12 / 17 History Vault
Discover public domain milestones, art masterworks, and wisdom quotes. (13)
Las Meninas
Las Meninas is a world-class museum collection item preserved at Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Diego Velázquez (Oil on canvas)
Famous Pioneer Born on 12/17
Born under Sagittarius (♐ Sagittarius), possessing unique vision and inspiration.
"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once."
—— Sagittarius Pioneer
Historical Milestone of 12/17
On this day in history (12/17), significant global milestones and breakthroughs were recorded across science, culture, and human society.
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.
The December 1970 protests in Poland, also known as the December 1970 events, December events, December revolution, and the Coast Massacre, occurred in northern Poland from 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items while wages remained stagnant. Strikes were put down by the Polish People's Army and the Citizen's Militia, resulting in at least 44 people killed and more than 1,000 wounded.
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb outside Harrods in London, killing six people and injuring about 90 others.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
American gay rights activist William E. Woods brought three same-sex couples to fill out marriage licenses in Honolulu.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for the inclusion, recognition, and rights of LGBTQ people and other gender and sexual minorities.
Holly_Humberstone Born
Holly Ffion Humberstone is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut EP Falling Asleep at the Wheel in 2020, before signing a recording contract with Interscope and Polydor Records. Her first EP following the signings, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, was released in November 2021; she subsequently won the Brit Award for Rising Star at the 2022 Brit Awards. She has since released two studio albums, Paint My Bedroom Black (2023) and Cruel World (2026), both of which received positive reviews.
「Holly Ffion Humberstone is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut E...」
—— Holly_Humberstone
Mirei_Sasaki Born
Mirei Sasaki is a Japanese actress and media personality. She has appeared in dramas such as Women's Gourmet Burger Club (2020) and Kakegurui Twin (2021), and starred in Koeharu! (2021) and Piece of Cake! (2022). Her theater appearances include portraying Yor Forger in the stage adaptation of Spy × Family (2023). She is also a lifestyle reporter for the Nippon TV morning show Zip!
「Mirei Sasaki is a Japanese actress and media personality. She has appeared in dramas...」
—— Mirei_Sasaki
Wesley_Fofana_(footballer) Born
Wesley Tidjan Fofana is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea.
「Wesley Tidjan Fofana is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back ...」
—— Wesley_Fofana_(footballer)
Castello_Lukeba Born
Junior Castello Lukeba is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.
「Junior Castello Lukeba is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back...」
—— Castello_Lukeba
Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. Established on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, it succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created in 1948. As the world's largest international economic organization, the WTO has 166 members, representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
World_Trade_Organization
Arab Spring: Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Sidi Bouzid, set himself on fire in protest against police harassment, triggering the Tunisian revolution.
The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to the death of Mohamed Bouazizi by self-immolation. From Tunisia, the protests initially spread to five other countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. The rulers deposed include: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, all in 2011; and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in 2012. Major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Sudan. Minor protests took place in Djibouti, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the Western Sahara. A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām!.
The first victims of a mass methanol poisoning which eventually killed over 70 inhabitants of Irkutsk, Russia, began arriving at hospitals.
In December 2016, over 70 people died of methanol poisoning in the Russian city of Irkutsk. Caused by the consumption of adulterated surrogate alcohol, it was the deadliest such incident in Russia's post-Soviet history.
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