Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 December 17

The 509th Composite Group was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. Commanded by Paul W. Tibbets, it conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The group, which was activated on 17 December 1944, was designated as a "composite" rather than a "bombardment" formation because it contained flying squadrons equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers and C-47 Skytrain and C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft. It operated Silverplate B-29s, which were specially configured to enable them to carry nuclear weapons. In addition to the two nuclear bombing raids, it carried out 15 practice missions against Japanese-held islands and 12 combat missions against targets in Japan, dropping high-explosive pumpkin bombs. In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946 and the only one equipped with Silverplate B-29 Superfortress aircraft capable of delivering atomic bombs. It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that the opera house for the Dresden court, Opernhaus am Taschenberg (pictured), opened in 1667 and was dedicated as a church in 1708?
• ... that for 116 of the 260 lorry models produced by Vanajan Autotehdas, only one or two units were ever produced?
• ... that since the execution of Andries Jan Pieters and a German soldier for war crimes on 21 March 1952, no further executions have taken place in the Netherlands?
• ... that as early as 1962 the Sigma war games predicted that American intervention in the Vietnam War would be unsuccessful?
• ... that Ashok Kumar was the cinematographer of India's first 3D film, My Dear Kuttichathan?
• ... that the temporary removal of The Partisans, a Boston sculpture depicting Polish cursed soldiers, triggered protests by the Polish-American community?
• ... that Charles Buckles Falls' signature – an f within a black, square box – became so well recognized that he was eventually able to drop the f entirely?

• At least 141 people are killed as Taliban gunmen storm a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
• Gunman Man Haron Monis and two hostages are killed when a siege ends at a café in Sydney.
• In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito coalition secures a supermajority following a snap general election.
• Busaba Suwadi, a former consort to Maha Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince of Thailand, relinquishes her royal title of Princess Srirasm.
• The Alliance Lepep coalition, led by Anerood Jugnauth, wins the general election in Mauritius.
• The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee releases a report strongly criticizing the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture.

Ongoing:

Ebola outbreak –

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

December 17

• 546 – After a nearly year-long siege, Ostrogoths led by Totila sacked Rome.
• 1819 – The Republic of Gran Colombia in South America was established, with Simón Bolívar as its first president.
• 1918 – About 1,000 demonstrators marched on Government House in Darwin, Australia, where they burnt an effigy of Administrator John Gilruth and demanded his resignation.
• 1970 – Soldiers fired at workers (memorial pictured) emerging from trains in Gdynia, Poland, beginning the government's brutal crackdown on mass anti-communist protests across the country.
• 1989 – The Simpsons, currently the longest running American prime time entertainment series, made its debut on the Fox television network with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

More anniversaries: December 16 – December 17 – December 18

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A sketch of the facade of the Saint-Augustin Church in Paris, by its architect Victor Baltard. Born to architect Louis-Pierre Baltard in 1805, Baltard began winning prizes for his architecture by 1833. In 1849 he was made Architect of the City of Paris, and in this position he designed several buildings, including Les Halles and the Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux Church as well as this church. Before his death in 1874, he also restored several churches, including Saint-Étienne-du-Mont and Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis.

Drawing: Victor Baltard