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Events on Friday 17 December 2010 2
1941 – 2010Don Van Vliet (1941-2010)Died 17 December 2010, aged 69Van Vliet, known by his stage name Captain Beefheart, was an American musician and artist whose avant-garde album Trout Mask Replica influenced generations of experimental rock musicians. He retired from music in the early 1980s to focus full-time on painting. He died of complications from multiple sclerosis.
2010Self-immolation of Mohamed BouaziziAct sparks the Tunisian revolution and Arab SpringTunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest after officials confiscated his produce cart, an act that ignited widespread anti-government demonstrations. The unrest that followed forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power weeks later and spread into uprisings across the Arab world. Bouazizi died of his injuries in early January 2011.