December 30......

December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There is 1 day remaining in the year on this date.

EVENTS

● 274 - St Felix I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

● 987 - French King Hugo Capet crowns his son Robert the compassionate king

● 1317 - Pontifical degree "Sancta Romania" against spiritualists

● 1460 - At the Battle of Wakefield, in England's Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York was defeated and killed by the Lancastrians.

● 1621 - English king James I cracks Protestation of Parliament

● 1665 - "Messiah" Sjabtai Tswi departs to Constantinople

● 1666 - Abraham Crijnssen departs to Suriname

● 1672 - Baron Karl Rabenhaupt occupies Coevorden Netherlands

● 1685 - Don Francisco de Agurto installed as land guardian of South Netherlands

● 1689 - Henry Purcell & Tates opera "Dido & Aeneas" premieres in Chesea

● 1703 - Earthquake in Tokyo responsible for the deaths of approximately 200,000 people.

● 1731 - 1st US music concert (Peter Pelham's great room in Boston)

● 1741 - English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'O how little do I for Jesus, who has done so much for me!'

● 1794 - French troops conquer Grave Netherlands

● 1809 - Wearing masks at balls forbidden in Boston

● 1813 - Danzig surrenders to allied armies

● 1813 - Iroquois warriors and British troops capture Buffalo, New York.

● 1816 - The Treaty of St. Louis is proclaimed.

● 1817 - 1st coffee planted in Hawaii (Kona)

● 1835 - After gold discovery in Georgia, Cherokees are forced to move across Mississippi River

● 1835 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin sails from New Zealand to Sydney

● 1836 - Lehman-theater in St Petersburg catches fire; 100s die

● 1838 - Hanover College was chartered by the Presbyterian General Assembly of Indiana. The school had been founded as a seminary "in the wilderness" for training ministers.

● 1844 - The opera "Stradella" is produced (Hamburg) after being rewritten

● 1847 - Birth of John Peter Altgeld, Niederselters, Prussia [now in Germany]. Reformist Democratic governor of Illinois (1893-97) known principally for his pardon (June 26, 1893) of German-American anarchists "involved" in the Haymarket Riot, where seven police were killed.

● 1853 - Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest. 45,000 square miles (120,000 km) by Gila River for $10 million; Area is now southern Arizona & New Mexico

● 1853 - A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.

● 1854 - Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, 1st in US, incorporated in New York NY

● 1861 - US, banks stops payments in gold

● 1862 - USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

● 1865 - Birth of Rudyard Kipling, famed British celebrator and apologist for imperialism, Bombay, India.

● 1869 - Philadelphia Knights of Labor forms

● 1873 - Alfred Smith, the four-time governor of New York State and 1928 presidential candidate, was born.

● 1873 - American Metrological Society forms (New York NY) weights, measures & money

● 1875 - Andrassy Note calls for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms

● 1877 - Johnannes Brahms' 2nd Symphony in D, premieres in Vienna

● 1879 - Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance is first performed (Paignton, Devon, England).

● 1880 - The Transvaal becomes a republic and Paul Kruger, its first president.

● 1887 - A petition to Queen Victoria with over one million names of women appealing for public houses to be closed on Sundays was handed to the home secretary.

● 1888 - Belgium: king Leopold II installs Order of African Star

● 1890 - Birth of Victor Serge, Brussels, Belgium. Novelist, poet, historian, and militant activist. As he grew older, his politics moved increasingly leftward, leading him later in life to espouse a hybrid of anarchism and Marxism. Went to Russia in 1918 and joined the Communist Party. Critical of the direction of the party, he was kicked out in 1928, then imprisoned. Released in 1935 through the appeals of French intellectuals. Lived in Belgium, then France, barely escaping from the Nazis to Mexico in 1940.

● 1892 - Dr Miles V Lynk, physician, publishes 1st Black medical journal

● 1893 - Russia signs military accord with France

● 1894 - Amelia Jenks Bloomer suffragist dies, Council Bluffs, Iowa. (Bloomers named for her).

● 1896 - José Rizal was executed by firing squad in Manila.

● 1897 - Province of Zululand annexed to Natal colony

● 1899 - Ibrox Stadium is inaugurated.

● 1903 - A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills 602.

● 1903 - American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans LA

● 1905 - Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg assassinated by a bomb explosion during period of many labor disputes in the state.

● 1906 - The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan.

