Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Text is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.

Today's Anniversary – Wednesday, December 17


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Births

* 1978 Manny Pacquiao Also known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer and politician.
* 1975 Milla Jovovich Ukrainian model, actress, musician, and fashion designer.
* 1950 Carson Grant American actor and artist.
* 1941 Chuba Okadigbo Sometimes referred to as Oyi of Oyi after his hometown, had held numerous political appointments in the Nigerian government.
* 1937 John Kennedy Toole American novelist best known for his posthumously published comic novel A Confederacy of Dunces, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.
* 1937 Kerry Packer Australian billionaire media magnate.
* 1929 William Safire American author, columnist, journalist, presidential speechwriter, and language expert.
* 1920 Kenneth E. Iverson Canadian computer scientist noted for developing the APL programming language.
* 1910 Eknath Easwaran Spiritual teacher, an author of books on meditation and ways to lead a fulfilling life, as well as a translator and interpreter of Indian literature.
* 1881 Aubrey Faulkner Leading cricketer for South Africa for two decades.
* 1874 William Lyon Mackenzie King Tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921, to June 28, 1926; September 25, 1926, to August 6, 1930; and October 23, 1935, to November 15, 1948.
* 1873 Ford Madox Ford Also known as Ford Madox Hueffer, was a British novelist, essayist, memoirist and publisher.
* 1852 Herbert Beerbohm Tree English actor-manager and wit, whose professional name was Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
* 1807 John Greenleaf Whittier American poet and abolitionist.
* 1796 Thomas Chandler Haliburton One of the first major Canadian authors.
* 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven German composer who lived predominantly in Vienna, Austria.
* 1685 Thomas Tickell Minor English poet and man of letters.
* 1632 Anthony (or a Wood) Wood English antiquary and diarist.
* 1493 Paracelsus Alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist.

Deaths

† 2012 Daniel Inouye American politician who has served as United States Senator from Hawaii, from 1963 until his death in 2012.
† 2011 Kim Jong-il Supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1994 until his death, holding the offices of Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.
† 2010 Captain Beefheart American musician and painter.
† 1987 Marguerite Yourcenar Belgian-born French novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Marguerite Yourcenar.
† 1976 David L. Webster American physicist and physics professor, whose early research on X-rays and Parson's magneton influenced Arthur Compton.
† 1965 Hastings Ismay British soldier and diplomat, remembered primarily for his role as Winston Churchill's chief military assistant during the Second World War and his service as the first Secretary General of NATO from 1952 to 1957.
† 1957 Dorothy L. Sayers Renowned British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist.
† 1930 Peter Warlock Anglo-Welsh composer and music critic.
† 1912 Abbott Eliot Kittredge Best known as A E Kittredge, was an American leader of the Presbyterian Church.
† 1909 Leopold II of Belgium Succeeded his father, Leopold I of Belgium, to the Belgian throne in 1865 as Leopold II, King of the Belgians, and remained king until his death.
† 1907 Lord Kelvin 1st Baron Kelvin, often referred to simply as Lord Kelvin, was a Scottish physicist.
† 1907 William - a.k.a. Lord Kelvin Thomson 1st Baron Kelvin, often referred to simply as Lord Kelvin, was a Scottish physicist.
† 1896 Alexander Herrmann More famous as Herrmann the Great, was a French-born magician, who broke from tradition in his performance style, interweaving comedy with his magic.
† 1859 Linn Boyd Prominent U S politician of the 1840s and 1850s, and served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855.
† 1830 Simon Bolivar South American revolutionary leader.
† 1273 Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi Persian philosopher, theologian, poet, teacher, and founder of the Mevlevi order of Sufism; also known as Mevlana, Jalaluddin Rumi, or simply Rumi.
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