At A Glance

17 December 1943 at a glance

Day of the week
17 December 1943 was a Friday.
Top Film of 1943
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1943 was For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 December 1943 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 December 1943 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 17 December

  • 1938 Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
  • 1939 World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
  • 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.
  • 1945 Kurdistan flag day, the flag of Kurdistan is raised for the first time in Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan.
  • 1948 The Finnish Security Police is established to remove communist leadership from its predecessor, the State Police.

Famous people born on 17 December

  • Sarah Paulson, American actress (born 1974)
  • Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-American actress (born 1975)
  • Bill Pullman, American actor (born 1953)
  • Pope Francis, Argentinian Pope of the Catholic Church (1936–2025)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1943 in Ireland

A selection from Wikipedia's '1943 in Ireland'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 February – The Currency Commission is renamed the Central Bank of Ireland (under terms of the Central Bank Act 1942); it is not, however, given all the powers expected of a central bank.
  • 17 March – Éamon de Valera and his government celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a céilí in the Great Hall of Dublin Castle. de Valera makes the speech "The Ireland That We Dreamed Of", commonly called the "comely maidens" speech.
  • 17 March – A British military aircraft crashes at Templeport, Tullyhaw, County Cavan: the pilot and navigator survive.

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Famous Faces Born in the 1940s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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