17 December It Happened Today

1778  Birth of Sir Humphrey Davy, English chemist and inventor of theminers safety lamp.

1830  Death of the South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar.

1967  Australian prime minister Harold Holt disappears while swimming. His body is never found.

1987  Davina Durbin becomes the first triple heart, lungs and liver transplant patient.

1989  Some 2000 anti government protesters are killed in the Romanian city of Timisoara.