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History on the 17th of December

History
Date Text
17 Dec 1843 RELIGIOUS Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published. The "social conversion" of Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve may be seen as a literary symbol (based on the events of the first Christmas night) of the human potential released through spiritual conversion.
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17 Dec 1914 WW2 Vice Admiral Rinroku Eguchi was named the commanding officer of the Mako naval port at Pescadores islands, Taiwan. 
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17 Dec 1917 RELIGIOUS Confiscation of the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and abolition of religious instruction in schools was announced by the Bolshevik government.
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17 Dec 1918 WW2 Kenkichi Ueda was made a staff officer attached to the Siberian Expeditionary Army. 
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17 Dec 1919 WW2 Vernon Baker was born. 
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17 Dec 1920 RELIGIOUS The first orphanage founded by the Church of God opened in Cleveland, Tennessee. Its establishment was the result of the vision and efforts of Church of God pioneer, A.J. Tomlinson.
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17 Dec 1925 WW2 Duquesne was launched at the Arsenal de Brest, France. 
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17 Dec 1925 WW2 Battleship Rodney was launched at Birkenhead, England, United Kingdom, sponsored by Princess Mary, the daughter of King George V. 
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17 Dec 1927 WW2 Kenjiro Kinoshita succeeded Hideo Kodama as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China. 
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17 Dec 1928 WW2 Roderick Carr was named a flight commander in No. 9 Squadron RAF. 
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17 Dec 1934 WW2 The first production example of GL-832 HY floatplane took its first flight. 
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17 Dec 1934 RELIGIOUS Birth of Kurt Kaiser, contemporary American Christian songwriter and composer. His abiding works include: "Oh, How He Loves You and Me," "Pass It On" and "Master Designer."
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17 Dec 1935 WW2 The Douglas Skysleeper Transport aircraft took its first flight. 
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17 Dec 1935 WW2 Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein received his Abitur from the Realgymnasium in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. 
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17 Dec 1936 WW2 Communist Party of China sent a delegation to Xi'an under the urging of Joseph Stalin. 
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17 Dec 1936 WW2 In Spain, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unification Marxist ) was ousted from the Generalitat (Catalan Government) by the Communists. 
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17 Dec 1936 WW2 In a secret meeting, Hermann Göring told leading German industrialists that the war to which Germany was preparing for was on the horizon. 
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17 Dec 1937 WW2 PB2Y Coronado flying boat took its first flight. 
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17 Dec 1937 WW2 At the Sancha Fangsheng Temple and the nearby orphanage in Nanjing, China, Japanese troops massacred 400 to 500 civilians. At a dock on the Yangtze River, Japanese troops massacred over 3,000 prisoners of war, civilian workers of the power plant, and other civilians. German businessman John Rabe, who was in the Chinese capital of Nanjing, noted the diary entry on this date "In one of the houses in the narrow street behind my garden wall, a woman was raped, and then wounded in the neck with a bayonet. I managed to get an ambulance so we can take her to Kulou Hospital.... You hear nothing but rape. If husbands or brothers intervene, they're shot. What you hear and see on all sides is the brutality and bestiality of the Japanese soldiers." 
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17 Dec 1937 WW2 Iwane Matsui entered Nanjing, China with a military parade. 
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17 Dec 1938 WW2 U-47 was commissioned into service. 
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17 Dec 1938 WW2 Wilhelm Keitel ordered that the invasion of the remainder of Czechoslovakia must be done by a peacetime German Army that was not reinforced by mobilization. 
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17 Dec 1939 WW2 Soviet Army assaulted Summa, Finland. 
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17 Dec 1939 WW2 Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by her own crew at Montevideo, Uruguay. 
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17 Dec 1939 WW2 Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" was operational at Jever, Germany. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 British Home Office announced the hanging death of a third German spy. On the same day, a British housewife was sentenced to death for spying. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 German seaplane base on Sylt Island was bombed. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 The British government announced a ration increase for Christmas week. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 British destroyer HMS Acheron hit a mine and sank while running sea trials 5 miles southwest of the Isle of Wight at 0640 hours, killing 153 crew and 22 shipyard workers; 13 crew and 3 shipyard workers survived. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 British monitor HMS Terror and gunboat HMS Ladybird bombarded Bardia, Libya, sinking Italian ships Galata, Vincenzino, and Giuseppina D. in the harbor. On the same day, the British announced that they had captured 20,000 Italian prisoners, including three generals, in Egypt. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 Air Vice Marshal Richard Saul became the commanding officer of No. 12 Group RAF. 