● 1906 - Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy

● 1907 - Abraham Mills' commission declares Abner Doubleday invented baseball

● 1911 - Sun Yat-sen elected 1st President of Republic of China

● 1915 - Cromarty Harbour, Scottish-British cruiser Natal explodes: 405 die

● 1917 - -32ºF (-36ºC) in Mountain City TN (state record)

● 1917 - -37ºF (-38ºC) in Lewisburg WV (state record)

● 1918 - John E Hoover decides to be called J Edgar Hoover (Considering his cross-dressing Joan E Hoover probably would have been a better or at least more honest choice.)

● 1919 - Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.

● 1922 - In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, the Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation. Also known as the Soviet Union, the new republic was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first state in the world to be based on Marxist communism.

● 1924 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.

● 1926 - Chicago Tribune reports the Tigers threw a 4-game series to the White Sox in 1917 to help Chicago win the pennant (never substantiated)

● 1927 - The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel was incorporated in Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, the denomination recognizes the significant role that women in ministry. Today, over 40% of its ministers are women.

● 1927 - The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo.

● 1929 - Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority incorporates

● 1930 - Birth of Odetta, leftist folksinger.

● 1933 - Romania: Ion Duca, a liberal premier, assassinated by a member of the Iron Guard, an extreme rightist local movement sympathetic to Nazism. After Duca's assassination, the Iron Guard was outlawed in Romania. However, its members carry on as the "All for the Fatherland" political party.

● 1933 - -50ºF (-46ºC) in Bloomfield VT (state record)

● 1933 - Government disallows NSB-membership for civil service

● 1935 - Italian bombers destroy Swedish Red Cross unit in Ethiopia.

● 1936 - G.M. sit-down strike spreads to Flint, Michigan. The strike had begun two days earlier in Cleveland.

● 1937 - Birth of No l Paul Stookey, American folk singer. Stookey was "Paul" of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary. Converted in the late 1960s, Stookey is now a Christian recording artist, and prefers using his "born-again" name, No l.

● 1938 - Electronic television system patented by V K Zworykin

● 1940 - California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena.

● 1941 - Al Capone's son Sonny marries in Miami Beach

● 1941 - Winston Churchill addresses Canadian parliament

● 1941 - Nazis require Dutch physicians to join Nazi organization.

● 1942 - "Mr. and Mrs. North" debuted on NBC radio.

● 1943 - Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.

● 1944 - France: Romain Rolland, author and pacifist, dies. Won 1915 Nobel Prize.

● 1944 - King George II of Greece proclaimed a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne.

● 1946 - Birth of singer/poet Patti Smith.

● 1947 - King Michael of Romania abdicated in favor of a Communist Republic. He claimed he was forced from his throne.

● 1949 - India recognizes People's Republic of China

● 1950 - Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia become Independent states in France Union

● 1952 - Tuskegee Institute reports this is first year in 71 years with no reported lynchings in the country.

● 1953 - The first color TV sets went on sale for about $1,175.

● 1954 - 1st use of 24-second shot clock in pro basketball (Rochester vs Boston)

● 1954 - James Arness made his dramatic TV debut in "The Chase". The "Gunsmoke" series didn’t begin for Arness until the fall of 1955.

● 1957 - Israeli government of Ben-Gurion, resigns

● 1958 - Castro's rebels edge closer to capital; Thousands die in the bloodiest fighting in Cuba's history as rebels threaten to overthrow the military regime of President Batista.

● 1958 - French franc devalued

● 1959 - The George Washington, 1st ballistic missile sub commissioned

● 1961 - Jack Nicklaus lost his first attempt at pro golf to Gary Player in an exhibition match in Miami, FL.

● 1963 - Congress authorizes the Kennedy half dollar

● 1963 - "Let's Make A Deal" debuts on NBC-TV

● 1965 - Ferdinand Marcos inaugurated as President of the Phillipines

● 1967 - Beatles' "Hello Goodbye" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 3 weeks

● 1967 - Great Western Forum opens in Los Angeles

● 1968 - -48ºF (-44ºC), Mazama & Winthrop WA (state record)

● 1969 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1971 - Iranians deported from Iraq; Some of the approximately 60,000 Iranian men, women and children expelled from Iraq in the past few days try to make their way home.

● 1971 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1971 - Daniel Ellsberg indicted by a federal grand jury for releasing Pentagon Papers to news media.

● 1971 - The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission announced that an agreement had been made between the two Christian traditions on the essential teachings about the Eucharist.

