Birthday Paper › What happened on …? › December 17

Events on December 17

• 1865 Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony is premiered 37 years after his death in the Great Redout Hall of the Vienna Hofburg.
• 1903 The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered flight in the Wright Flyer.
• 1938 Otto Hahn, together with his assistant Fritz Strassmann, discovers the nuclear fission of the uranium atom in Berlin—the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
• 1944 In an air raid on Ulm during the Second World War, 81 percent of the city center is destroyed in a single blow. Ulm Minster, however, remains unscathed.
• 1963 As part of the new Ostpolitik, the first passport agreement is concluded between West Germany and East Germany. From 19 December to 5 January, this allows West Berliners to visit their relatives in East Berlin for the first time since the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• 1971 West Germany and East Germany sign the Transit Agreement as part of German Ostpolitik, creating travel facilitation between the Federal Republic and West Berlin.
• 1982 Through a controversial confidence vote, German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl brings about early elections just two months after taking office.
• 1989 The first standalone episode of The Simpsons by Matt Groening is broadcast in the USA.
• 1989 In the 78th Davis Cup, Germany defeats Sweden 3:2.
• 2001 European Economic and Monetary Union: Two weeks before the introduction of the euro, the first euro coins in the form of the foil-sealed so-called starter kits are issued in Germany, Greece, and Portugal.
• 2009 The US science fiction film Avatar opens in German cinemas.
• 2015 The US science fiction film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace opens in German cinemas. It is the first part of the so-called sequel trilogy.

Born on December 17

• 1855 Hope Bridges Adams Lehmann, first German woman to complete her medical studies and pass the state examination
• 1887 Josef Lada, Czech illustrator and children's book author
• 1893 Erwin Piscator, German director
• 1923 Jürgen Ponto, German bank manager and victim of terrorism
• 1930 Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
• 1941 Gilbert Gress, French-Swiss football coach
• 1960 Jürgen Tarrach, German actor
• 1971 Claire Forlani, British actress
• 1981 Tim Wiese, German footballer
• 1994 Jackie Groenen, Dutch female footballer

Is your birthday on December 17?

Then there is a newspaper that tells only the story of your day: what was going on in the world on December 17 of your birth year, which song was at the top, what the weather was like at your birthplace, plus birthday twins and a personal greeting.

• For every birth year from 1946
• 4 to 10 pages, always €14.90, as a PDF to print
• With a greeting page for voice and video messages

Create the paper for December 17 · €14.90

Day and month are already filled in, you only choose the birth year.

Source of events and birthdays: German Wikipedia article „17. Dezember“, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, selected, shortened and translated by Birthday Paper.

More days in December