December 17
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Births
- 1267 - Emperor Go-Uda, emperor of Japan (d. 1324)
- 1619 - Prince Rupert, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
- 1632 - Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
- 1685 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
- 1706 - Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
- 1749 - Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
- 1778 - Humphry Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
- 1796 - Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
- 1799 - Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
- 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
- 1830 - Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
- 1853 - Herbert Beerbohm Tree, English actor (d. 1917)
- 1872 - Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
- 1873 - Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
- 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
- 1892 - Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
- 1894 - Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
- 1901 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor and director (d. 1982)
- 1903 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Ray Noble, English musician {d. 1978}
- 1906 - Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier (d. 2002)
- 1908 - Willard Frank Libby, American physicist and chemist (d. 1980)
- 1911 - André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
- 1929 - William Safire, American columnist
- 1929 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
- 1930 - Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher
- 1930 - Bob Mathias, American athlete
- 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
- 1938 - Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian musician
- 1938 - Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete
- 1939 - Eddie Kendricks, American musician (d. 1992)
- 1941 - Gene Clark, American musician (d. 1991)
- 1942 - Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
- 1943 - Ron Geesin, Scottish musician
- 1943 - Lauren Hutton, American model and actress
- 1944 - Jack L. Chalker, American novelist
- 1944 - Lorne Michaels, Canadian television producer
- 1944 - Bernard Hill, English actor
1945) - Jacqueline wilson, English writer
- 1945 - Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
- 1945 - Ernie Hudson, American actor
- 1949 - Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free)
- 1951 - Ken Hitchcock, Canadian hockey coach
- 1955 - Brad Davis, American basketball player
- 1966 - Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
- 1967 - Gigi D'Agostino, Italian musician and DJ
- 1968 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
- 1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- 1973 - Paula Radcliffe, English runner
- 1975 - Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
- 1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model
- 1976 - Takeo Spikes, American football player
- 1979 - William Green, American football player
- 1986 - Mark Swadel, New Zealander
- 1990 - Iamarab, Camel
[edit] Deaths
- 1187 - Pope Gregory VIII
- 1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
- 1273 - Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Persian poet and mystic (b. 1207)
- 1663 - Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
- 1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1812 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
- 1830 - Simón Bolívar, Latin American politician and activist (b. 1783)
- 1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)
- 1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
- 1909 - King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
- 1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
- 1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
- 1964 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
- 1987 - Irving Allen, American producer (b. 1916)
- 1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
- 1992 - Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
- 1999 - Grover Washington Jr., American musician (b. 1943)
- 2003 - Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
