| 141961 | December 17 | Event | 1969 – The SALT I talks begin. |
| 141962 | December 17 | Event | 1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs. |
| 141963 | December 17 | Event | 1970 – Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens. |
| 141964 | December 17 | Event | 1973 – Thirty passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. |
| 141965 | December 17 | Event | 1981 – American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy. |
| 141966 | December 17 | Event | 1983 – Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London, England, United Kingdom. Three police officers and three civilians are killed. |
| 141967 | December 17 | Event | 1987 – Final Fantasy is released in Japan on the Famicon, marking the start of the Final Fantasy series and saving Square from bankruptcy. |
| 141968 | December 17 | Event | 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timișoara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire. |
| 141969 | December 17 | Event | 1989 – Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years. |
| 141970 | December 17 | Event | 1997 – The British Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 comes into force, banning all handguns with the exception of antique and show weapons. |
| 141971 | December 17 | Event | 2002 – Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years. |
| 141972 | December 17 | Event | 2003 – The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, England, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice. |
| 141973 | December 17 | Event | 2003 – SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight. |
| 141974 | December 17 | Event | 2005 – Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. |
| 141975 | December 17 | Event | 2005 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan. |
| 141976 | December 17 | Event | 2009 – MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals. |
| 141977 | December 17 | Event | 2010 – Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring. |
| 141978 | December 17 | Event | 2013 – The anti-corruption operation in Turkey begins with high profile detainments. |
| 141979 | December 17 | Event | 2014 – The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them 55 years ago. |
| 141980 | December 17 | Birth | 1239 – Kujō Yoritsugu, Japanese shogun (d. 1256) |
| 141981 | December 17 | Birth | 1267 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324) |
| 141982 | December 17 | Birth | 1556 – Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Pakistani-Indian poet (d. 1627) |
| 141983 | December 17 | Birth | 1619 – Prince Rupert of the Rhine (d. 1682) |
| 141984 | December 17 | Birth | 1632 – Anthony Wood, English historian and author (d. 1695) |
| 141985 | December 17 | Birth | 1685 – Thomas Tickell, English poet (d. 1740) |
| 141986 | December 17 | Birth | 1699 – Charles-Louis Mion, French composer (d. 1775) |
| 141987 | December 17 | Birth | 1706 – Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749) |
| 141988 | December 17 | Birth | 1734 – Maria I of Portugal (d. 1816) |
| 141989 | December 17 | Birth | 1749 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer and educator (d. 1801) |
| 141990 | December 17 | Birth | 1778 – Humphry Davy, English chemist and physicist (d. 1829) |