● 1972 - Pres. Richard Nixon orders end to North Vietnamese bombing. The campaign was a last attempt to get North Vietnam to submit to the U.S.: eighteen days of "carpet" bombing of homes, hospitals, and civilians of Hanoi and Haiphong through Christmas. For the first time, B-52 pilots refuse to fly missions.

● 1973 - 1st picture of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek-Skylab)

● 1974 - Beatles are legally disbanded (4 years after suit was brought)

● 1975 - Constitution of Democratic Republic of Madagascar comes into force

● 1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1976 - The Smothers Brothers, Tom and Dick, played their last show at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas and retired as a team from show business. Both continued as solo artists and they reunited several years later.

● 1977 - Carter holds 1st news conference by US President in Eastern Europe (Warsaw)

● 1977 - Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

● 1978 - House Select Committee on Assassinations concludes conspiracies were likely in the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but with no further evidence for further prosecutions. They ran out of money for further invstigations.

● 1978 - Ohio State University fired Woody Hayes as its football coach, one day after Hayes punched Clemson University player Charlie Bauman during the Gator Bowl. Bauman had intercepted an Ohio pass.

● 1979 - Rock group, Emerson Lake & Palmer break up

● 1979 - Togo adopts constitution

● 1980 - "The Wonderful World of Disney" was cancelled by NBC after more than 25 years on the TV. It was the longest-running series in prime-time television history.

● 1981 - Wayne Gretzky scores his 50th goal in 39 games, still a National Hockey League record.

● 1982 - US Assay Office in New York City NY closes

● 1982 - Cow Creek band of Umpqua tribe (Oregon) gains federal recognition.

● 1984 - Miss Elizabeth (Hulette) & Macho Man Randy Savage (Poffo) wed

● 1985 - IBM-PC DOS Version 3.2 released

● 1985 - President Zia of Pakistan ends martial law

● 1986 - Coal mine canaries made redundant; More than 200 canary birds are to be phased out of Britain's mining pits and replaced by hand-held gas detectors.

● 1986 - US begins Military exercises in Honduras

● 1987 - Premier Mugabe elected President of Zimbabwe

● 1988 - Canadian Senate OK's free trade pact; with US

● 1988 - Former Soviet President Brezhnev's son-in-law sentenced to 12-years (bribery)

● 1988 - Mercedes-Benz pays $20.2-M fine failed to meet '86 government fuel standard

● 1988 - President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George H. W. Bush were subpoenaed to testify as defense witnesses in the pending Iran-Contra trial of Col. Oliver North. (The subpoenas were subsequently quashed.) – (God forbid that our highest office holders be held accountable.)

● 1988 - Yugoslav government resigns

● 1989 - 10th United Negro College Fund raises $12,000,000

● 1989 - Dmitri Volkov swims world record 50 meter freestyle (27.15 seconds)

● 1990 - 11th United Negro College Fund raises $10,000,000

● 1993 - Singer Deni Hines (22) weds INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly (35)

● 1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.

● 1994 - An anti-abortion gunman kills Shannon Lowney of Planned Parenthood and Lee Ann Nichols of Preterm, women's health care clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, at least five others injured.

● 1995 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equalled the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on February 11, 1895 and January 10, 1982.

● 1996 - In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, at least 26 people were killed and dozens were seriously injured.

● 1996 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.

● 1996 - Chilean guerrillas whisk four comrades from jail with rope lowered from a helicopter.

● 1997 - Death of Danilo Dolci, nonviolent social revolutionary, Sicily.

● 1997 - In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres; armed men massacred 412 men, women and children in four mountain villages in Algeria.

● 1997 - An abandoned building collapses on New York's 42nd St, no one hurt

● 1999 - Former Beatle George Harrison fought off a knife-wielding intruder who broke into his mansion west of London and stabbed him in the chest.

● 2000 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

● 2002 - Diana Ross arrested for drink-driving; Singer Diana Ross is stopped by the police for drinking and driving after her car is seen swerving across a road.

● 2003 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announces a ban on the sale of dietary supplement ephedra, an herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.

● 2003 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the Plame affair.

● 2004 - A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.

● 2005 - Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.

