Today in History - December 17 | Most important man in Australia vanishes without a trace
On December 17, 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming in the ocean off Portsea in Victoria.
He was declared dead two days later after a massive search operation.
On December 17, 1918, a mob of about 1000 people marched on Government House in the Northern Territory, triggering what was called "the Darwin Rebellion".
The rebellion, led by trade unionist Harold Nelson, saw an effigy of the Northern Territory Administrator, John Gilruth, soaked in kerosene and burned.
Gilruth himself, confronting the mob, was attacked before he managed to flee into the house.
He and his family were virtually confined within the building for about two months, before they managed to flee on a naval gunboat.
The "rebels" had demanded Gilruth, who had been administrator of the Northern Territory for several years, resign or be recalled.
Years of grievances were behind the rebellion, including a lack of NT representation in the federal government, heavy taxes, and workers' rights.
However, it was reported the final trigger was the nationalisation of NT hotels, which saw a federal takeover of pubs and spiking beer and liquor prices in an effort to curb alcohol consumption.
Gilruth also refused to allow hotel workers extra hours of leave to celebrate the end of the Great War - and reportedly refused to permit the unloading of hundreds of kegs of beer at the port of Darwin for the same purpose.
The rebellion did lead to limited government representation for Territorians in subsequent years, with Nelson becoming the NT's first MP - despite also having to serve a stint in jail.
To this day, the vacant land in front of Government House in Darwin is named Liberty Square.
On December 17, 2003, UK man Ian Huntley was found guilty of murdering two ten-year-old girls, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.
Huntley, who ex-partners revealed had a history of violence and abuse in his relationships, had just had an argument over the phone with his partner, Maxine Carr, when he saw the girls pass by his house on the evening of August 4, 2002. He lured them inside by telling them Carr, who was their teaching assistant at school, was inside.
The cause of death for Jessica and Holly (pictured in the last photo taken before their deaths, later released by police during their search) was ruled to be asphyxiation. Huntley disposed of their bodies in an irrigation ditch near an Air Force base.
Their bodies were found on August 17 after a major search operation.
Huntley figured in the media during the search, after police established him as the last person to see the girls alive (he claimed to have talked with them about Carr's job at the school as they passed his house). He gave several interviews purporting to express the community's grief and shock over their disappearance.
Hunt was charged with their murders on August 20. He was ultimately sentenced to two life sentences, while Carr, who provided Huntley with a false alibi, was jailed for three and a half years.
US Brigadier General James L Dozier was kidnapped by the Red Brigades Marxist guerilla group while in Italy on December 17, 1981.
Dozier, who was the Deputy Chief of Staff at NATO's southern European land forces headquarters in Verona, was assaulted and abducted by six members of the group who entered his home posing as plumbers. They threatened his wife to gain his compliance.
Dozier was held captive for 42 days while his captors issued numerous communiques, though none contained an explicit demand for ransom.
He spent the month cuffed to a cot, frequently forced to listen to loud music through headphones, and under constant guard.
He was ultimately rescued by Italian special forces, who captured the entire terrorist cell in doing so.
Dozier reached the rank of major general before retiring from service.
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