17th of December 1912 | BIRTHDAY | Edward Short, British politician |
| 17th of December 1913 | BIRTHDAY | Burt Baskin, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Baskin and Robbins, d. 1967 |
| 17th of December 1914 | BIRTHDAY | Raymond Fernandez, American convicted murderer (d. 1951) |
| 17th of December 1915 | BIRTHDAY | Andre Claveau, French singer (d. 2003) |
| 17th of December 1916 | BIRTHDAY | Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000) |
| 17th of December 1920 | BIRTHDAY | Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004) |
| 17th of December 1921 | BIRTHDAY | Lore Berger, Swiss writer (d. 1943) |
| 17th of December 1922 | BIRTHDAY | Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005) |
| 17th of December 1923 | BIRTHDAY | Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (d. 2006) |
| 17th of December 1926 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Jablonski, American baseball player (d. 1985) |
| 17th of December 1927 | BIRTHDAY | Richard Long, American actor (d. 1974) |
| 17th of December 1929 | BIRTHDAY | Jacqueline Hill, English actress (d. 1993) |
| 17th of December 1929 | BIRTHDAY | William Safire, American columnist (d. 2009) |
| 17th of December 1930 | BIRTHDAY | Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor |
| 17th of December 1930 | BIRTHDAY | Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher (d. 2010) |
| 17th of December 1931 | BIRTHDAY | Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor |
| 17th of December 1931 | BIRTHDAY | James McGaugh, American professor and neurobiologist |
| 17th of December 1934 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Wilson, English footballer |
| 17th of December 1935 | BIRTHDAY | George Lindsey, American actor |
| 17th of December 1935 | BIRTHDAY | Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball coach (d. 1999) |
| 17th of December 1936 | BIRTHDAY | Jorge Bergoglio, Argentine cardinal |
| 17th of December 1936 | BIRTHDAY | Tommy Steele, English singer and actor |
| 17th of December 1937 | BIRTHDAY | Calvin Waller, American Army general (d. 1996) |
| 17th of December 1937 | BIRTHDAY | John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (d. 1969) |
| 17th of December 1937 | BIRTHDAY | Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005) |
| 17th of December 1937 | BIRTHDAY | Art Neville, American musician (The Neville Brothers) |
| 17th of December 1938 | BIRTHDAY | Carlo Little, English drummer (d. 2005) |
| 17th of December 1938 | BIRTHDAY | Peter Snell, New Zealand runner |
| 17th of December 1939 | BIRTHDAY | Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992) |
| 17th of December 1940 | BIRTHDAY | Kare Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist |
| 17th of December 1942 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987) |
| 17th of December 1943 | BIRTHDAY | Mary Brunner, American former "Manson Family" member |
| 17th of December 1943 | BIRTHDAY | Ron Geesin, Scottish musician and composer |
| 17th of December 1944 | BIRTHDAY | Jack L. Chalker, American novelist (d. 2005) |
| 17th of December 1944 | BIRTHDAY | Bernard Hill, English actor |
| 17th of December 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Ernie Hudson, American actor |
| 17th of December 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Chris Matthews, American journalist |
| 17th of December 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Jacqueline Wilson, English author |
| 17th of December 1946 | BIRTHDAY | Eugene Levy, Canadian actor |
| 17th of December 1947 | BIRTHDAY | Wes Studi, American actor |
| 17th of December 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Rodgers, English singer (Free; Bad Company) |
| 17th of December 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer |
| 17th of December 1950 | BIRTHDAY | Laurence F. Johnson, American educator |
| 17th of December 1951 | BIRTHDAY | Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach |
| 17th of December 1951 | BIRTHDAY | Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete |
| 17th of December 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Sally Menke, American Film Editor (d. 2010) |
| 17th of December 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Samuel Hadida, film distributor |
| 17th of December 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Barry Livingston, American actor |
| 17th of December 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Bill Pullman, American actor |
| 17th of December 1955 | BIRTHDAY | Brad Davis, American basketball player |
| 17th of December 1956 | BIRTHDAY | Peter Farrelly, American film director |
| 17th of December 1957 | BIRTHDAY | Earl Hudson, American drummer (Bad Brains) |
| 17th of December 1958 | BIRTHDAY | Mike Mills, American musician (R.E.M.) |
| 17th of December 1959 | BIRTHDAY | Albert King, American basketball player |
| 17th of December 1960 | BIRTHDAY | Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist |
| 17th of December 1961 | BIRTHDAY | Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama) |
| 17th of December 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Dobson, English footballer |
| 17th of December 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Rocco Mediate, American golfer |
| 17th of December 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Richard Jewell, American security guard and accused bomber (d. 2007) |
| 17th of December 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Ginger, English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts) |
