December 17 1918
The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic is formed with Pēteris Stučka as leader.
Georgian forces retreat by train out of Borchaly Uyezd, Georgia.
Roughly 1,000 disaffected workers march on the government house in Darwin, Australia, demanding the resignation of John A. Gilruth, Administrator of the Northern Territory, over a tax on alcohol. Gilruth refuses and further unrest forces the Australian government to send an Australian Navy ship to the city to provide further control. Public pressure eventually forces Gilruth to leave the city in February.
German filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch releases his version of Carmen, based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée and more popularly known for the opera by Georges Bizet, with Polish actress Pola Negri playing the title role.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra delivers the first performance of Symphony No. 2 by Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, with Robert Kajanus conducting.
Born Today:
Helen Derr, American journalist, long-time reporter and editor of The Town Talk in Alexandria, Louisiana, in Clarks, Nebraska (died 2011).
Died Today: John Green Brady, American politician, 5th Governor of the District of Alaska (born 1847)
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“Never do anything you can't take back.”
—Rocky Russo
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