BIRTHS

● 39 - Roman Emperor Titus (d. 81)

● 1204 - Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Minorca (d. 1282)

● 1552 - Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)

● 1642 - Vicenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (d. 1707)

● 1673 - Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1736)

● 1678 - William Croft, English composer (d. 1727)

● 1722 - Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1770)

● 1724 - Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French painter (d. 1805)

● 1785 - Dorothea Lieven, Russian noblewoman (d. 1857)

● 1819 - Theodor Fontane, German writer (d. 1898)

● 1838 - Émile Loubet, 7th President of France (d.1929)

● 1850 - John Milne, English seismologist and geologist; inventor of the seismograph (d. 1913)

● 1851 - Asa Griggs Candler, American developer of Coca-Cola (d. 1929)

● 1865 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)

● 1869 - Stephen Butler Leacock, British-born writer and economist (d. 1944)

● 1873 - Al Smith, American politician; four-time governor of New York State and presidential nominee in 1928 (d. 1944)

● 1879 - Ramana Maharshi, Hindu philosopher and yogi (d. 1950)

● 1880 - Alfred Einstein, German-born American musicologist and critic (d. 1952)

● 1884 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)

● 1897 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (d. 1976)

● 1899 - Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (d. 2001)

● 1904 - Dmitri Kabalevsky, Russian composer (d. 1987)

● 1906 - Sir Carol Reed, English film director (d. 1976)

● 1910 - Paul Bowles, American composer and author (d. 1999)

● 1911 - Jeanette Nolan, American actress (d. 1998)

● 1913 - Elyne Mitchell, Australian author (d. 2002)

● 1914 - Bert Parks, American television host (d. 1992)

● 1914 - Jo Van Fleet, American actress (d. 1996)

● 1917 - Seymour Melman, American industrial engineer (d. 2004)

● 1920 - Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)

● 1928 - Bo Diddley, American singer and musician

● 1929 - Barbara Nichols, American actress (d. 1976)

● 1931 - Skeeter Davis, American singer (d. 2004)

● 1933(34? NYT) - Joseph Bologna, American actor

● 1934 - John Norris Bahcall, American physicist (d. 2005)

● 1934 - Joseph P. Hoar, U.S. general

● 1934 - Del Shannon, American singer (d. 1990)

● 1934 - Russ Tamblyn, American actor, dancer, and singer

● 1935 - Omar Bongo, President of Gabon

● 1935 - Jack Riley, Actor (''The Bob Newhart Show'')

● 1935 - Sandy Koufax, baseball player and youngest inductee into the Hall of Fame

● 1937 - Gordon Banks, English footballer

● 1937 - John Hartford, American musician (d. 2001)

● 1937 - Jim Marshall, American football player

● 1937 - Noel Paul Stookey, American folk singer (Peter, Paul & Mary)

● 1940 - James Burrows, TV director (''Taxi,'' ''Cheers,'' ''Will and Grace'')

● 1941 - Mel Renfro, American football player

● 1942 - Vladimir Bukovsky, Russian author and dissident

● 1942 - Michael Nesmith, American singer and musician (The Monkees)

● 1942 - Janko Prunk, Slovenian historian

● 1942 - Fred Ward, American actor

● 1945 - Davy Jones, English singer (The Monkees)

● 1945 - Vernon Wells, Australian actor

● 1946 - Patti Smith, American singer

● 1947 - Michael Burns, American actor and history professor

● 1947 - Jeff Lynne, English singer and musician (ELO)

● 1951 - Doug Allder, English footballer

● 1952 - June Anderson, American soprano

● 1953 - Bill Kazmaier, American powerlifter and strongman

● 1953 - Harald Schmautz, German-born journalist

● 1953 - Meredith Vieira, American television journalist and personality (''Today'')

● 1955 - Sheryl Lee Ralph, Actress

● 1956 - Patricia Kalember, Actress

● 1956 - Suzy Bogguss, American singer

● 1957 - Matt Lauer, American newscaster (''Today'')

● 1959 - Tracey Ullman, English actress and singer

● 1960 - Rob Hotchkiss, Rock musician

● 1961 - Douglas Coupland, Canadian author

● 1961 - Sean Hannity, American right wingnut talk radio host and political commentator(''Hannity & Colmes'')

● 1961 - Ben Johnson, Canadian athlete

● 1962 - Henry Cho a Korean-American comedian

● 1963 - Chandler Burr, American author

● 1963 - Michelle Douglas, Canadian human rights activist

● 1963 - Milan Šrejber, Czech tennis player

● 1965 - Zoe Kelli Simon, American actress

● 1967 - Carl Ouellet, Canadian professional wrestler

● 1969 - Dave England, American television personality

● 1969 - Jay Kay, English musician and singer (Jamiroquai)