| 17th of December 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Frank Musil, Czech ice hockey player |
| 17th of December 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Joe Wolf, American basketball player |
| 17th of December 1964 | BIRTHDAY | Michele Tafoya, American sportcaster |
| 17th of December 1965 | BIRTHDAY | Craig Berube, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 17th of December 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Tracy Byrd, American musician |
| 17th of December 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Valeri Liukin, Soviet gymnast |
| 17th of December 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician |
| 17th of December 1967 | BIRTHDAY | Gigi D'Agostino, Italian DJ and musician |
| 17th of December 1967 | BIRTHDAY | Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 17th of December 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Andrey Golovatiuk, Russian politician |
| 17th of December 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver |
| 17th of December 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist |
| 17th of December 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Chris Mason, English darts player |
| 17th of December 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Michael V., Filipino comedian and actor |
| 17th of December 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Mick Quinn, English Musician (Supergrass) |
| 17th of December 1970 | BIRTHDAY | Sean Patrick Thomas, American actor |
| 17th of December 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Sinan Akkus, Turkish-German actor |
| 17th of December 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player |
| 17th of December 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Alan Khan, South African radio & TV presenter |
| 17th of December 1972 | BIRTHDAY | John Abraham, Indian actor |
| 17th of December 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Laurie Holden, American actress |
| 17th of December 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Konstadinos Gatsioudis, Greek javelin thrower |
| 17th of December 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Rian Johnson, American writer and director |
| 17th of December 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Paula Radcliffe, English runner |
| 17th of December 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Duff Goldman, American chef |
| 17th of December 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Sarah Paulson, American actress |
| 17th of December 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Giovanni Ribisi and Marissa Ribisi, American actor and actress |
| 17th of December 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Ian Petrella, American actor |
| 17th of December 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Nick Dinsmore (Eugene), American professional wrestler |
| 17th of December 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress |
| 17th of December 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Bree Sharp, American singer/songwriter |
| 17th of December 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Mayuko Aoki, Japanese voice actress |
| 17th of December 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Zsanett Egerhazi, Hungarian-born porn actress |
| 17th of December 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Patrick Muller, Swiss footballer |
| 17th of December 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Eric Bedard, Canadian speed skater |
| 17th of December 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Takeo Spikes, American football player |
| 17th of December 1976 | BIRTHDAY | Nir Davidovich, Israeli footballer |
| 17th of December 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Samuel Pahlsson, Swedish hockey player |
| 17th of December 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Oxana Fedorova (?????? ????????), Miss Universe 2002 |
| 17th of December 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Arnaud Clement, French tennis player |
| 17th of December 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Alex Cintron, Puerto Rican baseball player |
| 17th of December 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor |
| 17th of December 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician |
| 17th of December 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Chase Utley, American baseball player |
| 17th of December 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Neil Sanderson, Canadian drummer (Three Days Grace) |
| 17th of December 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Jaimee Foxworth, American actress and porn star |
| 17th of December 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Ryan Key, American musician and songwriter (Yellowcard) |
| 17th of December 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Matt Murley, American ice hockey player |
| 17th of December 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower |
| 17th of December 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Ryan Hunter-Reay, American race car driver |
| 17th of December 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Eli Pariser, American political blogger and activist |
| 17th of December 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Stella Ng, Singaporean singer & actress |
| 17th of December 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Jerry Hsu, American pro skater |
| 17th of December 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Rena Takeshita, Japanese fashion model |
