Anniversaries 17 December

Birth

Thomas Tickell11

English poet and man of letters 1685–1740

Humphry Davy6

Cornish chemist 1778–1829

Thomas Chandler Haliburton10

Canadian-British politician, judge, and author 1796–1865

John Greenleaf Whittier47

American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slave… 1807–1892

Herbert Beerbohm Tree10

English actor and theatre manager 1852–1917

Suze Robertson18

Dutch painter 1855–1922

Ford Madox Ford20

English writer and publisher 1873–1939

Aubrey Faulkner1

South African cricketer 1881–1930

Will T. Kirk1

Commissioner of the Oregon Industrial Accident Commission 1884–1947

Hu Shih3

Chinese philosopher, essayist and diplomat 1891–1962

Mohammad Hidayatullah36

11th Chief Justice of India 1905–1992

Bede Griffiths2

Benedictine Monk 1906–1993

Eknath Easwaran6

spiritual teacher, author of books on meditation and spirit… 1910–1999

Robert A. Dahl30

American political scientist 1915–2014

Penelope Fitzgerald4

British writer 1916–2000

Kenneth E. Iverson12

Canadian computer scientist 1920–2004

Jaroslav Pelikan1

US historian of Christianity, Christian theology and mediev… 1923–2006

Helen Frankenthaler46

American artist 1928–2011

William Safire5

American journalist 1929–2009

Frank Martinus Arion1

writer and poet 1936–2015

Pope Francis113

266th Pope of the Catholic Church 1936

Peter Temin3

American economist 1937

John Kennedy Toole28

American novelist 1937–1969

William J. Higginson6

American writer 1938–2008

Chuba Okadigbo4

Nigerian politician 1941–2003

Timo K. Mukka3

Finnish writer 1944–1973

Lin Join-sane3

Taiwanese politician 1944

Chris Matthews4

American news anchor 1945

Jacqueline Wilson6

novelist 1945

Carson Grant8

American actor 1950

Philip Kan Gotanda4

American film director and playwright 1951

Christopher A. Wray1

American lawyer, and current director of the U.S. Federal B… 1966

Gigi D'Agostino1

Italian DJ 1967

Paul Tracy1

Canadian racecar driver 1968

Robinah Nabbanja1

Ugandan politician and teacher 1969

Igor Girkin6

Russian citizen from Moscow who played a significant role i… 1970

Rian Johnson1

American writer, director and producer 1973

Milla Jovovich8

Ukrainian-born american model and actress 1975

Manny Pacquiao5

Filipino boxer, basketball player, singer and politician, d… 1978

Chelsea Manning9

United States Army soldier and whistleblower 1987

Marvelous MMW1

Nigerian gospel singer and songwriter 2005

Death

Rumi148

Iranian poet 1207–1273

Simón Bolívar17

Venezuelan military and political leader, South American li… 1783–1830

Linn Boyd1

American politician 1800–1859

Lewis H. Morgan1

United States ethnologist 1818–1881

William Thomson19

British physicist and engineer 1824–1907

Abbott Eliot Kittredge24

American minister 1834–1912

Leopold II of Belgium34

King of the Belgians 1835–1909

Alexander Herrmann9

French magician 1844–1896

Robert Blatchford2

British writer and activist 1851–1943

Hastings Ismay4

Army officer 1887–1965

David L. Webster1

American Physicist 1888–1976

Dorothy L. Sayers72

English crime writer, playwright, essayist and Christian wr… 1893–1957

S.L.A. Marshall13

United States Army general and Military historian 1900–1977

Marguerite Yourcenar37

French writer 1903–1987

Harold Holt7

Australian politician, 17th Prime Minister of Australia 1908–1967

Daniel Inouye1

American politician from Hawaii, Medal of Honor recipient a… 1924–2012

Willoughby Sharp2

American artist 1936–2008

Captain Beefheart4

musician 1941–2010

Kim Jong-il18

General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea 1941–2011