Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 17
This is a list of selected December 17 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
December 17: National Day in Bhutan (1907)
- 1819 – The Republic of Gran Colombia in South America was established, with Simón Bolívar as its first president.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Union General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
- 1903 – In Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA, Orville and Wilbur Wright aboard the Wright Flyer (pictured) conducted the first successful flight of a powered fixed-wing aircraft.
- 1918 – Protesting government policies concerning political representation, unemployment and taxation, about 1,000 demonstrators marched on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, where they burnt an effigy of the Administrator of the Northern Territory John Gilruth and demanded his resignation.
- 1944 – Nazi German troops under Joachim Peiper killed unarmed prisoners of war, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, with machine guns near Malmedy, Belgium.
- 1989 – The Simpsons, currently the longest running American prime time entertainment series, made its debut on the Fox television network with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".