17 December 2003

Arab Spring: Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Sidi Bouzid, set himself on fire in protest against police harassment, triggering the Tunisian revolution.

American gay rights activist William E. Woods brought three same-sex couples to fill out marriage licenses in Honolulu.

The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb outside Harrods in London, killing six people and injuring about 90 others.

Polish soldiers fired at workers (memorial pictured) emerging from trains in Gdynia, beginning the government's crackdown on mass anti-communist protests across the country.

Harold Holt, the prime minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming near Portsea, Victoria; his body was never recovered.

The Finnish Security Police was established to remove communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police.

The modern flag of Kurdistan was raised for the first time in Mahabad, Iran.

Nazi troops under Joachim Peiper killed unarmed prisoners of war, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, with machine guns near Malmedy, Belgium.

World War II: After sustaining moderate damage in the Battle of the River Plate two days earlier, the German cruiser Graf Spee was scuttled by its commander, Hans Langsdorff, to avoid its internment by Uruguay.

A coup d'état by the Lithuanian military replaced the democratically elected President Kazys Grinius with Antanas Smetona.

About 1,000 demonstrators marched (pictured) on Government House in Darwin, Australia, where they burned an effigy of Administrator John Gilruth and demanded his resignation.

American Civil War: Union General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

The Aztec sun stone (pictured), now a modern symbol of Mexican culture, was excavated in the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City.

Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeated Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg's troops at the siege of Godesberg.

William Longsword of Normandy was ambushed and assassinated by supporters of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, while both were at a peace conference to settle their differences.

Rome was sacked by the Ostrogoths led by Totila after a year-long siege.

The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.

Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.

MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.

Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.

The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend, Maxine Carr, is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.

Sex work rights activists establish December 17 (or "D17") as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to memorialize victims of a serial killer who targeted prostitutes, and highlight State violence against sex workers by police and others.