On This Day December 17th

 OTD

December 17th is the 351st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 14 days remain until the end of the year.

 

 Events

497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.

1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry VIII of England.

1777 – American Revolution: France formally recognizes the United States.

1790 – The Aztec calendar stone was discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.

1835 – The second Great Fire of New York destroys 53,000 square meters (13 acres) of New York City's Financial District.

1865 – First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.

1892 – The first issue of Vogue is published.

1903 – The Wright brothers made the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1933 – The first NFL Championship Game is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Bears won 23–21.

1943 – All Chinese are again permitted to become citizens of the United States upon the repeal of the Act of 1882 and the introduction of the Magnuson Act.

1957 – The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1989 – The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire."

2014 – The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.

 

Birthdays

1797 – Joseph Henry, American physicist and engineer (d. 1878)

1853 – Pierre Paul Émile Roux, French physician and immunologist, co-founded the Pasteur Institute (d. 1933)

1884 – Alison Uttley, English children's book writer (d. 1976)

1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)

1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic, one of the first people to analyze a dynamical system with chaos (d. 1998)

1913 – Burt Baskin, American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (d. 1967)

1929 – William Safire, American journalist and author (d. 2009)

1930 – Bob Guccione, American photographer and publisher, founded Penthouse (d. 2010)

1937 – Art Neville, American singer and keyboard player (d. 2019)

1978 – Chase Utley, American baseball player

1988 – David Rudisha, Kenyan runner

 

 Holiday Spotlight

Saturnalia Festival

  The pagan celebration of the Roman god, Saturn, first began as a single day but later extended to a whole week during the late Republic. The festival started on December 17 of the Julian calendar, which the Romans used in those days, and initially ended on December 25, when the winter solstice fell. During the celebration period, all activities came to a halt. Businesses, courts, schools, and other social patterns were suspended while people spent time doing more fun activities. Slaves were allowed to take part in the celebration and even reversed roles with their masters. Feasting, playing, gambling, singing, exchanging gifts, and decorating homes were some activities people enjoyed during this time. Thus, the Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many traditions associated with Christmas.

 During Saturnalia, celebrations were held at home and in the temple of Saturn in Rome. In the fourth century, the temple was constructed in place of an older temple. A young pig would be sacrificed publicly on the first day of the Saturnalia celebrations. Also, during the festivities, the woolen bonds tied around the feet of the cult statue of Saturn were loosened to signify the god’s freedom. Numerous archaeological sites from the Roman coastal province of Constantine, now in Algeria, demonstrate that the statue of Saturn survived there until the early third century.

 In wealthier Roman households, the aturnalicius princeps or “leader of Saturnalia” were selected among the slaves. This person was known as the mock king and was responsible for organizing merrymaking and mischief during the celebrations. He was seen as the ruler of chaos, in direct contrast to Roman life's routine and orderly manner; he was also in charge of making offerings to the Roman household gods associated with domestic life (penates). Other common holiday customs, such as hiding coins or other small objects in cakes, date back to earlier Saturnalia practices, as it was a way to choose the mock king in those days.

 Western culture of today derived many of its traditional midwinter celebrations from Saturnalia. The Christmas holiday owes most of its practices to Saturnalia, including the time of the year it is celebrated. Theologians decided that Jesus was most likely born in spring, and the Bible does not give a date to celebrate his birth. The older seasonal celebrations practiced by the Celts and other groups were suppressed by the Roman Empire’s conquests in Britain and the rest of Europe beginning from the second century B.C. and ending in the fourth century A.D. During this time, the Church settled on celebrating Christmas on December 25 and incorporated it with Saturnalia and other midwinter traditions. The pagans and Christians lived together during this time, which might have represented an effort for the pagans to receive Christianity as Rome’s official religion.

 

Other Include

Bhutan National Day

Clean Air Day

Festival of Winter Walks

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

National Maple Syrup Day

Pan American Aviation Day

Wright Brothers Day