What is December 17?
{{calendar}} {{day}} == Events == === Up to 1900 === * [[497 BC]] &ndash; The first [[Saturnalia]] festival is first celebrated in [[Ancient Rome]]. * [[546]] &ndash; [[Siege of Rome]]: The [[Ostrogoths]] under King [[Totila]] plunder [[Rome]], by bribing the Byzantine garrison. * [[942]] &ndash; [[William I of Normandy]] is assassinated. * [[1538]] &ndash; [[Pope Paul III]] excommunicates King [[Henry VIII of England]]. * [[1577]] &ndash; [[Francis Drake]] sails from [[Plymouth, Devon|Plymouth]] on a secret mission to explore the [[Pacific Ocean]] coasts of the [[Americas]]. * [[1583]] &ndash; [[Cologne War]]: Forces under [[Ernest of Bavaria]] defeat troops under [[Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg]] at the [[Siege of Godesberg]]. * [[1586]] &ndash; [[Emperor Go-Yozei]] of [[Japan]] becomes [[Emperor]]. * [[1600]] &ndash; [[Marriage]] of [[Henry IV of France]] and [[Marie de' Medici]]. * [[1637]] &ndash; In [[Japan]], the Shimabara Rebellion led by Amakusa Shigeharu against [[daimyo]] Matsukura Shigeharu begins. * [[1718]] &ndash; [[Great Britain]] declares war on [[Spain]]. * [[1777]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: [[France]] formally recognizes the [[United States]] as an independent country. * [[1790]] &ndash; The [[Aztec]] [[calendar]] stone [[Piedra del Sol]] is discovered during building work in [[Mexico City]]. * [[1819]] &ndash; [[Simon Bolivar]] declares the independence of [[Gran Colombia]] (present–day [[Venezuela]], [[Colombia]] and [[Ecuador]]) in Angostura, now Ciudad Bolivar, [[Venezuela]]. * [[1830]] &ndash; [[Simon Bolivar]] dies at the age of 47. * [[1835]] &ndash; Great Fire of [[New York City]]: [[Fire]] levels Lower [[Manhattan]]. * [[1837]] &ndash; A [[fire]] rips through the [[Winter Palace]] in [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russia]], killing 30 guards. * [[1862]] &ndash; [[Ulysses S. Grant]] issues General Order Number 11, expelling [[Judaism|Jews]] from [[Tennessee]], [[Mississippi]] and [[Kentucky]]. * [[1865]] &ndash; First performance of [[Franz Schubert]]'s 'Unfinished' [[Symphony]].