Saturday, December 17, 2011

This Day In History






Dec 17 1793
Children are executed by the new Guillotine invention for the first time, at Nantes France.



Dec 17 1944
Malmedy massacre, where 81 Americans of Battery B, 285th Field Artillery are killed by Waffen SS in Belgium.



Dec 17 1961
Adilson Marcelino Aviles sets a circus tent on fire at the Gran Circo Norte Americano, Niteroi Brazil, killing 323 people, mostly children. 500 other youngsters were badly burned in this worst circus fire in history. Aviles stated that he wanted revenge on circus owners.



Dec 17 1969
The US Air Force terminates Project Blue Book, which investigated reports of UFO's.




Dec 17 1989
Bartholomew J. Simpson's listed birthday.






Dec 17 1989
Over two thousand protesters area massacred by the government in Timisoara, Romania. It is the spark that brings down the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed on Christmas Day.



Dec 17 1996
Lima, Peru - Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA) guerrillas seize 460 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence December 17 1996 All but 72 hostages are released through negotiations. Peruvian special forces storm the residence, kill the 14 members of the MRTA and release hostages April 22 1997.



Dec 17 1997
An episode of the animated TV show Pokémon induces seizures in at least 685 Japanese children. The convulsive sequence contains the depiction of a "vaccine bomb," followed by the flashing red eyes of a rat monster. Of those afflicted, 200 remained hospitalized the next day.

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