● 1971 - Daniel Sunjata, American actor (''Rescue Me'')

● 1972 - Maureen Flanniga, Actress

● 1972 - Kerry Collins, American football player

● 1972 - Paul Keegan, Irish footballer

● 1973 - Jason Behr, American actor

● 1973 - Ato Boldon, West Indian athlete

● 1975 - Scott Chipperfield, Australian footballer

● 1975 - Tiger Woods, American golfer

● 1976 - Meredith Monroe, American actress

● 1976 - Alex A. Quinn, American actor

● 1976 - A. J. Pierzynski, baseball player

● 1977 - Kenyon Martin, American basketball player

● 1978 - Tyrese, American singer

● 1978 - Zbigniew Robert Promiński Polish drummer

● 1979 - Flávio Amado, Angolan footballer

● 1980 - Eliza Dushku, American actress (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'')

● 1980 - Kenny Kwan, singer

● 1981 - Michael Rodríguez, Costa Rican footballer

● 1981 - Haley Paige, American pornstar

● 1982 - Kristin Kreuk, Actress (''Smallville'')

● 1982 - Leighton James, Welsh Person

● 1984 - LeBron James, American basketball player

● 1984 - Randall Azofeifa, Costa Rican footballer

● 1989 - Ryan Sheckler, American skateboarder

DEATHS

● 1218 - Richard de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, English politician (b. 1162)

● 1460 - Richard, Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (killed in battle) (b. 1411)

● 1525 - Jacob Fugger, German banker (b. 1459)

● 1572 - Galeazzo Alessi, Italian architect (b. 1512)

● 1573 - Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian writer (b. 1504)

● 1591 - Pope Innocent IX (b. 1519)

● 1640 - John Regis, French saint (b. 1597)

● 1644 - Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (b. 1577)

● 1662 - Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria (b. 1628)

● 1691 - Robert Boyle, Irish scientist (b. 1627)

● 1769 - Nicholas Taaffe, 6th Viscount Taaffe, Austrian soldier (b. 1685)

● 1803 - Francis Lewis, signer of the American Declaration of Independence (b. 1713)

● 1896 - José Rizal, national hero of the Philippines (b. 1861)

● 1941 - El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect (b. 1890)

● 1944 - Romain Rolland, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)

● 1954 - Archduke Eugen of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1863)

● 1967 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1887)

● 1968 - Trygve Lie, first United Nations Secretary General (b. 1896)

● 1970 - Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)

● 1971 - Melba Rae, American actress (b. 1922)

● 1979 - Richard Rodgers, American composer (b. 1902)

● 1986 - Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (b. 1905)

● 1988 - Yuli Daniel, Russian writer (b. 1925)

● 1993 - Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian physicist (b. 1907)

● 1994 - Dmitri Ivanenko, Russian physicist (b. 1904)

● 1995 - Doris Grau, American actress (b. 1924)

● 1996 - Lew Ayres, American actor (b. 1908)

● 1997 - Shinichi Hoshi, Japanese novelist (b. 1926)

● 1998 - George Webb, English actor (b. 1911)

● 1999 - Fritz Leonhardt, German structural engineer (b. 1909)

● 2001 - Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)

● 2002 - Mary Wesley, English novelist (b. 1912)

● 2003 - David Bale, South African-born activist (cancer) (b. 1941)

● 2003 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (b. 1932)

● 2003 - Anita Mui, Hong Kong singer and actress (b. 1963)

● 2004 - Artie Shaw, American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1910)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Pope Felix I
● St. Anysia
● St. Anysius
● St. Sabinus
● St. Egwin
● St. Liberius
● St. Mansuetus
● St. Raynerius
● Bl. John Alcober

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for December 17 (Civil Date: December 30)
● Nativity Fast.
● Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias and Misael
● St. Daniel the Confessor (in schema Stephen) of Spain and Egypt.
● St. Dionysius of Zakynthos, Bishop of Aegina.

● Greek Calendar:
● Martyr Bacchus.
● New Martyr Nicetas.
● Blessed Deacon Abbacum of Serbia.

● The sixth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.

● Bolivia, Chile : Bank Holiday

● Iran : Birthday of Iman Reza

● Italy : New Year's Eve

● Philippiines : Rizal Day (anniversary of his death) (1896)

Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

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