On this day: December 17
Published: Dec 14 2012 04:50:06 PM EST
Updated On: Dec 17 2012 02:00:00 AM EST
France recognizes America as a nation, the Wright brothers take flight, Tiny Tim marries Miss Vicki in front of millions of TV viewers, and Kim Jong-il dies, all on this day.
iStock/duncan1890
1777: The French foreign minister, Charles Gravier, count of Vergennes, officially acknowledges the United States as an independent nation. Although France was eager to see an American victory over the British after losing North America to the British in the Seven Years' War, at first Louis XVI only sent unofficial aid to America. When word of the Continental Army's overwhelming victory at Saratoga in October reached France in early December 1777, it gave Benjamin Franklin new leverage in his efforts to rally French support for the American rebels.
