On this day

December 17, 1960

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

Historical Context for December 17, 1960

In 1960, the world population was approximately 3,015,470,894 people[†]

Historical Events

Haile Selassie

1960Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.[†]

Haile Selassie I was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia under Empress Zewditu between 1916 and 1930. Widely considered to be a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, he is accorded divine importance in Rastafari, an Abrahamic religion that emerged in the 1930s. A few years before he began his reign over the Ethiopian Empire, Selassie defeated Ethiopian army commander Ras Gugsa Welle Bitul, nephew of Empress Taytu Betul, at the Battle of Anchem. He belonged to the Solomonic dynasty, founded by Emperor Yekuno Amlak in 1270.

1960 Munich C-131 crash

1960Munich C-131 crash: Twenty passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground are killed.[†]

On 17 December 1960, a Convair C-131D Samaritan operated by the United States Air Force on a flight from Munich to RAF Northolt crashed shortly after take-off from Munich-Riem Airport, due to fuel contamination. All 20 passengers and crew on board as well as 32 people on the ground were killed.

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Headlines from December 17, 1960

WIDE U.N. POWER IN CONGO IS URGED; 100-Day Blanket Authority Sought for Hammarskjold WIDE U.N. POWER IN CONGO IS URGED

By Lindesay Parrottspecial To the New York Times

Honduras proposes 100-day emergency powers for Hammarskjold to settle Congo crisis, Assembly; resolution by Yugoslavia and 6 Asian-African nations urges new measures to curb Mobutu regime, censure of Belgium for disregarding UN resolutions, release of Lumumba and other pol prisoners, reconvention of Congolese Parliament, use of UN force to curb Congolese forces; Hammarskjold says UN force has right of self-defense only; rejects use to liberate Lumumba; Deputy Min Zorin (USSR) attacks Hammarskjold; revives proposal for Asian-African watchdog comm in Congo

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10 Brooklyn Houses Burn After Plane Hits a Church; OCCUPANTS PANIC, FLEE TO SIDEWALK Church Caretaker Is Among Missing -- Hunt Pressed for Victims of Crash

By John F. Murphy

Ten four-story tenement buildings and an empty church were set afire when the United Air Lines DC-8 jet crashed and exploded in the populous Park Slope district of Brooklyn yesterday. More than 250 firemen and about fifty pieces of apparatus rushed to the seven-alarm blaze, which took more than two hours to bring under control.

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DISASTER IN FOG; DC-8 Plunges Into Park Slope Street, Missing School DISASTER WORST IN U.S. AIR ANNALS Jet From Chicago Plunges in Park Slope as 2d Plane Falls in New Dorp

By Homer Bigart

127 killed as United DC-8 jet en route from Chicago to Idlewild Airport and TWA Super-Constellation en route from Dayton to LaGuardia Airport collide in fog and sleet over NYC; at least 5 more killed on ground as DC-8 crashes, Sterling PI, Bklyn, destroying ch, 10 apt bldgs and several shops, causing 7-alarm fire; illus; S Baltz, 11, is sole survivor on DC-8; Constellation crashes near Miller Army Air Field, New Dorp, SI; crash is worst air disaster in US history; Sen Cotton urges probe

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