December 17
1777
France recognized American independence.
1903
Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
1944
The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of holding Japanese-Americans in internment camps, allowing “evacuees” to return home.
1969
The U.S. Air Force ended its “Project Blue Book” and concluded that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial activity behind UFO sightings.
1992
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Birthdays
John Greenleaf Whittier
1807–1892, American Poet.
Sir Humphry Davy
chemist, physicist (1778)
W.L. Mackenzie King
political leader (1874)
Arthur Fiedler
conductor (1894)
Sylvia Ashton-Warner
novelist and educator (1905)
William L. Safire
journalist (1929)
Milla Jovovich
model, actor, and singer (1975)