Dec 17 in History

1865 Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” (Symphony No. 8 in B minor), written in 1822, premieres’in composer s death Vienna, on 37 November years after 19 the 1828, Austrian aged 31. 1892 The first issue of Vogue, founded by American businessman Arthur Baldwin Turnure, is published as a weekly newspaper, later becoming a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine.

1903 The Wright brothers make the first free, controlled and sustained power-driven, heavierthan-air flights in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville, 32, makes the first of four flights. He stays in the air for 12 seconds and flies 36.6m. Wilbur, 36, makes the longest flight in the fourth trial, 59 seconds in the air and 259.7m.

1929 Nellie (Petronella) du Toit, South African lyric soprano, is born in Pietersburg into a musical family. She begins her singing career at age nine and by the age of 16 she begins to sing opera, which becomes her longtime career.

1938 Nuclear fission is discovered at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. While bombarding uranium with neutrons, Otto Hahn and Fritz Straßmann discover that products such as barium are also created in the process. Hahn’s colleague, Lise Meitner, and her nephew, Otto Frisch, prove that the uranium nucleus had been split. The phenomenon proves important in developing nuclear weapons and energy.

1961 Niterói circus fire: In the worst circus disaster in history, fire breaks out in the tent during a sold-out (an audience of approximately 3,000) performance by the Gran Circus NorteAmericano in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing 504 and injuring at least another 800. 1967 Harold Holt, 59, Prime Minister of Australia (since January 26 1966), disappears while swimming in rough conditions at Cheviot Beach, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.

1989 —“The Simpsons”, created by Matt Groening, premieres on television with the episode “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”. 1992 Quinton de Kock, Proteas wicketkeeperbatsman (since 2012), is born in Johannesburg. He plays in 54 Tests (3,300 runs, 38.82 average; 221 catches, 11 stumpings), 155 ODIs (6,770 runs, 45.74 average; 209 catches, 17 stumpings) and 80 T20Is (2,277 runs, 32.52 average; 76 catches, 16 stumpings).

2003 SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Brian Binnie, becomes the first privately built craft to achieve supersonic flight.