Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on December 17th?

Tamerlane (Timur) captures and sacks Delhi, leading to the massacre of its inhabitants.

Benjamin Franklin engineers a major diplomatic victory when after nearly a year in France without making much visible progress, the French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, the Count of Vergennes, officially acknowledged the United States as an independent country. Franklin also convinced the French to provide financial and eventually military support to the revolutionary effort in America. A formal treaty with France was signed in Paris on February 6, 1778.

Orville Wright makes the first powered, controlled, and sustained flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina as his brother Wilbur looks on. Orville Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight of the day. The Wright brothers made four flights that day, each longer than the last. More

Admiral Husband E. Kimmel is relieved of his fleet command following the the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and his rank is reverted to the rank of Rear Admiral. He retired in March 1942. Rear Admiral Kimmel died at Groton, Connecticut, on 14 May 1968. More

A circus fire in the city of Niterói, Brazil causes more than 500 deaths. The tent was housing a sold-out performance of over 3000 by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano was the worst fire disaster to occur in Brazil.

The United States lifts its economic embargo on Cuba, allowing the sale of certain goods.

The Clean Air Act is signed into law in the United States, aiming to reduce air pollution. The Clean Air Act empowered federal and state agencies to research and regulate air pollution, marking a major expansion of government efforts to fight back against the damage being done to the climate. More

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is sentence to life for the assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford. She was released from Federal prison  on August 14, 2009.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Rawalpindi. More

The outbreak of the Arab Spring begins when Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, sets himself on fire in protest, sparking widespread demonstrations.

The United States and Cuba announce plans to normalize diplomatic relations after decades of tension.