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17 Dec 1940 WW2 President Roosevelt held a press conference in Washington DC, United States, revealing the Lend-Lease program to journalists. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Seaplane from Japanese submarine I-7 conducted a reconnaissance mission on Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 USS Lexington ordered to sail north to join Task Force 14 to reinforce Wake Island. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese submarines RO-62 and RO-66 collided 25 miles southwest of Wake Island at 2020 hours in bad weather while recharging their batteries on the surface. RO-66 sank; all 63 inside the submarine were killed, while the 3 men on duty atop the ship survived the sinking. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Walther von Brauchitsch again requested permission for him to resign due to health reasons. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 The Japanese artillery and aerial bombardment on the northern coast of Hong Kong island, which began on 15 Dec 1941, ceased at 1130 hours as the Japanese observed the raising of a white flag from the defensive positions on the beaches. At 1430 hours, Governor of Hong Kong Sir Mark Young again rejected the Japanese demand for surrender. The bombardment would resume shortly after. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Fedor von Bock was relieved as the commander-in-chief of German Army Group Center; the official reason was health concerns. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 British and Indian troops established a defensive line 65 miles south of Penang, British Malaya near the Perak River. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 German submarines U-67, U-107, U-108, U-131, and U-434 shadowed Allied convoy HG-76 en route from Gibraltar to Britain. At 0925 hours, 230 miles northeast of Madeira, a Martlet aircraft from carrier HMS Audacity discovered U-131. At 1247 hours, U-131 was forced to surface. U-131 opened fire and shot down the Martlet aircraft (which was the first Allied aircraft to be shot down by an enemy submarine), but she was soon damaged by British warships. U-131 was scuttled at 1330 hours; all 47 aboard were captured. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 The 1,100-strong Australian Gull Force arrived at Ambon, Dutch East Indies to reinforce the Dutch garrison. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 British minesweepers HMS Hazard and HMS Speedy, in escort of Allied convoy PQ-6 30 miles north of Cape Gorodetski in northern Russia, were attacked by German destroyers Z23, Z24, Z25, and Z27; Speedy was hit 4 times (2 were killed) and was forced to turn back. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 In North Africa, No. 3 Squadron RAF received its first Kittyhawk fighters. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Nachi departed Palau Islands. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Five French prisoners of Oflag IV-C prisoners of war camp at Colditz Castle in Germany were sent to the town dentist for treatment. On the way back, escorted by two guards, three of them ran in three different directions; they would ultimately reach neutral territory successfully. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 2,749 Jews, mostly women and children, were killed on the beach near Liepaja, Latvia. Most Jews of Liepaja were now eliminated, short of a small left alive to be used as slave laborers. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Hans-Joachim Marseille scored his 35th and 36th kills as he shot down two South African Hurricane fighters southeast of Derna, Libya at 1100 and 1128 hours; he also damaged another enemy fighter in combat. Later in the day, Albert Kesselring personally presented him the German Cross in Gold medal. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Allied and Italian naval forces engaged in the First Battle of Sirte as convoys of each side unexpectedly came across each other 185 miles northwest of Benghazi, Libya. Italian battleships Littorio, Andrea Doria, and Giulio Cesare fired on Allied cruisers and destroyers from the distance of 32 kilometers, which was too far to hit accurately, but did still damage British destroyer HMS Kipling and Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam with near misses. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 American passenger ship Corregidor departed Manila, Philippine Islands with about 1,200 civilians on board; a short distance later, while still in Manila Bay, she struck a mine previously laid by Japanese submarine I-124 and sank, killing many. To the north, 24 transports with 7,000 Japanese troops aboard departed from the Ryukyu Islands, heading for Lamon Bay at eastern Luzon island. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 1st Lieutenant Boyd "Buzz" Wagner became USAAC's first ace in WW2 after shooting down a Japanese aircraft over the Philippine Islands. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Another German assault on Sevastopol, Russia was launched, consisted of 15,551 men. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese troops landed at Sarawak; British troops nearby, not strong enough to counter the Japanese offensive, destroyed oil refineries and withdrew. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 The keel of the large cruiser USS Alaska (CB-1) was laid down by New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey, United States. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Columbia was launched in Camden, New Jersey, United States, sponsored by Miss J. A. Paschal. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 A PBY Catalina flying boat led 17 SB2U-3 Vindicator dive bombers of Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 231 from Hickam Field, Oahu, Hawaii Islands to Midway Atoll; at 9 hours and 45 minutes covering 1,137 miles, it was the longest mass over-water flight by single-engined aircraft to date. 
