December 17
- 1790: The Aztec Sun Stone is excavated in Mexico City.
- 1819: Simón Bolívar proclaims the foundation of the Republic of Colombia, now known as Gran Colombia, a state which went on to encompass present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama, as well as parts of Brazil, Guyana, and Peru.
- 1830: South American revolutionary Simón Bolívar dies at age 47 in present-day Santa Marta, Colombia.
- 1939: German battleship Admiral Graf Spee is sunk off the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay by her captain, Hans Langsdorff, days after being severely damaged during the Battle of the River Plate at the beginning of the Second World War.
- 1989: Fernando Collor de Mello becomes the first democratically-elected president of Brazil in over three decades, defeating fellow candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Collor de Mello is eventually impeached on charges of corruption and resigns the presidency a little over two years after taking office.