May 17
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May 17 is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining after May 17 until the end of the year.
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[change] Births
- 1155 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)
- 1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
- 1628 – Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria
- 1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1817)
- 1743 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (d. 1784)
- 1749 – Edward Jenner, British inventor of the vaccine (d. 1823)
- 1758 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839)
- 1768 – Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales (d. 1821)
- 1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860)
- 1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, naturopathist (d. 1897)
- 1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, chess player (d. 1900)
- 1842 – August Thyssen, German industrialist (d. 1926)
- 1844 – Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)
- 1866 – Erik Satie, French composer (d. 1925)
- 1873 – Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935)
- 1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English feminist writer (d. 1957)
- 1879 – Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)
- 1886 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)
- 1888 – Tich Freeman, record-breaking Kent leg-spinner (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (d. 1959)
- 1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (d. 1981)
- 1898 – Alfred Joseph Casson painter (d. 1992)
- 1900 – Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran (d. 1989)
- 1901 – Werner Egk, composer (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player (d. 1991)
- 1904 – Jean Gabin, actor (d. 1976)
- 1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian opera soprano (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)
- 1911 – Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (d. 1998)
- 1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
- 1919 – Merle Miller, Presidential biographer (d. 1986)
- 1921 – Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)
- 1922 – Antje Weisgerber, actress
- 1924 – Hannes Messemer, actor (d. 1991)
- 1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, Heaven's Gate (d. 1997)
- 1934 – Ronald Wayne, American Apple Inc. co-founder
- 1935 – Dennis Potter, writer (d. 1994)
- 1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor, director (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Hazel R. O'Leary, United States Secretary of Energy
- 1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist
- 1941 – Ben Nelson, 40th Governor of Nebraska
- 1941 – Grace Zabriskie, American actress
- 1942 – Taj Mahal, singer, guitarist
- 1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
- 1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
- 1948 – William Bruford, drummer, songwriter
- 1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovene politician (d. 2008)
- 1950 – Alan Johnson, British politician
- 1951 – Simon Hughes, British politician
- 1955 – Bill Paxton, actor
- 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer
- 1956 – Bob Saget, actor
- 1958 – Paul Di'Anno, English singer
- 1959 – Jim Nantz, broadcaster
- 1961 – Enya, Irish singer
- 1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer
- 1962 – Alan Johnston, British journalist
- 1965 – Jeremy Vine, British broadcaster
- 1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer, songwriter ("Nine Inch Nails")
- 1966 – Qusay Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein (d. 2003)
- 1971 – Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, wife of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
- 1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian rules footballer
- 1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer ("The Corrs")
- 1974 – Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor
- 1975 – Sasha Alexander, American actress
- 1975 – Jonti Picking, internet cartoonist
- 1975 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer
- 1978 – Paddy Kenny, Irish footballer
- 1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
- 1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
- 1982 – Chloe Smith, British politician
- 1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
- 1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
- 1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
- 1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
- 1990 – Leven Rambin, American actress
[change] Deaths
- 290 – Emperor Wu of Jin of China (b. 236)
- 1336 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)
- 1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
- 1575 – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)
- 1626 – Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
- 1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1683 or 1684)
- 1729 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)
- 1765 – Alexis Claude Clairault, French mathematician (b. 1713)
- 1809 – Leon Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
- 1822 – Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
- 1829 – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
- 1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754)
- 1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
- 1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak author (b. 1757)
- 1875 – John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
- 1917 – Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
- 1919 – Guido von List, German occultist and author (b. 1848)
- 1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer (b.1865)
- 1946 – William Jefferson Blythe III, father of U.S. President Bill Clinton (b. 1918)
- 1947 – George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
- 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (b. 1903)
- 1966 – Randy Turpin, English boxer (b. 1928)
- 1985 – Abe Burrows, songwriter, composer, and writer
- 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist (b. 1898)
- 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
- 2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
- 2002 – Dave Berg, cartoonist (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Sharon Sheeley, songwriter (b. 1940)
- 2002 – Davey Boy Smith, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
- 2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Jørgen Nash, artist (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council
- 2005 – Frank Gorshin, actor (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American author (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan writer (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Khattiya Sawasdipol, Thai general (b. 1951)
- 2010 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Donna Summer, American disco singer (b. 1948)
[change] Events
- 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
- 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
- 1642 – Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612 – 1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
- 1673 – Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.
- 1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
- 1809 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
- 1814 – Norway gets its own constitution.
- 1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
- 1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
- 1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, her first book in the Galician language.
- 1865 – The International Telegraph Union (the later International Telecommunication Union) is established.
- 1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
- 1900 – Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
- 1902 – Archaeologist Spyridon Stais finds the Antikythera mechanism.
- 1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
- 1919 – Committee of One Thousand forms to oppose Winnipeg General Strike.
- 1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
- 1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
- 1943 – World War II: Surviving RAF Dam Busters return.
- 1943 – The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
- 1944 – Type IX U-boat: U-884 is launched.
- 1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
- 1967 – Six-Day War: President Abdul Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
- 1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
- 1970 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
- 1974 – Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
- 1974 – Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.
- 1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
- 1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
- 1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
- 1987 – Iran-Iraq War: The USS Stark (FFG-31) is struck by a missile from an Iraqi Mirage fighter killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
- 1990 – The World Health Organization removed homosexuality from ICD - the origin of the International Day Against Homophobia.
- 1992 – In Thailand, the so-called Black May begins. Thai police and protestors start attacking one another. By midnight, the current Thai government declares a state of emergency, and military troops, equipped with M-16 rifles, open fire.
- 1995 – After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.
- 1999 – Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.
- 2003 – Mozilla Firefox. Browser renamed from Phoenix to Firebird.
- 2004 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.
- 2005 – Reverend Clarence Silva of Oakland is appointed fifth Bishop of Honolulu, Hawaii.
[change] Observances
- Constitution Day, National Day of Norway
- Constitution Day (Nauru)
- Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Navy Day (Argentina)
- International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
- National Famine Memorial Day (Republic of Ireland)
- World Information Society Day
