Unforgettable Moments: December 17 in History

In this video, we'll take a look at some interesting things that happened on December 17 in history.
Looking for something to do on December 17? Check out our calendar and find some events that are happening that day! You won't be disappointed!

1718 France, Britain and Austria declare war on Spain (War of the Quadruple Alliance 1718–1720)
1777 France recognizes independence of British colonies in America
1777 George Washington's army returns to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania1791 NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1798 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (William Blount, Tennessee) begins
1821 Kentucky abolishes debtors' prisons
1843 Henry Cole, founder of London's V&A Museum, commissions printing of the 1st Christmas card
1860 Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County
1862 General Ulysses S. Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
1895 Anti-Saloon League of America formed, Washington, D.C.
1900 1st prize of 100,000 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy.
1903 The Wright brothers make the first sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
1924 1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY
1935 1st flight of the Douglas DC-3 (C-47 Skytrain/Dakota) airplane.
1938 Discovery of nuclear fission using uranium by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann
1941 German troops led by Erwin Rommel begin retreating in North Africa
1946 US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico
1953 US Federal Communications Commission approves RCA's black & white-compatible color TV specifications
1954 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana)
1957 Last episode of "The Nat King Cole Show" airs on NBC, cancelled due to lack of national sponsorship
1957 US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
1965 Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents)
1969 USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
1988 USS Tennessee, 1st sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned
1989 "The Simpsons" created by Matt Groening, premieres on Fox TV as a full animated series with the episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”
1991 Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
1999 The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women
2003 "The Return of the King" 3rd Lord of the Ring films is released. Makes US$72 million opening weekend, 2nd film to gross over 1 billion worldwide.
2007 Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States
2012 NASA completes a successful mission to map the Moon’s gravity field
2014 Sony Pictures cancels the release of "The Interview", starring Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, and James Franco, after a cyber attack on the studio
2018 Astronomers identify furthest object in the solar system as 2018 VG18 (nicknamed Farout), 120 x further from the sun than earth
2018 Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's word of the year is “justice"
2018 New reports to US Senate say Russian propaganda efforts on social media much more extensive than thought, including targeting African Americans
2018 US poacher sentenced to watch the film "Bambi" repeatedly during year in prison, for killing hundreds of deer in Missouri
2021 Discovery of the first true millipede (Eumillipes persephone) with 1,000 legs found down a drill hole in Western Australia published in "Scientific Reports”
2022 Minnesota Vikings recover from 33-0 down at halftime to beat Indianapolis Colts, 39-36 in overtime at US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN; biggest comeback in NFL history