| 17th of December 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Lorenzo Cittadini, Italian rugby player |
| 17th of December 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Craig Kielburger, Canadian anti-child-labor activist |
| 17th of December 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Josh Barfield, American baseball player |
| 17th of December 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Ryan Moats, football player |
| 17th of December 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Stephane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player |
| 17th of December 1983 | BIRTHDAY | Kosuke Saito, Japanese DJ |
| 17th of December 1983 | BIRTHDAY | Erik Christensen, Canadian hockey player |
| 17th of December 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Luis Maria Alfageme, Argentine footballer |
| 17th of December 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Andrew Davies, English footballer |
| 17th of December 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer (w-inds.) |
| 17th of December 1986 | BIRTHDAY | Vanessa Zima, American actress |
| 17th of December 1990 | BIRTHDAY | Ashley Edner, American actress |
| 17th of December 2007 | BIRTHDAY | James, Viscount Severn, British royal |
| 17th of December 0535 | DEATH | Emperor Ankan of Japan (Born 466) |
| 17th of December 0942 | DEATH | William Longsword (Born 893) |
| 17th of December 1187 | DEATH | Pope Gregory VIII |
| 17th of December 1195 | DEATH | Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (Born 1150) |
| 17th of December 1273 | DEATH | Rumi (Born 1207) |
| 17th of December 1663 | DEATH | Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (Born 1583) |
| 17th of December 1721 | DEATH | Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (Born 1640) |
| 17th of December 1830 | DEATH | Simon Bolivar, Venezuelan military leader (Born 1783) |
| 17th of December 1833 | DEATH | Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (Born 1812) |
| 17th of December 1847 | DEATH | Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon (Born 1791) |
| 17th of December 1860 | DEATH | Desiree Clary, Queen of Sweden and Norway (Born 1777) |
| 17th of December 1907 | DEATH | William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (Born 1824) |
| 17th of December 1909 | DEATH | Leopold II of Belgium (Born 1835) |
| 17th of December 1917 | DEATH | Frank Gotch, American professional wrestler (Born 1878) |
| 17th of December 1917 | DEATH | Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (Born 1836) |
| 17th of December 1927 | DEATH | Rajendra Lahiri, Indian British anti-occupation activist (Born 1892) |
| 17th of December 1929 | DEATH | Manuel Gomes da Costa, Portuguese politician (Born 1863) |
| 17th of December 1930 | DEATH | Peter Warlock, Anglo-Welsh composer (Born 1894) |
| 17th of December 1933 | DEATH | Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (Born 1876) |
| 17th of December 1940 | DEATH | Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician (Born 1860) |
| 17th of December 1957 | DEATH | Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (Born 1893) |
| 17th of December 1962 | DEATH | Thomas Mitchell, American actor (Born 1892) |
| 17th of December 1964 | DEATH | Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (Born 1883) |
| 17th of December 1967 | DEATH | Harold Holt, Australian politician (Born 1908) |
| 17th of December 1967 | DEATH | Jack Perrin, American actor (Born 1896) |
| 17th of December 1978 | DEATH | Don Ellis, American jazz band leader (Born 1934) |
| 17th of December 1982 | DEATH | Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (Born 1889) |
| 17th of December 1987 | DEATH | Linda Wong, American porn star (Born 1951) |
| 17th of December 1987 | DEATH | Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (Born 1903) |
| 17th of December 1992 | DEATH | Dana Andrews, American actor (Born 1909) |
| 17th of December 1992 | DEATH | Gunther Anders, Polish philosopher (Born 1902) |
| 17th of December 1998 | DEATH | Allan D'Arcangelo, American artist (Born 1930) |
| 17th of December 1999 | DEATH | Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (Born 1943) |
| 17th of December 1999 | DEATH | Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (Born 1920) |
| 17th of December 2002 | DEATH | James Hazeldine, English actor (Born 1947) |
| 17th of December 2003 | DEATH | Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (Born 1925) |
| 17th of December 2003 | DEATH | Otto Graham, American football player (Born 1921) |
| 17th of December 2004 | DEATH | Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (Born 1931) |
| 17th of December 2005 | DEATH | Jack Anderson, American journalist (Born 1922) |
| 17th of December 2005 | DEATH | Marc Favreau, French-Canadian humourist (Born 1929) |
| 17th of December 2006 | DEATH | Larry Sherry, American baseball player (Born 1935) |
| 17th of December 2008 | DEATH | Sammy Baugh, American football player (Born 1914) |
| 17th of December 2008 | DEATH | Dave Smith, American baseball player (Born 1955) |
| 17th of December 2008 | DEATH | Freddy Breck, German schlager singer and news anchor (Born 1942) |
| 17th of December 2009 | DEATH | Chris Henry, American football player (Born 1983) |
| 17th of December 2009 | DEATH | Jennifer Jones, American actress (Born 1919) |
| 17th of December 2009 | DEATH | Dan O'Bannon, American screenwriter and actor (Born 1943) |
| 17th of December 2010 | DEATH | Captain Beefheart, American musician (Born 1941) |
| 17th of December 2010 | DEATH | Walt Dropo, American baseball player (Born 1923) |