On Dec 17, 1777, France officially recognized the United States of America as an independent nation. News of the Continental Army’s victory against the British at Saratoga in October reached France in early December, giving Benjamin Franklin new leverage in rallying French support for the American rebels.
On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. The biplane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The Wright Brothers received no federal funding.
On Dec. 17, 1991, after a meeting between Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin, a Yeltsin spokesman announced that the Soviet Union would officially cease to exist by New Year’s Eve.
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