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17 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese aircraft attacked Wake Atoll, igniting a diesel oil tank on Wilkes Island and damaged an evaporator unit that was vital for the island's water supply. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Japanese Navy Captain Chiaki Matsuda relieved Rear Admiral Gihachi Takayanagi as the commanding officer of Yamato; Takayanagi was reassigned as the Chief of Staff of the First Fleet. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden reported to the British House of Commons of the mass murder of Jews by the Germans; this would be followed almost immediately by a US declaration that these crimes would be avenged. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 US Marines captured Mt. Austen, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, troops of the 35th Infantry Regiment of the US Army 25th Division arrived on the island. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Axis forces largely completed their evacuation from the Marsa Brega and El Agheila region in Libya. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Archibald Wavell met with Joseph Stilwell; during the meeting, despite Stilwell's insistence, Wavell refused to expand his current attack on Arakan, Burma into a larger coordinated joint-Chinese-American-British campaign. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Hubert Lanz stepped down as the commanding officer of 1. Gebirgs-Division. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 USS S-35 set sail for Adak, US Territory of Alaska. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Rabaul, New Britain. 
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17 Dec 1942 WW2 The Japanese completed a 4,700-foot long airstrip at Munda Point, New Georgia, Solomon Islands. 
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17 Dec 1943 WW2 78 Allied fighters (US Marine Corps F4U fighters, US Navy F6F fighters, RNZAF Kittyhawk fighters) took off from Torokina Airfield on Bougainville, Solomon Islands for a fighter sweep over Rabaul, New Britain. 70 Japanese fighters rose to defend. RNZAF pilots claimed 5 Japanese shot down while suffering 2 losses, while the Americans claimed 4; Japanese records would later show that only 2 A6M aircraft were lost on this day (with only 1 pilot killed). Gregory Boyington, who participated in the sweep, thought the Japanese only launched a limited number of aircraft in defense because the Allies sent too many fighters, and it made more sense for the Japanese to rely more on anti-aircraft guns rather than risking fighters. 
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17 Dec 1943 WW2 US Fifth Army captured San Pietro Infine, Italy after a 10-day battle. 
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17 Dec 1943 WW2 Shokaku arrived at Yokosuka, Japan. 
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17 Dec 1943 WW2 Yamato arrived at Yokosuka, Japan and took on elements of Japanese Army 1st Independent Mixed Regiment and supplies. 
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17 Dec 1943 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Wotje, Marshall Islands. 
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17 Dec 1943 RELIGIOUS German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: 'The consciousness of being borne up by a spiritual tradition that goes back for centuries gives one a feeling of confidence and security in the face of all passing strains and stresses.'
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 The newly established USAAF 509th Composite Group was activated. The group's mission was to deliver atomic weapons. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 British bombers attacked Ulm, Germany. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 In a P-38 Lightning aircraft, US ace Richard Ira Bong scored his 40th kill to become America's leading fighter ace of the war. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all torpedoes missed. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Guitarro transited the Lombok Strait between the islands of Bali and Lombok, Dutch East Indies. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Spot set sail for the Yellow Sea between China and Korea. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 150 prisoners of war of US 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion were massacred by Waffen-SS forces at Malmédy, Belgium. Only 43 survived. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 Allied troops captured Faenza, Italy. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 Unryu departed Kure, Japan at 0830 hours. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Alabama departed waters off Luzon, Philippine Islands. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Segundo encountered a typhoon while at sea, registering sustained winds at 145 miles per hour, with occasional gusts up to 185 miles per hour. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Preston guarded carriers while the carriers launched strikes against Luzon, Philippine Islands. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 Franklin Roosevelt departed Warm Springs, Georgia, United States by train. He made a brief stop at Atlanta, Georgia to meet with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. 
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17 Dec 1944 WW2 Ernest King was promoted to the rank of fleet admiral. 
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17 Dec 1945 WW2 Memphis was decommissioned from service. 
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17 Dec 1945 WW2 Joseph Stalin returned to Moscow, Russia from an extended vacation in the Caucasus region of southern Russia; it was his first vacation in nine years. Late in the night, he met with Viktor Abakumov, Nikolai Bulganin, Aleksei Antonov, and Sergei Shtemenko regarding the future reorganization of Soviet counterintelligence arms. 
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17 Dec 1949 WW2 Indonesia was granted independence by the Dutch government. 
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16th December 18th December
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