December 17, Black motorcyclist beaten to death after leading police chase
Today is Wednesday, December 17, the 351st day of the year 2025. There are 14 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On December 17, 1979, Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance broker and former Marine, was beaten by police after leading them on a chase on his motorcycle in Miami. McDuffie died four days later. (Four white police officers accused of beating McDuffie were acquitted in 2000, sparking riots in Miami that left several dead and millions of dollars in damage.)
Also on this date:
In 1777, France became one of the first nations to officially recognize independence from the United States.
In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful flights of powered, manned aircraft near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.
In 1933, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants 23-21 in the first NFL championship game.
In 1944, U.S. Army Major General Henry C. Pratt rescinded incarceration orders targeting people of Japanese ancestry during World War II; More than 110,000 people, about two-thirds of whom were American citizens, had been forced into camps after a February 1942 executive order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Clean Air Act into law; it was the first federal legislation aimed at controlling air pollution.
In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was sentenced to life in prison for her attack on President Gerald R. Ford in Sacramento, California. (She was released on parole in August 2009.)
In 1989, “The Simpsons” debuted on Fox television; it became the longest-running American animated television series.
In 1992, President George HW Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in separate ceremonies; NAFTA took effect in 2004 and was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020.
In 2014, the United States and Cuba announced that they would restore diplomatic relations, severed in 1961 after the U.S.-backed government was overthrown by Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959. Full diplomatic relations resumed in 2015.
In 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, a high-ranking Russian general, was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukrainian security services accused him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons in Russia’s war in Ukraine. A Ukrainian official said that service carried out the attack in which Kirillov’s aide also died.
Today’s birthdays:
- Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl is 95 years old.
- Actor Ernie Hudson is 80 years old.
- Political commentator Chris Matthews is 80 years old.
- Comedian and actor Eugene Levy is 79 years old.
- Actor Wes Studi is 78 years old.
- Rock singer Paul Rodgers is 76 years old.
- Actor Bill Pullman is 72 years old.
- Filmmaker Peter Farrelly is 69 years old.
- Rock musician Mike Mills (REM) is 67 years old.
- Country singer Tracy Byrd is 59 years old.
- Actor Laurie Holden is 56 years old.
- Actress Claire Forlani is 54 years old.
- Filmmaker Rian Johnson is 52 years old.
- Actress Sarah Paulson is 51 years old.
- Actor Giovanni Ribisi is 51 years old.
- Actress Milla Jovovich (YO’-vuh-vich) is 50 years old.
- Boxer Manny Pacquiao is 47 years old.
- Actress Emma Bell is 39 years old.
- Actor and singer Nat Wolff is 31 years old.
