On this day, Dec. 17
1777 France recognized American independence.
1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, N.C., using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.
1933 In the inaugural NFL championship football game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants, 23-21, at Wrigley Field.
1944 The U.S. War Department announced it was ending its policy of excluding people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.
1957 The United States successfully testfired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.
1969 The U.S. Air Force closed its Project “Blue Book” by concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.
1975 Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was sentenced in Sacramento, Calif., to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford. (She was paroled in August 2009.)
1979 Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance executive, was beaten by police after leading them on a chase with his motorcycle in Miami. McDuffie died in a hospital four days later. (Four white police officers accused of beating McDuffie were later acquitted, sparking riots.)
1992 President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in separate ceremonies.
2011 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died after more than a decade of iron rule; he was 69.
2014 The United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations, sweeping away one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.
Today’s birthdays: Actor Armin MuellerStahl, 92. Pope Francis, 86. Singer-actor Tommy Steele, 86. Actor Bernard Hill, 78. Actor Ernie Hudson, 77. Comedian-actor Eugene Levy, 76. Actor Marilyn Hassett, 75. Actor Wes Studi, 75. Pop musician Jim Bonfanti (The Raspberries), 74. Actor Joel Brooks, 73. Rock singer Paul Rodgers, 73. R&B singer Wanda Hutchinson Vaughn (The Emotions), 71. Actor Bill Pullman, 69. Actor Barry Livingston, 69. Country singer Sharon White, 69. Producer-director-writer Peter Farrelly, 66. Rock musician Mike Mills (R.E.M.), 64. Pop singer Sarah Dallin (Bananarama), 61. Country singer Tracy Byrd, 56. Country musician Duane Propes, 56. Actor Laurie Holden, 53. DJ Homicide (Sugar Ray), 52. Actor Sean Patrick Thomas, 52. Actor Claire Forlan, 51. Pop-rock musician Eddie Fisher (OneRepublic), 49. Actor Sarah Paulson, 48. Actor Marissa Ribisi, 48. Actor Giovanni Ribisi, 48. Actor Milla Jovovich, 47. Singer Bree Sharp, 47. Singersongwriter Ben Goldwasser (MGMT), 40. Rock singer Mikky Ekko, 39. Actor Shannon Woodward, 38. Actor Emma Bell, 36. Actor Vanessa Zima, 36. Rock musician Taylor York (Paramore), 33. Actor Graham Rogers, 32. Actor-singer Nat Wolff, 28.