Falling behind a bit. Pick one for this date based on the large number
of past events on this date:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_17
I always found this one fascinating in the world of religion:
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
In technology:
1903 – The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Great one in the world of science:
1938 – Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 1509 until his death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England
Henry is best known for his six marriages, in particular his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. His disagreement with the Pope on the question of such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated.
This was back in the days when there there was no separation between church and state. In fact, I believe that this was one reason the pilgrims came here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
Back to England.
This was one of Henry's daughters, Mary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She is best known for her aggressive attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. The executions that marked her pursuit of the restoration of Roman Catholicism in England and Ireland led to her denunciation as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents.
When Queen Mary reigned, you had better be a Catholic in England....it was life threatening to be a Protestant.
Then she died and her sister, Queen Elizabeth took over.............oh, oh now it was good to be Protestant and bad to be Catholic, especially a Catholic priest(many were executed).
http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/elizabethanchurch/catholics.html
Politics and religion were so intricately connected in the Elizabethan period that it was difficult to determine one from the other.
It was these priests who bore the brunt of the Catholic persecution. Many of them were executed for treason.
1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
They concluded that it was all "Fake News".