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'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' premieres

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is an upcoming fantasy movie directed by David Yates, with a screenplay by J. K. Rowling. A joint British and American production, it is the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It is the second installment in the Fantastic Beasts movie series and the 10th overall in the Wizarding World franchise.

2017

World record for surfing the biggest-ever wave

38-year-old Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa caught an 80-foot tall wave in Praia do Norte off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. The World Surf League gave him the Quiksilver XXL Biggest Wave Award padded with a $25,000 prize. Koxa’s ride also broke a Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed.

Toblerone changes shape of their chocolate bars

In 2016, a larger gap was introduced between each section of the triangular prism, in two of the bars in the United Kingdom. This was done in order to cut the weight of the bars and reduce costs while retaining the same package size. This change reduced the weight of what had been the 400g (now 360g) and 170g (now 150g) bars.

Total signs a $2 billion contract to develop Iran's gas fields

Iran signed a multi-billion dollar deal Monday with French oil firm Total and Chinese state oil company CNPC. Working with Iran's Petropars, the companies further developed the country's giant South Pars gas field. This marked Iran's first major Western investment since sanctions were eased on the country in early 2016.

Donald Trump is elected president of the United States

The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine, despite losing the popular vote. Trump took office as the 45th president, and Pence as the 48th vice president.

'Angry Birds Star Wars' is released

Angry Birds Star Wars is a puzzle video game, a crossover between the Star Wars franchise and the Angry Birds series of video games, launched first for Windows, iOS and Android devices, later also to Mac and BlackBerry. The game is the 6th Angry Birds game in the series. The characters are copyrighted from George Lucas's double-trilogy.

'Annie' opens in a new production on Broadway

A 35th Anniversary production of Annie opened on Broadway. Thomas Meehan revised the musical and James Lapine directed. The revival started previews at the Palace Theatre where it officially opened later on, receiving mostly mixed reviews. Notable replacements include Jane Lynch and Faith Prince as Miss Hannigan.

'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' is released

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, with assistance from Raven Software, and published by Activision. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

New major gas pipeline between Russia and EU opens

Nord Stream is an offshore natural gas pipeline from Vyborg in the Russian Federation to Greifswald in Germany that is owned and operated by Nord Stream AG. The pipeline was officially inaugurated by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French Prime Minister François Fillon at the ceremony held in Lubmin.

'Young Frankenstein' opens at the Hilton Theatre

Young Frankenstein is a musical with a book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and music and lyrics by Brooks. After tryouts in Seattle and 4 weeks of previews, the musical opened on Broadway to mixed reviews. The Broadway production closed in 2009 after 30 previews and 484 performances.

'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!' opens

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, simply How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, is a seasonal musical adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book of the same title. The Broadway production debuted at the Foxwoods Theatre for the Christmas season and closed in January 2007. This production is notable for being the first Broadway musical to offer 12 performances a week.

'Guitar Hero' is released

Guitar Hero is a music rhythm video game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game's development was a result of collaboration between RedOctane and Harmonix to bring a Guitar Freaks-like game to America.

Broadway revival of 'The Women' opens

The Women is originally a 1936 American play, a comedy of manners by Clare Boothe Luce. It is billed as a commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various wealthy Manhattan socialites and up-and-comers and the gossip that propels and damages their relationships. A revival of this play opened in American Airlines Theatre.

Three Gorges

China began to block the main channel of the Yangtze River. It was a preparation for construction of the Three Gorges Dam. The dam body was completed in 2006. Last water turbine was completed in 2012. Three Gorges is the largest power station in the world. Its height is 181 m, installed capacity 22,500 MW.

Hurricane Gordon is formed

Hurricane Gordon was the 12th tropical cyclone of the season affecting several countries in Central America and southeastern countries of the USA. It reached peak winds of 85 mph and caused deaths of 1,152 people and a damage of $594 million.

Tom Stoppard's 'Night & Day' premieres in London

Night and Day is a play by Tom Stoppard. The sets and costumes were designed by Carl Toms and it ran for two years at the Phoenix Theatre in central London, UK. The play is post-colonial in nature, a satire on the British news media, and an exploration of its discourse.

David Bowie makes his US TV debut

Fame was written by David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and John Lennon. It was the first Bowie's number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as his first to break the top 10. The song is one of four of Bowie's songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

HBO launches its broadcasting

The first program and movie distributed on the channel, the 1971 film Sometimes a Great Notion, starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda, was transmitted that evening to 325 Service Electric subscribers in Wilkes-Barre. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film.

Kennedy defeats Nixon in the presidential elections

Both Kennedy and Nixon experienced the first presidential debates in U.S. history. Kennedy defeated Nixon only by 49.7% to 49.5% as for the popular vote and by 303 votes to 219 votes from the Electoral College. Kennedy then became the youngest person ever elected to the presidency.

Sartre's 'La Putain Respecteuse' premieres in Paris

The Respectful Prostitute is a French play by Jean-Paul Sartre, which observes a woman, a prostitute, caught up in a racially tense period of American history. The tale takes a brief look at the loss of freedom in a cruel world. The play premiered at the Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau in Paris.

X-rays

Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the X-rays. Röntgen was not first who observed them, but he was the first who studied them systematically. He wrote about his experiments to other physicists, including Lord Kelvin. Röntgen gave X-rays their name. In many countries, X-rays are, however, called Röntgen rays or Röntgen radiation.

The Battle of White Mountain

An army of 15,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt was defeated by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor led by Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy and the German Catholic League under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly at Bílá Hora near Prague.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous