December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. It is one of seven months with the length of 31 days. December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
December symbols: Its birth flower is the narcissus. The birthstones of December are the turquoise, zircon, and tanzanite. The zodiac signs for the month of December are Sagittarius (until December 21) and Capricorn (December 22 onwards).
Historical Events for December, 1917
Day of Week 2nd » World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.
Day of Week 6th » Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax (former city) e.g Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions Rank order of largest conventional explosions/detonations by magnitude known as larg
6th » World War I: USS Jacob Jones DD-61 6 is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine ship SM U-53.
Day of Week 7th » World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
Day of Week 9th » World War I: In Palestine, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby named Edmund Allenby Battle of Jerusalem (1917) e.g captures Jerusalem.
Day of Week 11th » World War I: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland named British General Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby named Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
Day of Week 12th » In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Girls and Boys Town known as Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
Day of Week 15th » World War I: An armistice is reached between the new Bolshevik government and the Central Powers.
Day of Week 18th » The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution named Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition in the United States or Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
Day of Week 20th » Cheka, the first Soviet Union or Soviet secret police force, is founded.
Famous Birthdays on December in 1917
1st » Thomas Hayward (tenor) called Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (d. 1995)
1st » Marty Marion, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
2nd » Sylvia Syms (singer) or Sylvia Syms, American singer (d. 1992)
4th » Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer
5th » Ken Downing, English race car driver (d. 2004)
5th » Wenche Foss, Norwegian actress (d. 2011)
6th » Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese politician (d. 1977)
6th » Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (d. 2008)
6th » Waldemar von Gazen, German general and lawyer (d. 2014)
9th » James Jesus Angleton, American Central Intelligence Agency or CIA agent (d. 1987)
9th » James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics or Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)